Gottingen St.’s Community Carrot grocery market co-op has won funding for its not-forprofit store in the $1 million Aviva Community Fund 2012 give-away competition. 6,933 voters took us to the judging finals in 4 rounds of voting. Our submission was then scrutinized by an expert jury on several criteria including originality, sustainability, impact on the community, quality of submission and votes received …and we join many groups across Canada in being awarded full funding.
Now begins the hard work of negotiating a lease on potential premises in the heart of Gottingen St., developing a membership structure for our co-op that is inclusive and invites participation by a wide array of community members, and deciding on the many logistical details necessary to open a grocery store. “We know that eating healthy food is the cornerstone for healthy living” says Norman Greenberg, one of The Carrot’s founding members. “Our commitment is to provide healthy, affordable food to a community that has lived without that service for a very long time.”
The Community Carrot team invites members of the community as well as friends and supporters from around the region to come out and celebrate with us tonight, January 29th from 6-8 pm at 2101 Gottingen St.
A motivated and eager volunteer force will be needed to help us open The Community Carrot grocery market this spring. We encourage anyone with a collaborative bent and time to invest to come out and discover what we’re all about.
The Community Carrot stood out among finalists in this year’s Aviva competition as the only project devoted to helping to ensure that people are well fed. We are thrilled that the Aviva judges assessed our project as worthy. Our great social media campaign and the degree of community support we achieved were noted.
One thing that is special about The Community Carrot is our clear vision that we are much more than a grocery store. We are a community catalyst for healthy living through healthy food and food education. We’ll not only be selling healthy food but we’ll be offering nutrition education, cooking skills, tips on food storage & food safety and opportunities to meet local farmers and food producers. As a co-op we’ll be owned by local community members who will have a say in what we carry in our store.
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For more information or interviews, contact Gwen McCauley (404-7501) or Norman Greenberg (483-8317) (after Jan 30th) or e-mail info@communitycarrot.coop
The site for the Halifax local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.
