Wild Roots Shines the Spotlight on Local Organic Farmers

Wild Roots Market founder and owner Bob Locatelli, whose family has lived in Boulder Creek for five generations now, started his career as a pharmacist. While filling prescriptions at his pharmacy in Felton over three decades ago, he began thinking about all the people who were managing chronic conditions with medications that often had nasty side effects. “There has to be a better way! I felt there were many cases in which preventative care, such as healthy foods, could reduce the number of prescriptions needed,” he thought.

Locatelli’s desire to help people better control their medical conditions via healthier eating led him to create two of the San Lorenzo Valley’s most important natural food stores 31 years ago: Wild Roots Market in Boulder Creek and Felton. His belief in the power of organic food was further stoked by two fundamental hires he made 27 years ago: Bert Brown and Nellie Donovan, whose longtime relationships with local farmers helped establish the stores as go-to places for healthy food choices by savvy consumers. 

Since 2000, Wild Roots has been sourcing 100% organic produce from local growers, and became the first Certified Organic Retailer in the United States in the spring of that year. The markets were once part of the New Leaf Community market umbrella, but returned to independent management in 2018. 

Bert Brown is in charge of sourcing the store’s organic produce and is proud to have long standing relationships with many of the same local farmers he first worked with over a quarter century ago in San Francisco, at Real Foods Company. His goal is to source local first, providing families with wholesome organic produce that is sustainably grown, pesticide free, and delicious. 

Wild Roots has been proudly working with many Monterey Bay area farmers for nearly three decades now. Here are a few of them to check out next time you shop. 

Blue Heron Farms: Wild Roots has been featuring many of the greens, lettuces, and flowers grown at this 20-acre certified organic farm in a small sheltered valley in Corralitos, for 27 years. The owners are passionate about growing a diverse array of exceptional quality vegetables and flowers, including butter and gem lettuces, kales, collards, bok choy, sprouting broccoli, leeks, cilantro and more. 

Camp Joy:  As Bert says, this is as local as you can get! Camp Joy is located right in Boulder Creek. One of the original Alan Chadwick apprentices at UCSC, farmer Jim Nelson has been selling his heirloom variety apples, pears, cherry tomatoes and peppers to Wild Roots for 27 years. Put a little joy in your basket, and your life. 

Sea Level Farms: This 28-acre CCOF-certified farm in Corralitos, provides Wild Roots with richly flavorful strawberries and sweet dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes. JP and Jane feel fortunate to be part of an eclectic community comprised of amazing growers, producers, distributors and patrons all participating and supporting each other in health and happiness.

New Natives:  This Santa Cruz based farm featuring microgreens, sprouts and mushrooms, was started by Sandra Ward and Ken Kimes in 1982. Over three decades, their tiny production has grown from a garage operation to a bona fide business with 10 employees producing over 2,000 lbs. weekly. Their microgreens are harvested in the sprout stage when the plant is feeding from the seed. They provide micro broccoli, micro radish, micro arugula, wheatgrass and sunflower sprouts to Wild Roots markets. 

Pinnacle Farm: Everybody knows the brightly colored Pinnacle logo, a symbol of quality and flavor. Located in San Juan Bautista, farmer Phil Foster grows melons, peppers, tomatoes, yellow onions, red onions, white onions, shallots, and greens. Wild Roots has been working with Pinnacle for 27 years.

Sea to Sky Farm: A huge favorite at Farmer’s Markets, the “sky” part of the farm is on a beautiful ridgetop outcrop in the redwoods in Bonny Doon, while the “sea” part lies Oceanside at Waddell Creek. Farmer and ocean lover Chris Laughlin, who grew up on a large farm in the Central Valley, rescued what was Route 1 Farms when Jeff Larkey retired. Already an excellent and experienced grower of sweet potatoes from working in her family business, she now has an extensive list of greens, eggplant, hard squash, flowers and more. 

Wild Roots is also proud to be part of the community and is constantly evolving to meet the needs of its customers. At its core is a commitment to integrity and your health. As Bob’s daughter, Kristi Locatelli Harwell, says, “We’re not going anywhere!”