Published: March 22, 2008 12:50 am         

Organic food co-op seeds begin to sprout

Terre Food project trying to raise $12,000

TERRE HAUTE — Seeds planted in the minds of Vigo County residents hoping for an organic food cooperative are beginning to sprout, one organizer said.

Robyn Morton, a director with the Terre Foods initiative launched earlier this year, said the group’s fundraising campaign has been spurred by a $1,000 matching gift made by an anonymous donor.

“We did get started very positively,” she said.

The Terre Foods project is trying to raise $12,000 to conduct a market feasibility study and then, hopefully incorporate the cooperative and begin work.

The group’s goal is a locally owned and operated cooperative market which sells organic produce, with an emphasis on locally grown foods.

Morton said the feasibility study will most likely require two to three months to complete, and one of the groups being considered for the project is based out of Washington state and specializes in retail food cooperatives.

“We really want that kind of particular input,” she said, noting that this group will not only focus on the Wabash Valley’s potential market supply and demand figures, but will come on-site and target building sites.

And that’s important to Morton, who said the cooperative will be owned by the shareholders.

“If it were just my money, maybe I’d take more of a risk that that. But it’s not just my money,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons we very much don’t want to skip this step.”

Thursday, the group had a booth at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Wellness Fair, and on April 19th they will be at St. Mary of the Woods for Earth Day.

“That is a venue we expect to do very well in,” she said of the St. Mary’s event. “People going to Earth Day will be on the same page as we are” with regards to organic food.

The group has set a target of May 1 for raising the $12,000.