Big Red Buyer’s Club

Jennifer Curry & Emily Marguerite

Environmental Studies Program

Denison University

12/15/14

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, we would like to thank our Environmental Studies Senior Project professor, Dr. Olivia Aguilar, for all of the guidance and support she has given us throughout this entire semester. Without her leadership, direction, and positive outlook on this process, we would not have been able to accomplish all of our project objectives.

We would also like to thank our enthusiastic classmates for all of their help in terms of peer editing and feedback. This was a tough feat and an incredible learning experience that we all took part in together, and it was that unity, cohesion, encouragement that helped propel us through to the end.

Lastly, we would like to give a tremendous thank you to our Senior Project Coordinator, Piper, the Sustainability Manager for Dining Services. Piper is always willing to help us in any way that she can. She is extremely inspiring, charismatic, and passionate in all of her work, which really motivated us to try and make a difference at Denison through our project. If not for her positive attitude, this semester would not have been the experience that it was nor would we have been able to take away as much as we did. We know that the skills she has taught us can now be translated into all aspects of our futures and we are greatly appreciative of this.

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Table of Contents

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………...…5

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………6

Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………12Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..12Benefits to Buying and Supporting Local……………………………………………12Community Supported Agriculture: How it Relates to the Big Red Buyer’s Club….14Similar Projects Around the Country………………………………………………...20How These Similar Projects Relate to the Big Red Buyer’s Club…………………...23Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...24

Methods…………………………………………………………………………………………24Surveys………………………………………………………………………….........25Action--PR and Marketing…………………………………………………………...26Economic Analysis…………………………………………………………………...27

Results…………………………………………………………………………………………...29Survey Results………………………………………………………………………..29Participation…………………………………………………………………………..34Revenue…………………………………………………………………………........35Price Markup………………………………………………………………………....37

Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………….37Contributions: Bringing the Community Together & the Success of Vendor………..37Order Form……………………………………………………………………….......38Tasting Event………………………………………………………………………....40Buyer’s Club Launch………………………………………………………………....44Limitations………………………………………………………………………........47Overall Outcome: Was This a Success? ……………………………………………..49

Jennifer’s Response……………………………………………………49Emily’s Response……………………………………………………...50

Sustaining the Buyer’s Club Beyond This Semester…………………………………52Future Possibilities……………………………………………………………………53Overall Reflection of the Experience…………………………………………………54

Jennifer’s Response……………………………………………………54Emily’s Response……………………………………………………...55

References……………………………………………………………………………………….57

Appendices………………………………………………………………………………………59A…………………………………………………………………………...................59B…………………………………………………………………………...................60C…………………………………………………………………………...................65D.1…………………………………………………………………………................66

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D.2…………………………………………………………………………................67E.1…………………………………………………………………………................68E.2…………………………………………………………………………................69E.3…………………………………………………………………………................71E.4…………………………………………………………………………................72E.5…………………………………………………………………………................74E.6…………………………………………………………………………................75F…………………………………………………………………………...................77G…………………………………………………………………………...................81

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Abstract

Big Red Buyer’ ClubJennifer Curry & Emily Marguerite

Environmental Studies Program

The purpose of this project is to (1) gauge the Denison community’s knowledge, priority, and interest in supporting and buying local, (2) increase the awareness of the benefits to buying local and of the Buyer’s Club, and (3) demonstrate the economic impact to buying local on both consumers and producers. The Big Red Buyer’s Club is a program that was created so that the Denison community can purchase local products directly from local vendors. As national food chains continue to grow, local farmers are continuously seeing declining sales, ultimately hurting the local economy. The Buyer’s Club will help to facilitate consumer support for local vendors so that consumers are spending their money on local sources instead of diverting their resources to these national chains. It is evident through our research that the price markup for the Buyer’s Club is less than the price markup for national chain grocery stores, and these findings can help to gain support for the Buyer’s Club by directing consumers towards these local sources. In addition, by tracking the incoming revenue for the vendors, total number of members, and total amount of products ordered from one pickup day to the next, it is evident that the Buyer’s Club is continually growing. This initial growth will help to continue to propel the growth of the Buyer’s Club into the future once this semester has come to an end.

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Introduction

To propel us through this project, our overall guiding question was the following: Why is

it important to buy and support local, and how can we increase consumer awareness to impact

future consumption choices? On average, food travels 1,500 miles from the producer to the

consumer, imposing heavy environmental, social, and economic costs on the local community

(Barrett, 2014, para. 10). This is especially true in a community as small as Granville. When

people buy food from non-local sources, they are diverting their money away from the local

economy and farmers, which can be detrimental to the community. A prominent issue

surrounding local foods is that people are spending their money elsewhere while the local

farmers are seeing declining sales and income. A lot of Denison University students, faculty

members, and staff frequently shop at national chains such as Walmart, Giant Eagle, Kroger, or

Target instead of turning to local sources. Not only are they diverting their money away from the

Granville community towards these multi million dollar national chains, but they also do not

know where their food is coming from. Buying local helps farmers and typically reduces the

strain on the environment. We feel that it is extremely important to stay local in order to build

strong consumer-producer relationships and support your community. We are also interested in

this issue, especially after our Environmental Studies Junior Practicum class last year, because it

focused on buying local, which not only emphasizes local foods, but economic sustainability as

well.

In order to combat these issues, we created the Big Red Buyer’s Club alongside Sarah

Piper, the Sustainability Manager for Dining Services. The Buyer’s Club at Denison University

provides the Denison community- students, faculty, and staff- with a unique opportunity to

interact with local farmers and purchase their products on campus. Through the Buyer’s Club,

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the Denison community has the opportunity to purchase staple products such as milk, yogurt,

cheese, beans, flour, candy, salsa, and much more. There is no produce sold through the Buyer’s

Club because we did not want to take away from the Farmer’s Market that takes place in town or

the Bird Haven’s CSA on Denison’s campus.

Due to the fact that this project has so many facets and is new to Denison’s campus, we

came up with the following three guiding objectives:

Gauging the Denison community’s knowledge, priority, and interest in supporting and

buying local

Increasing the awareness of the benefits to buying local and of the Buyer’s Club

Demonstrating the economic impact to buying local on both consumers and producers

We felt that these objectives would help to best direct us through the semester and center our

focus. In order to carry out these specific objectives we employed the use of these methods: a

survey, action in the form of PR and marketing, and an economic analysis. This will be further

discussed in our Methods section. See page 24.

It was important for us to get the Buyer’s Club up and running as soon as possible so that

we could meet our objectives and this entailed a lot of preparation. The first step was to figure

out the logistics of signing up for the Buyer’s Club. There is a $15 registration fee that we

charge, which covers the cost of the reusable tote bags that we gave to members upon signing up

as well as other promotional and logistical costs. See tote bags at Appendix A. After signing up

to be a part of the Big Red Buyer’s Club, members are able to view the eleven different vendors

online. They are also able to become acclimated with the farmers through descriptions and

pictures that we have created and view the available products for each vendor. See original

product list at Appendix B. This facilitates consumer choice, so the Buyer’s Club members can

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choose exactly what they want to buy based on their tastes, preferences, dietary needs, and

budgets. The Buyer’s Club works every other week where orders are to be placed by noon on a

Wednesday and then pickup is the following Thursday of the next week in the Slayter Pit during

common hour, 11:30-1:00pm.

