DC Prdouce Coop Makes the News

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Greeting all,

Glad to announce that we at DC Produce Coop, will be

featured in a news article in East of the River. For

those of you who don't have access to the paper I'm

attaching article.

Tanikka

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East of the River

The DC Produce Coop

Helping residents eat and live healthier lifestyles

By Michelle Phipps-Evans

 

Many District residents can attest to the fact that

the area lacks quality fruits and vegetables. For

those who can, several people head to Eastern Market

in Ward 6 or to other neighborhood farmers’ markets,

while others such as Cyndi Henderson has to deal with

the fruits from the supermarkets or any other small

store with limited offerings.

“I normally buy all of my produce from the military

commissaries,” said Henderson, who lives at Andrews

Air Force Base in Maryland. “The prices there are

great too; it’s just that it’s a store.”

Recently, Henderson started ordering fruits and

vegetables from a newly formed nonprofit cooperative,

DC Produce Coop, which was created by Tanikka

Cunningham, a 27-year-old Ward 8 resident.

“I order every other week,” Henderson continued. “The

quality of the veggies is just wonderful. I joined to

get great, fresh items. Having a tomato that really

smells like a tomato is hard to come by these days;

the coop offers just that and so much more. This is a

wonderful program, especially here in a huge city.”

Merriam Webster dictionary defines a cooperative as a

jointly owned enterprise engaging in the production or

distribution of goods or services, operated by its

members for their mutual benefit, typically organized

by consumers or farmers. According to Cunningham, the

basic idea for her cooperative is to give the public a

chance to get fresh fruits and vegetables at better

prices and quality than the markets or the store.

“My goal for the coop is to help the community,” said

Cunningham who lives in Congress Heights. “Knowledge

is power. If our community understands the importance

of a healthy life style and healthy eating, our

community would change for the better. Our children,

women and men would be healthier people. And a lot of

medical conditions that our communities have would be

rectified.”

The DC Produce Coop first started by offering freggie

boxes in three different sizes. Freggie boxes are

prepackaged with lots of different fresh fruits and

vegetables to supply a family between two to eight for

the week. For some, the boxes last two weeks,

Cunningham said. They come within different price

ranges depending on the size of the box; and the

produce in each box changes each week.

“Our cooperative is arranged to help every one have

access to quality fresh fruits and vegetables at good

prices,” Cunningham said. “Our cooperative is free to

join and our members pre-purchase different-sized

produce boxes at a set price (small is $14, medium is

$23, large is $30 and community is $40.)” In November,

she started distributing boxes at the Francis A.

Gregory Neighborhood Library on Alabama Avenue and

37th St., SE, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Wednesday.

She recently started an all-fruit box for $17 and she

will make available a small organic box for $35 and a

large one for $55, every Monday, starting in February.

These may also be picked up the Francis Gregory.

Cooperative members sign up for membership by

submitting their names and information via email. She

communicates to the current 50 members through a

group called dcproducecoop . Each week,

she sends an e-mail about that week’s offering.

Members then preorder by the Internet and send payment

either in the mail or by paypal, and then pick up the

box at a particular location. At times, she introduces

the coop to other , such as Sistermoms,

Ward 7 or HillcrestDC, to continually spread the word.

Cunningham gets the fruits from various suppliers and

distributors in the metro area. The variety runs the

gamut—from mangoes to zucchini to different types of

apples and greens, carrots and bananas and the list

goes on.

“I cannot do all of it on my own but with

participation from the community and coop members with

purchasing boxes, and growing in numbers, to be able

to do more as a group would make it possible,” she

added. She has been using word of mouth and the

Internet to spread the word.

“I know we are growing,” she said, “but we just need

people to reorder. But some of them are waiting for

the organics to start so we’ll see.”

Before forming the coop in the District, Cunningham

had been involved in wholesale distribution of fruits

and vegetables in North Carolina where she worked with

a produce distribution company that supplied military

contracts.

“Since we bought and sold produce, we knew how much

people get gypped at the store,” said Cunningham, who

worked with her sister, Latisha. After doing this, and

from brainstorming with her sister, Cunningham came up

with starting a nonprofit called Healthy Solutions,

which operated a coop in North Carolina, as a way to

“help the community live a healthier lifestyle,” she

said.

“We started the freggie boxes in North Carolina to

give people an opportunity to get produce at wholesale

prices without having to purchase in bulk,” she added.

“I don’t get paid in any way by doing the coop. The

only gain I receive is the same gain all our members

receive, which is good produce at a good set price

each week, and saving some money for other household

expenses.” She usually requires that she gets at least

10 orders per week to keep the costs down; 11 for

organics.

Born in the District of Columbia, Cunningham was

raised in Brentwood, Md., with her sister. She

attended Tuskegee University, where she majored in

biology, psychology and medical technology. Cunningham

is a married stay-at-home mom with three children,

including a baby who was recently born in December.

And many members such as Maryland-based Kenya Henry

gush about the service and about Cunningham.

“She’s been a God-send to our family with our

conviction to eat healthier,” said Henry who found out

about the coop through a friend who is also a member.

“We joined for that reason and the convenience of

getting fruits and vegetables at one time at an

affordable cost for the size of our family. It also

has me cooking fresh vegetables more regularly and

supplying our family with healthy fruit snacks versus

junk. The quality and quantity in each box is very

good and it’s evident that the selection is chosen

with care, which means a lot since I’m not the one

picking them out myself. Also, since I’m not

experienced with selecting certain fruits and

vegetables properly, it’s very helpful to have someone

experienced doing so. Normally, for purchasing our

produce, I’d go between farmers’ markets and stores

with natural, fresh and organic produce on sale, which

took time and a disciplined budget.” Henry added that

she’s now “hooked” to the coop.

Cunningham will even provide special orders at

customers’ requests, such as Christmas and Valentine’s

Day fruit baskets. Since she started the DC Produce

Coop in November, distributing four different boxes,

in a matter of months, she now offers seven different

freggie boxes for distribution. She is looking forward

to the growth of the coop where it will serve all

Washington-area residents, helping and encouraging

them to live healthier lifestyles.

 

For more information on joining the coop, contact

Tanikka Cunningham at nikka53 or by phone at

(202) 678-7090.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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