Meet OGC Mission Fund Recipient: Moscow Food Co-Op

Fifty years ago, four University of Idaho students who believed food justice and ownership were critically important worked together to start the Moscow Food Co-Op. Today, the Co-Op straddles two of the most food-insecure counties in the Inland Northwest - Latah and Whitman. Faced with this fact, the Co-Op’s leaders and members knew they needed to help, so they created the FLOWER program and Equity Fund to support low-income shoppers. 

FLOWER stands for Fresh, Local, Organic and Within Everyone’s Reach. Community members who qualify receive a 20% discount on purchases and help with the Co-Op’s one-time ownership fee. In 2022, 365 people took advantage of the program, and the goal is to increase its reach to 465 this year. One of the places the Co-Op targets with its FLOWER program is the University of Idaho, where nearly half of the students regularly experience food insecurity.

“We were excited to receive an OGC Mission Fund grant to support the FLOWER program. We’ll use part of the grant to help university students since the cost of college can create a tough financial time for folks,” said Chloe Rambo, the Moscow Food Co-Op’s marketing manager. “We have a small store on campus that partners with a food bank. With OGC’s support, the FLOWER program will give more students access to our healthy groceries.”

The Moscow Food Co-Op is just one of the many organizations supported by OGC’s Mission Fund in 2022. Find a list of our recent grant recipients at https://www.organicgrown.com/blog/2022missionfundgiving.