Sustainable-living group receives state ag grant
by GREG LEMON - Ravalli Republic
A local group was recently awarded a $31,000 Montana Department of Agriculture grant to continue its work developing a Bitterroot Valley Food Co-op.
Sustainable Living Systems is a nonprofit group that, over the last several years, established a demonstration permaculture ecovillage northeast of Corvallis.
The group is also working to start a local food system in Ravalli County, said director of programs Jill Davies.
Seeing the local food system come to fruition will require seven steps, Davies said, and one of the most critical steps is developing a food co-op.
The grant awarded to the group comes through Montana's Growth Through Agriculture program, which assists farmers, ranchers and agriculture entrepreneurs in developing ideas and products to stimulate growth in Montana's agriculture industry, according to a press release announcing nine grant recipients statewide.
With the money, Sustainable Living Systems will hire consultants to help formulate a business plan for the co-op, said Julie Foster, local advisor for the Montana Cooperative Development Center, a non-profit group that helps people and organizations start co-ops.
”We've been working on this project for about a year and a half,“ Foster said.
The idea of a co-op is not to have a business that makes money but rather to establish a method to support local farmers and ranchers. The hope is for the co-op to have members who are both producers and consumers, Foster said.
”For the producers it's a way to maintain they're lifestyle and be paid for that hopefully,“ she said.
The group is using the Community Food Co-op in Bozeman as a model. That co-op has operated for about 25 years and boasts nearly 14,000 members, Foster said.
The test run for the co-op has been the Bitterroot Market in Stevensville, where owner Cary Kutter has allowed Sustainable Living Systems to run a large portion of the produce section, Davies said.
”It started kind of slow, but it's increasing every week,“ she said.
Now the group is buying fresh produce from 10 local producers and offering it at the market. It's a model Davies likes and wants to eventually expand to other grocery stores throughout the valley as the distribution part of the co-op.
”If the grocery owners will work with us,“ she said.
The grant is a welcome shot in the arm for furthering the co-op plan, but Davies and Foster said more help is needed. The two are looking for local professionals, including accountants, lawyers and business people, to volunteer for a steering committee to help firm up a business plan for the co-op.
”The more help we get the better,“ Davies said.
The other six points in the group's local food system plan are: a local producers directory, which has been done; a ”buy-fresh, buy-local“ campaign with valley institutions such as schools, senior centers and restaurants; a seed bank of locally adapted seeds; the Opportunity to Farm program, to connect new farmers with landowners who have land they want farmed; and a community land trust in each community, which would hold title to land and put it to use.
For more information on Sustainable Living Systems, the local food system or the Bitterroot Valley Food Co-op, contact Davies at 961-4419.
Reporter Greg Lemon can be reached at 363-3300 or at glemon@ravallirepublic.com
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