Who We Are
In September of 2009, a group of local residents came together to pool our time and resources to provide our families with better access to locally raised and produced foods. We organized a biweekly ordering, pick up, and distribution system to collect local goods and get them to member families, and we opened up membership to any interested family.
The Doylestown Food Club grew very quickly, and it soon became clear that because of the natural limitations and volunteer requirements of the club model we were following as well as the constraints of our borrowed space, we would not be able to serve all the families interested in participating. As a result, the club closed its membership and began to maintain a waiting list, and a few of our coordinators began exploring the possibility of founding an actual brick and mortar cooperatively owned store in Doylestown. This store would be owned and governed by its members, and its primary mission would be to provide centralized and convenient access to locally raised and produced foods.
Since January of 2010, we have visited other co-ops, joined a regional food co-op alliance, formed a steering committee, held town hall and organizational meetings, staffed informational tables at local community events, consulted with a co-op start up firm and national food co-op start up agency, attended a regional start up conference, recruited board and committee members, drafted a business plan and proposed by-laws, and launched our membership drive.
We are your friends and neighbors. We care about local agriculture and our community. We want to see the continued growth of a thriving food culture here in Doylestown. We want you to join us. Together, we can make a lasting positive impact on our own community. Let’s go co-op!