High-quality, locally-sourced food sustains healthier and more equitable communities

This article was written for our sponsor, Weaver Street Market

Since 1988, Weaver Street Market has been working to bring healthy, locally-sourced food to the people of North Carolina. What began as a small co-op grocery store in Carrboro has grown into a thriving market with three more stores in Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, and Raleigh.

While food may be its business, its mission is focused on the health and well-being of the people it serves.

"We ensure trusted quality by carefully curating our selection to ensure everything we sell is fresh, healthy, and sustainable," according to the Weaver Street Market website. "Our goal is for you to pick out any single item and trust that it will be good for you, your family, and the environment. We strive to make the best choices on behalf of our customers in keeping with our mission."

Bringing healthy options to local food deserts

Kamal Bell, local owner and founder of Sankofa Farms, is a former school teacher turned farmer whose products appear on Weaver Street shelves. As a producer for Weaver Street Market, he works to address the lack of access to healthy food that many in North Carolina have.

"I grew up in Durham where I saw this gap in food availability, especially in low socioeconomic neighborhoods like mine," said Bell. "This is known as a food desert, a place where healthy food isn’t easily accessible."

Food deserts are defined as low-income areas without close proximity to a grocery store, according to the North Carolina Medical Journal. Close proximity means living less than 10 miles from a grocery store in rural areas or less than one mile from a grocery store in urban areas.

More than 1.6 million North Carolina residents live in a food desert, a number that has increased since 2010, according to the article. This issue affects BIPOC populations more than other groups, as they make up almost half of the population living in food deserts.

Inadequate access to healthy food isn’t just a matter of needing to travel farther to get to the grocery store. Rather, according to the article, people living in food deserts tend to have higher rates of negative health outcomes. Food hardship is associated with higher incidences of diabetes, stroke, hypertension, and kidney disease, as well as poorer mental and physical health and a lower life expectancy.

Bell’s goal has been to reduce food deserts by getting food to where people live. He does this by growing food he knows his target demographic will eat.

"When we first started, we didn't have irrigation," said Bell. "We were draft farming, just waiting on the rain. Once we were able to get a well, we could offer specialty vegetables. Right now, we’re growing mustard greens, celery, red kale, Starbor kale, collard greens, chard, tomatoes, peppers, turnips, carrots, parsley, and spinach."

Bell’s produce is grown in seven high tunnels and one greenhouse and he plans to expand his farm in the future. He partnered with Weaver Street because he believes in its mission to get healthy, locally-sourced food into the hands of more people.

"We enjoy working with Weaver Street," said Bell. "I think they're really addressing inclusivity and diverse roots, and I'm looking forward to growing our partnership with them."

Choosing ethical food sources

In addition to offering produce based on nutritional value, Weaver Street Market focuses on stocking foods that are ethically and sustainably grown and produced.

Many buyers for Weaver Street Market are on a first-name basis with producers for Weaver Street. As a customer, you can learn where food was produced and who produced it. Having that close community of providers allows for trust to build. Further building that trust, Weaver Street Market commits to not shelving products or items that provide negative consequences, whether that negative impact is to health, community or sustainability efforts. Those products are removed, or not offered in the first place.

"For health or societal reasons, there are products that we do not carry as a matter of policy," according to the website. "We keep an updated list of these and any exceptions, including tobacco products, meat and fish produced with antibiotics, additives or growth hormones, foods with harmful additives, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, and endangered fish. We feel it's important to make a statement about these products by refusing to stock them."

As a co-op, Weaver Street Market allows for every owner to have a voice. When the community is broad and diverse, it is easier to discern and learn about options that could be great additions, as well as options that should be reconsidered.

The Weaver Street policy on making changes includes three major steps, listen, consider and act. First, all shareholders have a voice. Not only can they participate in board elections and member surveys, but there is always opportunity for feedback. If a product does not seem to meet ethical or quality guidelines, members can address the issue directly. Conversely, is there a great product or producer not recommended? That input is invaluable as well. Next, the owner's input is considered. What other factors are at play? Is the suggestion a viable one for the buyers at Weaver Street?

The final step is to act. If a great idea arises, or new input provided, because it’s a co-op, there is a high probability that action can be taken and shareholder’s needs can be met. As a co-op, Weaver Street Market has the flexibility to respond to needs quickly and respond to concerns with speed and consideration.

Want to be a vendor for Weaver Street Market? Visit the Weaver Street Market vendor portal to learn more.

Find Weaver Street Market locations or to learn how to become an owner at weaverstreetmarket.com.

This article was written for our sponsor, Weaver Street Market