Today I stopped by the newly opened Sprouts Farmers Market in Tustin. It’s located where Whole Foods used to be; on Holt Avenue, off of Newport Boulevard (14945 Holt Avenue, Tustin). I buy mainly organic food for my family, and whenever possible, locally grown as well, so I was excited to see what Sprouts was all about.

The space inside is big and open, with large signs above each section. I intended to do my regular weekly shopping here instead of Trader Joe’s, but I quickly realized that this was just not going to happen. The first thing on my list was some pasta and pasta sauce. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any whole wheat pasta, and a jar of pasta sauce was $1 to $2 more than TJ’s. Next, I checked out their apples. While I usually get our apples from the Irvine Farmers Market on Saturdays, I wanted to see if Sprouts carried any organic, locally grown varieties since that was something I never saw at TJ’s. No luck there either; their apples were also from Washington, just like TJ’s.

By this point, I figured I’d just head back into TJ’s down the street. I did, however, check out Sprouts’ other grocery items and was happy to find a variety of things I normally have to buy from Whole Foods. Things like Pet Promise cat food, Ecover dishwasher tablets, Natural Value trash bags, and organic baby wash. (I may never have to step foot inside Whole Paycheck Foods again!) I also noticed that they carry a lot more variety (than TJ’s) as far as packaged foods like cereals, crackers, soups, and snacks.

I left the store with just a box of garbage bags and a bowl of heat-and-serve fettuccine alfredo. The cashiers were friendly, and in our trip today, the shoppers were even more so — one woman felt the need to grab my child in the cart and sit him upright. While I will continue to do my shopping at TJ’s, I’ll probably be back at Sprouts next time the cat runs out of kibble.