Once the Whole Farm Co- op got off the ground, it needed a customer base. People who would appreciate the co-op's theory of farming, their product and their wish to operate independently. The group worked with the Catholic Archdiocese in St. Paul to get area churches involved. Dale Hennen is head of the rural-affairs office for the Archdiocese. Many people in our parishes were quite excited about it because they see it as a way they can use their food-purchasing dollars to support and sustain family farmers on the land, and they realize it also has an impact on the health and welfare on the health of our rural communities.
Parishioners buy meat, cheese, eggs and vegetables from the co-op with an order form.
The co-op 's volunteers fill the orders and make weekly deliveries to the churches. Colleen Ciacio is a parishioner at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Roseville. She buys food from the co-op because it's fresh from the farm, but she also sees it as a way to support struggling farmers. I see it as a win-win situation. When you donate money to a charity you don't know how much money is going to that cause and how much is going to fundraise and whatnot.