Lake-to-River Food Cooperative

OUR STORY The Lake-To-River Food Cooperative is a member-owned cooperative of food buyers, producers, processors, and buyers who grow, prepare, add value to and market agricultural products to institutional and commercial buyers in the Mahoning Valley and throughout the region and beyond. Formed in 2011, the project has achieved sales to over 10 local school districts and continues to grow as it markets to schools, restaurants, businesses and families. The number of producers and products available from cooperative members is increasing as is the number of buyers who indicate interest in supporting the efforts to re-build the local food economy. Currently, the Lake-To-River Co-op offers a broad array of fresh produce, meat, cheese, eggs and value-added products. The farmers use a range of production practices, from Integrated Pest Management (spray reduction techniques) to fully natural systems not using any synthetic ingredients for fertility or pests. The Lake-To-River Food Cooperative is actively selling products to local school systems through a Farm to School initiative, partnering with the Humility of Mary Health System and collaborating with three retail stores in food desert areas to bring fresh, local produce to food deserts in Youngstown, Warren and the region as a whole. The Cooperative's latest project is the Lake-to-River Online Market, which serves individuals and families by providing them with an economical way to buy local food through bulk distribution and pricing. The Online Market and the Cooperative now has a joint ordering website.