Spring Reflections- Co-ops Harness the Power to Heal

Co-ops Harness the Power to Heal

By Elizabeth Archerd, Member Services Director

Spring isn't usually a season of reminiscence, but I completed my 25th year of service to the Wedge Co-op in May, so there's a tinge of nostalgia coloring the air around my cubicle. We've come so far from the little store on Franklin Avenue I shopped at before joining the co-op staff.

Our Founding Mother, Dr. Deborah Wexler, stopped by in late April. Her name has come up many times but we'd never met, as she's been busy as a physician in the years since she plastered the neighborhood with fliers about the organizing meeting. That meeting, in the summer of 1974, resulted in the store opening in November. Deb withdrew from active participation (and went to medical school) after a membership vote on which she was on the losing side: 51%-49% against carrying white sugar.

In the years since sugar was the issue of the day, we've adopted a leadership role in food and agriculture issues. By acting together, co-ops are a force for community and sustainability all around the country. Wedge members stepped up to send letters to the USDA to recommend that the National Organic Program must require access to pasture for organic dairy cows. Co-ops all over the country are using the material generated by the Wedge to get the word to their members. Whenever we can, we take on tasks on behalf of the entire movement.

Our own members also step up for local farmers. After the January 2005 fire at Shepherd's Way Farms in Nerstrand, MN, co-op members from around the area donated time and money to help the recovery effort.* Farmers Steven Read and Jodi Ohlsen Read attended an informal staff education session here at the Wedge a few weeks ago.

Since Wedge members donated over $500 to the farm in April, I thought you'd like to know a bit more about them. Shepherd's Way Farms is a family-owned farm that started with 50 pastured sheep in 1994. As Steve said when he was introduced to our staff, "I turn grass into cheese." The first cheese was made in 1998, and they have won numerous prizes from the American Cheese Society - 7 in the last 2 years, including the top prize, in 2004, for Big Woods Blue.

Located adjacent to the last remnants of The Big Woods, the 44-acre farm (with an additional 80 acres rented for grazing) has an environmental and educational mission. The Reads are very concerned about sustainable agriculture, which means much more than not using intensive chemical methods. It also involves conservation of rare breeds of sheep, wildlife preservation, and environmental protection.

An incredible network of sustainable growers and herders has developed in the last 25 years. We do everything we can to promote the local and regional suppliers by purchasing from them and distributing their products to other stores from our warehouse. Wedge provided the very first donation to start the Mill City Farmers' Market, opening in June by the Mill City Museum. The market will specialize in local organic products.

Our work isn't finished. Big Food is teaming up with bureaucrats at the USDA to make changes to organics. Some days it feels as if there is a fight at every turn. Big Food thinks you only care about a label. We know you care about so much more than that.

I am immensely proud of the staff of the Wedge, who spend time every day thinking about what we can do about the big issues in agriculture and the environment, as well as how to run one of the most successful natural food co-ops in the country. I am proud of a growing membership of dedicated and passionate members. But most of all, I am humbled by having the opportunity to serve you in this way.

Happy Spring.

*The fire destroyed over half the herd of 1,000 sheep, and left many remaining with health problems. To make a donation to their recovery, send checks to: Relief Fund, Shepherd's Way Farms, c/o First National Bank of Northfield, 329 Division Street, Northfield, MN 55057.