Food Co-op Field Trip
Four members of the Local Foods Co-op steering committee from Macomb made a field trip to St. Louis on Friday, Decemeber 11, to gather information about running a small natural foods grocery and learn about the local food scene in St. Louis. Clare Kernek, Jamie Lane, John Curtis, and Dan Barclay made stops at Soulard Farmer’s Market, Local Harvest Grocery, and Local Harvest Cafe and Catering.
Local Harvest Grocery in St. Louis.
The trip to St. Louis was very informative and talking to the management of Local Harvest Grocery gave the steering committee a lot to think about and provided good ideas to share at a community meeting being planned for late January. More photos are included in the rest of this post…After getting an early start from Macomb at 6:30, the first stop in St. Louis was the historic Soulard Farmer’s Market that was established in 1797.
Soulard Farmer's Market in Winter
The steering committee members met with one of the co-owners of Local Harvest Grocery to learn about starting up a small grocery business that sells food that is produced locally.
Getting the low-down on the local foods grocery business
Local Harvest Grocery has won several St. Louis awards in its brief two-and-a-half year existence including Best Grocery Store and Best Gourmet Grocery Store.
A neighborhood grocery with a big selection.
Local Harvest Cafe and Catering won Best New Restaurant for 2009. The restaurant uses excess produce from Local Harvest Grocery as a source for some of its menu items. The steering committee all enjoyed their food as well as the welcome they received during their visit.
The daily menu board and pastry selection at Local Harvest Cafe.
I came away from the trip feeling that a cooperative local food store was very doable in Macomb and perhaps an important step towards a local food cafe or restaurant.
Overall, I was very surprised – both at the grocery and at the farmer’s market – how poor the selection of local produce was. I expected to see locally produced lettuces, tatsoi, cabbages, broccoli, mesclun mixes, Asian Greens, Swiss Chard, kales, and lots of baby greens plus fall carrots, turnips, rutabagas, beets and parsnips.
I was shocked to find that there were none of those things at either venue.
I was also surprised at the lack of local produce at either venue. Hoop house (greenhouse) technology is affordable, small-scale, and widely available now. This will extend the growing season tremendously in our area. Macomb’s food co-op will be able to find local sources of produce once we let growers know that they have a great customer like the Macomb co-op to purchase what they grow.
I came back from Local Harvest realizing how much closer we are to our food sources than the big city folks are. In a town the size of Macomb, it doesn’t take long to know who all of the major local food producers are, and to learn how they raise their(our) food. I find this comforting as far as food quality and safety are concerned.
While the produce section was smaller than I expected at this store (even in December), I thought they had done a good job sourcing many processed items locally, such as ice cream, a selection of salamis, and frozen pizzas made in St. Louis.
The highlight of the trip was definitely the cafe, though–great food, and a great “vibe” too. What a great way to use their unsold produce from the store–it goes into soups and sandwiches at the cafe, which is apparently thriving. (Every table was full when we left around 1:00.) Something to keep in mind for down the road!