Cafe – Catering – Learning- Community Supported Kitchen

In MaineBusiness.com

http://mainebusiness.mainetoday.com/blogentry.html?id=17393&tag=Green

by Sarah Reidy

If you haven’t yet heard about the Local Sprouts Cooperative in Portland, chances are that you soon will. Local Sprouts Cooperative is a food cooperative that offers a community supported kitchen, catering services, as well as holistic cooking classes and programs that rely on locally grown and organic produce and ingredients. Because these programs have been so successful to date, Local Sprouts has plans to open a cafe in April of this year.

The Cooperative, which was formed in June of 2007, evolved out of the former People’s Free Space, a community organizing group. They began as a worker-owned coop and later received a catering license in July of 2008. According to Jonah Fertig, one of Local Sprouts’ owners and original founders, “Local Sprouts has worked to combine cooking local food with education and advocacy for a strong local food system.” Because it is worker and community owned, Local Sprouts and its members can run the organization how they see fit, which includes a strong commitment to the environment. And, like many successful food cooperatives, this kind of system is both green and sustainable.

A community supported kitchen is basically a membership based program, where people pay for a share of locally grown and prepared foods. “Our Community Supported Kitchen (CSK) provided a weekly menu of locally grown seasonal meals, salads, soups, breads, sweets and more to our members at the Public Market House in Monument Square, Portland. The CSK is now transitioning into a new membership structure for the Cafe,” Fertig says. Because Local Sprouts relies on its relationships with local farms, there is less transportation involved in getting fresh foods back to the kitchen. Among the farms that Local Sprouts works with are Freedom Farm in Freedom, Sumner Valley Farm in Sumner, and Turkey Hill Farm in Cape Elizabeth. As Fertig says, “Local and organic food has a lower environmental impact as it uses less fuel and chemicals.” They have even used bicycles in the past to make deliveries, further reducing their carbon footprint.

The Local Sprouts Cooperative’s catering service, which began in August of 2007, has seen sales in 2009 that are double that of the previous year. Fertig, who is also the food, catering and marketing coordinator for the Cooperative, says this is because they make every effort to keep prices in an affordable range, while still offering many local and organic ingredients.

The new cafe, which will be located at 645 Congress Street in Portland, will eventually take the place of their current community supported kitchen program and will be run the same way. Members who offer their financial support will get credits for food as well as a discount. The cafe will be open to the public as well as to members, and both are welcome to come in and order off the new menu. “Our menu will feature local and organic breakfast, soups, salads, baked goods and entrees,” Fertig says. The cafe will also serve fair-trade coffee, herbal teas, and organic beer and wine. Additionally, they will have a small farmer’s market on the premises that will operate during the winter months. There will be a bakery associated with the cafe as well that will offer a baking and creative arts program for adults with disabilities through the Momentum program. Because the cafe and bakery will also employ more people, the Local Sprouts Cooperative hopes that it will continue to support Maine’s economy and the green community. Fertig would also like people to know that there are many volunteer opportunities available, for community members who want to get involved, in renovating their new space.

Local Sprouts Cooperative and Cafe
www.localsproutscooperative.com
www.facebook.com/localsproutscooperative
food@localsproutscooperative.com
(207)-615-9970