Over the past seven years, there has been a grassroots movement launched by a group of Kennett Square area residents and currently supported by nearly 500 member-owners to begin a food cooperative in the heart of Kennett Square. Despite a recent setback that delayed its start, Kennett Community Grocer and its President Edie Burkey remain committed to bringing healthy and sustainable and locally sourced food to the entire community. Recently, Kennett Square Life met with Edie to discuss the role a food co-op plays, the group’s long-term vision and the healthy products she stores in her refrigerator.
Kennett Square Life: The first conversations that began Kennett Community Grocer started seven years ago, and you have been with the organization for the last five years. Talk about the evolution of Kennett Community Grocer over that time.
Edie Burkey: I was owner-member #119, and over the last five years, I have been at information tables and giving presentations with my colleagues, and my feeling is hat those who have joined are those who really do care about the farmers in the area, and the need to eat healthy – for themselves and their family.
The concept of a cooperative – where people decide what is sold and the owning of a store – is secondary but what’s top on the list at Kennett Community Grocer. Our member-owners are people who want to eat local food, and who believe that their health is in large part determined by what they eat.
Talk about why ownership in this venture is beneficial to community members.
At its core, its definition and its mission, Kennett Community Grocer is a cooperative, and as such is a community initiative that provides each member not just with several benefits, but ownership as well.
When large corporations own food stores in an area, their mission is to make profits for the owners — whether that be a hedge fund or a single owner. Wall Street profits from our need to eat. In contrast, a food cooperative is owned by the community for the benefit of all community members who have a voice in what is sold in the store. Food co-ops provided they can sustain themselves tend to be in a community for a long time, unlike many of the grocery chains today.
Did I read correctly that you almost moved to Brattleboro, Vermont because you enjoyed the food-co-op up there that much? Take me back to the decisions you were making at the time.
I was considering places to retire. My daughter was in graduate school in Vermont, and I loved the town of Brattleboro and especially the co-op there and community spirit in the town. I considered living there, but Vermont winters are a bit too harsh for me.
What role does a food cooperative play in the enrichment of a town or community, and how will Kennett Community Grocer fill that role here? It’s more than providing fresh produce in a sustainable way, yes?
A food co-op selling local foods will provide our community with a place to focus on buying and eating healthy food.
One of the key goals of Kennett Community Grocer will be to provide accessible, affordable, local and natural foods to the entire Kennett Square community and surrounding areas. Where will the food and produce come from, and how will these contractual agreements with farmers and vendors work?
Chester County alone has over 1,700 small farmers. The area we live in is blessed with an abundance of food producers, so we will have no problem sourcing sustainably.
Are you at liberty to share the names of a few of the farms and vendors who have already shown commitment to be a part of Kennett Community Grocer?
Flying Plow in Cecil County, Maryland has agreed to become a vendor with us. Yates Produce in Jennersville is a produce wholesaler who will work with us. We currently have member-benefit partners you can find on our website who are food producers such as Big Buffalo Creek Regenerative Farm, The Farm at Cochranville, Locust Hollow Cheese Farm, North Star Orchards, and mushrooms from Phillips mushrooms that are sold at their store, The Woodlands.
On its way to opening, Kennett Community Grocer received a setback when on Nov. 9, 2023, the Kennett Borough Council voted not to accept your lease offer to set up your cooperative in the Genesis Building on South Union Street. While that news must have been heartbreaking to you and many others, I know you and the board to be a resilient group who still have an incredible concept that continues to gain interest. What’s the next step for Kennett Community Grocer?
It was quite a blow to us after working so hard with our realtors and the Borough Manager to make this happen, but we must move on. Our board is actively considering our next moves and our member-owners will be coming together on December 9 via an Annual Meeting Webcast from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. to discuss where to go from here. Our future goals will be up to our membership, and we will need to hear all their ideas and then make some decisions.
What are some of the ideas you are considering?
I was speaking with a food advisor just yesterday, and she said, “Keep the retail environment and the entity that is going to sell the food in one bucket. In another bucket, form a non-profit arm of Kennett Community Grocer, who will be tasked with the responsibility to educate the community on good food and supporting farmers and supporting those who cannot afford the purchase a diet of good food.”
Weavers Way in Philadelphia has a non-profit called the Food Moxie, which teaches children and adults about healthy food, understanding where food comes from, and learning about gardening.
I thought, why don’t we have a non-profit group called Friends of Good Food, which will support regenerative and sustainable farming and educating the public?
What is your favorite spot in Kennett Square?
I love walking. My favorite spot in this area to walk is Barkingfield Park in Kennett Township or the State Line Preserve.
You organize a dinner party and can invite anyone – living or not, famous or not. Who would you like to see around that table?
I would love to see multiple dinner parties in the future in a café space in the co-op and invite local farmers to bring their foods, so that we may all be able to cook together and enjoy the goodness of our local foods.
What food or beverage can always be found in your refrigerator?
I keep a minimalist refrigerator but there is always seasonal fruit, carrots, peppers of all colors, spinach, local cheese and yogurt, locally produced milk and meat from The Farm at Cochranville. Most importantly, let’s also talk about what is not in my refrigerator or on my shelves. I don’t have any deli meats or snacks found in bags such as chips (even though I love them). I also have no cereal, sodas or processed foods, all of which are so detrimental to our health!
To learn more about Kennett Community Grocer, visit www.kennettcommunitygrocer.coop.
