New co-op debuts local foods in Eastern Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS – A years-long effort to offer more local foods in Eastern Iowa came to fruition Wednesday, Aug. 17, with the opening of the Iowa Valley Food Co-op.

The co-op offers members a chance to order locally produced vegetables, meat, wine, cheese and more, all online.

Wednesday was the first day those online orders were available to pick up from the distribution site at First Presbyterian Church, 310 Fifth St. SE.

“I'm just so excited about the potential here,” said Scott Koepke, a founding member of the co-op. “It's exciting to have a new market for local foods. It's about that rising tide that's lifting all of us.”

Koepke was among more than a dozen volunteers who helped sorted the food that farmers brought to the site and provide orders to customers.

Jesse Singerman, one of the co-op organizers, said the distribution was a “soft run” in advance of the co-op's grand opening on Sept. 21.

Orders for that date begin on Sept. 1.

Jason Grimm, food system planner for Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development and a co-op organizer, said most of the 110 consumer members are from the Cedar Rapids and Marion area, with others from Iowa City, Palo and Ely.

Grimm said the co-op also has 23 producer members, who provided items for the 52 orders placed during the first month.

The co-op, just the second of its kind in Iowa after one in Des Moines, is the culmination of three years of work by a variety of groups concerned about obesity rates, fuel prices and food security.

Iowa Valley Food Co-op members pay $25 to join as a consumer and $75 for producers.

The co-op charges producers 10 percent of their sales and another 10 percent from customers to cover the cost of utilities, staff and equipment.

Cheryl Guritz took advantage of both the producer and consumer sides of the co-op.

As an owner of Frog Hollow Farm in Walker, she is finding more customers for her chevon, or goat meat.

Guritz also purchased her own order of bread, cheese, turkey and brats.

“The convenience of the online shopping is the advantage – it's like Amazon.com,” she said. “It's fairly priced and you get to know where your food comes from and how it's produced.”

Members can still join the Iowa Valley Food Co-op at: www.iowavalleyfood.com