The Local Food Movement in Wooster
The interior of Local Roots Market & Cafe
Local Roots Market & Cafe, a market for local small farmers, on South Walnut Street
The former South Market Bistro's (now Sure House Coffee) menu featured local, seasonal, sustainably grown ingredients.
The local community has been supporting sustainable agriculture by establishing a number of institutions that help farmers make local food available in the town. On the College of Wooster campus, students have access to local produce in dining halls and in the campus coffee bar.1 During the summer, area farmers sell their products at a weekly farmers market. Local businesses such as Spoon and South Market Bistro (now Sure House Coffee) support local farms and give customers access to food made with locally, sustainably grown ingredients.2 As sustainability becomes a national focus, awareness of the benefits of locally, sustainably grown food in Wooster has grown substantially in recent years.
In February 2009, a group of Wooster residents committed to the local food movement joined to form the Wooster Local Foods Cooperative. One year later, they opened Local Roots Market & Café, a co-op that today comprises 150 local farmers, many of whom are certified organic, and over 600 customers. Local Roots supports small farmers in the region by connecting them to consumers and providing a place where they can market their products year-round. Unlike those who sell wholesale to grocery stores, Local Roots’ growers name their own price and keep 90% of their sales.3 Betsy Anderson, president of Local Roots’ Board of Directors, explained, “Our goals are to encourage healthy eating, expand local economic development, promote community involvement and sustainable living.”4 The market has proved so effective at meeting these goals that it has garnered national attention, appearing in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Washington Post.5 It has already inspired an affiliated market in Ashland, Ohio and other rural towns are looking to Local Roots as a model for supporting their own local farm communities.6
1 “Sustainable Dining,” The College of Wooster, 2013, accessed July 3, 2013, http://www.wooster.edu/students/dining/sustainable
2 “Sustainable Cuisine,” South Market Bistro, 2011, accessed July 3, 2013, http://www.southmarketbistro.com/sustainable-cuisine.php
3 “Growing Local Roots - Our History,” Local Roots, 2013, accessed July 3, 2013, http://localrootswooster.com/history
4 Lydia Gehring, “President’s Cookbook: Local Roots a Community Gathering Spot,” Daily Record, Dec. 14, 2007, accessed July 3, 2013, http://www.the-daily-record. com/living/2011/12/14/president-s-cookbook-local-roots-a-community-gathering-spot
5 Jane Black, “Smarter Food: A Farmers Market with a Difference,” Washington Post, Jan 3, 2012, accessed July 3, 2013, http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-01-03 /lifestyle/35441786_1_farmers-markets-local-foods-small-farmers
6 Bob Filburn, “Local Roots - A New Farmers Market Model,” The Daily Southerner, July 11, 2011, accessed July 3, 2013,http://localrootsashland.com/index.htmhttp://dailysoutherner.com/thegarden/x66809842/Local-Roots-A-New-Farmers-Market-Model