The vendors and their descriptions, which can be found on our Catertrax website, are as

follows and were taken directly from the vendors themselves or Bon Appetit’s website:

1. Covered Bridge Creamery

Covered Bridge is an Amish family farm producing milk. All of their animals are

frequently moved to new paddocks and/or fresh grass. Covered Bridge believes in

sustainable agriculture and shun chemical sprays and fertilizers. Although not

certified organic, Covered Bridge follows the organic guidelines and in a lot of

ways does more than is required for organic certification. In fact their products

surpass "mainstream" organic in flavor, quality, and nutrition due to careful

animal husbandry and intensive grazing practices.

2. Gluten & Grain Free Gourmet

Gluten and Grain Free Gourmet offers delicious products that are free of gluten,

grain, soy, and poultry. The items are certified gluten free and are prepared in a

dedicated gluten free facility. They are dedicated to healthy eating and strive to

make quality products for every person.

http://ggfgourmet.com/en/  

3. Gourmet Candy by Karen

Gourmet Candy by Karen is a home-based candy business founded by Karen

Hupp and Lisa Hamilton. We sell our products at various shows and open houses

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throughout Ohio, and direct sales. Products: Gourmet Pretzel Rods dipped in

homemade caramel and covered in chocolate with over 40 varieties. Homemade

Caramel, Fudge, Turtles, Buckeyes, Rocky Roads, Truffles, Gourmet Bark,

Chocolate Covered Oreos, Krispy Pop and Marshmallow Pops.

http://www.candybykaren.com/

4. Granville Whoopie Pies

Granville gourmet whoopie pies are made fresh to order by hand by Trish

Newcomb and are available in a wide array of flavors ranging from original

chocolate to buckeye.

http://www.granvillewhoopiepies.com/

5. Hemisphere Coffee Roasters

If you are looking for fresh roasted coffee that benefits coffee growing

communities, you have come to the right place. We are passionate about the two

natures of coffee: Place & People. Coffee is Place: Great coffee is a product of its

location. It is further enhanced by it growing environment and how the sun and

rain and soil interact to produce hard, dense beans with vivid notes and highlights.

Coffee grows around the world within a unique band of fertile volcanic soils.

Places like Kenya, Indonesia, Peru, and Nicaragua grow fantastic coffee in their

highlands.

http://www.hemispherecoffeeroasters.com

6. Middlefield Original Cheese Coop

This Farmer owned co-op started back in 1956. There are now 250 co-op

members, ninety-eight percent are Amish. The cheese is natural, made from milk

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from cows that are not treated with BST hormones. The cheese is made in the

traditional method, in vats.

7. Shagbark Seed and Mill

Shagbark Seed & Mill operates a Certified Organic region-scale seed-cleaning

and flour-milling facility in Athens Ohio. We partner with Ohio family farms to

produce and process Organic dry beans, grains, popcorn, flours, polenta, grits, hot

cereals, pasta, tortilla chips, and crackers- all the staple foods of our region. Our

farm partners never use chemical pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, or GMO seed.

As the center of most human diets and the majority of our agricultural acreage and

dollars, these staple foods are important to our health, food security, and local

food economy. This is what Organic Ohio tastes like!

http://www.shagbarkmill.com

8. Simple Products LLC

Our syrups and glazes are crafted from ingredients grown or gathered on our

family farm in Holmes County, Ohio or purchased from other local growers.

These ingredients are combined with natural evaporated cane juice crystals and

sparkling well water in small batches to produce a truly unique collection of

seasonal syrups. We use only fresh ingredients with no artificial colors or flavors

and certainly no corn syrup. As the seasons change so do our syrups.

http://www.simplegourmetsyrups.com/

9. Stutzman Farms Amish Mill

Stutzman Farms focuses on farming local and organic. We offer sprouted grain to

aid digestion. We have many customers who follow a gluten-free diet and use our

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sprouted rolled oat and spelt flour. If it is unhealthy, we don't carry it!

10. Unkle Timz Salsa

I, Unkle Tim, have been making homemade salsa for the last 15–20 years.

Sharing with and encouraged by family, friends, acquaintances, and co-workers I

have decided to take the next step and go public. For everyone out there who

loves fresh homemade canned salsa but doesn’t have a recipe, know how or the

time it takes to can your own, try Unkle Timz. UnKle TimZ is made in small

batches on a weekly basis so your order will always be fresh.

http://www.jazzed1.com/unkletimz/scripts/story2.asp

11. Velvet View Farmstead

"It’s all about family and preserving a lifestyle of quality care for animals and the

land we live on." Velvet-View Farms, located in the scenic hills of western

Holmes County, Ohio, is owned and operated by the Schlauch family. Aaron and

Brandi, Aaron’s father, David, and sons Logan and Wyatt milk 70 cows in Big

Prairie, Ohio. Being a small farm is important to the Schlauch’s. “I couldn’t

imagine milking one of those thousand-cow herds,” said Aaron, a third-generation

dairy farmer. “To me, it’s the personal contact with the animals and the breeding

of superior cattle that makes farming interesting.”

http://www.velvetviewfarmstead.com

To showcase the products of these vendors, we wanted to reach out to the Denison

community and increase participation in the Buyer’s Club. In order to do this, we held a Tasting

event in Slayter Pit on October 14th from 11:30-1:00pm. This event included sample dishes

made with various local products that are available in the Buyer’s Club for Denison students,

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faculty, and staff to taste-test. Many interested members of the Denison community attended,

which helped to further increase awareness of the project.

Although the Tasting event gave us a firsthand application for the promotion of the Big

Red Buyer’s Club, we needed more background and support to move forward. For these reasons,

it is important to build off the literature and studies on the benefits of buying local, community

supported agriculture, and similar projects around the country.

Literature Review

Introduction

Colleges and universities, like Denison University, play a fundamental role in the local

community and local economy as they are leaders for their respective communities. This is why

it is vital for them to support local farmers, businesses, and vendors in their surrounding areas.

Although Denison has made great strides in terms of buying and supporting local farmers, such

as Bon Appetit’s efforts in the dining halls and the introduction of the Bird Haven’s CSA, this

can be further enhanced through the establishment of the Big Red Buyer’s Club. The Buyer’s

Club will connect local farmers with the Denison community—students, faculty, and staff—by

allowing them to buy staple products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, coffee, candy, and much more

from local vendors in the surrounding area.

Benefits to Buying and Supporting Local

At a small, close-knit university like Denison, supporting local farmers, vendors, and

businesses is critical and has a number of benefits. Buying local reduces the environmental

impact stemming from agriculture and food systems (“Why Buy Locally Owned,” 2014, para. 4).

