Food Co-Op Members Want to 'Live on an Earth That's Sustainable'

A group of North Jerseyans is coming up with a plan to bring more locally grown, organic food to residents’ tables.

The North Jersey Food Co-op held its inaugural meeting Monday night. Food cooperatives consist of people who each pay a share to own a portion of the co-op. Each person or family receives a portion of the food the co-op takes in every month. The food includes locally grown produce but can include any food that is created or harvested from local distributors or farms.

“We have 1-year-old twins, and I want them to live on an Earth that’s sustainable,” said founding member Ron Sander, a Wayne resident.

A few of Sander’s friends died of cancer in recent years. That spurred something inside of Sander to do something to improve his, and his neighbors’, quality of life.

“All of these people getting sick, it can’t be normal. It has to be related to what we’re eating and breathing,” Sander said. “What else could it be?”

The group talked about the various ways a cooperative could be based. The 15 people in attendance said they want to make sure that they are responsible with how they go about spending their money and how they structure the cooperative.

Some cooperatives only feature organically grown food. Residents stressed the need for the food the cooperative has to be organic.

“There’s so much good food out there, we’ve got to let families know that they have choices when it comes to what food they purchase and where they purchase it from,” said Hope Weston, a Wayne resident. “Education is a part of the process.”

The cooperative is open to all North Jersey residents. For more information e-mail Sander at ron@northjerseyfoodcoop.com, call him at 917-922-6586 or visit the cooperative’s website.

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