Mohawk Harvest Cooperative Market

The first annual Meeting of the membership of Mohawk Harvest Cooperative Market  (October 22nd at the YWCA) was a huge success!

Jim Strickland,  Crystal Stewart and Chris Curro got a little emotional speaking about the first year of our Co-op.  When we started in July 2008, we wanted a co-op that would support our local farmers and producers, provide our shoppers with good, wholesome foods and be part of a thriving, sustainable community.   It wasn’t  easy and it required a lot of commitment and hard work by a small band that, lucky for us all, got bigger as we went along.  As of October 22, 2009, the report was – we DID IT!  We have a lovely cooperative market that features delicious local produce and products as well as many other different and healthy food stuff and eca

It’s truly been a whirlwind year.  A new Board of Directors was elected and took office at the meeting.  They have a lot to do and they’ll be asking for all our help.  But October 22^nd was an evening to celebrate and we did!  Member families brought food to a potluck supper that was outstanding with one delicious dish after another.  (The recipes will be featured on Mohawk Harvest’s website – look for that soon).

Early on, we decided that an organization had to be true to its values -  or as Carol often said, examine our actions against our mission (she said it better than that).  So, attendees were asked to bring their own dishes/silverware to the potluck (to cut down on the garbage).  The end result was a room, (beautifully decorated by Carol and Trina),  filled with happy people eating off their own mis-matched dishes.  It was great!  You can get more food onto the ‘real’ dinner plates (and with the delicious food available, that was  important) AND it felt good to pack up the used dinnerware and bring it home to wash rather than throwing them into the garbage pail.   It was a fantastic idea and should be continued – think of how much space we’ll save in the land-fills of the world.

Check out the pictures that Frank Ambrose took of the evening.

New Board gets right to work

August 22^nd will forever (or at least until the next great milestone) be remembered as the day when a fantastic group of volunteers flawlessly lifted a two-doored cooler from the basement of the chamber and transported it safely to the co-op. How did we do it, you might ask? The cooler was lifted in one fluid (and extended) motion through the open space in the stairwell. Straight up!

Many, many thanks to all the volunteers who helped with the effort. Andy from Dunday’s and his friend, Vince and his sons plus two of their friends, and Chris & Crystal all cooperated in the move, ensuring that no buildings, equipment or small animals were harmed in transport.

Just got an email from Chris and wanted to share it with everyone -

Today at your co-op, in just the past thirty minutes, we brought in the a
plethora of local, fresh fruits and vegetables!  Here’s
just a sampling of what we picked up from our local farming community:

• picked-this-morning sweet corn
• strawberries
• tomatoes
• green peppers
• eggplant
• yellow summer squash
• “candy” onions

This is all in addition to the freshest spices, the darkest brown sugar,
and all the organic goods we could fit on our shelves.

Stop in—we are open until 7 pm (Thurs/Friday) and 8-2 on Saturday.

He also reported that  we also received a new freezer full of Dharma Lea’s (local farmer) grassfed meats and that the organic free-range chickens are sharing that freezer with the meat.
The cooler is also full of fresh, local eggs, cheese and milk.

What a great time to visit the store (if not now, when?)  See you there.

Just want to make sure that everyone realizes -  THE VEGGIES ARE IN!

Mohawk Harvest is bursting at the seams with delicious and beautiful food.  Luke, one of our summer workers, is checking out the produce in this picture and he looks very happy (thanks to Frank Ambrose for the picture).   The rest of the store is full of delicious and beautiful food as well.

The store is open to everyone and now is a great time to visit and shop.  Luke looks a little lonely.

What a great week!   It’s wonderful to be part of a cooperative and many of the members who came in echoed that feeling.   They were also pleased with the variety, quality and price of the merchandise.    Yes, price!  Some people had been afraid that Mohawk Harvest would be very expensive and were pleasantly surprised.  Based on quality (e.g. many items are organic), the prices are very competitive.  Our spices are repackaged into 1 – 2 oz bundles (which suits most home cooks), we have all kinds of beans, nuts, grains, delicious peanut butter, most delicious coffee (that’s been flying off the shelves).  The dairy department has local milk, butter, cheeses, eggs.  We have locally baked bread items coming in several times a week.  And what a wonderful time for fresh-from-the-farm produce.  That comes in almost everyday – blueberries, raspberries, corn, squash, garlic, onions, potatoes (more as the crops come in) – some is organic, most is natural and all is grown by local farmers.

Everyone can shop at Mohawk Harvest and some people have asked why should a person join the cooperative?   There are definite advantages to joining (and they are explained better in the website – but in brief, members will get member discounts, will be able to buy in bulk, will be eligible for patronage rebates, are able to vote on co-op business, etc.)  But the main reason members join is because they want Mohawk Harvest to exist -  the bottom line is that it would never have happened without people who believed that it was important to have a cooperative food market in this area.  There are certain things that are important enough to make the investment (of time and money) – and our members believe that Mohawk Harvest is such a thing.  In order to contine, grow and be viable, we need everyone who believes and is able to join to be part of it.   Check out the payment options on the website and see if one fits you.  It’s our co-op and we’d love to welcome you all!