When foods come from local farmers there is typically less transportation involved, which

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overall reduces energy consumption and pollution, making it better for the environment (“Why

Buy Locally Grown,” n.d., para. 4). In addition, since foods are travelling shorter distances to get

from the farm to the consumer, it lessens the risk of contamination (Watson, n.d., para. 5). This is

why buying local also encourages food safety (Watson, n.d., para. 5). As the consumer becomes

closer to the producer, the consumers will tend to know more about the food that they are

consuming and the source of their food (Watson, n.d., para. 5). This will ultimately lead to a

better overall consumer knowledge and understanding that the food is free of food-borne

illnesses like E. Coli (Watson, n.d., para. 5).

Many people often claim that local foods also tend to taste better due to the fact that there

is less travel time from producer to consumer so they are fresher (“Why Buy Locally Grown,”

n.d., para. 1). For example, most produce can retain more nutrients because it is sold to the

consumer right after being harvested (“Why Buy Locally Grown,” n.d., para. 2). More genetic

diversity is also achievable with local foods (“Why Buy Locally Grown,” n.d., para. 3). Farms

are able to grow a large variety of foods, whereas “large commercial farms grow a relatively

small number of hybrid fruits and vegetables because they can tolerate the rigors of harvesting,

packing, shipping and storage” (“Why Buy Locally Grown,” n.d., para. 3).

Buying local can also help to “preserve green space and farmland” for that area (Watson,

n.d., para. 4). Watson explains, “By buying foods grown and raised closer to where you live, you

help maintain farmland and green space in your area” (Watson, n.d., para. 4). Since the farmers

are responsible for the farmland and its associated green spaces, the preservation of these two

entities is contingent on the farmers’ successes. And, consequently, the success of the farmers is

dependent on the community members buying their local products, demonstrating how buying

local can help to “preserve green space and farmland” (Watson, n.d., para. 4). Also, if the

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farmers are garnering more community support, then they are more likely to want to keep their

land instead of selling it off to companies for new development (“Why Buy Locally Grown,”

n.d., para. 8).

Supporting local farmers increases economic sustainability as well by “keeping dollars in

the local economy” (Mitchell, 2012, p. 4). Mitchell (2012) noted, “Compared to chain stores,

locally owned businesses recycle a much larger share of their revenue back into the local

economy, enriching the whole community” (p. 4). Here, the consumers are helping to sustain

their local economy instead of diverting their money and resources to outside corporations or

national chains.

Lastly, it builds community when consumers know the farmers and producers who are

selling the food as well (“Why Buy Locally Grown,” n.d., para. 7). When consumers know

producers, there is a connection made and an understanding between them (“Why Buy Locally

Grown,” n.d., para. 7). Now, there is also a connection between participating neighbors, family,

and friends (“Why Buy Locally Grown,” n.d., para. 7). This leads to the fundamental fact that

buying local foods ultimately supports local farmers (“Why Buy Locally Grown,” n.d., para. 6).

With “fewer than 1,000,000 people (less that 1%) of Americans claim[ing] farming as a primary

occupation”, it is important that consumers support them and help them to continue farming,

which will allow consumers to reap all of these benefits (“Why Buy Locally Grown,” n.d., para.

6).

Community Supported Agriculture: How it Relates to the Big Red Buyer’s Club

Seeing that the Big Red Buyer’s Club, which allows the Denison community to purchase

local products directly from local sources, is similar to Community Supported Agriculture

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(CSA), it is important to build off the ideals of a CSA in order to connect the consumer to the

producer, increase awareness of local foods, and make more local foods available. Therefore, it

is important to understand what a CSA is and how it benefits both the local community and local

farmers. First, a CSA can most basically be seen as a partnership between the farmers and the

consumers as the consumers vow to support the local farmers who then agree to provide food for

those consumers (“The Full Plate Farm Collective,” n.d., para. 1). In vowing to support the local

farmers, the consumers make a financial commitment to the farms, meaning that they purchase a

share of the farmer’s production at the beginning of the season (Abbott & Myhre, 2000, p. 187).

This financial commitment will go directly to the farmers and help pay the farmer’s costs of

production such as seeds and labor, which is why CSA’s form at the beginning of the harvest

seasons (“Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Market Program,” n.d., para. 1). Then, in

return, the consumers typically receive a weekly basket of the farmer’s products and a majority

of those products consist of fresh produce and bread (“The Full Plate Farm Collective,” n.d.,

para. 3).

Community Supported Agriculture encompasses many benefits to all parties involved-

local farmers and CSA members. First, economically, the members of the CSA are supporting

the local farmers as their money goes directly to the farmers and their costs of production. This

helps farmers ensure financial security as they receive an influx of cash at the beginning of the

season, helping them better prepare for the growing season and any unforeseen circumstances

(Erway, 2000, para. 4). Many small farmers struggle financially as they cannot compete with the

industrial agriculture system, which is why consumer support is essential to their economic well

being. The CSA ensures this support for the farmers at the beginning of the harvest season,

helping guarantee revenue throughout their production process. In addition, backing these local

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farms will in turn inject money directly into the local economy, demonstrating how CSA’s can

play a fundamental role in sustaining the local economy (Erway, 2000, para. 4).

However, these economic benefits do not just span to the farmers, the consumers also

derive economic benefits from CSA memberships. Not only are the consumers receiving fresh,

local produce, but they are also receiving an immense variety at often lower prices. Although the

initial cost of the CSA may be high, this cost will be recovered in the long run as the consumers

will save money by not having to buy more expensive produce from chain grocery stores or other

sources (Erway, 2000, para. 7).

Next, socially, CSA’s foster intimate connections between the producers and consumers

as the consumers know exactly where their CSA bundle is coming from and the farmer that

produces those bundles. With the rise of industrial agriculture, the producer has been effectively

distanced from the consumer, creating a disconnect between the two parties (Cone & Myhre,

2000, p. 190).

  Cynthia Abbot Cone and Andrea Myhre (2000) in their study titled, “Community-

Supported Agriculture: A Sustainable Alternative to Industrial Agriculture?” investigated the

producer-consumer relationships in CSA’s. Through their findings, it was evident that CSA’s

fostered an intimate connection between the farmers and the members, which is something that

many CSA members enjoyed (p. 191). When the members became more familiar with their

farmers, they were much more inclined to continue to participate in the CSA in addition to

searching out other local sources to purchase the foods not available in their CSA bundle (Cone

& Myhre, 2000, p. 191).  

Finally, in decreasing the distance between the producer and consumer socially, it is also

important to consider the physical reduction in miles between producers and consumers because

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in cutting down the food miles, CSA’s have environmental benefits. With CSA’s, the food

travels less distance to get from the farmer to its members versus an industrialized agricultural

system in which food travels on average 1,500 miles to get the buyer, lessening the carbon-

footprint (CUESA, n.d., para. 4). This is exactly why agriculture accounts for 17 percent of all

fossil fuel use in the US, and this fossil fuel use further exacerbates environmental problems

(Horrigan, 2002, p. 448). Therefore, by effectively bringing the farmers and the members closer,

the products have a shorter distance to travel, alleviating some of the environmental problems

brought on by increasing food miles.

