A fresh set of eyes on an awesome idea

by Darcie Nolan

When I started at Cow-Op near the end of June, I had absolutely no clue who they were. Well, I knew enough to apply for a job that sounded interesting, but I didn’t know what it was, exactly.

Almost a month and a half later, I have learned a lot and STILL have a lot to learn. This has been an amazing opportunity for me, and I am excited to work with a great team!

My role at the Cow-Op is “Food Hub Facilitator” It requires some explaining, I know. I am part of a Job Creation Partnership between the government, WorkBC and the Cow-op. My main objective is to not only make recommendations for improvements on the current business model, but to create an operating manual for establishing food security contributions to a more robust local agriculture sector.

Now I’ll be honest, I have also had a bit of an interest in the agricultural sector, but I am embarrassed to admit, I didn’t REALLY start paying attention until the pandemic started. Countless farmers and producers had no markets to sell at, had to find new ways to sell their products, and had to find new ways to find customers! Everywhere you would start seeing “Buy Local” “Support Local” and people really started to pay attention, even I started to pay attention. 

I started using delivery services for everything. Groceries, take-out, but trying to support farmers in my area was hard. I had no clue HOW to support them when there were no markets to go to.

Well, I wish I had known about Cow-Op back then! 

The Cow-op is essentially your farmers market online. No waiting until the weekend to buy your veggies for the week, no need to run around to different farms to find your favourite organic products, just go online and order. You have a choice of delivery or pick-up. Now how awesome is that?

So, that’s me and my little intro to the Cow-Op.  I am excited to start blogging again and am hoping to post a new blog once a week to update you on seasonal items, things happening at the Cow-Op, and showcase some of our awesome producers.

If you have an idea of blog post you would like to see, send me an email: darciecowop@gmail.com