VIDEO (MLPBS) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NUiEv39IPo
Our new Food Access Project, the Mountain Weavers’ Farm Store, will be holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, August 7th at 11 am. The Moriah Chamber of Commerce will be organizing the event, and the community is invited to attend to celebrate the grand opening of the new farm store (previously known as the Mountain Weavers’ Guild) stocked with handmade baskets and farm-fresh food, AdkAction, and Mountain Lake Services have partnered to implement this farm store into the existing storefront to bring healthy food to the community and connect community members with their local producers. The farm store stocks its shelves and coolers with high-quality produce, dairy, meat, eggs, and value-added products from local farms and food processors alongside baskets made by residents of Mountain Lake Services. The North Country is rich in abundance of small, local farmers, and having a localized farm fresh retail space in downtown Port Henry allows community members an easy option to shop local.
“We are so happy to have so much community support on this project already. This partnership withAdkAction is helping us serve our community by making farm-fresh food available to all, and giving our residents the opportunity to build strong skill sets”, says Pam Munson, the manager of the Mountain Weavers’ Farm Store. “We are looking forward to the great products from our local producers as the season continues.”
The Mountain Weavers’ Farm Store is a vocational component of Mountain Lake Services and a nonprofit organization with the mission to create high-quality baskets while building community connections and strong work skillsets for its residents. In addition to their daily weaving, residents of Mountain Lake Services will be operating the farm store.
The Mountain Weavers’ Farm Store project is sponsored by the Essex County Well Fed Collaborative, a project of Essex County Health Department in partnership with AdkAction. It is a replication of the Keeseville “Farmacy” model, AdkAction’s innovative mixed-use business model in partnership with the Keeseville Pharmacy. The Farmacy project connects community members to local, healthy food in unconventional ways.
The model allows increased access to farm-fresh food without incurring the overhead start-up cost of starting a new store by incorporating a farm store into an existing business. By bridging the gap between producers and their community, it is possible to put money back into local economies and promote vibrant communities in the North Country, while ensuring that all people have access to the bounty of our region.
