Cool Co-op options

Among the many great local grocers and food suppliers here in the Wasatch Valley, there are also a good number of co-ops which make it easy to consume and support locally made produce and products. One of these co-ops, The Community Food Co-Op,  is closing after 6 years of service.  I have never used this co-op but am considering attending their Farewell Open House tomorrow at 1726 S. 700 W as 15 of their 17 vendors will be present with food samples. You can read the flyer for the event here. Also, their last newsletter with a list of suppliers and other co-ops can be found here. 

I have subscribed to a co-op like business, Winder Farms, in the past and was quite pleased and only disabled my service because I travel quite a bit and was rarely home to enjoy the spoils because, they were spoiled by my return. Winder Farms offers local foods and produces their own milk, delivering it in a glass jar at your doorstep 50s style. And no need to worry about one of your kids looking uncannily like the milkman, he comes at about 4 in the morning. One can purchase their milk at the grocery store but is only available in a plastic jug on the shelves. I am seriously reconsidering re-subscribing this month to get the milk again. There is a minimum order amount each week or you can postpone your delivery for a period of time. It is easy to make weekly selections online and it is also a nice service to have food delivered. The food costs more but this is due to the delivery service and the local and quality aspect of the products offered. When I had this service, I subscribed to get an assortment box each week and thought it was a fun challenge to come up with creative meals based on what they had available and included in the box. 

I have wanted to try Calis Natural Foods, a co-op established by Ian Brandt, the owner of famous and wonderful vegan restaurants in Salt Lake, Sage's Cafe and The Vertical Diner. Other recommendations which I have seen for co-ops are  Utah Co-op, Utah Farms, Schwan's and Bountiful Baskets. While this is not a co-op, but rather a farm, a favorite of mine is Farnsworth Farms where I go to pick up apples, pears, pumpkins and their famous Apple Cider which is oh-so-tasty and distributed in a few local shops. If there additional co-ops or farms which I have not included, feel free to add them in the comments section.


Co-ops are also a great way to sustain local food producers until  the farmer's markets are in full swing in the summer. The main farmer's market, The Downtown Farmer's Market, which I swear is mainly for arts & crafts with a few produce vendors sprinkled in, starts up in June so it is still a ways out from now. I hear the Tuesday night market (which starts in August) is better for actual produce shoppers than the Saturday market.There is also a Park City farmer's market called Park Silly and I have wanted to venture up there one of these Saturdays to check it out but I'm not sure how many food vendors they have on site. I'd like to hear if my reading audience knows of other farmer's markets locations (I have heard there is one in Murray Park too).

But the best local produce, in my opinion, is in one's own yard. I bought a house 4 years ago with a third of an acre of land with a strong intent on growing my own vegetables and I have been able to accomplish that each year. I grew up always having a garden and living in an apartment did not suit me because I could not run outside to pick fresh tomatoes off of the vine or  mint for a salad. Each year I have loftier goals to grow new and peculiar specimens like soybeans, hops or tea plants.  I accomplish roughly a third of these plans each year but have still been doing a good job of trying different heirloom varieties of tomatoes, eggplant and all sorts of other vegetables in my garden. My favorite local supplier of seeds and starter herbs and plants is Kenyon Organics.  This company was started by a former employee of a Salt Lake charity who was forced to find new works when the recession hit. Instead or working for someone else, she began growing herbs and vegetables in her own backyard and I discovered her at a Green Fair which my work sponsored. I was drawn to her tent because of the wide array of beautiful and colorful tomatoes she had on display, many of which I had been planning on purchasing through an other seed catalog, Baker Creek, which features the widest variety of heirloom seeds that I have ever seen.  I will always shop local first and only buy from Baker Creek if my local provider doesn't offer what I need. 


My seed/planting recommendations are to try white or green eggplant, Black tomatoes (especially the cherry ones which taste like chocolate fruity treats!) and rainbow colored carrots. Start your graden planning now and if you live in an apartment, you can still grow your own tomatoes in a planter and get a full-spectrum light bulb. I think that I am going to try to grow some tomatoes indoors during the winter and see how they perform. But winter will soon be over, thank God, and crops will be ready to start indoors and some outdoors starting in March. So purchase your seeds now in preparation and please try planting something for the first time or something new this year. And if you're not up for that task, there are plenty of ways to support those that do grow food at a local level as mentioned above.