The Stalk Market was born out of the desire to make local food accessible and affordable by decreasing the distance in the supply chain from farm to fork.
If you have gone grocery shopping in the last few months, you have likely seen the prices on the shelves steadily ticking up. Inflation, rising energy, transportation, and labor costs are all contributing to the squeeze on farmers and consumers.
"On average, 16 cents out of every dollar spent on food can be tied back to the farm.
"The cost of groceries rose 13.5% in the past year, the largest increase in 43 years."
- PBS, "The major factors driving up the cost of food"
Food is expensive. Food is necessary. We have little choice but to consume whatever is available at the store, unless there are other options available to us. Good quality, locally made, and reasonably-priced food has always seemed like a thing of idealist dreams. We believe it is possible.
Our partnership with ReKaivery (a store in a shipping container) has allowed us to set up an entire shop at the Yellow Barn Farm where we can test our improvements on food systems.
The Stalk Market is the Operations puzzle piece to aggregating the local food network - focusing on Business to Business distribution and Business to Customer delivery.
Our team's background in logistics and transportation (from 7+ years running Small Haul, a small-scale moving service in Boston & Boulder), eCommerce, and managing a fleet of Sprinter vans has set us up with the logistics framework it is going to take pull the local food network of the Boulder-Longmont-Lyons region closer together.
By creating a sourcing and distribution company that works with producers who are growing, processing, and packaging their goods within a 30 mile radius, we can help keep monetary resource within a local community network.
This model also relies on a mycelial network effect to grow. Each container store being a node that acts as an aggregate zone for that local radius's food supply. Placed where demand is high, this network allows for the quick distribution of food between each with the help from a small fleet of Sprinter vans.
By purchasing products from all our local farms, small businesses, artisans, or back-yard growers we can put a greater percentage of each dollar back into our communities AND keep food costs reasonable for the consumer.
If you haven't yet checked out your new local marketplace, come visit the Stalk Market//ReKaivery @ Yellow Barn Farm.
Hours of Operation:
Mon-Tues: Closed
Wed-Sun: 10am-5pm
Follow us on Instagram: @stalkmarketfoods
I am thankful for this opportunity for buying locally sourced food.