Success Story of a Little Food Co-op in Southwest New Mexico (The Silver City Food Co-op History) by
520 N. Bullard Street Silver City, N.M. 88061 575-388-2343 Open Mon thru Sat 9am- 7pm * Sun 11am - 5pm
Departments
Produce
Hello fellow Co-op patrons and curious customers. As the representative of the produce department I would like to enlighten you with the following blurb. Our mission, as produce gurus, is to bring as much local, organic, and most of all nutritious fruits & veggies to our community. Come see our fabulous displays, where you will enjoy organic consumption like never before!
-Jake Sipko, Produce Manager
The dairy section at the Silver City Food Co-op provides a nice organic and natural variety of yogurts, milk, cheese and soy alternative products. Finding and offering local, New Mexican products is important to us. We offer delicious goat cheese from Old Windmill Dairy in Moriarty, NM. We also offer yummy organic cheese from Coon Ridge Dairy in Pie Town, NM.
We carry milk, cream, and half and half from the family-owned Rasband Dairy in Albuquerque, NM. Their dairy products are not ultra-pasteurized, so they retain a wonderful, creamy flavor. We also offer several varieties of yummy cheese from the Tucumcari Mountain Cheese Factory (Tucumcari, NM).
--Becky Carr, department buyer
Dairy
The Silver City Food Co-op has been a member of Frontier Natural Products Co-op for many years. We believe in the principle of co-ops helping co-ops. One of the first distributors to recognize the value of organics, Frontier donates one percent of profits to education and to assistance for organic farmers. We proudly offer a full line of organic Frontier herbs and spices not easily found elsewhere.
Teas & Spices
Bulk
The Co-op’s bulk department offers a variety of organic coffees, flours, oats, nuts, beans, whole grains, granolas and repacked dried fruits. Products can be purchased in whole bags, boxes, or in small amounts. We give a 10% discount on all full bags and boxes purchased by members.
Bulk
This department stocks a wide variety of dietary supplements: vitamins and minerals, herbal capsules, homeopathic remedies, protein powders, etc. We have products organized mainly according to category, such as digestive aids, sleep aids, or multiple vitamin/mineral supplements. Due to limited shelf space, we are also happy to special order products – we just ask that you please supply us with as much information as possible. This would include name of the manufacturer, quantity desired, form (capsules, liquid, powders, etc.), and so on.
Note: We may not diagnose or prescribe for our customers. However, we can direct you to both information and location of products on our shelves. In addition, there is always available on display in the aisle a copy of Prescription for Nutritional Healing for reference, and a “Supplement Map” hanging at either end of the shelves. If your health care practitioner recommends a particular item, we will do our best to either find it on our shelves or to special order it.
Supplements
Over the years, the Co-op bread and frozen departments have gone from simply being a way to purchase ready-made items into a way to promote and support locally-raised organic meats and baked goods. We support many local ranchers, such as J-6 Beef from San Lorenzo, Gila River Ranch and Tierra del Sol Farms, which raises organic lamb. We also offer local baked goods from Living Harvest Bakery in San Lorenzo.
Our Frozen section now gives customers a choice of many gluten-free products, including bagels, muffins, tortillas and breads.
We sell a variety of organic dinner entrees, appetizers, pizzas, frozen fruits and vegetables, traditional baked goods (Stacy’s Organic Tortillas are a very popular item) and more! Our new ice cream freezer is filled with a well-rounded selection of ice creams, both dairy and non-dairy. And…you’re looking for seafood, poultry and exotic meats such as lamb, elk and bison, we have that, too!
Frozen & Bakery
From Pasta to instant potatoes, sauces to seaweed, chutney to crab meat, the dinner aisle is where you’ll find everything for the well stocked pantry. Check out our selection of sprout seeds! Along with sprouting kits, we’ve got everything you need to start your kitchen garden today. We now have gluten-free products identified in each section of the store. Please look for the orange dots which tell you a product is gluten-free.
Grocery
Our health and beauty department offers a complete selection of body care products from a wide range of companies. Silver City and its surrounding area is home to several small businesses that produce exceptionally well-crafted remedies and beauty products that can help to heal the body and enhance appearance.
Our emphasis has been to study current research in the beauty industry and obtain the purest, most ethically made products that we can, while keeping prices as reasonable as possible.
You will find local, regional, fair trade, and organic lotions, shampoos, soaps, salves and more in this center-aisle section of the Silver City Food Co-op. We intend to develop and refine this compassionate, non-corporate approach and to offer co-op customers helpful service and ecologically supportive health and beauty products.