Optimistic group Members of the ‘Farm to Market Alliance’ group, formed last March, are working to open a co-op market in the former Verndale Grocery Store. The group (made up of local growers and interested people in the community) is hoping a co-op will stimulate the local economy, while providing healthy, locally grown food items to area residents. Details about co-op membership are still being worked out. Pictured above, at Harvest Thyme Bistro in Wadena, are (from left) Mel Wiens, Chair of Staples Area Farmer’s Market; Lee Tarrell, leader of the ‘Farm to Market Alliance;’ David Evert and Del Moen with STEP (Stimulating Economic Progress); and Ed Boroski, Manager/Treasurer of the SAFM. (Staples World photo by Dawn Timbs) A “Farm to Market Alliance” co-op” is still a dream for a few people in the Staples area; but they’re hoping that their efforts to make it a reality will someday result in a healthier local economy, as well as healthier area residents.

The dream?

To purchase the former Verndale Grocery Store, closed for nearly two years; and re-open it as a local year-round market which sells only locally-produced items.

It would be a place where local growers could sell their merchandise at a competitive price; and where health-conscious residents could shop for organic, non-processed food items.

The front half of the market would be a retail area; and the back half would be set up for wholesale production - selling to food directors, restaurants, local schools, etc.

“It’s still very much in the early stages, but this is going to work,” said Ed Boroski of Staples, a member of the ‘Farm to Market Alliance’ which formed this past March. “It will be the first one of its kind in Minnesota. We’re pretty excited.”

Lee Tarrell is the leader of the group, “Elected when my back was turned,” he laughed recently during an interview (along with a few other group members) at Harvest Thyme Bistro in Wadena.

Tarrell is an insurance agent whose office is on Farwell Street in Verndale, near where the now-vacant grocery store sits.

“It really bothers me to look out the window, especially when the cafe closes, and nothing is going on downtown. Something needs to be done,” Tarrell said.

Deb Erickson, a member of the Staples Area Farmer’s Market, was the person who first planted the seed about purchasing the former grocery store and starting a co-op.

“I was talking to Lee one day and told him he should think about buying it,” Erickson said. “There isn’t an outlet in this area for vendors to sell their merchandise year round.”

Purchasing the former grocery store wasn’t something he wanted to do on his own, but Tarrell thought Erickson had a good idea.

The two started brainstorming with other interested people in Verndale as well as growers from many

different communities and

shortly after formed the ‘Farm to Market Alliance.’

Recently, the group made an offer on the former grocery store, which is listed at $34,900; and they’ve been actively collecting donations from people interested in supporting this venture.

“We’ve got people from all over that want to be a part of this...they’re coming from Wadena, Cass, Morrison and Todd counties,” Boroski said. “More and more local producers are getting on board, which is great.”

Boroski said he’s also been encouraged by the support from medical staff at Lakewood Health System in Staples. “We have a farmer’s market there once a week and a lot of nurses have said they are all for something like this. They’ve been giving their financial support, too. People want to see this happen.”

Two elderly women shopping at the farmer’s market saw the ‘Farm to Market’ information on

display, Boroski said, and

asked how they could help. “They gave me a few dollars

each, all they could afford. It brought tears to my eyes,” he added.

The ‘Farm to Market Alliance’ has been working with STEP (Stimulating Economic Progress) a nonprofit organization based in Wadena.

“STEP is the umbrella under which we are attempting to organize the co-op,” Tarrell said, explaining that, through STEP, contributors would be able to donate on a taxexempt basis.

STEP would also provide the “Prairie Rivers” label for the co-op to market their products.

David Evert, Wadena, runs STEP and has been a part of the brainstorming sessions with the ‘Farm to Market Alliance.’

He’s cautious to say too much about the co-op until the purchase of the store is a reality, Evert said, but he is very supportive of the group’s mission.

Having grown up on a farm, Evert said he believes it’s important to see the connection of the business on Main Street to the farm that’s located eight miles down the road.

“When you have healthy local farmers, you have healthy communities,” Evert said.

“It’s all about increasing the availability of local foods,” Evert said. “The market will provide a way for the growers to make money, who in turn will spend their money in the community.”

Evert hopes that people’s perceptions of farms will also get healthier. STEP is working to help keep farms as farms.

“Pieces of acreage is not a farm,” Evert insists. “A farm has a soul, a spirit, a legacy.”

Del Moen,Wadena, is the chairman of STEP and an enthusiastic member of the ‘Farm to Market Alliance.’

“We’re trying to recapture what we did 70 years ago,” Moen said. “We used to grow our own food. We had a creamery in town. You used to know where your food came from.”

In the 60’s and 70’s, that all started changing, Moen said, noting a shift toward corporate farms and an emphasis on buying cheap (but not necessarily healthy) foods.

Corporate farms do not help build healthy communities, Moen said. “They spend their money someplace else,” he added.

Now there’s an opportunity to do a new version of those local farms from long ago, Moen said.

Thanks to new high-tunnel gardening techniques, growers are able to extend their harvest season, even into the winter months.

This is good news for producers looking to make a decent living, as well as for consumers who would like to purchase local food long after the farmer’s market has closed up shop in the fall.

“There are so many health concerns today that are directly related to our diet over the past 40 years or so,” Moen said. “The public is tired of processed foods.”

Kelly Coughlin is a nutritionist at Lakewood Health System in Staples and is also on the board of STEP.

As a dietician, Coughlin said she sees a lot of benefits to having locally grown foods available. The less processed, the better, she stressed. “Obviously, if we’re not getting the majority of our food in a box or through a window in our car, we’re going to be a lot healthier.”

At LHS, Coughlin has become aware of more and more diabetes cases. “It’s incredible,” she said. “So much of it has to do with the amount of refined carbohydrates and sugars that people are consuming. They’re not getting enough fiber.”

She would be thrilled to see the ‘Farm to Market Alliance’ co-op become a reality, Coughlin said. “I see it as a need. We could really make a niche for our community.”

Coughlin said LHS has been looking into using more locally grown foods in its dining facilities. She’s hoping to see more area restaurants and schools do the same.

Evert is a witness to the positive effects eating locally grown food can bring.

“Harvest Thyme Bistro

serves organic, locally

grown food,” Evert shared. “I ate there every day for

two months and didn’t change anything else in my life. At the end of that time, just by eating good food, I lost eight and a half pounds.”

Moen believes the attitudes about food in America are changing.

“For years, people just wanted food that was cheap. Now, I hear people saying, “I want my food to be healthy, even if it costs a little more.”

Erickson has been encouraged to see a lot of young people taking an interest in gardening. She’s met many who are excited about the potential co-op.

“We’ve got a young student, Mac Schluttner, that’s been at every meeting and is so excited about

gardening and selling his

produce,” Erickson said. “It’s exciting to see kids getting

back to the basics.”

It could take up to a year before the funds are secured and the building purchased, but the ‘Farm to Market Alliance’ group continues to dream.

With every meeting, the dream becomes clearer, Erickson said. “Of course, the first huge step will be to purchase the store. Once that’s done, there are so many possibilities.”

There will be a large

meat department at the ‘Farm to Market Alliance’

co-op (including beef, chicken and lamb), a variety of fresh vegetables, organic milk and other dairy products, home-made condiments such as jams, jellies and salsas. In time, the group hopes to see fresh bread products baked at the market.

“We’re hoping the Prairie Rivers label will put this area on the map,” Boroski said. “Maybe this coop will stimulate the economy in our area.”

For more information about the ‘Farm to Market Alliance,’ call Lee Tarrell at 218-639-7946 or Deb Erickson at 218-445-5147.