By Victoria Sprague; join the google group to participate and join the discussion. Send e-mail to heidi@21acres.org.

It's a great day to report back to all of you that the food co-op dream is beginning to take shape. We have a name, a vision, a mission:

Cascade Roots Co-op (local food for local people)

Vision 1.0
To create a year-round food hub that provides sustainably, locally grown food from small-scale Washington producers in order to efficiently supply the community with quality food products.

Mission 1.0
To support Washington state agriculture and community wellness by providing distribution and public access to healthy, delicious and sustainably-produced foods year-round.

The steering committee meets once a week and we work hard. This is a group of dedicated individuals bringing an impressive set of knowledge and skills to a very involved process. Since coming together, our primary activity has been on a thoughtful discussion on why Cascade Roots should exist. What will we sell that is different from all of the other co-ops in the area? The final outcome, from which emerged the vision and mission, is a three-tiered structure:

1. Local and sustainably-produced (WA state wine, grains, meat,
cheese, dairy, eggs, produce);
2. From small-scale producers;
3. Locally produced value- added products, but allowing origins from out of state (coffee, olives, soap, tea, salt, tea, baked goods, nuts, etc)

This three-tiered system emphasizes local food from small-scale
producers, with an exception for non-local food products that are value-added within our state. The additions of products are up for vote by members, within the parameters of our three tier system (with emphasis on sustainability),

The next phase is to raise money and solve the very big, but we
believe surmountable, challenge of creating a distribution hub to help bring the small-scale producers’ products to market. Do you have any ideas on delivery, storage, transportation or other distribution hub logistics? Post them here or share your thoughts with a committee member. The more brain-power attached to this challenge, the better chance we have of solving it. No idea is too wild. Really! You should hear some of the committee brainstorming sessions. And from those
sessions we have a name and a reason to exist. I call that a success.

If you are interested, join us Monday nigh, Aug. 15,  at the Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park community meeting area. We’ll be the table with a basket of local, yummy, and in-season fruit in the middle. We start at 7 p.m. and generally end around 8:30 or 9.

Committee members:
Andrew
Eric
Heather
Heidi
Michael
Mitch
Rosy
Victoria
Your name here?

(Many thanks to the hard work from past former committee members Grant
and Kaylee.)