Thanks to a very generous three-year grant approved by the Missouri Foundation for Health, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group will be able to launch the Old North Grocery Co-op at 2718 N. 13th Street.  Additional funds still need to be raised, but the support of MFH ensures that the co-op can open in some capacity in 2010.   

Planning for the grocery co-op has benefited from the help of a diverse group of residents, producers, and stakeholders serving on the Old North Grocery Co-op Planning Committee.  This group meets monthly in Old North St. Louis to discuss and plan for: building and construction, co-op membership structure and recruitment, marketing, fundraising, staffing, and product selection/recruitment of suppliers.  If you are interested in joining the Old North Grocery Co-op Planning Committee call (314) 241-5031. 

The issue of healthy and active living has been central to the work of many organizations in the St. Louis area. Most recently, Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, the Community Partnership Project of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and University of Missouri Extension have come together to tackle the existing food desert in Old North by creating environment where healthy food is available to all.

The goals of the food access initiative are to:

• Improve access to fresh, local, affordable, healthy and appealing food
• Support local farmers and Missouri producers
• Build community
• Increase knowledge of food production

The Old North St. Louis Restoration Group is a community-based nonprofit organization established by neighborhood residents in 1981 to "restore and develop the physical and social dimensions of the community in a manner that respects its historic, cultural, and urban character." The Restoration Group has evolved from humble beginnings as an all-volunteer organization to an effective community development corporation with a professional staff and a broad range of community-building activities. ONSLRG has been successful in their neighborhood-based development and continue to revitalize the neighborhood through a variety of physical and community development.

• Check out the Crown Square Redevelopment to read about the progress on this exciting redevelopment of the 14th Street Mall, a $35 million investment.
• Stay connected on all things Old North by visiting the neighborhood blog.

There are a variety of programs and models to address limited food access in a community. Currently two Community Building Fellows are working with the partnership to address the challenges and opportunities associated with limited access to healthy food in Old North. The partnership is focusing their efforts on the following possible opportunities for residents of Old North St. Louis and surrounding neighborhoods.

The Old North St. Louis neighborhood has teamed up with the Family Harvest CSA to bring fresh produce to the neighborhood. The Family Harvest CSA is cooperatively run by Lee Farms in Truxton, Missouri and Yellow Wood Farms of Hermann, Missouri. Family Harvest CSA offers Family Shares, which average 15-20 pounds of produce in each delivery (will feed a family of four); or Half Shares, which average 7-10 pounds (and will feed a family of two). The CSA runs for approximately 20 weeks from June through October each year. The shares will be dropped off and distributed from a building in the Old North neighborhood weekly. If you are interested in joining this CSA or would like to learn more, call the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group at (314) 241-5031.

Opening a Grocery Co-Op

By opening a food cooperative in the Old North St. Louis area, community members will have improved access to healthy foods that are grown within the state of Missouri. This unique community asset would serve as more than just a grocery store but also as an informal community gathering space. Although a food cooperative needs to be profitable, its focus is also on the broader community and educating residents about the food sold.

The partnership is in the process of exploring the feasibility and potential community support for the establishment of a co-op in Old North. The co-op would allow community residents to own shares in the venture and/or cooperatively administer the grocery. Residents regularly express a desire to have opportunities to buy groceries in the neighborhood, and a co-op model would allow that to happen on a faster timeline than would probably happen through attempts to attract a traditional, for-profit chain.

ONSLRG is also currently working with a building owner who is willing to dedicate space for a grocery co-op. Washington University architecture students have prepared drawings for conversion of this building for use as a grocery store and community gathering place.

Expanding the North City Farmers' Market

The ONSL neighborhood has been working to improve access to healthy foods over the last couple of years by operating a Farmers Market. Thanks to the generosity of the Missouri Foundation for Health, the North City Farmers' Market continues to bring healthy, affordable produce and other fresh foods to residents of Old North St. Louis and surrounding neighborhoods. The North City Farmers' Market delivers quality vegetables, fruits, baked goods, hot food, crafts, flowers and much more! Recently, ONSLRG received another grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health which will make it possible to continue this valuable community resource through 2011. The North City Farmers' Market runs Saturdays from June to October.

Cultivating an Urban Community Garden

Adjacent to the CSA distribution site and the future Grocery Co-op building at 13th and St. Louis Avenue, is a vacant lot that is ideal for a community produce garden. The Partnership is assisting Old North in recruiting volunteers and preparing this site for use as an urban garden. ONSLRG is hiring a part-time garden coordinator to help oversee this new urban garden that will be growing produce for the Farmers Market and for community residents. Community and University of Missouri Extension resources will prove valuable in cultivating this garden in order to serve as an additional place to access healthy, fresh, and local foods in the Old North neighborhood.

The Community Partnership Project of the University of Missouri-St. Louis and University of Missouri Extension have been active in the Old North St. Louis community for the last several years. In 2001, the Community Partnership Project received a prestigious HUD Community Outreach Partnership Center grant designed to harness the physical, economic, intellectual, and creative resources of the university by linking UMSL to the Old North St. Louis neighborhood. This three-year funding source enabled the Partnership and Old North to focus on neighborhood stabilization, historic preservation, home maintenance, financial literacy, environmental health and safety, community organizing, and leadership development. Read more about previous work in the Old North St. Louis community.