CO - OP DEVELOPMENT ACTION
Co-ops connecting
links in food chain
Editor’s note: Cooperatives are seeking
innovative structures and strategies to
deliver locally produced food to a host of consumers,
from Community Supported
Agriculture and farmers markets to schools,
restaurants and grocery stores. Several of
the new “food co-ops” (including one in
Nebraska discussed below) include producer
and consumer members. Local markets
mean lower transportation costs and better
prices for farmers, plus higher quality products
for those who buy their products. In a
world where consumers increasingly want to
know where their food comes from, these coops
are turning obstacles into opportunities.
Linking country to city,
traditional to high-tech
Several Amish and Mennonite farmers
of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
were already sending fresh products to
Philadelphia, 60 miles away. Still, they
knew they were missing a lot of opportunities.
So they approached the Keystone
Development Center which
helped them secure the services of a
facilitator uniquely suited to help the
farmers set up Lancaster Farm Fresh
Cooperative.
The facilitator worked well with the
farmers, whose way of life includes living
without electricity or phones in
their homes. And she moved easily in
the high-tech world of the buyers. One
of the first things she did was to
upgrade the ordering system, from cell
phones that farmers kept in their delivery
truck to on-line ordering. Sales took
an immediate leap forward.
The co-op also acquired a centrally
located warehouse with the added
advantage of refrigeration. Most co-op
members are certified organic, and
much of what they ship is organic-certified
produce. Today, the co-op ships
$16,000 of produce, meat and dairy
products every week. It supplies not
only Philadelphia and other metro markets,
but also a rising demand right in
Lancaster County, which means a big
break on transportation costs.
One of the greatest benefits of starting
the co-op has been the way farmers
in the southern part of the county are
getting to know and work with their
counterparts in the northern part. They
have coordinated crop cycles, thus
extending the co-op’s product availability
into a longer growing season and
turning what could have been a divisive
and competitive situation into one that
enables them to increase market access
and weave a tighter fabric of community.
For more information, visit:
www.lancasterfarmfresh.com.
Nebraska co-op links
neighbor to neighbor
As interest in buying
locally produced food
grows around the country,
farmers’ markets are
popping up in rural and
urban settings. Schools
and other institutions
are incorporating local
produce. Restaurants,
even supermarkets, use
the ‘locally grown’ label
to attract consumers.
All of these trends led a group of
Nebraska farmers, ranchers and consumers
to form a “multi-stakeholder”
cooperative to provide not only new
markets for locally produced foods, but
also a distribution system. With technical
assistance from the Nebraska
Cooperative Development Center, they
did just that.
Each month continues to bring new
members and new products into the coop.
Members volunteer for delivery day,
which includes pre-sorting individual
customer orders. Working together,
producers and consumers are learning
more about one another and sharing a
concern for their state’s future.
Taking advantage of new technology,
the co-op offers a Web-based
ordering system. Food is delivered
once a month to members’ homes or
nearby drop points. Depending on
availability and seasonality, orders may
include organic produce, grass-finished
and grain-fed beef and pork, pastured
poultry, eggs, jams and jellies, natural
personal-care products, cheese, artisan
breads and more.
As consumer interest in local food
accelerates and the shipping costs of
non-local food rise, the Nebraska Food
Cooperative may play an increasingly
vital role in the nutritional and economic
health of its communities.
For more information, visit:
www.nebraskafood.org.
Georgia farmers build peanut plant
Tifton Quality Peanuts has just completed
its first year of operation as a
Limited Liability Company doing business
as a cooperative. The 146 producers
located around the state have not
only avoided disaster in the wake of
federal cuts in the peanut subsidy program,
but have built a thriving business.
They’ve even received an offer from an
international company to buy all of
their peanuts.
When several of the farmers
approached the Georgia Cooperative
Development Center to help them figure
out how to add value to their commodity
crop, they already had a shelling
plant in mind. The Center stepped in
to help them with their business plan. It
took a lot of work and many hours
spent talking to other farmers, but in
the end they raised $6 million in equity
to construct the plant. They also created
more than 50 full-time jobs in a
depressed rural area of the
state.
Tifton Quality Peanuts now
owns one of only two peanut
shelling plants built in the
United States in the past
decade (the other, also in
Georgia, is owned by another
co-op). It uses innovative technology
to control the storage
atmosphere that reduces harmful
toxins and avoids other problems
common in older facilities.
Oh, and the deal with the big corporation
that wanted to buy all their
peanuts? The farmers declined, choosing
to balance their market rather than
sell to one customer. What they essentially
said was: “From now on, we’re
going to be in control of our markets —
and our future!”
