New Leaf food co-op close to choosing site

GREEN BAY - The city of Green Bay – according to the USDA – is a desert; food desert that is. A food desert is defined as when a large amount of residents in a low-income area have limited access to supermarkets or grocery stores.

"We would like to turn the downtown food desert into a healthy food destination for Brown County and Northeast Wisconsin," said Lynn Walter, president of the New Leaf Market Cooperative board of directors.

Walter, a retired University of Wisconsin Green Bay anthropology professor and founder and past director of the Center for Food in Community and Culture at UWGB, says the New Leaf co-op started as an idea at the Brown County U-W Extension back in 2008. Since then it has gained traction. Aided by the winter farmers markets over the past three years, showing the viability of a year-round store and helping the co-op grow its membership, Walter says it now has more than 600 member-owners.

"We think we have enough at this point,” said Walter regarding co-op membership to get the ball rolling on opening a store. “But the more people who join, the sooner they join, the sooner we have the store open."

Despite the co-op being in active site negotiations, providing affordable, quality food – year-round – in the heart of Green Bay is actually a retail challenge. Walter says store visibility, size, affordability and parking are major site location hurdles and a lot of work must still be done after choosing a site.

Walter says an exact location of the co-op isn't known, yet; but both sides of the river will be taken into consideration.

Downtown redevelopment leaders say with New Leaf on the cusp of choosing the co-op site, and recent residential developments in the downtown, the pieces are falling into place."

"Downtown progress is a...it's a progression," said Jeff Mirkes.

Mirkes is the executive director of Downtown Green Bay, Incorporated.

He says with last week's decision by the Green Bay Redevelopment Authority Committee approving three proposals to build, renovate or plan new residential options on both sides of the river and New Leaf close to finding a permanent home – shows confidence in the downtown is growing.

"Schreiber building a $50 million dollar corporate headquarters,” explained Mirkes. “By Associated Bank moving 500 professionals to the downtown and the numerous other professional organizations saying, 'it’s our time, now we want to be downtown.'"

Which Walter says is a win-win for the city and the co-op.

The total cost for the co-op project is about $6 million. Walter says once a site is chosen, the capital campaign will begin. A portion of that $6 million will go to developing the co-op's education and charitable wing.

Walter says the hope is the market could open within a year, once a site is selected.