Wesleyan’s Local Co-op is a student-led, volunteer-run food cooperative that provides local and organic food to the campus community. Our goal is to provide a healthy and delicious alternative to dining hall food. Through Co-op, students form relationships with local farmers and food producers that strengthen the bond between Wesleyan and its surrounding community.
Local co-op is a collective of 9 individual co-ops: Produce, Bread, Dairy, Meat, Coffee, Preserves, Tofu/Seitan, Cheese, Kombucha, and Eggs. At the beginning of each semester, students, faculty, and community members buy shares from each cooperative separately. Students buy shares with their meal plan points because they are required to purchase a full meal plan each semester.
Once a week, about 13 student coordinators from each cooperative hold a pick-up together where members can come grab their shares. Every member of Co-op is required to volunteer an hour of their time during a pick-up each semester. This allows us to keep our operational costs low. Other than weekly pickups, Co-op coordinators organize trips to our partner farms and send out weekly recipe ideas. We hope that our work brings people closer to the source of their food, so they continue to support local, healthy, sustainable, and yummy food after they leave Wes!
- nellis@wesleyan.edu
