Volunteer Appreciation

Rooted Carrot Co-op values all of the volunteers who have invested their time, energy, and skills in working toward the goal of building a community-owned grocery in Cedar Falls. Those who volunteered this year were invited to gather at Three Pines Farm for a beautiful evening of conversation, laughter, a delicious dinner, and a beautiful sunset. And goat pets and llama feeding, too! 

Many thanks to Kara of Three Pines Farm for her generosity and extreme hospitality. We had a wonderful, memorable time and felt pampered and energized! 

If you would like to join the dynamic team of volunteers, email info@rootedcarrot.coop today! 

Farm Crawl After Party

Everyone is invited to the Farm Crawl After-Party for a tour of We Arose Demonstration garden, local food, and socializing!

The party will begin with a tour of the We Arose Demonstration Garden and high tunnel at 5 pm.

Food will be available for purchase from Concept Kitchen! (They cater and serve food out of Second State Brewery in Cedar Falls.)

Learn more about Rooted Carrot Co-op Market, Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), and SILT (Sustainable Iowa Land Trust)!

No registration required. The After-Party is open to the public and all farm crawl participants. Please share this event with others! 

Fall Food Fest Returns!

It is exciting to be offering this free, family- friendly event to the community once again!

Come out and celebrate Iowa Local Food Day by learning, tasting, and supporting local farmers, producers, and businesses at the Rooted Carrot Co-op Fall Food Fest on Wednesday, September 25th, 6:30-8:00. 

The Cedar Falls Community Center will host local growers and producers who will be offering samples, sharing expertise, and answering questions about their businesses. There will be activities for children, live music, food trucks, and door prizes! 

Bring friends and neighbors and enjoy this community-building event! 

This is a big event, made possible by the efforts of volunteers. Setting up, tearing down, greeting, seeking donations for door prizes, painting children’s faces, planning and implementing a photo booth, wearing the Rooty costume…there are so many ways to help! If you would be available to help in any way, please email the Membership Committee as soon as possible. Thank you! 

CSA Opportunity for Rooted Carrot Co-op Members!

The Rooted Carrot Co-op Market and We Arose have partnered to offer produce shares delivered to Cedar Falls every week! Participating member/owners appreciate the variety, quality, & value of the produce, and the convenience of this program. 

Up to 30 shares are available monthly, with Wednesday delivery to ThreeHouse campus ministries on College Street in Cedar Falls. 

This partnership with We Arose is one way the co-op supports local growers and helps to expand access to local foods in the community, meeting two key goals of the Rooted Carrot Co-op. 

If you would like to take advantage of this great opportunity for members, email info@rootedcarrot.coop today! September and October shares are still available. 

Message from the Board – August 2024

I hope you had an opportunity to read the committee updates from our Site Committee and Community Relations team in last month’s Garlic Press! The board is so excited and grateful to have these awesome volunteers working so hard towards our goal of opening our co-op in our community. We will be celebrating our volunteers over the last year at a Volunteer Appreciation dinner in August.

Our nine member board meets monthly to hear committee updates and make decisions based on committee recommendations and delegate tasks that need to be completed. It is that time of year when we need to think about electing our future board members! Please consider running for the Board or encouraging a friend, colleague, or family member to run for the board. The term would start November 1st. There is no experience needed to be a board member, however, we are seeking individuals who are interested in being a board member and a liaison between the Site Committee, Capital Campaign Committee, and/or Operations Committee. Your current board members (Kate Dunning, Dave Schachterle, Nick Phillis, Mallory Devries, Lisa Nelson, Theresa Westbrock, Allie Hartz, Ben Scholl) are happy to answer any questions you have so please reach out!

Check out the timeline for applying for the Board of Directors in our calendar of events!

Jodie Huegerich, 

President, Board of Directors 

Site Stuff – What’s Up?

First, thank you to those of you who attended or reviewed the information from one of the two special meetings the Board organized last summer. Around that time, many of you took up the invitation to participate in an advisory vote to gauge your opinion on whether the Board should continue the effort to bring our grocery store to bear. We recognized that for many of you the lack of a site this many years into the work was stressing the trust you provide the Board.

It was important to have that conversation with you, including reviewing sites that offered potential and the factors that led to their failed viability. We also shared that the two most promising options at the time were 3+ years out. After those meetings, the advisory vote indicated that 70% of member-owners wanted the Board to continue the effort.