It is evident that CSA’s positively impact both the farmer and the local community,

which is why CSA’s are rapidly growing in all areas of the country, especially on college

campuses. Some of the college campuses that have successfully implemented CSA’s include

Clemson University, Brandeis University, Tufts University, and Denison University. All of the

CSA programs have made local produce readily available and affordable for college students,

demonstrating how college students can be intimately connected with the local farmers and play

an important role in the local community and economy. Although each of these programs may

differ in structure and products, they all follow with the ideals of CSA’s in order to connect the

consumer to the producer, increase awareness of local foods, and make local foods available to

college students.

The Clemson University CSA began in the summer of 2002 and has flourished ever since

(“Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Market Program,” n.d., para. 1). This CSA program

has even gone so far as to offer exclusively organic products, which is unique in comparison to

other college CSA programs. Although organic products are typically much higher in cost, this

CSA is still cost effective and cheaper than buying these organic products in a grocery store

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(“Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Market Program),” n.d., para. 20). In addition, the

Clemson CSA offers a “fruit share” only available during the summer season, which includes

blueberries, blackberries, and peaches (“Community Supported Agriculture,” n.d., para. 15).

Next, the Brandeis University CSA was started in the fall of 2008 in forming a

partnership with Warner Farm, a farm that has practiced sustainable agriculture since 1720

(“Community Supported Agriculture,” n.d., para.5). Numerous Brandeis students have raved

about the CSA and it products, but they have been most pleased with its economic feasibility. In

fact, one Brandeis student completed an economic analysis of the CSA in 2010, where he

compared the prices of the products offered in the CSA to similar products offered in a grocery

store. He discovered that $25 worth of produce in the CSA was equivalent to $40 worth of

produce in grocery stores. This is a $15 difference (Matthew, 2010, para. 12), effectively

demonstrating how the Brandeis CSA has proved to be very cost effective for its student

members.

Third, the Tufts University CSA seems to have the most variety of products as they have

developed a CSA program that includes multiple farmers with multiple pickup locations. Their

CSA is directly tied with the greater Boston area versus just being limited to the Tufts University

campus (“Sign Up for a CSA On Campus,” n.d., para. 1). The Tufts CSA includes small shares,

medium shares, large shares, seasonal shares, and egg shares. This shows that a CSA has the

potential to connect the college community to the larger surrounding area through supporting the

ideals of a CSA.

Finally, the Denison University CSA with Bird’s Havens Farm has been successfully

operating for two years. Although this CSA is fairly new, it has provided high quality products

(Bird’s Haven Farm, personal communication, August 26, 2014). However, the Denison CSA is

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limited to just 30 participants and only has produce from Bird’s Haven Farm, demonstrating that

a majority of this campus cannot participate in this great CSA (Bird’s Haven Farm, personal

communication, August 26, 2014). This exposes one of the limitations of working with local

farmers as local farmers can only produce limited quantities of their products due to cost, labor,

and land restrictions. This is exactly where the Big Red Buyer’s Club comes into the picture.

The Big Red Buyer’s Club will work to combat the limitations of the Denison University

CSA without taking away from the Bird’s Haven CSA itself and the Granville farmers’ market.

Nevertheless, it is important for the Big Red Buyer’s Club to build off of the ideals of a CSA in

order to connect the consumer to the producer, increase awareness of local foods, and make even

more local foods available to Denison students. Therefore, although the Buyer’s Club will use

the ideals of CSA’s and examples of successful college CSA programs as building blocks to

successfully implement a Buyer’s Club, it will be fundamentally different from a CSA. First, the

Big Red Buyer’s Club facilitates consumer choice as the Denison community- students, faculty,

and staff- will be able to choose exactly what products they would like to receive on a bimonthly

basis versus receiving a set bundle each week from farmers. So, even though the consumers are

connecting with the local farmers and receiving products directly from the producers, the

Buyer’s Club participants will have the ability to select the local products that they want from

each producer. Next, the Big Red Buyer’s Club will offer local, staple products that are not

typically available in CSA’s such as milk, cheese, yogurt, whoopie pies, gourmet pretzels,

syrups, salsas, flours, beans, and coffee. The participants are still supporting local farmers, they

just have a wider variety of products available to them. Finally, the Big Red Buyer’s Club will

not be limited to just 30 Denison students, but instead be available to the entire Denison

University community. This will allow for even more people to become aware of the local

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products available to them, get involved in buying and supporting local, and connect with local

farmers. Therefore, although the Big Red Buyer’s Club is fundamentally different from a CSA, it

still supports similar goals for buying and supporting local.

Similar Projects Around the Country

Denison University is not alone in its efforts to establish a Buyer’s Club on campus as

there are many similar projects and co-ops currently being undertaken across the country. Some

specific examples include Champaign County Ohio’s Virtual Farmers’ Market and Denver’s

cooperative grocery store- Re:Vision Buying Club.

Originally started from a “grant from Activate Champaign County and the Champaign

Family YMCA from the YMCA of the USA”, Champaign County in Ohio has won numerous

titles for their efforts in supporting local farmers including: the Best Small Farmer’s Market in

2010 as well as the “county seat of Urbana being awarded ‘Best Hometown’ by Ohio Magazine”

(“Champaign County Ohio,” n.d., “Our History”). This YMCA works towards helping people to

make healthier lifestyle choices whether it be eating healthier or exercising more with daily

physical activity  (“Champaign County Ohio,” n.d., “Our History”). The market opened in the

spring of 2012 and allowed “growers and producers who believe that shopping local is vital to

the local economy and eating healthy, locally-sourced, nutrient-dense food is vital to our, well,

personal health” to participate  (“Champaign County Ohio,” n.d., “Our History”). Champaign

County’s Farmers’ Market “look[s] forward to uplighting [their] producers and connecting even

more customers to healthy, locally grown and produced items” (“Champaign County Ohio,” n.d.,

“Our History”).

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This Virtual Farmers’ Market is similar to the Big Red Buyer’s Club in various ways.

First off, the Virtual Farmers’ Market, like the Big Red Buyer’s Club, helps to keep revenue

circulating within the local economy, ultimately helping the community (“Champaign County

Ohio,” n.d., “Our Mission”). The Market also allows consumers to choose exactly what they

would like to purchase so that they are not receiving unwanted products as, “You get to order

what you want, in the quantities that you want, from the farms that you want” (“Champaign

County Ohio,” n.d., “Will I have to buy vegetable I don’t want?”). This eliminates the problem

of wasted foods and allows people to choose exactly what they want to spend their money on.

