An online conversation about food security has turned into a “buying club” that allows residents of the North Thompson to purchase locally produced, wholesome foods right on their doorstep.
The club, called Nogomos Natural Grocery, is the brainchild of Justin Cartwright, a 41-year-old IT specialist who has been living in Kamloops for 23 years. He also has a 100 Mile House connection: he graduated from Peter Skene Ogden Senior Secondary school there, and his family still maintains his grandfather’s vacation cabin in the Cariboo, where he visits often.
A community advocate, Cartwright spoke with Black Press about the impressive reaction his buying club has received. It began after an online conversation about the high cost of groceries and the fact that many people felt that the foods offered in chain stores were not the healthiest options.
“We were communicating online about food security and supporting local producers,” explains Cartwright. “I had heard of a Hutterite colony coming down from the northern part of B.C. twice a year with chickens, eggs, pork and other meats to the interior of B.C. to sell their products.
“The only problem with that was they was selling in bulk, so you had to buy five chickens at a time or a side of pork and 15 dozen eggs. Many folks just don’t have the room to store that amount of food at a time.”
Feeling inspired to find a solution, Cartwright began reaching out to local producers, since people were showing such an interest in purchasing from a collective of producers. “People in Kamloops and surrounding areas said ‘I want to support this and local producers, but we don’t have that much space.’ My idea was that I will organize all the orders in a group sale and separate them into their own individual orders, and people can pick up at a central location.”
Last summer he began sourcing local food products and purchasing bulk orders, and started a circuit that had him travelling from Kamloops to Little Fort and along Highway 24. The products he offers include a variety of meats, eggs, baked goods, honey, micro-greens, garlic, vegetables, and more.
The first bulk order — a whopping $8,000-worth of products — surprised him. While the products weren’t 100 per cent local, he felt it was somewhere to start. After that initial order, people started coming up with ideas to bring in other, closer to home, products, and not just waiting for one person to fill orders every six months, and Nogomos was on its way.
“I started to reach out to local producers, mentioning that I wanted to support them, and it eventually started to fall into place. All of a sudden I was making more trips to places like Desert Hills Farm in Ashcroft, stopping by Shannon’s Flour Shop in 100 Mile House, and picking up from a butcher in 100 Mile, with my car completely full on the return trip.”
Cartwright was doing it all to start with, concentrating on providing good, natural wholesome food and figuring out logistics on the fly, but says he’s grateful that others stepped up to help as the orders grew. With the assistance of volunteers, he’s working on a strategic plan, and reaching out to farmers’ markets to connect with producers in the Thompson-Cariboo region. “I’m starting to realize the value of others offering to assist now as we are picking up speed.”
With degrees in Computing Science and Business Administration, Cartwright has the tools for the business planning, and is now developing a website. It’s a work in progress at the moment, but will eventually function as an easier way for people to order online. “[It will] become a functional site which will be fluid for the local producers and those ordering from them.”
Cartwright is excited now that producers are hearing about Nogomos. There are egg producers only minutes off the road in his circuit of travel, and he has established a regular Monday collection of all of the eggs available along his route.
“I want them to continue what they are doing and support them the best way possible. This has already helped one young producer in Lone Butte who was having trouble selling all his eggs locally and was considering decreasing his flock. Because he has consistent sales now through us, he’s thinking about increasing his flock, and is building a bigger chicken barn-coop.”
Cartwright feels he’s not just supporting producers, but also supporting those needing work as farming businesses grow with the demand for local products.
“It’s exciting to see this growth, with more producers interested in what we are to be able to offer them and customers wanting to order healthier, quality products coordinated through Nogomos. We are connecting families with locally produced, high quality, nutritious products while finding cost effective ways to navigate these challenging times.”
If you are interested in learning more about Nogomos Natural Grocery you can visit the website at www.nogomos.ca.