There is no perfect site, and our responsibility to member-owners is to investigate sites with an open mind for varying degrees of the following requirements: 7,000ish square feet, a square or rectangular building, 20+ parking spaces, accessible for 52’ semi-trailer deliveries, dock access, ground floor entry, good ingress/egress, and a high traffic location.

You have heard those important nuggets before, but we take any chance we can to re-emphasize them because those details increase the inquiries and leads that come our direction. Even so, I’m aware that the most pressing question is ‘What’s happening now?’

The 5-member site team meets monthly. In the past 12 months, we have explored and visited several potential locations along both sides of University Avenue, re-examined several sites that had been explored years ago, and held fresh conversations, including tours, with some property owners up and down Main St. We began partnering with the Community Relations Committee, a team formed just over a year ago to drive community conversations with elected officials, city staff, businesses, and other stake holders. The teaming has been robust and exciting, and has led to effective education, heightened curiosity, and open doors.

Since late winter, we have been spending most of our effort on a specific site that meets most of the above criteria and would provide the co-op with new opportunities. This site requires a unique approach, and we are focused on doing that well. In the meantime, we remain open to other potential sites so that all exploration is just and fully accountable.

We understand how difficult it is for you to not receive full information, but we are committed to sharing what we can even if the sharing can only go so far. The work is being done, and the talent is here to see it through, thanks to a lot of volunteer hours and a bonding of hearts and minds to always take the next step. When we can share more we will. Nothing will be more satisfying for the Board than to share great news with you. Your trust, help, and engagement help us keep the work moving forward.

Kate Dunning, Site Team Chair

July 10 Potluck Picnic

Gather with friends for a member mixer potluck picnic on Wednesday, July 10, 5:30 at Washington Park in Cedar Falls.

Bring a dish to share, your own reusable tableware, and a friend or two to Washington Park to mix, mingle, and reconnect with your co-op community at this family-friendly, casual event. Water with mix-ins will be provided, and we will have disposable tableware available, too!

Whether they grow it, buy it, or create it, co-op members always have yummy, interesting potlucks. Come and see for yourself! You won’t be disappointed.

Farm Crawl

Cedar Valley Farm Crawl is August 11, 2024 1pm-5 pm

This is a family-friendly event for all ages and gives the public an opportunity to meet local producers and learn more about what locally grown or produced food is available. 

$20/vehicle and $10/bike rider 18 years and older. New in 2024–local food tastings and a guided route for both vehicles and bike riders!

Register HERE for the event by July 11, 2024 or until the event is sold out. Spots are limited to 25 vehicles and 25 registered bike riders. Participants are encouraged to carpool. Families are encouraged to participate in the bike ride and only 18 years and older need to register and pay the fee. 

More information at https://ceee.uni.edu/farm-crawl

Participating locations for vehicles: Cook’s Fruits and Vegetables, Fitkin Popcorn, Litteaur’s Garden Produce, Varda Farms & Apiary, and We Arose Demonstration Garden. 

Participating locations for bike riders: We Arose demonstration garden, Jesse Cosby Neighborhood Center garden, Litteaur’s Garden Produce, Northeast Iowa Food Bank garden, and Peoples Community Health Clinic garden. 

Contact: Jodie Huegerich at jodie.huegerich@uni.edu

Farm Crawl After Party

Join us for the Farm Crawl After-Party!

Anyone is welcome and no registration is required. This will take place at We Arose Demonstration Garden (300 Peek St. Waterloo). We will have a vendor booth in addition to UNI Local Food Program, SILT, Practical Farmers of Iowa, and more!

Food will be available for purchase at this event from Concept Kitchen.

Community Relations Update

The Community Relations team has been hard at work getting this new committee off the
ground and out into the community. After the member owner meetings last fall, it was apparent
to the board that the membership saw a need for a community outreach and education team to work towards developing open lines of communication with local officials. As a result, this
committee was formed.

We have been engaging in conversations with local leaders in an effort to showcase the benefits
of the Rooted Carrot and to express the desires of the membership to move this project forward.
We have identified key individuals that can be helpful in working towards the goal of a site for
the future storefront. We have also had meetings with the site team as we identified that our
work might overlap in many areas at this point in the process.

Moving forward, we may be reaching out to you, our members, to encourage reaching out to
your city councilperson to let them know how important this project is to you and the community.
It is so important to let your local leaders know what you want your community to look like and
when it comes to the Rooted Carrot, reaching out to your elected leaders might make the
difference in compelling leaders to work together with us to achieve the goal of a cooperatively
owned grocery here in the Cedar Valley.

Nick Phillis
Board Member