We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wyatt Gober a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Wyatt, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

It is not just the current state of affairs that inspires us, we are not reactionary. The genesis of the New Melle Food Co-op came first out of a personal dream to be part of a community that takes care of itself and puts resiliency into practice. Quickly this dream grew in my own heart, along with its potential multi-faceted outcomes. A true grassroots movement that is built upon the mutual support of fellow partners, community members, and local businesses is what truly materialized a dream that was more than just my own. The mission of the New Melle Food Co-op is to create prosperity and connection within our community. We do this by growing local systems that provide our members with the elements of life. We are creating a private self-directed food systems that ensures our community has sustainable access to clean, local, living food. Gathering community around our food involves much more than just food. We are creating spaces for community members to connect, events and classes for the learning of practical skills to occur, and partnering with aligned organizations to grow this movement beyond our region. The image of an integrated community of happy families, of ecological preservation and diversification, of reclaiming our rights to self-organization, and of reviving the strength of our collective thought, is our driving inspiration.

Wyatt, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have a degree in agriculture and certificates in advance permaculture design, but truthfully, what led me into the field I am in was my own desire for a simple and abundant lifestyle. While in college I co-founded the first farmer’s market in my area – that really sent me down the rabbit hole of community systems. I always had within me this idea to open a local grocery store of sorts, one where pure food was easily accessible and affordable. I met my business partner Noah while in college and together we started the New Melle Food Co-op. The Co-op is a Private Membership Association that sources local food and offers to members at an affordable price at our physical location. All of our perishables are 100% local, everything from meat, eggs, cheese, milk, and produce. All of the other products that would expect in a typical grocery store are also sourced as locally as possible, for example we stock locally pressed grown and pressed Sunflower Oil, and locally grown and milled flours. Our mission is to tell the story of the small farmers and growers who get overshadowed by corporate agriculture and their “food products”, and promote the resiliency that they embody. We bridge the gap between people and their food through pure food transparency and our unique in store labelling that features a color coated locale identifier for the given item of food. In creating networks of communication between growers and buyers, partners and members, we restore reverence to the elements of life and all hands that are apart of it.

Note our Co-op will be opening March 22nd

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

We funded the startup of the New Melle Food Co-op entirely from donations. We launched an crowdfunding campaign and hosted a fundraiser farm to table dinner. In addition to our own efforts, generous community members, touched by our work, graciously assisted us through a series of donations of capital, equipment, labor, and lots of encouragement!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Our marketing strategy is transparency, because that’s what the people want. Everyone is tired of reading the paragraph of labels at the store, or listening to the litany of misleading advertisements on the media. They simply want to know what is they are buying, plain and simple.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://newmellefood.coop
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewMelleFoodCoop
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWMPOne5h5bjTho-QjX7s1w

Image Credits
Amanda Strauser