Comparably, Re:Vision is a buying club that was established October of 2007 with a

vision of establishing a community food system in the Denver area in order to foster a

sustainable community, economic growth, and make sustainable food systems accessible to

people of all socioeconomic backgrounds (“Re:Vision, n.d., “About”). The Re:Vision Buying

Club was established on three guiding models- asset-based community development, network

organizing, and community-wealth building- which help sustain the Re:Vision Buying Club

(“Re:Vision- About,” n.d., “About”). It offers a variety of products such as bacon, grains, flour,

yogurt, cheese, pork, elk, and eggs (“Re:Vision” n.d., “About”). Similarly to Champaign County

Ohio’s Virtual Farmers’ Market, and even the Big Red Buyer’s Club, the participants have the

ability to choose exactly what they want and then pick up these purchases on a weekly basis.

One of the main focuses of Re:Vision Buying Club is community development initiated

by the community itself. This is where the asset-based community development guiding comes

into play. Asset-based means that the community is working to recognize human, cultural,

physical, and financial assets and how these give value to the community (“Re:Vision” n.d.,

“About”). In doing so, the community gains a better understanding of what needs to be done in

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terms of cost, scale, and size in order to implement and operate a sustainable food system such as

a Buying Club (“Re:Vision,” n.d., “About”). They come to see that their consumption choices

directly impact their food systems and the environment, which helps the community live within

the ecological limits of the planet and develop sustainable food systems (“Re:Vision,” n.d.,

“FAQ”). In addition, the Re:Vision Buying Club increases the community’s awareness of the

local farmers and vendors and of the benefits of buying and supporting local.

Next, the Re:Vision Buying Club, is guided by network organizing, which emphasizes

increasing community participation and creating direct relationships between the producers and

the consumers. With Re:Vision, the participants are directly interacting with the local farmers

and are becoming actively involved in the process, so they are developing close relationships

with the producers and their fellow community members. The community is coming together

based on their local food resources and local food producers, which fosters network organizing

(“Re:Vision,” n.d., “About”).

Finally, the Re:Vision Buying Club targets community wealth building, which means that

it is working to create a local economy centered on local and sustainable food systems

(“Re:Vision,” n.d., “About”). By making local foods readily accessible and affordable to the

Southwest Denver Community, the Re:Vision Buying Club works to ensure that the Southwest

Denver community can shift towards providing for their own dietary needs instead of relying on

distant industrial food sources (“Re:Vision,” n.d., “About”). Therefore, the community is

spending their money on local food sources, which will directly benefit the local economy,

boosting wealth and economic sustainability for the community.

These three guiding principles were central to the success of the Re:Vision Buyer’s Club

in Southwest Denver. That being said, since the Re:Vision Buying Club is similar to the Big Red

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Buyer’s Club in many ways, it is important to understand the three guiding principles of the

Re:Vision Buying Club and how these principles can be applied to the Big Red Buyer’s Club.

How These Similar Projects Relate to the Big Red Buyer’s Club

First, with the asset-based community development, through looking at the Denison

dining and Denison Bird’s Haven CSA, it was evident that Denison did not have anything like a

Buyer’s Club where Denison students could purchase local, staple products directly from local

farmers, except for the Farmer’s Market. It is not that Denison did not have the infrastructure and

financial assets to do so, it is just that no one had undertaken a project. Therefore, the Big Red

Buyer’s Club will create another avenue to further enhance community development and further

connect Denison University to the local economy.

Next, with network organizing, the Big Red Buyer’s Club will directly connect the

Denison students, faculty, and staff with the local vendors, fostering a connection between

producers and consumers. In addition, the Buyer’s Club participants will be able to specifically

choose what they want to purchase from the local vendors, allowing them to be more actively

involved in the process. As a result, the local farmers will gain profitable partnerships with the

Denison community while the Denison community will benefit from these partnerships by

receiving local, delicious, and affordable products.

The last guiding principle, community wealth building, looks into the economic benefits

of the Re:Vision Buyer’s Club. The Big Red Buyer’s Club, like the Re:Vision Buyer’s Club, will

work to keep more of the money in the local economy. Typically, Denison University students,

faculty, and staff grocery shop at large, national chains instead of buying from local vendors and

stores, as do most other Americans. As a result, their money is profiting large corporations

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instead of the local economy. With the Big Red Buyer’s Club, the Denison community members

will have more opportunities to buy and support local farmers, keeping more of their money in

the local economy. This helps ensure economic sustainability in the surrounding areas and

facilitates positive economic growth in the community.

Conclusion

There are various benefits to buying and supporting local farmers and local vendors.

CSA’s, buying clubs, and farmers’ markets around the country are outlets in which consumers

can reap those benefits. These types of projects are ultimately working towards building a

stronger community through social, economic, and environmental sustainability. The Big Red

Buyer’s Club will be working to promote this sustainability trifecta by allowing producer-

consumer interaction, keeping revenue circulating within the local economy, and lessening

transportation costs as well as pollution. By connecting the Denison community directly to local

vendors and by reviewing similar projects around the country, there will be the increased

potential of encouraging more participation in the Big Red Buyer’s Club, therefore bringing the

Denison community even closer together.

Methods

In order to carry out our project goals and objectives, we decided to utilize various methods. To

reiterate, our objectives included:

Gauging the Denison community’s knowledge, priority, and interest in supporting and

buying local

Increasing the awareness of the benefits to buying local and of the Buyer’s Club

Demonstrating the economic impact to buying local on both consumers and producers

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In order to carry out these objectives, we used a mixed methods approach, employing different

methods such as: surveys, action in the form of PR and marketing, and an economic analysis.

1. Survey:

We developed a “Local” pre-survey to disperse to the Denison community electronically.

The overall purpose of our survey was to gauge the Denison community’s knowledge,

priority, and interest in supporting and buying local. We wanted this survey to be as

unbiased as possible so we gave it out to the general Denison population by tabling in

Slayter and by asking some different departments around campus to send it to their

students, faculty, and staff via email. This helped eliminate potential biases as we got

students with different majors, class years, and backgrounds as well as faculty and staff

with different areas of interest. Additionally, during our tabling (see “Action--PR and

Marketing” section for more information), which was over two different days (10/9 and

10/13) prior to the Tasting event, we also asked people to electronically take our survey.

We ensured an unbiased population by asking demographic questions such as affiliation

with the university, class year if applicable, and whether or not participants are a part of

the Environmental Studies program. We chose the rest of our questions because we felt

that they fulfilled our objective of gauging to knowledge, priority, and interest of

supporting and buying local. See “Local” pre-survey at Appendix C.

For our analysis, we chose not to use any qualitative questions because we felt that these

would not only be hard to analyze, but we were also afraid that people would be less

likely to answer them. Instead, we used quantitative data in order to form descriptive

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statistics on each of the questions. We then took that data and created pie graphs in order

to visually display the percentages and results of each question in the survey.

2. Action--PR and Marketing:

Seeing as though nothing like the Buyer’s Club or a Tasting event have happened before

on our campus or many other college campuses, we wanted to be sure to work hard at

promoting and increasing the awareness of both. We did this by giving out a pre-survey

to the Denison community, employing the use of social media, tabling in Slayter, and

creating a newsletter that is sent out the day before orders are due.

