A Growing Online Business

David Czurak

GRAND RAPIDS — The marketing of locally produced food takes center stage next week when an online shopping cooperative will make its debut at an event being held at the Wealthy Theatre.

The event, called How to Eat Locally in the Winter in West Michigan, takes place from 7-9 p.m., Jan. 31. It’s being presented by Farms Without Harm, an organization dedicated to promoting safe and sustainable farming in Michigan, and the Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council. Its purpose is to link consumers interested in buying local products with local farmers and growers at a time when the summer markets are on hiatus.

“There is a huge interest in West Michigan to find out how to buy local food. There is so much information in the media about the local food movement and organics, but there isn’t necessarily enough information about how to apply that,” said Gail Philbin, who started Farms Without Harm in March 2005.

“If you want to buy locally, how do you do that? It’s not that simple. Most of the food that you buy in local supermarkets is not local. So this is our attempt to give people some tools to educate themselves about where the food comes from and where the sources are locally.”

When food is bought locally, the money stays here and is reinvested here, and that is what the online farmers market hopes to accomplish when it’s unveiled next week. Philbin said the idea started initially as a way to connect farmers with customers in the winter. Many still have products to sell, but the normal method of transaction, the farmers market, is closed during the cold months.

“You can go online to shop for local products from local farmers, and once a month you go to a certain location to pick up your order. We’re in a trial phase right now. We did one in December and we did one last weekend,” said Philbin.

The Oklahoma Food Cooperative has designed software for online purchases and is giving the program to any group that wants to start an online market. Details about the market site will be revealed at the Wealthy Theatre event.

“We’re going to phase this in slowly because we can just tell that the demand is going to be huge, and we could quickly get overwhelmed because we’re all volunteers. The farmers are going to appreciate having another outlet for their products,” said Philbin.

“Local farmers that still have stuff to sell will be coming. So it’s another way that people can get eggs, meat, and, actually, greens, too,” she added.

What most people probably don’t know is there are two farmers markets in the area that are open in the winter. The Sweetwater Local Foods Market operates on selected Saturdays at Hackley Health at the Lakes on Harvey Street in Muskegon, just south of the Lakes Mall. Sweetwater’s Chris Bedford will join Tom Cary of GGRFSC at the event to explain what local food means in a Michigan winter.

The other winter farmers market is the brainchild of Paul and Nancy Jones Keiser who operate Agriculture & Health Alive LLC, an organic farm in Marne. The Keisers are hosting their market every other Wednesday at the Wealthy Theatre through April 11 and it will be open on Jan. 31.

The Keisers are also sponsoring a film series that focuses on farming and health through the April date and will be screening “Broken Limbs” as part of next week’s event. The film chronicles problems U.S. apple growers are facing in a global market.

More than 90 percent of the food sold in Michigan comes from farms located out of state, and, in some cases, out of the country. If this food movement can get each household to spend $9 more per week on local foods, it would result in an additional $100 million being spent each year with local producers.

“Every month we’re going to phase in more people, more farmers, and we’re going to grow this thing as practically and intelligently as we can,” said Philbin of the site.

“These are the small farmers, not the mega farms that are already doing business with Meijer. These are the small guys, the ones that are in danger of going out of business if they can’t find more ways to survive.”    BJX