UPDATE 12/4/18: Sadly the only member-owned food co-op in Boston, Harvest Food Co-op, has closed because of the spread of natural/organic chain stores over the last several years. Please see their letter on their website.
Harvest Co-op Market is probably the most feel-good place in the Cambridge area to buy bulk staples, produce and organic products. It is also the only store in the Boston area that has such a large liquids section! They have signs up on the wall explaining how to handle bringing your own container which I find to be very welcoming.
They have one large section devoted to baking ingredients (flours, sugars, chocolate chips, etc), granola and cereal. Unfortunately there are no electronic scales around that I could see, so you would either have to use the hanging produce scale to weigh your container and goods OR you could weigh your containers at home (if you have you own scale) to get a more accurate reading. Electronic scales are used during checkout and the staff has always been very good about subtracting the tare of my containers.
The next aisle over has beans, dried fruit, grains/rice, pasta and nuts/seeds. The products they have are reasonably priced compared to the other stores in the area that sell similar items. They also have rotating items on sale which makes them even cheaper!
They carry Equal Exchange coffee in regular and decaf varieties. There’s also a grinder available with instructions hung up nearby. In addition to the beans, there are also some unbleached filters for sale. I seem to remember them having french presses and other coffee brewing gadgets during my previous trips, but I didn’t see any this time.
The Herbs/Spices section at Harvest is pretty extensive for the size of the store. There are two stations set up, complete with funnels and scoops to help you get your spices into your own containers. A few of my favorite items that they have are vegetable broth powder and sea salt. The tea is also intermingled in this area.
My favorite section of the store is the liquids. It may look small, but it’s currently the largest one available in the Boston area. It has canola oil, olive oil, maple syrup, honey, dish soap, laundry detergent, shampoo, lotion, conditioner and several castile soaps. A few of these items are available at other stores, but I appreciate that I can go to Harvest and get multiple items in one trip. There’s also an almond butter machine and a peanut butter machine.
There are some loose, local bagels in the middle of the store.
They carry canning jars that you could fill with bulk products or use for canning food at home.
There are recycling bins near the entrance of the store for recycling bottles, paper and plastic bags.
Their produce section is small, but they carry a decent variety of foods that are mostly package-free. There’s a kombucha tap with a few different flavors near the entrance of the store.
Check out my article about Harvest Co-op Markets in their August 2017 Newsletter!
products available at the cambridge location:
- Bakery
- Baking
- Bar soap
- Beans
- Cleaning Products
- Coffee beans
- Coffee/tea accessories
- Dairy
- Dried Fruit
- Grains/Rice
- Granola
- Hygiene
- Kombucha
- Liquids
- Loose tea
- Nuts/seeds
- Pasta
- Produce
- Spices
- Zero Waste Gear
This page was updated on 12/4/18.