A Store Grows in Williamsburg

By Randee Dawn

"When you're in school and people ask you what you want to be when you grow up, most people don't say 'grocer,'" says Aaron Woolf. "That's not how it works."

But that's how it worked for the documentary filmmaker Aaron Woolf, who filmed two friends who decided to farm a single-acre field of genetically modified corn for their film "King Corn." The finished documentary premiered at South by Southwest last year, had a run in 40 theaters and will now appear on PBS this spring. The experience taught Woolf a valuable lesson -- namely that "we deserve to know where our food comes from," and has led him to open his own ... grocery store.

Last December, the 2,600 square-foot grocery called Urban Rustic opened its doors in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It's stocked almost entirely with organic products, and what isn't, says Woolf (who partnered with Dan Cipriani and Luis Illades for the venture), "is traceable. Everything in the store, we can tell you where it came from." In addition to the usual grocery products, Urban Rustic also features a cafe and prepared foods.

Woolf had his epiphany while making the movie, and says it had a major impact on him. "I've been doing films for almost 20 years, and I've never made a film that made me want to change my life to this degree," he says. "I wanted to have something more grounded and steady in my life (than documentary filmmaking) -- and the film illuminated issues that were so much bigger than something film could tell. And it's been very fulfilling."

Woolf also intends to bring films into the grocery store at some point -- at least, to a certain extent. "We're trying to get old View-Masters, so when you look at the product on our shelves you can look in the View-Master and see the goats that made the milk, or the trucks that brought it in," he says. 

If that sounds a little high-minded, Woolf doesn't seem to care. The inner grocer he always had buried beneath his outer filmmaker has spoken. Not that he's done with docu making, however: He's making a film in the Amazon about language. But for now, the food business is booming in Williamsburg.

"We've really touched a nerve," he says. "And we're just one small part of this growing consciousness, this yearning to connect to things."

"King Corn" will air as a part of PBS's "Independent Lens" beginning April 15. Check local listings for details.

Comments

[Mike Caprio]

Everyone should watch King Corn!! It is a real eye opener.

Also I am so excited about this grocery store that I've made a Google map of its delivery area:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=40.720982,-73.954639&spn=0.044039,0.052357&z=14&om=1&msid=113130315828610953850.00044379ed87df507fbd0