L.E.A.F. Community Bulk Buying

[Jana Christian]

You are invited to attend the next meeting focusing on options for bulk buying food staples from local suppliers.
We are currently researching local sources for flour, oats, nuts/seeds, dried fruits, legumes and beans, honey and bee pollen. We are hoping to place an order soon for some of these items and would welcome any feedback and/or participation in the group.

WHEN: Thursday, February 22 at 6pm
WHERE: Lakewood Public Library Main Branch, Auditorium

Thank you for your continued interest and support!
Jana Christian

[Jana Christian]

Hope I'm in the right place and that everyone can find us here...
I will cut and paste these because I have yet to figure out how to attach a document or upload it anywhere else.
If someone has contacted me directly with an interest in this initiative, I will try and email them an attachment.

Again, I am desperately searching for a secretary for bulk buying meetings. This does not require a huge time commitment. I simply need someone to keep general notes of our discussion at meetings so that I can type up and distribute notes afterward. It is hard for me to facilitate meetings and write down all the ideas generated at the same time. This does not have to be just one person either - if someone simply volunteers to help at each meeting, that would be most helpful.
Ken Warren has agreed to handle the finances in the interim, but he has a lot of other responsibilities and I'd like others in this group to step up as well.

The complete notes follow...
Next meeting: Thursday, March 1 6pm, LPL Main Auditorium

Notes
Second Meeting re: Bulk Buying Club/Food Cooperative
Thursday, February 22, 2007

Attendees:

Total of 14


Discussion Summary:
The meeting opened with a brief overview of the first meeting including an explanation of why we chose not to buy into an established co-op.

Purpose/goal of group was presented and agreed upon:
“Create a network of individuals with whom to combine financial resources to obtain healthy food from local sources independent of business or outside agencies emphasizing community connections and making sustainable food choices.â€Â￾

List of specific bulk items identified at the first meeting was reviewed and those in attendance shared what information they had discovered about direct local suppliers:
Jana Christian- following up on two large distributors: Minneapolis Flour and Montana Milling and several smaller local sources for honey, grains and nuts
Chris Trapp - has contacted several sources of local grains including oats and flour
Dan Slife - rice (arrived later, but is following up on a lead)

Jana’s frustration with obtaining return phone calls and getting price lists from these suppliers was echoed by all others who were researching local vendors/farms.

Because of Ohio’s climate, we will not be able to find all bulk food items locally. Rather than continue to research more leads, it was determined that the best course of action is to follow up on the leads that we have already established and work towards a preliminary order to “testâ€Â￾ the process.

Although Julie Breitenstein was not in attendance, she emailed Jana with information regarding Vero Fresh (http://verofresh.com/). Vero Fresh is a distributor of local farms and producers who forgo conventional chemically-based techniques and/or ingredients in favor of organic, natural or permaculture farming methods. The owner of Vero Fresh, Jessica Ferrato, moved to Philadelphia. However, she in the process of handing the business over to Kevin Serwick who attended this meeting. They are open to discussing partnerships or even cooperative arrangements with the bulk buying group.

Dori Schneider who did the buying for her food cooperative in Atlanta also attended the meeting. She shared some of her insights and experiences as a member of that group and offered to let us use her digital scale which measures quantities up to 150 pounds. Not having a scale and needing to raise money to purchase one of this quality would have been a major stumbling block for the formation of the bulk buying initiative so we are very fortunate to Dori for her willingness to help!

Cindy Bischof-Steinbrick suggested a page of storage guidelines for the items purchased on a regular basis be researched and designed as a future project.

Several others in attendance offered transportation, help with distribution of large quantities, storage space and financial assistance. Sign-up sheets will be available at the next meeting to address these areas (and others) of concern.

Action Steps:
The goal is to place an order at next week’s meeting (this includes the exchange of money). Those interested in participating are asked to look at the items listed and determine what quantity (how many pounds) they would like to purchase in this first “testâ€Â￾ run. Price lists will be reviewed at the meeting with a special consideration for both price and source.

Popcorn kernels
Brown rice
Whole oats (regular oats that require cooking)
Organic whole wheat flour
Lentils (we will determine whether to purchase brown or red based on price)
Organic raisins

Pecans – these will be purchased at a price of $7.50/# from Pecandorosa Pecans, owned by Mick & Kay Prochko of Covered Bridge Gardens.

Next Meeting:
Thursday, March 1
6:00 pm
Lakewood Public Library, Main Branch
Auditorium

[Dan Slife]

Jana,

For the uninitiated, can you provide a ROUGH guestimate on a minimum buy-in. Say, if I was a single guy (and I am), looking to buy 5-10 lbs of brown rice, how much should I be prepared to spend?

I do understand that much of this is contingent upon turnout at the next meeting.

Jim,

You had mentioned that the L.E.A.F. Community now has perissiom to post pdfs,doc. and other files. Can such a document be posted here, in this forum?

[dl meckes]

Dan-

Short answer: No.

As I mentioned in my email, posting documents, etc. is limited to a few areas of the Deck due to space constraints.

When we figure out the L.E.A.F. part of the Deck, we'll also figure out where documents, etc. can be posted, and by whom.

[Jana Christian]

To answer your question, Dan...
ROUGH estimate (I am still waiting prices on several items and we need to review as a group whether local or rock-bottom price is more important):
oats, 50-75 cents/lb.
brown rice, around $1.00/lb.
raisins - no guess yet (sorry)
lentils - no idea yet (again, I apologize)
popcorn, $1 - $1.25/lb.
pecans, $7.50/lb.
These items will be from LOCAL suppliers and produced/grown locally when possible. They are all organic (certified and non-certified).

The group has done some great work and we have some wonderful options to explore! Hope everyone is able to attend the meeting Thursday, March 1 at 6pm - Lakewood Public Library Auditorium.

Jana

[Jana Christian]

Here is another open invitation...
PLEASE JOIN US as we review options for bulk buying food staples from local suppliers.
We are currently building orders for popcorn, pecans, oats, whole wheat flour. lentils, raisins and brown rice. We welcome any feedback and/or participation in the group.

WHEN: Thursday, March 1 at 6pm
WHERE: Lakewood Public Library Main Branch, Auditorium

Jana Christian

[Jim O'Bryan]

Jana

Please do not forget to add important dates to the calendar on the front page.

It is the canedar Lakewoodites love to use and others like to copy. Great way to spread the word on these meetings.

http://lakewoodobserver.com

On the right side of the page.

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