Shaker Village, Food Co-op Join Forces to Grow Produce

Canterbury Shaker Village and the Concord Food Co-op are pleased to announce their new agricultural partnership. Beginning in the spring of 2015, the Concord Food Co-op will begin growing produce in the historic Shaker fields, cultivating beehives and offering collaborative events and workshops, according to a press statement.

Food grown at Canterbury Shaker Village will be sold in the Co-op’s Concord store and at the Shaker Box Lunch and Farm Stand at the Village.

“The Shakers were, in addition to being innovators, designers and entrepreneurs, farmers. They cultivated hundreds of acres each year producing food for the Village and the community beyond,” noted Funi Burdick, Executive Director, Canterbury Shaker Village. “Our new partnership with the Concord Food Co-op is an opportunity to bring farming back to the Village grounds and to honor the Shaker legacy of feeding their neighbors.”

In the first year, the Co-op will grow a variety of produce that will serve to supplement the quality local, organic and all-natural food that they will continue to purchase from area farmers. The newly cultivated fields will provide additional educational and interpretive opportunities for Village visitors, students, event attendees and workshop participants.In addition to the Shaker Organic Gardens, this partnership will revive the Village’s Bee House. Co-op staff, working in collaboration with a pair of local beekeepers, will produce honey for sale and maintain an observational hive, which will be accompanied by expanded exhibit information about bees and the Village’s history of beekeeping.

“The Concord Food Co-op has a long history of providing the freshest locally grown produce to our members,” noted Paula Harris, CEO, Concord Food Co-op. “The chance to fill gaps in the Co-op’s produce department by growing our own fresh organic vegetables at Canterbury Shaker Village, is a very special opportunity. This partnership, which includes Co-op wellness and outreach programs, also provides the unique chance to introduce our 7,500 members to the museum, the Shaker legacy and the beautiful fields that have too long laid fallow.”

As part of this partnership, Canterbury Shaker Village and the Co-op will offer workshops. To view the complete list of events and workshops, please visit shakers.org or concordfoodcoop.coop.