Wimberley and Dripping Springs, Texas will finally have a food co-op, thanks to the efforts of Evan Garner, a resident of Dripping Springs. A nucleus of approximately 15 members have agreed upon a location, wholesale suppliers, and preliminary ground rules. After a series of planning meetings, the group met in Wimberley at The Whatever Cafe on November 5 to finalize plans for a first order.

The Whatever Cafe has graciously agreed to provide a hub for the co-op, which is slated to provide access to (ultimately) hundreds of products -- essentially the full panoply of items that members might normally obtain via Whole Foods, Central Market, and other local stores. The Whatever Cafe, a coffee shop, internet cafe and gallery is located at 13590B RR 12, in Wimberley (512-847-0902). The cafe has provided a nucleus for a number of local community initiatives, and the co-op is grateful to its proprietors for incubating and supporting ours.

What is innovative about the Hill Country Co-op vis a vis relocalization efforts is that it will provide an interface to truly local food producers, such as local organic farms, dairies, artisanal cheese makers, honey producers, etc. By aggregating the buying power of co-op members, we hope to become a force, encouraging these local producers to expand, and providing an demand-side environment conducive to the emergence of new producers. Furthermore, by minimizing or even eliminating the need to drive to Austin or San Marcos for staple food items, the co-op will help reduce the carbon footprint of its members considerably.

Those interested in joining the co-op should contact Marcus Gitterle, m g i t t e r l e AT m a c DOT c o m.

Wimberley and Dripping Springs will finally have a food co-op, thanks to the efforts of Evan Garner, a resident of Dripping Springs, Texas. She is seeking others interested in participating, and has setup a Yahoo! group to coordinate the co-op.

The co-op will emphasize locally produced food, including organic produce, dairy products, grass-fed beef and free-range eggs. An advantage we have in our region is that one can obtain virtually every common food item for a 100 mile diet, with minimal privation, during a large portion of an average year. Having a co-op should us link-up with our outstanding local food producers, and encourage them to ramp-up production.

Those interested in participating should go to

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CommunityCoopmktDSandWimberley/

and request to join the group.

Kudos to Evan for pursuing this incredibly valuable project!

Marc

Post-Carbon Wimberley became a part of the bigger, relocalize.net family today, September 6, 2006.