Please Support the New Orleans Food Co-op!

One thing I really, really miss about home is the wonderful supermarket (Wegman's) and dirt-cheap Italian delis (Guercio's) and farmers markets that overflow with produce, flowers, demonstrations and music (Bidwell). I'm not going to dog the New Orleans farmers market scene, it's a good start, but selection is pretty limited, spaces are constrained and so on. I also miss the food co-op (Lexington), of which my mother was member number 15 and we spent playful hours of childhood sorting spices and such so that we could reach our weekly hours and therefore get our family discount on food.

New Orleans has improved since I moved here in 1998 when the scene was dominated by Schwegman's and Winn Dixie. Ugh, and also that awful Canal Villere that used to be on the corner of Claiborne and Carrollton.



Remember this beauty? Ain't dere no more. It has been replaced by a much nicer albeit much pricier Robert's. Don't forget that god awful wasteland of a Robert's by my old house on Annunciation. I can't find a picture of that, likely because Robert's wants everyone to forget that location ever existed. But anyway, I am not doing an expose on local supermarkets, just commenting on the dearth of fresh produce in New Orleans and overall, the lack of food access as it relates to social justice sort of thing going on here(I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Hollygrove Farm but that's another day).

Okay, finally getting to my point here. New Orleans is forming a food co-op! How post-modern and hip! PLUS, they are building it in the old St Roch market, which is a beautiful building that is getting the restoration it deserves. (UPDATE: It is not in the old market, it is in the old Universal furniture store across the street.)The St Roch/St Claude/Marigny/Bywater neighborhood doesn't really have much in the way of grocery stores, unless you count Mardi Gras Zone (and you shouldn't), so this is another reason for celebration. They need 1500 people to become founding members and donate $100, so far I think they have about 800 people committed. Join the food co-op, it's such a worthwhile venture for yourself, your family and the community as a whole.