Oshkosh Food Co-op aims to provide healthier options for local consumers

Considering the high prices encountered at chain grocery stores, affordable yet healthy and accessible food options can sometimes be difficult to find. The Oshkosh Food Cooperative (co-op) coming to downtown Oshkosh late this summer plans to supply nearby families with locally produced food choices and an inclusive environment by opening the new grocery store at the corner of Jackson and Pearl . 

Project manager Lizz Redman has always liked how co-op businesses are run.

“A cooperative model puts the ownership and power in the members, instead of just one person like in a corporation,” she said. “It gives a voice to everyone who is a part of it. Everyone can shop at our co-op; you don’t have to be a member. But memberships give you a voice, and members have helped us make the project possible.”

Board member Joseph Stephenson has a say in the store’s decisions.

“With the co-op model, it’s a community-owned asset,” he said. “People who become a member-owner actually own a portion of the store. They can vote on policy issues. They can direct where this store goes and how it interacts with the community. It’s collectively owned by its members rather than an individual or a company.”

Even though the grocery store will sell all the middle aisle items like any other store, general manager Jeffrey Thouron will make local goods a priority.

“We’re hoping for about a quarter of our shelves to be locally produced,” he said. “We’re going to have a really heavy emphasis on local foods and businesses, as well as close relationships with producers and farmers that make the goods will help.”

A unique characteristic arises from an extra focus on customers and making sure they can find whatever they need in a pleasant environment.

“The difference that people will really see when they go into a co-op is more specialized customer service, better environment for customers, and more responsiveness to product requests,” Thouron said. “Since we don’t have a corporate office in some other city, we’re able to adhere to customers’ needs and desires.”

Photo courtesy of Lizz Redman

The building that will soon be the Oshkosh Food Co-op sits on the corner of Jackson and Pearl. One main goal of the grocery store is to revive the downtown area by being located in the center of the city.

This project involves a large building and over one thousand people, so to keep it going, lots of funds were needed. Over the past year, Redman has been involved with raising $1.6 million, which was essential in preparing for the store to open.

“The money is the funds we needed for our startup,” she said. “For the inventory of the store, the construction, the equipment, startup staffing; about half of that $1.6 million came through donations, and the other half came from member loans. We partnered with the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation for our donations because they’re a non-profit.”

Even though raising the money wasn’t always easy, board vice-presiden Molly Smiltneek was thankful for the people in Oshkosh that invested at some level.

“It was really reassuring for us to be able to hear from different groups in our community that stepped us and gave us large amounts of money,” she said. “They were saying, ‘we believe in this’ as members of this community. We had donations from five dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and every one of those donations matters to us.”

Smiltneek hopes the new store will give back to the community, specifically the vendors that sell their goods.

“The outlet for local, small producers is generally at their farm, or one day a week at the farmers market,” she said. “If they have a place where they can sell their goods every day, think about how much more stuff they could be selling. It allows them to grow more to scale, meaning that they get to a point where they’re growing enough extra produce that it becomes more profitable for them and their family. That’s very important to us - growing the local food economy.”

As someone who sells their food at a farmers market, culinary arts teacher Robyn Badtke understands the importance of supporting small businesses.

“You keep your hard-earned money in your area,” she said. “That helps to keep economic development going, which supports businesses, which then hires employees, which then keeps that motion going forward. Specifically for the co-op and the people that grow the food here and eat the food here, I think it’s a win-win situation for supporting not only the local farmers, but also the local health of the people that live around here.”

Badtke has done research on food deserts, a problem they aim to solve in the downtown area. 

“Food deserts are where there aren’t grocery stores and people don’t have accessibility to transportation to get to grocery stores,” she said. “Typically those are lower income areas where people sustain themselves on convenience foods, fast food, and what they can find at the local corner store which is usually packaged, processed, and not fresh fruits and vegetables. More accessibility to the freshest foods is going to be the key to the co-op.”

Having a community-owned grocery store will help keep citizen’s money in local pockets, which is one of Stephenson’s goals.

Photo by Isabelle Cartwright

The co-op is undergoing construction to prepare for when it opens its door late this summer. The addition of a community-owned grocery store will be a change from the chain stores that already occupy Oshkosh.

“Millions of dollars leave the downtown area for food related costs,” he said. “A lot of that money goes out to Walmart or Festival Foods because there aren’t a lot of good grocery stores in the center area to shop at. We hope to keep the dollars in the downtown and help our city of Oshkosh grow and thrive.”

Redman believes that the store will not only benefit nearby businesses, but also help individuals by creating an inviting space for all.

“We’re really hoping that it’s an inclusive environment,” she said. “People will feel welcome to come in, they’re greeted in a friendly way, and they’re finding what they need at an affordable price. We’re hoping it’ll be a place where people will come and gather, especially after COVID.”

Citizens can come to the grocery store simply to talk to others, not necessarily just for food.

“We’re going to have a ‘Chatty Cathy’ checkout, which means you can come in, talk to people, and create social bonds at the co-op,” Thouron said. “A lot of people see co-ops as a place they can go to to connect with employees and other customers who are there.”

Sustainability will also be a focus once the business gets up and running. Thouron finds it extremely important to minimize the amount of plastic used whenever possible.

“One of the benefits of focusing on local is there is a lot less fuel and plastic usage when you’re shipping products within 100 miles,” he said. “Consumer plastic use, focusing on incentives for reusing bags and containers, and how we’re packaging things are ways we can really reduce the elements.”

Smiltneek believes this addition to the downtown landscape will make Oshkosh a destination for people in neighboring cities.

“It’ll be a unique, neat option for Oshkosh that is more progressive than a lot of things that happen in our area,” she said. “It’s going to be transformative for our downtown and city. I support efforts that keep Oshkosh moving forward and that are welcoming to a broader variety of people and this is one small step towards that.”

Redman believes this store can have a real impact on the people and businesses of Oshkosh.

“Our store is community-driven and community-owned,” she said. “By shopping at the co-op, you’re keeping your dollars in this community and supporting a community owned business. Our food choices are really powerful ways to affect our lives and environment, and I think spending your money on local food is a powerful way to help change the world.”

by Abby Furcy

Published January 29th, 2021

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 4