The NOLA 25

Bringing new meaning to factory farms

In a city long celebrated for its distinctive cuisine, it has taken some time for local and sustainable foods to catch on in shops. Jack and Jake's, a supermarket operating in a restored turn-of-the-century chewing-gum factory, plans to sell foods that have been grown within a 65-mile radius of the city and within three days of harvest, noting on computerized in-store displays their food miles and environmental costs. The first of several planned shops, the store will also offer local charcuterie from a Cochon Butcher concession and American farmstead cheeses from the St. James Cheese Company, and will serve as a pickup point for fish and community-supported agriculture farms. Says owner John Burns, a New Orleans native who spent 20 years as a restoration ecologist before embarking on this project, "We can take one hell of a foodie town and help it become a national example of how to hang on to culinary history and become a more healthy community."

-Nathalie Jordi