Co-op Partners with Hudson Headwaters Health Network for Healthy Eating Presentation

Ti Co-op's Newest Farm: Wild Work Farm

Farm Manager Lissa Goldstein tends the greens at Wild Work

“…every inch of Wild Work Farm says ‘care’ and ‘attention’…

An unsuspecting visitor who wandered into the Ticonderoga Natural Foods Co-op would never know that this local grocery store is only 5 years old.  With its well-stocked coolers of local and organic meats, cheeses, dairy products & mushrooms, its bulk herbs, grains, berries & nuts, and its notoriously well-chosen artisanal regional beer, you’d think it had been around for a while.

But being the new kid on the block and the only local grocery store in town has motivated the co-op to constantly improve & find ways to meet customers’ needs.  This year, the members asked the co-op to focus on providing consistent, high-quality produce.  In response, the store set out to strengthen the relationships it already has with local (within a 50-mile range) produce farmers, identifying each farm’s specialty products to sell.   That’s also when the co-op went “Wild…” adding a new small farm from the region to the list of its producers.

Wild Work Farm, nestled in the valley between the High Peaks Wilderness and the Dix Mountain Wilderness, sits on the flood plain just east of the Ausible River.  Like the co-op, it is young, just into its 4th season.  Farmer - manager Lissa Goldstein met me for a tour of the farm; she’s as comfortable talking mission as she is plucking cucumber beetles from one of her key crops.  Wild Work Farms is all about building resilient, healthy rural economies bolstered by agricultural networks, a strong sense of environmental responsibility and community health.  It’s a mission that aligns well with the Ti Co-op’s mission.

Lissa and her 4 employees farm 3 acres of land that is a piece of a larger area that her great, great grandfather bought in 1906.   When I asked Lissa how the farm got its name, she said “a unique thing about us is that there are these working landscapes amidst a very wild land.”  And then with a chuckle, she added “and of course the work is kind of crazy too…so everything’s a bit wild.”

Despite the name, every inch of Wild Work Farm says “care” and “attention to detail,” from the new celery starts neatly in their trays to the field of salad greens, alliums & carrots well fenced to protect them from deer, to the brand-new wash & pack station where produce is cleaned and readied for delivery to customers.

All that care and attention produces beautiful, healthy produce that has been available this year at the Ti Co-op.  So far this season, Wild Work has provided the co-op with basil, chives, cilantro and parsley along with shelling peas, chard, lettuce, kohlrabi and Tokyo turnips.   Co-op manager Megan Cunningham says sales have been going well.

For myself, I have boosted the yummy factor of my tacos, sandwiches and salads with their arugula, cilantro and party mix of early greens, all of which have lasted at least a week in the fridge.

If your mouth is watering, check out all of the local produce the co-op has to offer from our wonderful local farmers. Fresh veggies from Wild Work Farm, and other local farms are re-stocked and ready for you every Thursday afternoon. Check Instagram and Facebook for updates on what seasonal produce is available.

Learn more at:

Ticonderoganaturalfoodscoop.com

instagram.com/ticonderoganaturalfoodscoop

facebook.com/ticonderogacoop/

Ti co-op weathers the coronavirus

The Sun Community News - Tim Rowland

TICONDEROGA | When the coronavirus pandemic created scarcities at the Wal Mart supermarket this spring, a woman walked into the Ticonderoga Natural Foods Co-op lamenting the shortages on the shelves of the town’s local grocery store.

The co-op’s manager, Megan Cunningham, bit her tongue, but she wanted to blurt out, “We’re your local grocery store.”

While 2020 has not been such a great year in many ways, it’s been good to the Montcalm Street co-op, which more people have discovered is a viable alternative to big supermarkets.

“When the food chain was disrupted at Wal Mart, we were flooded with people,” Cunningham said. “We broke every record for sales we’d ever had.”

Because the co-op is small and agile and depends on local suppliers instead of big distribution networks, its shelves remained filled when the crisis hit. Meat, for example, is supplied nationally by a relatively few number of processors. The coronavirus forced those plants to shut down at the same time demand was surging and the system crashed.

But meat, dairy and produce at the co-op is locally sourced, and its dry goods are provided by regional suppliers. For example, “Lilie Valley Farm in Putnam is the reason we didn’t run out of eggs,” Cunningham said. Word spread that the co-op was able to provide what big stores couldn’t.

And for many it’s been an eye-opener. The co-op has had to battle the assumption that it’s a niche health food store rather than a mainstream grocery.

