Announcing your new Co-op name!

Without further ado – and with gratitude for your patience! – the Board of the Cedar Falls Food Co-op would like to announce that the name of the co-op has officially changed to the Rooted Carrot Cooperative Market.

Our intention in changing the name was to more accurately reflect the co-op’s values, and to stress inclusivity and regional community over geographic boundaries, while still maintaining continuity with our existing brand. We believe that the name Rooted Carrot accomplishes all of these things.

One of the things that differentiates our community-owned co-op from other grocery stores is the fact that we are rooted in community – our member-owners have already invested not only financially in the co-op, but also with over 10,000 volunteer hours toward making this store come to life. Even the selection of our new name was a cooperative process; arrived at after listening to many suggestions from members, gathering opinions and ideas through a survey and two input sessions, and consulting with other food cooperatives and industry experts.

As we move toward the next phase of this project –  the capital campaign – community support, resolve, and unified effort will be crucial. When the physical store becomes a reality, the co-op will further establish roots and strengthen our community by connecting our local growers and producers to consumers much more closely than is typical of most grocery stores. 

The co-op will add value to our community, not only by keeping more food dollars in our local economy, but also by adding an attractive asset to people potentially considering living in the area. We want more of our young people to stay (or come back to) this area, and we believe a community-owned co-op close to the growing number of downtown Cedar Falls residents is a feature that could appeal to many. In that way, we hope the co-op can entice more young people to put down their roots in the community.

Finally, it is our hope that the name Rooted Carrot evokes ideas around the growing, vibrant community that this is.  A carrot still rooted in the ground is not static; rather it is changing, alive, and ready to nourish and support.

As we continue to move forward in our collective effort to establish a physical store, we hope that you will support us in this not-so-small effort to further strengthen this great community.

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