When students move off of the meal plan and subsequently start cooking on their own, they often have serious doubts about the Walla Walla’s grocery scene. Sure, there’s the farmer’s market, but it usually stops running around mid-October, and it only really helps with seasonal produce, anyway. As a smaller town, Walla Walla lacks many specialized stores like Trader Joe’s that students may be used to at home. With this is mind, we set out to dispel Walla Walla’s negative grocery rep once and for all. Here are our picks for the city’s top three grocery stores, in no particular order:

Super 1 Foods
710 S 9th  Ave
Open 24 hours, daily

For your basic, all around grocery needs, Super 1 is the place to go in Walla Walla. Despite being a car ride or a moderate bike ride away from campus, it bears distinction as one of Walla Walla’s few 24-hour grocery stores, and sports prices and selection that constantly outdo closer options like Safeway. Large frozen, organic, and bulk selections make the store an essential stop for picky eaters and penny pinchers alike. One of the store’s most distinct features is its array of alternative and specialty products like gluten-free rice-pecan bread. Another standout attraction is its selection of hard to find, speciality produce items like tomatillos and certain types of chilies, which are scarce or lacking in quality outside of the farmer’s market. One area where Super 1 excels and where places like Daily Market falter, is its inclusion of brand name and more commercialized products. While Whitman students may be more eager to brew some fair trade coffee than crack open a six pack of coke, such products are often necessary: Super 1 offers them usually at better prices than Safeway. Some of their best deals right now include Franz San Juan Islands nine-grain bread at two for $4 (usually $4.18 each), and two lbs. loaves of Tillamook medium cheddar cheese for $5.79 (usually $7.98).

Andy’s Market
1117 S College Ave, College Place
Open 7 a.m. –– 9 p.m. daily, except Fridays 7 a.m. –– one and a half hours before sundown

The disadvantages of Andy’s market are its location and to some extent, its hours. As its located in College Place, you can forget walking, and biking there is a bit of a long haul, especially if you’re on an old clunker that can barely make it your classes. They close Friday evenings an hour and a half before sundown, which will become earlier and earlier as winter approaches. However, what they lack in logistical accommodations, they more than make up for in a number of other categories. The bulk section is perhaps the best in the Walla Walla area, with everything from dried hummus mix to blueberry muffin mix and granola with freeze-dried strawberries. Considering that nearly a third of College Place’s heavily Seventh-day Adventist population is vegetarian, it’s no surprise that Andy’s also has a wide range of meat substitute and vegetarian options. Also impressive is the store’s huge selection of herbs and spices, as well as its great deals on produce (like two green bell peppers for 79 cents) and local products: like pure, unfiltered Walla Walla honey, $2.79 per lb.

Daily Market Cooperative
508 E Main St
Open Tue 1-7 p.m.; Wed & Thu 1-6 p.m.; Fri 1-5 p.m.

Currently in its third year and operating out of a house on Main Street, next door to the College House apartments, the co-op hopes to soon move into a more permanent and functional location.   In the meantime, their hours are not great, but manageable, and their selection of natural, local and fair trade foods will satisfy even the strictest of so-called “food hippies” at Whitman. And with bread, meat, seasonal produce and a sizeable collection of everyday grocery items like pasta, coffee and cereal, Daily Co-op can almost act as a one-stop grocery place. You need not be a member to shop at the co-op, but they are always on the lookout for new member-owners as they work toward their goal of opening a store.