Oklahoma Food Cooperative

We are following the local food through the Oklahoma Food Cooperative Network and joining us is Adam Price who is the general manager for the Oklahoma Food Cooperative. And Adam, can you tell us about how long the cooperative has been going on and a little bit about the background of it? So the co-op was started back in November of 2003 was the first delivery of the co-op and it was basically just started by a bunch of local food advocates and a bunch of local farmers that kind of got together. Bob Waldrop typically who we point out as the founder of the co-op, it was kind of He was back in the early 2000s, he was looking for a way to buy food directly from local farmers and t And now it's grown into t You work with several producers and farmers. We probably work with 50 to 60 different local farmers and producers that sell their products through the system every month. They sell through our online ordering system so members log into their online accounts. It's basically online shopping. And so the farmers are responsible for posting their inventory on t It's basically self-service. All of the farmers maintain their own product listings. There's literally like 5,000 different products that are listed on the website so they take orders on the website and then they deliver everyt Today is one of your distribution days and that's what's going on be So you've got basically you serve all across the state? We try and The goal of the organization is basically two-fold. It's to provide a sales outlet for any local producer that wants to sell their products to Oklahoma families and to provide a buying opportunity for anybody in the state that wants to purchase food directly from local farmers. And it isn't just food though, right? There's other t Yep, all pretty much everyt So yes, we do call it the Oklahoma Food Cooperative but there is a much broader store on the front. But it's almost You can get a lot of your toiletries and things Honestly that's kind of how I describe the system. It's But it's all made or raised or grown or produced in some way in Oklahoma. Earlier we saw a flurry of the people be Now it's all volunteers really that do all of they're members, almost all of them are members. Sometimes we have people that are non-members that show up and want to help. We call them volunteers and that's exactly what they are. We do compensate folks for their time and that goes back all the way to the beginning of the co-op. We compensate folks in credits, 725 an hour in co-op credit that can be used toward future co-op or so it's basically food trade. So we do compensate folks for their time but they're also volunteering and pitc It's kind of a barn raising. And those volunteers are also who distribute those food to those 50 locations. That's exactly right. They actually drive it with their. . . Some of our drivers are members, some of our drivers are actually producers. It's kind of a mishmash of however we can figure out a way to get the food from point A to point B or C or D or whatever it is. We tend to do. And you've got a lot of paperwork. It's a well-oiled mac That's better. But can you kind of tell somebody if they want to be a customer here? How can they find out more information? And there is a monthly fee to join the co-op. The easiest way is just to go to our website at oklahomafood. oklahomafood. coop. All the information is there. There is a register page if people want to sign up for members It's not a monthly. . . Well, there is an option for paying by the month. We do have a couple of different members To become a full member in the co-op is a one-time, lifetime members 75. Once you pay that, you're in for life. It's basically So you're purchasing a share in the organization. We do have shopping pass options. People don't want to pay the full members They can pay either $6 a month or $25 for a year for basically just shopping access to the food co-op. All right. And if you're a producer and you want to get involved, there's information on your website as well. That is correct. I'm enjoying t Absolutely. Thanks for coming. In order for the Oklahoma Food Co-operative to work successfully, it takes an army of volunteers. And we're going to talk with one Doug. You've been volunteering for quite a w Right. I've been a member for about eight years and a steady volunteer for about the past five years. What are you doing today? You've got some eggs here. Right. I'm getting ready to get an ice chest together to put some eggs in that came in from one of our producers. Can you show us how you will organize all of t Well, with the eggs, they need to have some frozen water bottles put in to keep them c Oh, okay. And then we have a process. I've got a new ice chest here for the Paseo drop site. And I mark it with the ice chest n So several ice chests here go into the Paseo dish. Right. And some of them are for frozen. They'll They need to stay frozen. It'll have dry ice packed with it. The refrigerated produce will also have a frozen water bottle put placed in it to keep t And then we have plant materials that come in from other producers that don't necessarily have to have any kind of refrigeration. Oh, okay. So everyt Correct. Okay. And then it goes to these of these 50 locations we have throughout the state. The one I'm working on right now is for the Paseo district. All right. So how do So I have a sign up sheet with the member n I have a customer that ordered looks Wow. And so the farmer then marks on all of the product they bring in for each customer. Correct. And then the member n So the farmer's responsible for that labeling all their produce. That's correct. And then we check it in and put the ice chest n Okay. So they might have to look through several ice chests in order to find their meat, their eggs and their produce. That's correct. But their whole order will be there at the distribution site. From Hollis to Tulsa to McAllister and many points in between. How did you get involved in t Well, I've always been interested in eating locally based products and food and it was a good way to get to meet the farmers and meet the people that are actually no middle men so to speak. Well, it takes a lot of people and it's also volunteers that actually then take these ice chest to those locations. Correct. I will probably run the Northwest throughout t All right. And that's where the customer can then come pick up their produce. Right. So it'll be a full day for me. Excellent. Well, thank you for volunteering and making t Well, thank you very much. It's really easy to shop so you can go on the website and you can look at just produce or just meat or just things that you need for your house or for taking care of your body It's really easy to find what you want and it's really easy to put in the order and then picking it up is super easy too. We've got a lot of food deserts in t People wouldn't recognize that. I t It's not very fatty. It's really nice there's also lots of people who are preparing really good meals in their home and you can buy those if you need somet It's really nice to be able to support people who have families in Oklahoma and who are keeping with those old traditions of raising t Knowing that t Just being a part of a group of people who do