About Us

What can happen when a group of small family farms, adults with mental retardation, and a local health improvement coalition join forces?

We believe this unlikely partnership will effect tremendous change in the quality of life of Oxford Hills residents. Our pilot project, Oxford Hills Food Cooperative (OHFC), is designed to address three significant concerns impacting our communities: 1) the financial viability of small family-run farms, 2) the underemployment and segregation of adults with mental retardation, and 3) the need to improve the overall wellness of the community as a whole. By joining together and sharing our unique skills and resources, our collaborative group is addressing these issues head-on in a proactive, self-sufficient, and innovative manner.

As a cooperative our goal is to strive to serve the growth and long-term health of farmers, chefs, and market gardeners by developing a sustainable network that supports the promotion and distribution of local food to our region.

The cooperative is committed to developing a self-reliant, self-empowering community, by offering a retail exchange to the Oxford Hills region for goods which are grown, produced, traded, and distributed locally, in a sustainable, equitable, and responsible manner.

The essential business of the cooperative is to provide a marketplace where willing buyers and sellers can meet.

The cooperative will not limit the number of producers who can sell a particular product. We think this is very important to maintain the vitality of the cooperative and make it an interesting place for customers to shop.

We will develop a verification system to guarantee the claims of the producers. This will include (1) certified organic, (2) All natural (organic but not certified) (3) for non-organic foods, use of pesticides, herbicides, and commercial fertilizers.

The relationship between the cooperative and its producer and customer members is an agency relationship. We act as agents of the producers in listing their products, collecting the customer orders, arranging for delivery, collecting from the customer and paying the producer. We act as agents of the customers in finding producers with products to sell, providing an order system, collecting their payments, and delivering their groceries. In our sorting operation, we are a cross-docking operation. The products are always owned by either the producer or the customer. The cooperative never holds title on any of the products.

We are bringing together producers and customers into the same organization. Among our producers and customer members we have a diverse of lifestyles, beliefs, cultures and religions. Even so, we will find common ground based on our mutual need for a marketplace where we can find good, healthy, nutritious local foods. We are focused on meeting local needs with local resources.