I wanted to make sure I put a post up this week. I have had so many people email or call and tell me that they are interested in the local food buying club. It is both exciting and a little terrifying to see the amount of interest in this way to get real food for our families. I want to answer a few questions here as I continue to finalize the details and get them ready for the masses.
1. My priority is that the food available through this buying club is the highest quality possible. Priority will be given to producers/farmers who use little to no chemicals on plants and who raise their animals in the pasture, grazing freely. I will do my best to provide as much information as I have about the farming/raising methods used so that you can make informed choices.
2. My hope is that purchasing food this way will be less expensive than purchasing organic and high quality food from the local groceries and health food stores. If you are currently purchasing all "conventional" food and really utilizing sales and coupons, you may find that the local food is a bit more expensive. If, however, you are looking for a way to eat less expensively and more simply and food quality is your #1 priority - the buying club is for you. In addition, as fuel prices continue to rise (increasing cost of food travel, petroleum based farming chemicals and animal feed), I can't guarantee our local food will be protected from any cost increases, but I can tell you for sure that the prices of food at the grocery store will continue to increase at a much faster rate.
3. When the details of the buying club are finalized, hopefully by the end of June, I will plan a meeting to connect interested local consumers with interested local providers. I want you to know the people who produce your food. We will have the opportunity to ask the questions that inquiring minds want to know. More importantly, you can create a relationship with the people who help you feed your family. I love the feeling of connectedness that this creates!
4. My vision includes more than just what the local farmers can provide. Be thinking about what you can offer to the buying club, not just what you can receive. Do you bake bread, make homemade jam, cultured vegetables, butter, yogurt, kefir? If you're looking for a way to help with your food costs, perhaps you could use some of the local food you get from the co-op and make products to offer through the club. As we all know, it's not much more difficult to make multiple loaves of bread when you're making one. Perhaps you planted WAY too much zucchini this year. You could offer the zucchini through the buying club - or take fresh flour, eggs and butter from local farmers and make zucchini bread and sell through the buying club.
I want to thank everyone who has contacted me with their wonderful comments about how this could really benefit their families. Your messages continue to inspire me as I work to coordinate this project and try to anticipate every detail! Stay tuned... it's about to get good.