Another aspect of our PR and Marketing was social media outreach. First, we used the

twitter feed of Denison Dining because we felt that it was a hot spot of information for

the university. Next, we created flyers in order to increase awareness of our Tasting event

and of the Buyer’s Club. These flyers were posted around the academic quad, in Slayter,

and on MyDenison. Additionally, we added the Tasting event to the campus calendar as

well as Buyer’s Club pickup days. Lastly, we had an interview with the Denison media

relations manager, Virginia Sharkey, as well as Cheyanne Cierpial, a student writer, in

order to get an article published about our project.

We used flyers for both the Tasting event and the Buyer’s Club in order to better market

our project. These flyers contain information with dates and explanations of the Tasting

event and the Buyer’s Club. We distributed our flyers through the MyDenison featured

events, the campus calendar, around academic quad, and by hand when we tabled in

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Slayter. We hoped that tabling would also help to create awareness about the Tasting

event and the Buyer’s Club, which it did. See flyers at Appendix D.

In order to increase participation and interest in the Buyer’s Club, we also targeted all of

the different departments and offices around campus, as well as the senior population.

We sent out mass emails to the heads of these departments and offices explaining what

the Buyer’s Club, while attaching our flyers, and asked those individuals to forward our

email onto their fellow faculty and staff members. In addition, we asked faculty to

mention it to their students. Attached to the email was also our survey link. In order to

reach the students, Jeremy King also sent out a mass email to the senior population, again

explaining what the Buyer’s Club was.

Lastly, we created a newsletter for the Buyer’s Club. This newsletter contained farmer

spotlights, recipes using the Buyer’s Club foods, and pictures. There may be competitions

for the most creative recipes where members use their Buyer’s Club purchases in the

future. These competitions may have incentives, which will be determined later. The

newsletter was sent out on the Tuesdays before order forms are due, which helped

participants remember to submit their order forms. This newsletter was distributed

electronically, via email, to Buyer’s Club members. See newsletters at Appendix E.

3. Economic Analysis:

Lastly, we performed an economic analysis of the Buyer’s Club. Here, on the consumer

side, we showed the price markup percentage between the Buyer’s Club cost and the

wholesale cost of products. In addition, we researched the average price markup

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percentages for general products available in grocery stores that are comparable to those

in the Buyer’s Club. We used this information to display in our third newsletter so that

participating members would be able to see the individual markup for popular Buyer’s

Club products in comparison to grocery store products. This helped us to facilitate

consumer awareness, ultimately enhancing the connection between the producer and

consumer.

On the producer side, another aspect of our economic analysis was to track the revenue

that the farmers are taking in on each Buyer’s Club pickup day. This helped us to see the

benefits for the producers when consumers buy locally. We also were able to see if there

were increases or decreases for specific farmers between each pickup day and then

investigated into the reasons why the numbers were or were not changing. Ultimately, we

wanted this to show that the Buyer’s Club has a positive economic impact on the

producers.

For this analysis, we used quantitative data, both for the price markup and the revenue.

For the price markup, we needed to get concrete numbers in the form of Buyer’s Club

costs and wholesale costs from the individual vendors. Once we obtained these numbers,

we had to find the price markup percentages. In order to get the percentages, we used the

following equation: [(Buyer’s Club cost - Wholesale cost)/Wholesale cost] x 100. We

then compared these numbers to the ones we found through our research of the grocery

stores.

For the revenue that we tracked, we needed quantitative data as well so we looked at the

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products that Buyer’s Club members were buying. We did this in order to see what each

individual vendor was taking in as revenue at each pickup day. Then, we compared these

numbers from pickup day to pickup day in order to see the changes in revenue, whether

increasing or decreasing.

Results

Survey Results

The initial step of this project was to create a survey to gauge the Denison community’s

priority, knowledge, and interest in buying and supporting local. Since the focus was on local,

we initially defined what local meant to us: “Supporting local” and “buying local” means

supporting your local farmers, which then helps the local community economically and

environmentally. It is about building a relationship between the producers (the farmers) and the

consumers (the buyers). Seeing that “local” encompasses many different ideas, we thought that

this would give the survey participants a better idea of what we meant when we referenced the

word “local” in the questions we asked.

After distributing this survey electronically, we ended up with 81 total responses. See

graphical survey results at Appendix F. The individual results for each question are as follows:

For question 1 we asked: Circle your affiliation with Denison. In reply, 57% of the 81

person population answered “Student”, 22% answered “Faculty”, and 21% answered “Staff”. We

asked this question to make sure that we were rounding out our age base and affiliation. As can

be seen, we obtained a pretty even distribution of respondents: students versus faculty and staff.

For question 2 we asked: Circle your class year (Note: if not a student, circle N/A). Again

there was a population of 81 respondents. 10% answered “Freshman”, 10% answered

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“Sophomore”, 12% answered “Junior”, 25% answered “Senior”, and 43% answered “N/A”. This

N/A population was the faculty and staff members. We asked this question because we wanted to

get a variety of class levels and ages. It was beneficial to see that the largest class was the senior

class because the Buyer’s Club impacts and targets that class the most due to the fact that seniors

have kitchens in their apartments. In the future, it will be important for us to try and target the

lower classes by highlighting some of the easy to use products. Also, the results of this question

directly correlates with the results of question 1 as 43% of the population turned out to be faculty

and staff in both questions.

For question 3 we asked: Are you an Environmental Studies major/minor or ENVS

faculty member? 36% of the 80 total respondents answered “Yes” and 64% answered “No”. This

question was made in order to combat population bias that could occur. We did not want the

majority of our population to be Environmental Studies majors, minors, and faculty because we

felt that that would skew our results. It is more likely that Environmental Studies majors, minors,

and faculty would know more about buying and supporting local as well as be more willing to

participate in our Buyer’s Club.

For question 4 we asked: To what extent do you agree with the following statement: The

Denison community prioritizes supporting local farmers. (Circle ONE). Of the 81 total

respondents, 12% answered “Strongly Agree”, 73% said “Agree”, 12% said “Neither Agree nor

Disagree”, 3% said “Disagree”, and 0% said “Strongly Disagree”. It was great to see that a large

portion of the Denison population agrees that the Denison community prioritizes supporting local

farmers. This gave us more of an inkling as to what to expect in terms of participation that we

may obtain for the Buyer’s Club.

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For question 5 we asked: To what extent do you agree with the following statement: I

(myself) prioritize supporting local farmers. (Circle ONE). We had 81 total respondents for this

question. 26% answered “Strongly Agreed”, 48% answered “Agreed”, 25% answered “Neither

Agree nor Disagree”, 1% answered “Disagree”, and 0% answered “Strongly Disagree”. The

results of this question were fairly correlated with the results in question 4 where most

respondents felt that the majority felt as though they prioritize supporting local farmers. This too

helped us with what to expect in terms of Buyer’s Club participation, while also helping to show

us that most of our survey population thinks of themselves as caring about supporting local.

