Help Us Get Closer to having a Food Co-op in the Fargo-Moorhead Area!

Looking for something to do to pass these cold....blustery....snowy months?  We've got plenty to do and if you want a food co-op, we need your help!  Specifically, we're looking for help with Event Planning--we have a membership drive coming up!  We want to have a ton of fun and generate lots of excitement about good, wholesome, delicious food!

Also looking for Social Media Champion, PR Development, Writers for various media outlets, and Researchers for various small topics (not terribly daunting--we'd provide you with a topic, you choose whether or not to accept the request and report back at an agreed upon time).

Find more information at our Get Involved page.  Please contact us if you'd like to help.  If you don't see something that suits you, but would like to lend your talents, please let us know.

Why Buy Local?

Heard any of this?

Buy Local

Circulate Your Dollars Locally

Support the Local Business

Invest In Your Valley

Of course you have.  I used to think it was just a way to support your neighbor and her business rather than giving it to a big box store and not knowing what's happened to it.  It's more than that.
A local business is likely to spend 45 cents of every dollar locally, where as a corporate chain will spend only 15 cents locally.  When money continues to be spent locally, this creates a multiplier effect; that dollar becomes $1.81

This may not sound like much on the small scale so let's look at it just a bit bigger.  If Jack spends his money locally, it likely will remain local much longer than if he were to spend it at a big box store.  For example, overtime Jack spends $5000 at the Food Co-op, the Co-op buys $2250 worth of vegetables from John, John pays $1012 to Jane for her accounting services, Jane buys a wedding dress from a local retailer for $455, retailer buys dresses from seamstress for $205, and the seamstress buys $92 worth of groceries at the Co-op.  Now, let this not be a lesson in mark-up.  This example doesn't necessarily mean that the retailer has a mark-up over 200%; rather, each time money is spent a local business, that business will spend about 45% of their money locally.

Every dollar that's re-spent locally is equal to a new dollar that comes into the community from abroad.  So, we'll take our original $5000 and add the 45% that continued to be re-spent locally at each business. 

5000 + 2250 + 1012 + 455 + 205 + 92 + 62 (total of all other rounds)= $9076

So, $5000, when spent locally, becomes $4076 extra to the community that normally would have to be brought in somehow.

Now, consider that Jack spends his $5000 at a big box store.  About 85% of this will leave town, leaving only $750 spent locally.

Anytime money leaves town, someone needs to figure out how to get it back.  Why not just keep it local?  If nothing else, at least you know who the money's going to.

Very Important! Volunteer Secretary Needed!

If you want a food co-op, we need someone to fill this request!! 

It has been very valuable to have a recorder at the Coordinating Committee meetings to allow other volunteers to make forward progress on the tasks at hand.  Our current recorder has other endeavors on the horizon and time is running out!  Please respond today if interested!

A volunteer secretary has the following responsibilities.


1. Attends Coordinating Committee meetings (1st and 3rd Thursdays, 6:30-7:45 PM)

2. Maintains records of the Coordinating Committee and ensures effective management of organization's records

3. Takes minutes and ensures minutes are distributed to members within 48 hours after each meeting

4. Distributes the agenda and supplemental reports the Wednesday prior to CC meetings, upon input from Coordinating Committee members.

This role requires attention to detail, ability to make accurate records, timeliness, and good nature. Time commitment is approximately 10-15 hours per month.

If interested, please email us with "Volunteer Secretary, Coordinating" in the subject line.  Pass it along if you know someone who may be interested!

Sustainable Farming in Minnesota

Looking for a movie to watch this weekend?  Get the laptop and the popcorn and snuggle up with this short film about Sustainable Farming in Minnesota.  Features 6 farms, 1 food co-op and plenty of people who care about their food and the people that eat it.

Farming Forward: CSCA screening (low definition version) from Martin Lang on Vimeo.

Synopsis of the Coordinating Meeting 11.18.10

• Timeline of coop was reviewed and updated. Opening date for store was discussed and will continue to be reviewed. Input will be sought out from experienced businesses and with local producers who will be involved with the coop. Other major events can be set up before the store opens such as a producers convention.
• Feasibility study update was given. Committees submitted work plans and will now add dates to tasks.
• The coordination/project management role will be defined. The role will include merging the work plans into a master “taskline” to allow for committees to be aware of tasks that they need to accomplish to allow for another committee to proceed with tasks.
• Volunteers will be attending the NDSU business writing class. Ideas were given for items for students to work on.
• New communication tools for the coop were discussed as google groups is changing.
• Location of the next Coordinating Committee meeting will be St. John’s on December 2 at 6:30pm in the parlor. These meetings are always open to the public, but there will be a special invitation to current volunteers active in the coop to attend and review implementation of improvements from October’s all volunteer meeting.
• A resource log will begin to be formed to track available education to volunteers and those who have completed different education will be able to evaluate them for other volunteers.