We at the co-op love the daily phone calls and visits from the local
farmers. It's exactly what we'd imagined when we first thought of
opening a co-op - providing another outlet for the farmers' bounty and
making it convenient for our customers to buy it.
We know that we provide just a tiny piece of what the farmers need to
make ends meet. We know that farming is one of the most challenging and
grueling professions there is. We have immense respect for all those who
keep our lands under production and feed us. We celebrate having more
farms in The Valley. And if having more farms here means we, as a
community, need to adjust our thinking about them then let's do just
that.
Let's embrace this agricultural rejuvenation happening in our Valley so
that everyone benefits. Let's be creative about marketing and
distributing the food that is grown and raised in the Mad River Valley.
If we need to export some, let's get together and see if we can find
other markets and share in the distribution. Maybe we need to be more
thoughtful about what is being grown so that there is more diversity and
less overlap. Maybe we can forge better communication between local
restaurants and farms to make the most out of what we have right here.
We know that it's hard (if not impossible) for farmers to find the time
for this type of big picture planning, but maybe as a community we can
help. We want all the farms to thrive and prosper, and we have all kinds
of people and organizations who are interested in making this happen,
from The Valley Futures to the Localvores to the Chamber of Commerce.
This Valley can become a model for creating a vibrant agricultural
economy. All the pieces are in place. But we have to work together to
make it happen.
The board and staff of the East Warren Community Market
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