Celebrating Our Local Farmers

This January in produce, we’re starting a new tradition of celebrating our local farmers. You might think January is a weird time of year to celebrate farmers, but it’s the perfect time. Winter is vacation time for most farmers, and who doesn’t want to celebrate while they’re on vacation? 

So for the week of January 9-16th, you’ll have the opportunity to thank your local farmers. At the Change for Good table, we will have a thank you card station set up to thank your local farmers. Tell them why you are grateful for their hard work, and tell them about your favorite locally produced items. 

Alongside our thank you cards, we will also be sending out a survey to all our co-op members. This is the perfect time to give feedback to the farmers, request something you haven’t seen before, or a new cultivar you’d love to see sold at the co-op. We also are looking for feedback in the produce department in general. What do you like about the produce department? What do you want to see from us moving forward? How do you feel about the produce packaging? And finally, we want to ask you, what does local mean to you? 

Another way you can help celebrate your local farmers is by buying a CSA Share! This is something that supports farmers greatly in the winter and early spring to help them get a jumpstart on the season. They can use this initial investment to buy seeds, compost, tools, and any other needs. If you love to cook and get creative in the kitchen CSAs are for you. If you’re looking to eat more healthily in 2025 and save money at the same time CSAs are for you. And if you love the local produce from the co-op and want a steady and reliable stream of local produce every week CSAs are for you. And don’t limit yourself, there are many different ways to get and use a CSA. If think a share might be too much food for one person think about splitting it with a roommate, friend, or coworker. Think about sharing the bounty of local food by getting a share for your local business, nothing brings a team together like sharing a meal. The cost may seem more expensive than buying from the store or farmers market at first but when you break it down from week to week you’re saving money. And if the cost is too much for you or your family, think about doing a work share.