From the General Manager

Resilient local food systems are more important than ever

By Chris Maher, General Manager

We’ve all heard of “comfort food,” but have you considered the many layers BriarPatch considers to ensure our community has “comfortable”

access to food? It’s not just something that makes you say “yum” and takes you back to a happy memory of a shared meal or recipe passed down through your family. It’s also the reassurance that the food you’re getting is healthy for you to eat, and grown with practices that tread lightly on the earth and the folks growing it get a fair price for their efforts. It’s knowing that you can get the food you need, when you need it. All of these things add up to making shopping, cooking and eating less of a burden or stress and more of a comfort.

One thing we are seeing in recent years is that resilient local food systems are more important than ever. Sourcing food from local farmers and purveyors can keep the supply chain moving along much more smoothly than having to

find something from another state or country and get it shipped here. BriarPatch has always recognized the high value of fresh and local produce, and these days our Produce Department works diligently with farms to get as much as we can from as close-by as possible; in our early years, we even sourced food from local residents’ gardens! This network is a win-win-win for all involved — farmers get a pledge from us to buy their crops, we get a reliable source for specific products and you get a beautiful variety of fresh fruits and veggies to choose from when you shop with us.

”BriarPatch has always recognized the high value of fresh and local produce, and these days our Produce Department works diligently with farms to get as much as we can from as close-by as possible.”

Co-ops provide people with opportunities to access good food and the food education to make “healthy” and “delicious” synonymous. BriarPatch was founded years ago with the intention of providing affordable, plentiful, healthful food to the community, and we’ve stayed the course since those early days. Purveyors have to earn their spot on our shelves, and we are sure not to grant this precious “real estate” to just any product. We do the legwork to make sure everything in our store meets standards and you don’t have to do the research. Our online cooking class offerings allow you to learn new techniques and expand what it means to take care of you and your family with creative and nutritious food choices.

Our mission is closely aligned with providing people throughout the community with the opportunity to participate in this group effort to provide the “comfort” of a dependable source for nutritious food. And, expanding to Auburn is widening the network of possibilities — new farmers and food producers to partner with and fill our shelves, and a new customer/owner base to shop with us and get involved in our BriarPatch community.