Local Produce, Local Buyer
Today was a tremendous day for 'the project'. I was contacted a few weeks ago by Allen Zimmerman, Produce Buyer for the Park Slope Food Coop, who had first seen my blog on a Google Alert for the Coop, and then again on some recent press. He generously invited me in this afternoon and walked me through some basic 101s of his job. A particular thanks to Allen for his patience with my amateur 'journalism'!
Allen has lived in Brooklyn for 50+ years and has been involved with the Coop since the very first days when he became friends with Joe Holtz - the Coop's first employee - who convinced him to come on board in his current role in 1988. From the early years of buying mainly grains in bulk from Huntspoint (a drive-in farmers' market in the Bronx still active today), the produce section alone has grown to one which requires 220 decisions per day figuring out where everything will come from. From the start, the Coop complied with what was assumed to be certain law, C.O.O.L. (Country of Origin Labeling). Even now, all produce is labeled with its origin, as specifically as possible. Sometimes that means the individual farm, sometimes it means "USA" if it comes from multiple sources, but Allen always knows where it's from, even when dealing with national wholesale vendors.
A story Allen is particularly proud of is the Coop's fifteen year involvement with Amy Hepworth and her farm in Milton, NY. They have a particularly trusting relationship, as the Coop had been buying from her when she was originally part of a farmers collective and then took her on as one of their primary apple and organic vegetable sources. The closeness is apparent when Allen shows me the handwritten invoices that often come blank. The two entities have relied on each other for so long it is like dealing with family. (Check out a great article about their shared history in The Scotland Sunday Herald)
In the next week or so, I'll swap shifts at the Coop so I can go in early early morning when the deliveries come in and help unload the trucks. If we time it right, I hope to make it in on a day when Amy is delivering her regular shipment. Allen is a tremendous resource and I look forward to ongoing connections with him.
More to come on this afternoon's surprise visit from Nicaragua!
Allen has lived in Brooklyn for 50+ years and has been involved with the Coop since the very first days when he became friends with Joe Holtz - the Coop's first employee - who convinced him to come on board in his current role in 1988. From the early years of buying mainly grains in bulk from Huntspoint (a drive-in farmers' market in the Bronx still active today), the produce section alone has grown to one which requires 220 decisions per day figuring out where everything will come from. From the start, the Coop complied with what was assumed to be certain law, C.O.O.L. (Country of Origin Labeling). Even now, all produce is labeled with its origin, as specifically as possible. Sometimes that means the individual farm, sometimes it means "USA" if it comes from multiple sources, but Allen always knows where it's from, even when dealing with national wholesale vendors.
A story Allen is particularly proud of is the Coop's fifteen year involvement with Amy Hepworth and her farm in Milton, NY. They have a particularly trusting relationship, as the Coop had been buying from her when she was originally part of a farmers collective and then took her on as one of their primary apple and organic vegetable sources. The closeness is apparent when Allen shows me the handwritten invoices that often come blank. The two entities have relied on each other for so long it is like dealing with family. (Check out a great article about their shared history in The Scotland Sunday Herald)
In the next week or so, I'll swap shifts at the Coop so I can go in early early morning when the deliveries come in and help unload the trucks. If we time it right, I hope to make it in on a day when Amy is delivering her regular shipment. Allen is a tremendous resource and I look forward to ongoing connections with him.
More to come on this afternoon's surprise visit from Nicaragua!
Labels: Hepworth Farm, Park Slope Food Coop
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