Chelsey Simpson (R) was our speaker at the Nov. 13th meeting. Chelsey is manager and partner of Urban Agrarian Markets located in South OKC and now in downtown Edmond.
Urban Agrarian is a local grocer and food hub offering all the best goods from Oklahoma farms and producers.
Their mission:
Support sustainable, humane growing practices
Provide access to good, healthy, high-quality food
Foster a network of thriving farms
Build community, community, community
They work directly with farmers to offer customers a carefully sourced selection of produce, eggs, dairy, humanely raised meat and convenient grab-and-go options. Using their commercial kitchen, they preserve seasonal produce and create convenient prepared foods. They also offer online, shopping with pickup points at their original storefront in the Historic Farmers Market District, or the new location in downtown Edmond at 1E. Main. Interior picture lower left.
Since their start in 2008, they have worked with more than 140 Oklahoma farms, ranches and producers and generated more than $3.8 million in revenue. To some, that’s small potatoes, but for those who grow potatoes lol,, it’s big business. To some of the producers they work with, Urban Agrarian is their largest buyer. At this level, they are able to communicate with growers in advance, letting them know what will be purchased in the coming season. This provides them the security to plant more spinach, build another hoop house or invest in more animals. They also do the same for value-added producers by providing a marketplace for products like kombucha, granola and ice cream.
Their vision for the future of Urban Agrarian includes using a market infrastructure to expand the range of local products available in Oklahoma, whether that means contracting with a farmer to grow kiwis (yes, they grow here!) or finding the state’s best mozzarella maker and convincing them to set up shop in their certified kitchen. This kind of infrastructure support has proven essential to the development of thriving food systems from Vermont to California—they believe Oklahoma deserves no less! (excerpted and modified from Urban Agrarian Website) www.urbanagrarian.com