January Newsletter

Welcome to the new year at MARSH to all of our active members! If you haven’t joined the co-op (or haven’t been purchasing your groceries at MARSH) yet, here is some info to get you started.   We had a great member’s meeting in December and elected two new board members to bring our total to five. It’s going to be an exciting year and this is an amazing team to help guide us forward. Here’s a bit about each . . .  Shira Berkowitz is MARSH’s longest-standing board member. They are the communications manager at PROMO, Missouri’s premier LGTBQ advocacy organization, and a founding board member of MaTovu, a Jewish neighborhood center. Shira also serves on the Board of Directors for the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.  ___ Ronnie Reese is the owner/baker of Heavenly Sinful Delights, established in 2016. She is a graduate of L’Ecole Culinaire and the mother of a budding photographer and high school senior. “I have been aware of the economic climate of St. Louis among several different areas and what affects that has on many communities like the ones in the south and north-side areas. MARSH and I share the same ideals when it comes to serving the community with quality in all aspects of life, especially when it comes to food. I have enjoyed the time I’ve had so far at MARSH and am excited to see what we can accomplish together in the future.”  ___ Born and raised in Lubbock, TX and with deep roots in Taiwan, Julia Ho has been living and organizing in St. Louis since 2011 and has been heavily involved in dozens of campaigns, coalitions, and organizations in the region throughout that time. Her passion for community stems first and foremost from her early experiences with TreeGrace Farms, a certified organic farm founded by her mother and named after her grandfather. She is the founder of Solidarity Economy St. Louis, co-founder of STL Mutual Aid, and board member for the New Economy Coalition. ___   Seratti (she/her) is a native St. Louisian with over 20 years of “food” experience, from restaurants and grocery stores to a farm and food bank. As a result of cooking, buying, selling, receiving, seeding, weeding, and marketing food and access, Seratti believes more equitable and sustainable channels are possible.   Currently, Seratti is the Marketing Manager at the St. Louis Area Foodbank. And though she may not respond to it right away, Jessica is her first name. Seratti is her last.  ___  Jena Hood is a St. Louis transplant, originally from south Georgia. “I currently serve in the role of Farm Manager and Lead Educator at EarthDance Organic Farm School in Ferguson. I received an M.S. in sociology and spent several years working for various non-profits, tackling societal issues related to mental health, homelessness, and child abuse/neglect. In an attempt to thwart impending burnout, I quit my job and traveled the country with my partner. We criss-crossed the country, working on farms and off-grid homesteads through a volunteer program called WWOOF. Through these experiences, I realized I needed the creative work of farming and building things with my hands to feed my body and soul. I’ve been farming full-time ever since. I’m specifically interested in creating increased access to local, farm-fresh food while addressing issues of food injustice. I hope to inspire others to believe in ecologically minded, organically guided agriculture as a sustainable model for the community, for the planet, and for the farmer. I truly believe that garden by garden, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, each partial effort is a step in the right direction. I’ve always had an attraction to the outdoors and in my spare time you can find me piddling in my home-scale food forest, tending our flock of hens, and keeping our rescue pups, Ashe and Maple, out of the garden beds.    This space is to become the MARSH Cooperative Grocery store! Our HFFI grant year runs from March 1, 2021 to March 1, 2022. More and ongoing updates to come soon! Finally, I wanted to point out a couple of changes/improvements to the website (this is an understatement of epic proportions from our end since we now have an INVENTORY SYSTEM, thanks to our genius coder, Edward Sharp!) All always, MARSH ON HAND products are visible by clicking on the landing page tile. Now, you can also sort within the catalog for MOH items by clicking on the filter box in the right column on each page. Any product that is available on hand will show a number in that column. ON HAND orders are limited to that number but, for regular group orders, any amounts beyond that number will simply flow into the order system to let us know we need more (unless, for some reason, it is no longer available)! Any time you want to return to the landing page, simply click on MARSH COOP. You will also notice a new popover box with updated information on scheduling, events, etc. This box will only pop up the first time you log in but, if you want to see it again, simply click on the smiley face drop down, and select “show announcement”.  Feel free to contact co-op staff with any questions or concerns at bioculturalist@gmail.com or              574-238-4577. The MARSH Food Cooperative is a d.b.a. of the not-for-profit SPARK for the ARTS, Inc.