Delicious Community Engagement


St. paul Cookie

Forget summer’s fresh fruit and vegetables from local community supported farms.  Now you can join a community supported bakery (CSB) to get your weekly fill of sweets and baked goods.  This tasty twist on what was traditionally used as another sales tool for family farms is a new trend in small businesses and I’m interested to see where it will go.  I did a quick Google search with some key words and it was amazing what popped up!  Did you know you could get community supported bacon?  I’m not sure who would need that much pork, but who am I to judge?  The interesting twist is this: Not only are many of these businesses inviting folks to sign up for weekly deliveries of their product which helps guarantee sales for 3- to -6 months at a time, but they’re also asking patrons to actively get involved in the business.  Oftentimes that means helping paint walls, decorate with artwork, or even bring in old dishes the business can use for serving. It may sound strange to those of you who are big box shoppers, but lots of patrons feel a stronger connection to a local business that they’ve helped cultivate.  It’s community engagement at its finest!  And I can’t end the post without a local plug. If you’re in the Twin Cities area, check out the St. Paul Classic Cookie CSB, it’s mouth watering!