Food co-op hopes to take root in Sitka

Sitka | Living in Alaska can sometimes make it difficult to get your hands on certain items. And the organizers of a new food cooperative say nowhere is that more apparent than when it comes to cheap organic food. The group has been ordering food in bulk since the summer, and it’s hoping to grow in the months ahead.

Ann Betty dials a phone as volunteers sort food into the boxes scattered throughout a pilates studio downtown Sitka.

“Hey, Nadia, this is Ann Betty calling from the Food Co-op,” she says into the receiver. “Your order’s in. It’s Monday around 4, and we’ll be here until 6 o’clock for a pickup. The number is 747…”

About 1,600 pounds of food are in the room right now, having just come off four palettes that arrived on that day’s barge. This shipment will be split among 30 people.

Chohla Moll is one of them. Her 15-month-old son, Taan, rides comfortably on her back, his big eyes taking in the sights. Moll walks over to where her order is waiting.

“And I got 25 pounds of organic flour, 25 pounds of organic oats, and some very big sausage,” she said. “I actually don’t know everything that’s came in yet. I’m excited. It’s almost like Christmas.”

She says it takes about a week between the order and the arrival of the shipment.

Moll says she participates in the co-op partly because of the sense of community it gives her – a collection of like-minded people who share similar tastes in organic food. But also, she says the co-op has made it cheaper to provide organic food to her family.

“I have small children. I have one small son, and then my parents live in town, my sister has two small kids as well, I have some teenagers in my family, and we have a variety of different foods, and we’re trying to eat healthy,” she says.

There are some drawbacks — impulse buys are impossible, obviously — but overall, she’s happy with the experience.

Sitka’s grocery stores all carry organic food, but co-op organizers say their method allows for specific bulk orders that make the prices cheaper for those who participate. Across the room from Moll’s order, Mike McConnell is loading heavy boxes onto a handcart. Outside, he loads his order into the car.

“We would prefer to buy locally if we can,” he says. “But we’ve gradually switched over to a mostly organic diet, and a vegan diet, and we just have a hard time getting what we need here.”

Ann Betty is one of the organizers of the co-op. She says the goal in organizing the group is not only to go in on large shipments of food together, but also to build community.

“You know, the co-op is just a really great meeting place,” Betty said. “It’s a place where you can have cooking classes, you can have classes on gardening; anything that’s pertinent to food and community and local green efforts. It seems like there’s a lot of little groups around town that have a lot of goals, and I see them all kind of merging.”

The group, she says, is growing quickly, from 20 members in July to about 200 people who have expressed interest. They’ve just become Sitka Food Co-op Incorporated.

“And once we go through the next few stages – getting a bank account, business license, all of those things – then we can start memberships,” she said.

The group is also trying to raise capital in hopes of establishing a storefront. They’re beginning with a fund-raiser – dinner and a movie – on Saturday at Centennial Hall. Where they go from there, Betty says, will be up to the members.

“The sky is the limit,” she said. “We could have a small little store, we could have a big grocery store. The amount of community involvement and interest and volunteerism is what will determine where we ultimately end up.”