News Photo by Reagan Voetberg The "Welcome to Downtown Alpena" sign is pictured.

ALPENA — This evening, a presentation will take place at PIF Cider discussing the possibility of opening a food co-op in downtown Alpena.

The event will start at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour before a brief informal presentation begins at 6 p.m., Alpena Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Director Anne Gentry said.

The presentation will cover the basics of what a food co-op is, how grants have supported the work so far, and what the vision is for the project. The community will have a chance to provide input and contribute to the project.

A steering committee composed of different communities connected with food, including a local farmer and business owner, has been working behind the scenes along with the DDA and United Way to get the Alpena food co-op idea up and running, Gentry said.

A food co-op is a grocery store that is owned by the people that shop there, she said. There are food co-ops all across Michigan, including ones like the Grain Train in Petoskey.

It looks like a normal grocery store, but it is owned by community members instead of an outside corporation, Gentry said.

“People don’t realize that there is only one grocery store in the city limits,” Gentry said. “We shouldn’t just have grocery stores on the outskirts of town. Back in the day there used to be dozens of locally owned grocery stores.”

The co-op would provide a place to do all of your grocery shopping, including produce, dry goods, canned goods, fresh baked goods, dairy, and more. Gentry said there would likely be a priority on organic and natural foods since there is nowhere in Northeast Michigan that prioritizes clean food options.

Gentry said that the co-op team is looking at five or six potential locations downtown that are around 3,500 square feet. She said there would have to be some fundraising before a location is settled.

The co-op project so far has operated with a few grants, including a healthy food financing initiative which seeks to add more retail grocery options in food deserts that the DDA received. United Way is working with a grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to get the co-op off the ground.

“Co-ops are really rooted in the idea that your food system should be controlled locally,” Gentry said. “They give flexibility as to what products they can carry.”

When grocery stores are owned locally, the investment goes right back into the community. Gentry hopes that if a co-op is implemented, it will be a space that the community can be proud of and be a great asset to the community.

Reagan Voetberg. News Staff Writer. rvoetberg@thealpenanews.com.