In rural Alaska, fresh and affordable food and produce might seem like a world away, but the Sitka Food Co-op is working to bring it right to their members’ doors.
It’s a different kind of store than most are used to. Members order what they want ahead of time through an online portal through one of their five suppliers—United Natural Foods, Equal Exchange, Fresh Produce, Azure Standard, and Blue Valley Meats—and then pick up their items every other week at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Keith Nyitray, the general manager of the Co-op, notes that sometimes new members are timid—given that you have to prep your shopping ahead of time, sometimes two weeks in advance—but the payoff is worth it.
The Co-op currently has over 260 members in a town of more than 8,500 people. Some are households, some are businesses, but on average, all are saving 20 percent on their food budget. Nyitray helped found the Co-op in 2010 alongside former Sitka residents Ann Betty and Sarah Aday. They began with 13 families.
Nyitray says it’s not just members saving money—as the Co-op has grown, two major retailers in Sitka have lowered their prices to compete. “The whole town ‘wins’ that way,” he said.
While the large majority of their food is purchased through their suppliers, they continually look for ways to work with local suppliers. Currently, hydroponically grown greens and seaweed products are flown in from Juneau; canned seafood is mailed in from Klawock. They recently added a baker to the mix, in addition to those who provide locally grown vegetables, homemade sauerkraut. and flash-frozen salmon when available.
The Co-op doesn’t just carry food products, either. From vitamins to toothpaste and tampons, the co-op has just about everything a household would need. Nyitray says they have about 500 products specifically for their new beginnings program, which provides items for families that are prenatal and postnatal.
“The cost of living in Sitka is so high, and young families are struggling… this is our way of supporting young families and also providing better products for pregnancies and post-pregnancies for the early stages of development,” Nyitray said.
Recently, the Co-op was awarded a grant that allowed them to hire a position for outreach and education.
“We hired someone to help us reach out to especially low-income families,” Nyitray said. “We created a membership fee waiver program for people in financial distress… There's so much that we can do in this area.”
Last year, co-op growth plateaued for the first time, but Nyitray attributes that to a population change in town—partially due to a combination of the high cost of living and military members leaving town post-contract. But, despite the exodus, 25 percent of their membership was due to new members in 2019, and they continue to gain new members monthly.
Nyitray says what the Co-op is achieving in Sitka is something “exportable” that can be done anywhere in the state.
“A cooperative is about people coming together to solve a problem by and for themselves,” Nyitray said. “In our case, it was to purchase wholesome and nutritional foods at a reasonable cost… The principle of cooperatives is co-ops supporting other co-ops.”
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