Healthful Food Options for the Public and New Moms

Organic grocer to open in downtown Redmond

The vacant JoAnn Fabrics building on SW Sixth Street in Redmond will soon be home to Natural Grocers. The City of Redmond says the Redmond Urban Renewal Agency has approved a forgivable grant of up to $500,000 to Natural Grocers for building improvements. The City says the grocery chain plans to invest about $2 million to transform the site with interior and exterior renovations.
Natural Grocers, with more than 170 stores in 22 states, including one in Bend, is a natural, organic food retailer based in Lakewood, Colorado. The new Redmond location is expected to open in early 2027.

A free program supports baby nutrition

Central Oregon Locavore launched Baby RX. The new program gives breastfeeding and infant nutrition supplies to low-income, at-risk and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit families in Central Oregon at no cost. A health care provider completes a prescription form and faxes it to Locavore, then the family picks up the prescription. The pilot program is being done in partnership with the St. Charles Lactation team for the next six months. After that, it will be rolled out to additional neonatal and pediatric providers.
Baby RX operates as a rolling fund. As families redeem prescriptions, the fund is spent down and must be replenished through community donations. The fund was launched with donations from Central Oregon Health Quality Alliance, First Interstate Bank and East Cascade Women’s Group.
The founder of Central Oregon Locavore and registered nurse at St. Charles, Nicolle Timm-Branch, said in a news release, “In my 25 years of caring for babies and mothers, I have watched families choose between breastfeeding supplies and rent. Baby RX means no parent in Central Oregon has to make that choice.”
Central Oregon Locavore is a Bend-based nonprofit connecting farmers, ranchers and producers directly with customers. As a farmer-first model, 65-cents of each dollar goes directly to the growers and producers.

This article appears in the Source July 23, 2026.