For question 6 we asked: The average distance that food travels to get from the producer

to the buyer is around 1,500 miles. To what extent do you consider it important to know where

your food comes from? (Circle ONE). Of the 81 total respondents, 57% said “Very Important”,

38% said “Somewhat Important”, 5% said “Neither Important nor Unimportant”, 0% said

“Somewhat Unimportant”, and 0% said “Very Unimportant”. It was good to see that no one from

our survey population considered it unimportant to know where their food comes from, and more

than half considered it very important. This shows that people would most likely be interested in

programs like the Buyer’s Club because they would know exactly where their food was coming

from.

For question 7 we asked: In your opinion, what is the most significant benefit of

consuming local foods? (Circle ONE). At first, we considered making this question an open-

ended question where the survey participants would manually write down what they thought the

benefits of consuming local foods were. However, we felt that people would be less inclined to

answer this question if they had to actually write down their answer and therefore, skew our

results. Thus, we decided to predetermine what we thought the most important benefits of buying

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local were and have the respondents choose from there. Through research and our own

experience, we chose the following benefits of buying and supporting local: 1) Awareness of

who/where your food comes from, 2) Boosts local economy, 3) Shorter travel (less pollution

from transportation, 4) Increases revenue of producers, and 5) Fresher food. On the whole,

“Boosts the local economy” was the most popular benefit as it was chosen by 31% of the survey

respondents. Therefore, the most popularly chosen was one of the two options that directly

referenced the economic benefits of buying and supporting local. It is clear that economics play

an important role in consumer decision making to purchase local products from local vendors as

these vendors play an important role in sustaining and strengthening the local economy. As a

result, we are highlighting the economic side of buying and supporting local through tracking the

revenue for farmers and completing our economic analysis.

Then, the next three most commonly chosen benefits of consuming local foods were

almost equivalent in percentage of respondents who chose these options. 21% of respondents

elected “Shorter travel (less pollution from transportation)” and another 21% chose “Fresher

food”. Similarly, 20% of the survey takers picked “Awareness of where/who your food comes

from”. It was evident in looking at this data that these responses were very similar in terms of the

percentage of survey respondents out of the 81 total respondents who chose these options. This

demonstrates that the survey respondents have differing opinions of the most important benefit

of buying and supporting local.  Finally, the least common response was “Increases revenue for

farmers” as only 5% of the 81 respondents chose this option. To us, the fact that this option was

so infrequently chosen was very interesting as it was the other benefit that tied directly with

economics. Boosting the local economy was the most popularly chosen benefit of buying and

supporting local, yet increasing revenue for the producers was the least chosen option. When

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consumers buy local, they boost the local economy through the rises in revenue for producers,

demonstrating how both of these options go hand in hand. When producers are making more

money, they better contribute to the local economy, showing the fundamental role that producers

play in sustaining the local economy. Therefore, we would have expected that percentages of

survey participants that chose these options to be similar instead of different as we saw with our

results. For that reason, we realized the importance of undertaking our economic analysis in

which we tracked the revenue for the producers from one pickup day to the next. This would

better allow our members to see how their purchases directly contributed to the influxes of

revenue for the producers and subsequently the growth of the local economy.

For question 8 we asked: Would you be interested in purchasing local foods from local

farmers if you could buy their staple products (ie: milk, cheese, coffee, yogurt, beans, flour, etc.)

on Denison's campus? In response, 90% of the total 81 respondents said “Yes”, while only 10%

said “No”, demonstrating how a vast majority of the people that took our survey had distinct

interest in purchasing local foods from local farmers on Denison’s campus. Additionally, 91% of

the students who took the survey said “Yes”. This question was important to ask because it

helped us gauge whether or not the Denison community had interest in being a part of the

Buyer’s Club and purchasing these local products. Therefore, we inferred that the much of the

Denison community would support the Buyer’s Club and would hopefully want to become

members.

Ultimately, we used these results to help carry us through this semester-long project. We

wanted to be sure that people would even be willing to participate in the Buyer’s Club in the first

place by seeing if they had any interest in local foods and supporting local vendors. In addition,

we wanted to be sure that the Denison community felt that buying and supporting local was even

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a priority to begin with. If not, then our project would not have gone anywhere and would serve

no purpose for Denison’s campus. In the end, the survey helped us to market the ideas behind the

Big Red Buyer’s Club, and it exposed us to learning how to reach out to a greater population,

which turned out to be critical as the project progressed.

Participation

From pickup day one to pickup day two our number of participants more than doubled, it

tripled. We went from 5 orders to 15 orders, while also increasing the amount of products bought

from 37 to 103. Even though we started off with a small participation rate, we knew it would

grow as time went on. Many people had expressed interest in the Buyer’s Club so we also

figured that many people had forgotten to place their order, decided that they would order in the

future, or had not yet been granted access to the order website, Denison Catertrax. At the time,

there was a lot going on so there was a bit of some miscommunication between us and Piper,

which explains why not everyone who had signed up had been granted access to the site before

the due date of the first order form.

In order to increase participation from week one to week two we kept marketing. We

asked Jeremy King to send out a mass email to seniors explaining what the Big Red Buyer’s

Club was and telling anyone who was interested to let us know so that we could add them to our

email list. We got a handful of interested seniors due to his email. Catherine Champagne also

sent out our email to her fellow staff members in order to spread the word.

Overall, if this growth continues from pickup day to pickup day, it is apparent that the

Big Red Buyer’s Club is going to continue to grow in participation, number of orders, and

amount of products purchased.

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Revenue

In addition to seeing an increase in participation, orders, and products bought, there was

simultaneously an increase in revenue as well between pickup day one and pickup day two.

Revenue more than doubled as pickup day one brought in $193.48, while pickup day two

brought in $451.72. As you can see, pickup day three, at $291.84, decreased from pickup day

two, although it still brought in more revenue than pickup day one. The following tables show

the revenue brought in by each individual vendor for each pickup day as well as the total revenue

of all the vendors together brought in for each pickup day.

Pickup Day

Shagbark Seed &

Mill

Stutzman Farms Amish Mill

Gluten & Grain Free

Gourmet

Velvet View

Farmstead

Middlefield Cheese Coop

Covered Bridge

Creamery

1 $23.96 $39.70 $12.00 $24.00 $7.32 $12.00

2 $80.76 $98.88 $37.50 $54.00 $38.04 $15.60

3 $54.68 $78.74 $21.00 $42.00 $7.32 $6.60

4 N/A $20.85 $6.00 $12.00 $3.66 $6.60

Pickup Day

Hemisphere Coffee

Roasters

Simple Products

LLC

Granville Whoopie

Pies

Unkle Timz Salsa

Gourmet Candy by

Karen

Total Revenue

1 $10.50 $64.00 N/A N/A N/A = $193.48

2 $17.69 $72.00 $8.25 $24.00 $5.00 = $451.72

3 $10.50 $24.00 $11.00 $36.00 N/A = $291.84

4 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A = $49.11

As can be seen, more vendors were included in the second pickup day, making it so that

each individual vendor was represented by the time of the second pickup day. Total revenue also

increased by $258.24 ($451.72 - $193.48) from pickup day one to pickup day two. This is what

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we had hoped would happen as we wanted to increase the total revenue and number of vendors

that received orders. This would signal growth within our Buyer’s Club. We hypothesized that if

this trend continued, we would see growth in the Big Red Buyer’s Club in terms of the total

revenue that would be brought in from pickup day to pickup day. This ended up not necessarily

being true because revenue at pickup day three decreased by $159.88 ($451.72 – 291.84).

