Moscow Farmers Market

Proprietors of the Good Food Store (from left): Jim Eagen, Katie Mosel, Rod Davis, and Dave Mosel. Phil Schofield photo. It was August 1973 when our Co-op took root in Moscow. At that time, the nation was riveted by a Senate investigation into any illegal or unethical acts by the Nixon Presidential campaign related to the Watergate break-in at the Democratic National Committee office. Jim Croce’s recently released “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” was in heavy rotation, spending two weeks at number one in July. And E. F. Schumacher’s “Small is Beautiful – Economics as if People Mattered” was hitting bookstores and deepening growing concern that modern economic practices are unsustainable. It was a fertile time for growing a cooperative grocery store in Moscow. Counterculture ideas and increasing concern about soil, water, and air pollution were spurring the formation of natural food cooperatives all across the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s. So too in Moscow, when friends Rod Davis, Jim Eagan, and Dave and Katie Mosel decided to start a natural foods store to address their concerns about rising food costs and the environmental impact of corporate food production. First called the Good Food Store, our founders opened our doors at 112 East Second Street with an inventory that consisted of peas, lentils, cheese, spices, and a few miscellaneous items. We were run entirely by volunteers, and in our first month sales totaled $126.88. In the second month sales grew to $1,000 – it was clear that Moscow wanted its Good Food Store! Then, with 25 members and a few grants and individual loans in place, the Good Food Store officially became a nonprofit cooperative association with the state of Idaho on April 25th, 1974. Six locations and 41 years later, we’re now guided by more than 7,000 local owners who engage in the cooperative business model to build a socially responsible food and goods system. Throughout this history the Moscow Food Co-op has always been more than the buildings from which we’ve sold lentils and our pesto rolls. Our cooperative is the community of owners who sustain this store for the benefit of our broader community. - by Joan Rutkowski, Owner Engagement Coordinator, forRootedmagazine (Winter 2014-2015) THE MOSCOW FOOD CO-OP TIMELINE Happy Co-opers gather at the Good Food Store, soon to become the Moscow Food Co-op. 1973:Rod Davis, Jim Eagan, and Katie and Dave Mosel open the Good Food store on 112 East 2nd St. First months sales $126.88. Second month’s sales: over $1000 1974:Co-op incorporates with 25 new members. A Community Action Agency grant helps the Co-op. 1975:Store moves to new location on 610 S. Main. Name officially changes to Moscow Food Co-op. 1976:The Co-op organizes Moscow’s Farmers Market to provide a meeting ground for buyers and sellers of fresh local produce. Eventually the City’s Arts Commission takes over and moves it to Friendship Square. 1978:The Co-op moves again to 314 S. Washington. We participate in the Renaissance Fair for the first time. 1980-1982: The Co-op faces stiff competition from area supermarkets. Managers are sent to business seminars and volunteers receive more training, and we get aggressive about broadening our appeal- cookware; socks, coffee and vitamins are sold. 310 W. 3rd, former home of Kentucky Fried Chicken 1989:We move to 310 W. 3rd, former home of Kentucky Fried Chicken, get our first parking lot, and business increases 40 percent. 1990:Co-op opens its own bakery,Upper Crust - The Wholegrain Bakery at the Moscow Food Co-op, on March 24, 1990. A second cash register is added. Staff increases to 20 employees and sales break $100,000 for December. Offices are moved upstairs. 1993:We celebrate our 20th anniversary. Staff and shoppers feel very cramped at present location, and the Board begins the search for a new facility. 1998: Co-op celebrates its 25th anniversary with a Taste Fair and a party. Negotiations are successful for a new location and Co-op o