Ciudad del Alimento

Don't have time for a trip to the lovely and lively country south of the border? Going to Food City is like shopping in Mexico. Norteño music greets you as you enter, and all the signs are in Spanish and English. You can get a piñata or a statue of La Virgen de Guadalupe or a memorial candle. The produce is cheap, but never organic. 

It's really pretty amazing. Many of the customers and cashiers are speaking Spanish. 

You'll find the usual assortment of dulces, principally made of corn syrup, sugar and food coloring. But it's fun to be dazzled by all the colors. 

They even have a health supplement section to counteract the effects of los dulces. 

I was amazed to see giant bags of chia seeds, a staple of my vegetarian diet. I make chocolate chia pudding, flavored the Mexican way with cinnamon and chili powder. It reminded me of how delighted I was to find chia seeds for sale in Pátzcuaro a few years ago. I thought I just got lucky, but the shelves at Food City suggest chia seeds are staple of Mexican cuisine. It's got me hankering to head south again.