“Some people thought that everything we had was vegan and gluten free,” Cunningham said. “They were surprised we had meat.”

Going into the year, the co-op had 630 members, and its goal was to reach 750 by September. Instead, it hit its mark in July. And while sales have plateaued as things return to something resembling normal, they are still outpacing those of a year ago.

They discovered that the co-op not only had meat, it had fresh-baked bread, craft beers, freshly delivered seafood from the Rhode Island coast and bags of what devotees believe is the best coffee going. Whatever speciality items the co-op doesn’t have can be ordered.

The cost is a little more, but the quality makes up for it, Cunningham said, particularly in foods that have been naturally raised without hormones or additives.

Cunningham said the co-op has also been blessed with volunteers who came to the rescue and helped navigate the rapids caused by the pandemic.

“Prior to the outbreak, we were lucky to have people from Mountain Lake Services come and help us unpack, price, and shelve on our largest delivery day,” Cunningham said. “After the pandemic hit and Mountain Lake Services shut down that program, our member volunteers immediately stepped up and made it possible to get these orders processed — orders which were only increasing in size and coming in on what was to become our busiest day of the week.”

Volunteers also drive down to Argyle Cheese farm and Lucy Jo's Roastery in Salem and pick up orders, making it possible for Ticonderogians to have access to yogurt, cheeses and high-quality coffee, and they also meet a delivery truck whose route only extends to Crown Point.

It has all been a mutually beneficial experience for everyone in the community. “In uncertain times we offer a little bit of certainty,” Cunningham said. “It makes people comfortable to know they won’t be caught in a food drought. And to know that we have the support of the community is a great thing.”

Co-op gets new coolers

Sun Community News

TICONDEROGA | Bright, modern coolers are accepted, and perhaps even required, pieces of equipment for any grocery store. And today, the Ticonderoga Natural Foods Co-op on Montcalm Street can boast of two modern coolers thanks to many members, contributors and volunteers who, quite literally, got the coolers through the co-ops doors.

“This is going to help the co-op, it’s going to help the local producers and it’s going to help the town,” said co-op manager Penny Monjeau.

The co-op features fresh, local produce and dairy products, but without the professional, top-end coolers it was difficult keeping fresh foods fresh for long.

The new coolers are functional and also an aesthetic addition, showing off heaps of lettuce, broccoli, peppers, Brussels sprouts and cabbage out in the open, and not behind glass. 

As the season grows late, Monjeau said the co-op is still getting produce from Bucksberry Farm, Daughters Five and Juniper Hill. 

“Local is our first goal,” Monjeau said. 

The co-op also stresses organically grown food, and has interesting delicacies populating the cooler, such as fresh fermented raw sauerkraut and Camembert cheese.

Monjeau said the co-op stocks cheese and other dairy products from a number of regional producers, including Nettle Meadow, North Country Creamery, Argyle Farm, Maplebrook and Four Fat Fowl.

Along with getting people to think of downtown Ticonderoga as a grocery destination, Monjeau said the lack of proper coolers had been the biggest issue facing the co-op.

A number of people stepped up to help solve the cooler problem, including the Middlebury, Vt., co-op, which contributed a matching grant. The co-op has also gotten support from Ticonderoga Federal Credit Union, Community Bank and Jasama real estate group — as well as its 485 members. 

“We love our members,” Monjeau said. 

Members, and their contribution to the co-op will be celebrated at the co-op on Saturday, Oct. 27, from noon until 3 p.m., with food, drinks and music.

Monjeau said not only does the co-op  want to succeed, but it wants to be part of a downtown revitalization that sees the opening of a number of new stores on Montcalm Street. 

“We’re here for the long run, and we need as many businesses to stay open as many hours as possible,” Monjeau said. “We’re really trying to build something and keep it going. She said there is a core of good businesses and good people in the downtown, as evidenced by the help the co-op received when the first cooler arrived.

Originally, the Ticonderoga Natural Foods Co-op had hoped for an eight-foot cooler, but that model was too wide to fit through the door. 

So the co-op got two four-footers, and even that was a tight fit. Fortunately, Jeremy Madden of Maddens Pub and Dean Cook of Adirondack Dental Health Association were there to give it a helpful shove through the front door into its new home.

The Co-op is building a following

http://www.suncommunitynews.com/articles/the-sun/co-op-building-a-following/

Ticonderoga Chamber of commerce mixer at the co-op.

http://www.suncommunitynews.com/articles/the-sun/co-op-invites-networkers/