Our System is Broke, But We Can Help Fix It.
As the effects of COVID 19 profoundly alter our lives and shake up the way we do almost everything, we are reminded that our current food system is unsustainable.
Many meat processing facilities across the nation are either closing down or rife with COVID 19 infections. Despite having some of the most fertile soil in the world, a large majority of produce sold in most Illinois grocery stores travels thousands of miles to get here while the profit these stores makes travels thousands of miles away from our community. And most of the food we buy at chain grocery stores are overly saturated with harmful chemicals, preservatives, pesticides, hormones, and other contaminants that have no business being in or on the food we and our families eat.
Environmentally, economically, and nutritiously- this system is unsustainable.
This is why food co-ops are important. We understand that supporting as much local food as possible is not only beneficial to OUR community, but having a vibrant, robust local food infrastructure protects us all from crises like we are experiencing now.
We have plenty of local farmers and food producers, but conventional grocery stores simply will not work with most of these small businesses. However, this is what food co-ops do best: providing a marketplace for locally and sustainably produced, clean, nutritious food.
But we can't do this until we can open our doors. This is why we need you to join the nearly 1100+ of your friends and neighbors who have already joined our ranks to realize our dream of building a community-Owned grocery store where we buy the food we want and a large majority of the profit stays here in our community. PFC Owners are the building blocks of what our grocery store will be and we cannot open without more of our community stepping up and becoming Owners.
We ask you to please step up for your community by becoming a Prairie Food Co-op Owner today.