Kennett eyed for food co-op

Posted by ChaddsFordLive on March 28, 2023

Acclaimed national speaker and author Jon Steinman believes Kennett has the resources and potential to create and operate a community-owned grocery store.

Jon Steinman will discuss the possibilities of a food co-op in Kennett Square on April 13 at the Presbyterian Church of Kennett Square on South Broad Street from 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Many local residents have questions about what food co-ops are, how they help the community, and why it’s important to support them. Steinman will answer these questions and more in a talk entitled “Building a Better Community with a Community-Owned Grocery Store” on Thursday, April 13, where he will make the case for a food co-op in Kennett Square as an alternative to “the corporate giant’s grocery store.” This event, which is part of the Kennett Collaborative Speaker Series and co-presented with Kennett Community Grocer, will be held at the Presbyterian Church of Kennett Square on South Broad Street. Click here to RSVP.

“Jon Steinman has devoted his career to promoting the notion that people from four different groups—everyone who grows, sells, buys, and eats food—is part of one ecosystem,” said Kennett Community Grocer board president Edie Burkey. “That ecosystem is at its best—environmentally, economically, and for our own health—when it’s totally local.”

Many are familiar with the concept of the carbon footprint of the food we eat. The further our food has to travel, the higher the impact on the environment. Conversely, the fresher and more local food is, the higher its nutritional value—and the better it tastes. Anyone who shops the KSQ Farmers Market, for example, understands the difference between a carrot stick in a plastic bag and the real thing, fresh from the earth.

But what is less widely understood, Burkey said, is the depth and breadth of influence a community-owned grocery store can have in terms of ensuring food access and equity, being a significant engine of local revenue, supporting local agriculture, and even in making sustainable decisions about food waste. When a community understands the interconnectedness of all of these decisions, and a community-owned enterprise makes these options easily available, significant and lasting change can be achieved.

“If you have interest in the ability of the land to continue to sustain the people who live here, then you will have interest in how a food co-op can support your interest in the land, the community, and future generations,” Burkey said.