All fundraisers should smell this good. I went the long way around to the barbeque, but my nose told me I was heading in the right direction. The H Street Community Market fundraiser on April 12 at Christ Church (620 G St. SE) raised funds and awareness for the notional cooperative store that is raring to bring H Street the vitality of fresh food options.

A Market Ready to Go
Since 2003, H Street neighbors have had the H Street Community Market in the works, laying the groundwork, fostering working relationships, drawing business plans, raising funds. The goal is to bring good health to H Street NE by offering education on healthful living and fresh food – locally grown, organically grown – mystery-free food. This means offering produce, meats and cheeses that have a clear path from the local farmer to the store to your table, are truly organic (or better), include ingredients that you can pronounce, and are at an affordable price.

Karine Bouis-Towe, H Street Community Market’s project manager, pointed out, “It’s critical that people begin to put their money behind what they want to see on H Street – natural food, organic food, local food, supporting the farmers in the area and keeping them in business, rather than have them taken over by developers.” Buying goods made within a 150-mile radius also helps our local economy by keeping dollars in local circulation and lessens fuel consumption as the produce isn’t being shipped from California (or South America).

Annie Donovan, vice president of the market board, illustrated people’s desire to know their food, to connect that what we eat was not ill-treated and not lab-born, but grown or raised by people whom you can meet and talk to on farms you can visit. “This is a way of demonstrating that connection. Everybody that’s here today is local,” she said.

Meet the Farmers
Ben Byler is an Amish farmer and father of 11 in Southern Maryland. He brought free-range chickens to eat and eggs to sell. Bill Jones with Babes in the Wood out of Dillwyn, Va., offered his forest-fed hogs. (Uncle Fred’s BBQ Smoke Shack cooked them up.) Jennifer Smoker, a new member of the market board, couldn’t believe how sweet the meat tasted. (Read why at www.forestfed.com.) Dan Allgyer of Rainbow Acres, an Amish farm in Lancaster County, brought ice cream and bread, and regularly delivers a supply of organic products to the Hill (see Yahoo! group grassfedonthehill). Twin Oakes of Louisa, Va., makes the tofu. Krishon Chocolates makes organic and fairly traded sweets (www.krishon.com). And let us not forget about the beer supplied by Charles Haines of Williamsburg AleWerks, (www.williamsburgaleworks.com).

When the H Street Community Market is open, these are the sorts of products that residents will have regular access to. “When we have these events, we go to other businesses and promote them and actually talk about their food being in our store,” said Karine.

Next in Line, Please
As their website reads, “Become a Member, Become a Member, Become a Member NOW.”

“We need to get more membership because membership is how we get lenders,” Karine explained. “With a food coop, they need to see that the community is there, that we have the member numbers to support the store once we open it.” In other words, membership replaces credit history where lenders are concerned.

The Market is in talks with FRESHFARM (www.freshfarmmarkets.org), and FRESHFARM founder Bernie Prince is an H Street Community Market board member. “Not only do they help us with questions we may have about running a coop,” said Karine, “but they’re considering us as a new store they want to open, or financially backing our store.”

The H Street Community Market currently has just over 100 members at $100 per share. They need 500 members before they approach lenders. “They’ve dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s,” said Smoker. They have their suppliers, and the business end is in order. Another new board member, Tim Fenton, is working the government grants angle. Now they need you.

To show your support for an affordable local source of organic food, natural products and a healthier H Street community, go to www.hstcommunitymarket.org to become an H Street Community Market member.