All September long, we are making it even easier for you to eat local.
We are highlighting our 4,000+ local products throughout our stores, adding more sales on local products, and inviting more local farmers and vendors into our stores to sample their products and answer your questions about them. Plus we’re giving away 24 tote bags full of $100 worth of local foods!
Not an Owner? You can join today for $10, or less if you qualify for financial assistance. See our Ownership page for details. You can also stop in at the Co-op and check out one of our three stores before you make a decision; everyone is welcome!
Three reasons to eat local
- It's fresher. Local foods tend to be fresher than those shipped from across the country or farther away, and fresh food has more nutrients.
- It helps local farmers and vendors. You're supporting your local farmers and keeping the agricultural viability of their communities alive. Most small farms were struggling even before the pandemic, and now many are facing bankruptcy.
- It helps our community. Buying local keeps money circulating in local communities, which helps keep our neighbors employed and more financially secure.
Sales
Local product sales for all customers—members and non-members—are listed here. Special local Fresh Deals sales (for everyone) later in the month are listed here.
Also, check our Owner Deals page each week in September for more sales for Willy Street Co-op Owners only. At the link, you can also sign up to receive the weekly flyers via email. Willy Street Co-op Owners can save over $50 on Owner-only local product sales during the month.
Giveaways
We'll be giving away prizes every week in September. Each Monday at noon, starting September 2, you'll have one week to enter to win one of six tote bags full of local products—each one a $100 value! That's $3,000 worth of local products we're giving away! Enter to win on online via our website (a link will be posted on this page), on Instagram, and on Facebook; and enter in any of our stores. Six winners—two per prize pickup store, one from online entries, one from paper in-store entries—will be randomly chosen.
- Week one entry form (form will be live by 9am on Monday, September 2)
- Week two entry form (form will be live by 9am on Monday, September 9)
- Week three entry form (form will be live by 9am on Monday, September 16)
- Week four entry form (form will be live by 9am on Monday, September 23)
Stories from Local Vendors
Read stories from some of our local vendors!
- Delta Beer Lab
- EVP Coffee
- Fortune Favors
- Gentle Breeze Honey
- Hidden Springs Creamery
- Little Brown Cow Cheese
- Madison Chocolate Company
- MADTOWN Soap Co.
- Maple Valley Cooperative
- Meadowlark Organics
- ORIGIN Breads
- Red Barn Family Farms
- Tribe 9 Foods (Taste Republic, Yumbutter and RP’s Pasta)
Eat Local Cooking Challenge
We're excited to be partnering with Edible Madison to hold our second Eat Local Cooking Challenge! Sign up to receive a mystery box featuring local products from Willy Street Co-op vendors! Then join our LIVE virtual cooking event on Thursday, September 26th where we watch talented local chefs create dishes from the mystery box ingredients (and hopefully get inspired to create your own local meals at home!). Each box will include a bounty of local ingredients. Tell your neighbors and gather your friends for this fun Iron Chef™-style challenge! More of a watcher than a cooker? You can watch the event online! For more information, see the Edible Madison event webpage.
How do we define "local"?
Lots of stores talk about shopping local. What does that really mean? The definition varies depending on where you shop; there is no set definition for "local" in the grocery sector. At our Co-op, local means the product was sourced from anywhere in Wisconsin or from within 150 miles of the State Capitol building. Local products are highlighted with purple squares in our stores.