Dryden Co-operative Project: A Local Food Security Initiative

Do you find yourself asking: Where does my food come from? Why is local food important? Is local food healthier for us and for the environment? Local foods are becoming an interest to more and more people within the Dryden community but there are still many questions surrounding its potential benefits to both producers of local foods and consumers.

More specifically, we are looking for other ways to support our local farmers and the larger community as a whole, in addition to the traditional farmers’ markets. In this edition of the newsletter we will be exploring an option that can potentially answer all of these questions: the creation of a producer-consumer co-operative!

The desire to create a co-op is not new; in 2004 a feasibility study and business plan was created, known as the “Dryden Rural Infrastructure Project”, to further investigate the viability of this venture. The study identified that a co-op would be successful in Dryden.

Fast forward 6 years later…Where are we now? A steering committee, comprised of interested producers, consumers, health educators, and community developers, has been created in order to get a scope of the different perspectives on a co-op development.

Collectively, these members embrace the idea of a ‘Local Food Security Initiative’ that can “promote and enhance a sustainable agricultural system in Northwestern Ontario, which utilizes accessible farm land in an environmentally friendly and economic manner, while encouraging accessible and adequate healthy eating in our communities.” We believe that the development of a producer-consumer co-op will satisfy the demands for food security.

A co-op will:
- be unique to this area,
- benefit the local economy,
- address local food security issues, and
- provide the community with healthy local foods.

We are in the process of:
- initiating an updated feasibility study,
- considering various greenhouses and other properties to house the co-op,
- continuing to develop the producer-consumer co-op structure, and
- gauging the interests of the Dryden community.


Where do you fit in all of this?
If you would like more information about the co-op project, or if you would like to join the steering committee and add your voice, air questions, or share your concerns about this process, please contact Jessica Symington at 223-7378 or jsymington@drytel.net or stop by 56 King St.!