A community food-buying club, called the Real Food Buying Club, is launching this week in Ballard. Organized by Kelly Schneyer, the club is designed to allow a group of people to combine their buying power to buy in bulk in order to make food and supplies cheaper for everyone involved. Schneyer is using a Ballard warehouse to run the buying club, and says they’ll get things going this weekend with their first online ordering program.
Schneyer sent us the following timeline for the launch of the club:
- Saturday, October 5th – Online ordering for local coffee, grass fed meats & organic produce open up.
- Nuts, grains, seeds, sweeteners & oils will become available the following week.
- Friday, October 12th – Meet Your Farmer, Meet Your Buyer event at Conduit Coffee Company (RFBC in partnership with Institute for Washington’s Future, meeting Alvarez Farms and smaller Latino farmers from the Yakima Valley)
- Saturday, October 12th – 1st Order cycle closes, assuming we meet minimum orders for our producers.
- Monday, October 15th – Move into our new space at 4818 14th Ave NW @ Leary Way (old Home Site space).
- Thursday, October 17th – First food order is delivered, split up, and picked up by members.
The club, using the strength in numbers approach, allows its members to get wholesale prices on both food and goods. Schneyer, who was a member of a food-buying club in Portland before moving to Seattle, says she felt inspired to start one here to help build community.
Click here to read an earlier story about the Real Food Buying Club and to see a short video in which Schneyer describes the benefits of joining the club.
