SAINT LOUIS, Mo. — A grocery co-op is trying to change the way communities have access to healthy food.
MARSH Grocery Cooperative in the Carondelet neighborhood is growing food, selling groceries, creating dishes through its diner and teaching others about food-related issues like climate change.
"This is a highly dis-invested neighborhood," said Beth Neff, the founder of MARSH Grocery Cooperative. "So there were a lot of good jobs here at one time -- very few now. So people have to leave the neighborhood in order to work, in order to shop."
Co-op groceries allow shoppers to be part owners, and members get to decide what food and products get stocked on the shelves. Co-ops are typically rooted in their communities and tend to give more money back to the local economy.
And more opportunities are coming to scale at MARSH, including a new diner that utilizes the food they grow and sell.
Bulk items are a popular feature at the store. MARSH is a set of gardens, a grocer and a diner all rolled into one. The store understands that not only do people want healthier options, but they also need help with time and prepared meals.
"The prepared foods are constantly growing," Neff said. "So (it) started out as a very small percentage of what we were doing, and I think there are somewhere between 25% and 30% of our entire sales is the prepared food."
The checkout is also a nice surprise for customers, and that is the pay-what-you-can option.
"When you come to me with your groceries, you have the option of paying what the groceries cost," said Ranata Frank, a MARSH employee. "Or you can give yourself today a 10% or 20%, or you can choose to donate. That's how it works. Here it is whatever you choose."
Neff said the standard grocery store might mark up food at 40% or more. At MARSH, it's half that. The sliding scale is meant not only to help people make ends meet but also to start conversations about what access to food could look like.
"When I came here, I learned how to garden," Frank said. "It's been a whole learning experience. I like to learn and pass the message. I feel like a seed has been planted in me, and now, I'm just out promoting the good cause."
What's harvested goes to the market, which is later prepared as meals once it's pulled off shelves. Food waste then gets composted back into a growing garden.
"What we hope is that people would feel like they have a voice in making development decisions in their neighborhood," Neff said. "And making the neighborhood more what they would like it to be."
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