Community Orgs Food+Drink History
From Humble Roots 50 Years Ago, Menomonie Market Food Co-op Has Flourished
what started in a choir loft now boasts two grocery stores, more than 5,000 members
Tom Giffey, photos by Andrea Paulseth |
Menomonie Market Food Co-op may now boast two new, modern grocery stores and more than 5,000 member families, but its roots were simple and humble.
Fifty years ago – in August 1974 – a small group of Menomonie residents who had previously formed a food-buying club, which operated out of a church choir loft, incorporated what would become the Menomonie Market Food Co-op. Despite a half century of change, the co-op and its staff and members remain committed to their guiding principles of providing healthy food and creating healthy communities.
General Manager Crystal Halvorson has been with the co-op for 20 years – a time that has seen it expand from about 500 to 5,000 owners and $750,000 in annual sales to more than $10 million. “All of this change is as exciting as noting what has stayed the same: a diverse group of people sharing a love for good food, an alternative to an exploitative economy, and support for what makes rural Wisconsin special,” she wrote recently.
The co-op is now in the midst of celebrating its golden jubilee. Earlier this fall, members were treated to free cake at both the Menomonie and Eau Claire locations, and a display about the co-op’s history will be on view in the Menomonie store through Oct. 30.
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Continued growth for the co-op, our communities, greater and greater support for local farmers and producers, and younger generations getting involved and carrying the movement well beyond the many hands that have come before them.
TERI GOLEN
STAFF SERVICES COORDINATOR, menomonie market food co-op, ON THE CO-OP'S FUTURE
Teri Golen has been involved with the co-op for about half of its history, having joined when she moved to Menomonie in the late 1990s. She had experience at co-ops in St. Paul and Stillwater, Minnesota, and soon was hired as general contractor to oversee one of the co-op’s many moves – from a tiny spot on the city’s north side to a former liquor store downtown.
“We were able to bring in much more produce including local growers and local food producers, and a small cheese and deli case with to-go items made on site in the commercial kitchen that was housed in the same building,” she recalls. “The customers and members were enthused about moving and growing the co-op and supported it financially with member loans. Our membership doubled in the first three years.”
Such growth in membership and sales has been a familiar story over the years, and about a decade ago it led to a capital campaign that raised $1 million from member-owners in just six weeks to build a new store. The new – and current – Menomonie Market location opened at 814 Main St. East in 2015.
A separate strand of Menomonie Market’s history began in the early 2000s in Eau Claire, when a sister co-op, Just Local Food, was born. For most of its history, JLF occupied out of a 1,400-square-foot, carrot-bedecked store on South Farwell Street. The 2020 COVID pandemic hastened cooperation between the cooperatives, which began to share administration, and ultimately they merged under the Menomonie Market moniker in 2021. Just two years later, the co-op realized another longstanding dream: the opening of a brand-new store on North Barstow Street that was about 10 times larger than its predecessor.
Reflecting on the 50-year history, Golen – who recently returned to the co-op to become its staff services coordinator – envisions a strong future for Menomonie Market: “Continued growth for the co-op, our communities, greater and greater support for local farmers and producers, and younger generations getting involved and carrying the movement well beyond the many hands that have come before them.”
Learn more about the co-op online at mmfc.coop or visit their stores at 814 Main St. East, Menomonie, or 206 N. Barstow St., Eau Claire.
