New Age Beverages

On the one hand, Brattleboro is full of hippies and free spirits. On the other hand, it’s a small town in rural New England, where lots of people are still struggling to find their way now that most of the agricultural and manufacturing jobs are gone.

That same dichotomy exists in the grocery stores. The Co-op is a great place to shop, and it’s full of the kinds of unusual, organic and local foods you’d expect to find. The place is chock-full of shaggy-bearded volunteers, earnestly arranging the kombucha and seitan and tempeh. But, it’s also pretty expensive, and so for regular groceries we go to a regular store. There, we are relieved to see that the “wild” and “crazy” brands like Snapple and Arizona and Red Bull are cordoned off under the vaguely threatening heading of New Age Beverages.