—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 15,1977
42
The how's and why's
of food buying clubs
answered at Solanco
By SUSAN KAUFFMAN
Feature Writer
QUARRYVILLE - What is a food buying
club? Who belongs to it? How does it work?
Lancaster Fanning went to the Solanco
Food Buying Club, 4 West State Street,
Quarryvdle, to find some answers.
James Barrett, operator of that club,
explains that the Solanco Club is in part
funded by the Community Action
Program. “CAP set aside $BOO to set up the
store site and an additional $BOO to stock it
when it opened a year agQ this week,” says
Barrett
The parent organization to which this
club belongs is the Lancaster County
Federation of Food Buying Clubs. The
Federation, whose central site is South
Queen and Vine Street in Lancaster, also
has another club at Columbia.
The Federation purchases staples such
as sugars, flour, canned goods, fresh
meats, cheeses, frozen fish, fresh fruits,
vegetables, breads, and eggs from co-op
supply companies and local producers at
prices which will allow it to sell the goods
with a small markup and still pass on a
substantial savings to its members.
The 220 members' at the Solanco Club
have paid a fee of three dollars to belong.
“But they soon get that back when they
shop here!” Barrett remarked. An older
couple in the store at the time of the in
terview quickly agreed. They left with a
sizable package of shced luncheon meat
and cheese that totaled a thrifty $1.75.
“Our clientele runs the whole gambit,
from the very poor on welfare, to older
people on social security, to everyday
people,” Barrett explained. “There is no
doubt that we benefit the very poor, but
more than that, the ones we really help are
those people who are making too much
money to qualify for welfare and food
stamps but not enough to feed their
fannies properly,” he commented.
Continuing his description of the
clientele, Barrett said, “We also have
people who come in with large families,
and people who can afford to pay higher
prices for their food but who like the idea
of what is going on here.” In other words,
they like the bargains.
Almost as these words were spoken and
as if to prove the point, a correspondent
from a local newspaper in Chester County
came in to the store to do her weekly
shopping.
I knew it was going to be a bad flight the minute I
couldn’t get my seatbelt buckled
Of course it hadn’t helped any that U was
raining the morning 1 was to take off or that 1 was
not near an emergency exit on the plane, or that
my laminated card of “safety instructions” for
emergency crashes was battered from excess use.
But, I philosophized to myself, what is death,
anyway, but a final joyous resting point, and rest
was one thing I could have really used just then
(That same morning at 2 a m with one eye open
and one eye shut I had just put the finishing
touches on my last Fair story )
Plunking down beside my next door seatmate, I
was greeted with just the thing I needed to hear
“Do you know if you feel anything when a plane
crashes 7 ” she asked, wide-eyed and white
knuckled as she gripped the arm rest in an effort
She explained that she generally buys
eight dollars worth of items at the club and
then goes to a local supermarket to pur
chase the remaining $lB or $2O worth of
groceries. She calculates her eight dollar
purchase at the club would cost $l2 at the
supermarket.
Her purchase included, in part: lun
cheon meat, cheese, eggs, bread, canned
soup, and spaghetti.
The food stuffs in stock depend upon
Barrett’s judgment and customer
requests.
“Certain canned foods, frozen fish,
plastic bags, frozen orange juice, toilet
paper, paper towels, and cold cereals are
kept m stock, now, because of special
requests,” he says.
Members can order case lots of many
items including canned goods, fresh
produce, and paper products a week ahead
of purchase, and institutional-sized
commodities may also be ordered through
the club.
On Tuesday of each week, Barrett goes
to Lancaster to pick up the weekly order,
but he also travels to local orchards and
producers to stock the shelves and
refrigerators in the store.
“It would be nice to have more local
supphers for the fresh produce,” this
manager explamed. “Cauliflower, brocch,
apples, eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes,
cantaloupes, sweetcom, celery, and
peppers, to name a few, are bought locally.
We are looking for garden excess, says
Barrett. The Federation buys from week
to week and large quantities are not
always a must.
“Ajiyone with extra produce can contact
Debbie Stewart at the Lancaster Club,” he
adds.
In one year’s time, the membership at
the Solanco Food Buying Club has talked
220 with a weekly volume of $5OO.
Barrett has several goals he foresees in
the club’s future One goal is to double or
even triple the weekly volume to make the
club self-sufficient and provide funds to
hire help. Presently, the store is manned
by Barrett and a few volunteers on
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10
a.m. to 6 p.m and Saturday from 9 a.m. to
2p.m
A second goal is to expand the line to
include a greater variety of canned goods,
fresh meats (including steaks), and
staples such as self-rising flour and whole
to keep herself from bolting and running right out
of the plane to safety
"I don't think anyone has come back to tell,” I
replied, slightly aggravated at her disquieting
remark
Although I’d flown many times before and
usually really enjoyed myself, I was always,
nevertheless, queasy the first few minutes on
board and always petrified if I heard a strange
noise
So, the last thing I needed was a Nervous Nellie
beside me to make matters worse
Thanks to her “this is the first time I’ve ever
flown” babbling, by the time take-off rolled
around, we were two classic examples of “the
Bobbsey Chickens” with our eyes riveted to
blurred magazine pages, one hand in our mouth
James Barrett, operator of the Solanco Food Buying Club, slices meat for a
customer.
wneat Hour. The addition of frozen
vegetables is planned for this month.
“I’d like to stock the store so that in the
future, the members can get almost
their groceries here,” Barrett proposed.
Some items are not cheaper even
through co-op buying says Barrett. Coffee
is one of these commodities which the club
does not carry.
“We keep the overhead down as much as
possible,” he explained. “We re-cycle
bags, egg cartons, cardboard boxes and
twist ties,” he stated by way of ex
planation.
“What we save on overhead we can put
into the groceries.” he continued. “The
people who shop here have to think about
what they are doing. They change their
buying habits and make a list. Usually,
they come here first and buy at a savings,
then go to a local chain or independent
store to buy the rest.”
Periodically, Penn State University, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture and the
Lancaster County Extension Service send
out posters and fliers to pass on in
formation to customers about nutrition,
menu selection, recipes, and food buying
tips.
Prices are either marked on the
products themselves or posted nearby
Food stamps are accepted. Meats and
cheese, bacon included, are sliced to or
der, and fresh bread is sold below
supermarket price.
James Barrett says he likes his job. He
is enthusiastic about it, and he says his
and the other poised and ready to grab a distress
bag when necessary.
Amazingly enough, by mid-flight nothing had
happened, and I had just relaxed enough to go for
a walk for exercise when the plane bumped and
some wise-guy up front yelled, "Oops, we hit a
Piper Cub.
I dropped to my seat, and right below me the
plane started making strange grinding noises.
"This is it,” I thought to myself
1 looked at my seatmate and asked, “Do you
know if you feel anything when a plane crashes 7 ”
Shedidn’tanswer.
Instead, the steward came across the loud
speaker and said, “The captain has just put down
the landing gear--we will be arriving at Madison in
a matter of 10 minutes.”
And, sure enough, 10 minutes later I emerged
victorious to cover the World Dairy Expo and to
return four days later to conquer my flight home.
(Continued on Page 44)