However, the total revenue was still higher than pickup day one, which shows sustained growth

with the Buyer’s Club. We think that it is important to use pickup day one as a base of

comparison so that we can show the continual growth beyond our first pickup day. As a result we

feel that the Buyer’s Club is going to grow, in terms of revenue and total products ordered, with

time as more people become aware of the club.

In terms of pickup day four, we decided that that particular pickup day gave us bad data

with a total revenue intake of $49.11. Due to the fact that our order form was due over

Thanksgiving break, we did not receive many orders. We wanted to push the order form due date

back and subsequently have the order form due the Thursday after we returned from break.

However, this was simply not feasible because Buyer’s Club products are delivered on a set

schedule every other week. Therefore, we felt that the revenue generated from that pickup day

was an inaccurate representation of a typical order placement and pickup day because people

most likely did not check their emails over the break. We do not feel that the Big Red Buyer’s

Club will follow that trend, but will instead have an amount of revenue more similar to pickup

day two and pickup day three in the near future followed by an increased amount of revenue over

time.

Price Markup

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When calculating the price markup percentages for various popular items purchased

through the Buyer’s Club, we found that typically, the Buyer’s Club averaged to a 22% markup,

generally ranging from about 20%-33.50% from the products we chose to analyze. See price

markup percentages at Appendix G. These results not only show the Buyer’s Club participants

that the prices they are paying are not completely unrealistic, but they also help to further

increase consumer awareness, and therefore create yet another avenue for producer-consumer

interaction.

In contrast, through our research on average price markup percentages for general

products similar to those of the Buyer’s Club, we found that tortilla chips and other related

snacks had a markup price near 30-50% (First Research, 2013, p. 4). Cereal had a markup price

of around 44%, pre-ground coffee was up to 30%, gourmet cheese was 50%, and bakery goods

were 100% (“Biggest Grocery Store Markups”, 2011, para. 5-12). In looking at all of these

numbers it is evident that grocery store markups are generally higher, proving that it is in fact

cheaper to buy products from the Big Red Buyer’s Club instead of a national chain.

Discussion

Contributions: Bringing the Community Together & the Success of Vendors

At Denison, we always talk about our community and how closely knit our students,

faculty, and staff are. However, another aspect of our Denison community is the connection that

we have with Granville and the surrounding areas. It is evident that Denison plays a fundamental

role in the local region, which is why we wanted to further enhance that link with the Big Red

Buyer’s Club. Therefore, we connected the vendors with the Denison students, faculty, and staff

by allowing them the opportunity to purchase local foods directly from local sources. To us, we

37

created a new community in which the Denison students, faculty, and staff were effectively

linked with the local vendors through local food. This fostered Denison community support of

local vendors, which was essential to the successes of these producers. In addition, this decreased

the distance between the producer and the consumer, strengthening the communal bonds. In

creating a local food community, there was also a reduction in food miles, which had huge

environmental benefits. Therefore, our Buyer’s Club is covering all aspects of sustainability as it

is boosting environmental, economic, and social sustainability.

Additionally, by featuring the farmers in our newsletters and having a different vendor

present at each pickup day, the Denison students, faculty, and staff had different avenues in

which they could interact with and learn about the vendors. The newsletter was especially

important as everyone was able to share their ideas and experiences with local foods. To us, it

was really rewarding to see the creation of this local food community and see how it has

progressed over the course of the semester. It started out with us just interacting and

communicating with the local vendors, but now numerous Denison students, faculty, and staff

are directly contributing and enlarging this community. We are hoping that the Big Red Buyer’s

Club will continue to foster support and unity so that members will be more inclined to buy and

support local in the future. We are excited to see how big this community grows as the Big Red

Buyer’s Club expands in the following years. With communal growth, comes more sharing of

ideas, which increases overall awareness and continues to influence future consumption choices.

Order Form

        The initial step of our project was to create an online order form that Buyer’s Club

members would be able to easily access when placing their orders every other week. For this

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order form, we had to do a lot of research and outside preparation. We first had to either find or

come up with a description for each of our 11 vendors. We then had to take or find a picture that

we felt best represented that vendor. Lastly, we needed to come up with descriptions for most of

the products, especially the products that were more unknown to people or products that people

might want more information on. To do this, we looked at and listed ingredients for these

products, and we also contacted the vendors to obtain their own personal descriptions for their

products. The vendors were often able to give us some insights into their products. For example,

they let us know what some of their specific products could be used for or how that product was

made (ie: was it organic certified, locally grown, fresh). Contacting the farmers also gave us the

chance to get to know them and build an ongoing means of communication. It was crucial to get

all of this information in time so that we were able to stay on track and have order forms due

early enough before our first pickup day.

        The order form that we created was through Denison Catertrax, Bon Appetit’s catering

website. On this website, there is a Buyer’s Club button where members can click and are then

directed to the Buyer’s Club vendors. Once members click on a specific vendor, they are shown

that vendor’s description and picture and then are able to view that specific vendor’s products.

Here, members are shown the labeled pack size of the product, the price of that product, and the

product description.

        In order to access the Buyer’s Club portion of the website, members had to pay a

membership fee. This $15 fee was a one-time payment that covered the cost of the reusable tote

bags we gave members at their first pickup day. Once they paid the fee, they were given access

to the Buyer’s Club order form and could now place orders through denison.catertrax.com. This

did become an issue at one point though, as it was hard to keep up with giving people access to

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the website right away after they paid their membership fee. We also realized later down the road

that we should have shown those who were interested in the Buyer’s Club our product list before

having them pay the membership fee. In addition, we had a couple of issues with the initial

website that we had to sort out, so we ended up changing the layout of the website to be more

efficient and easier to follow.

        For the time being, we decided to contact the vendors again and show them their portion

of the website. We emailed each farmer and showed them their description, picture, and products

and asked that they let us know if they would like anything to be added or changed. In the end,

we wanted to make sure that the vendors were overall happy with their section. This process will

be worked on over the course of the next couple of months so that it is updated and ready for

next semester.

Tasting Event

Overall, the Tasting Event was a very good stepping-stone for us in terms of working

towards the actual launch of the Big Red Buyer’s Club and a physical application for the

promotion of the Buyer’s Club. Before the Tasting Event, we had done a lot of work in terms of

boosting awareness for the Buyer’s Club, increasing membership and participation, creating the

order form, communicating with all of the vendors, and working out all of the logistics in order

to successfully launch our Buyer’s Club. Therefore, the Tasting Event was crucial as it was a

culmination of all of our preliminary efforts and worked to really showcase the Big Red Buyer’s

Club and everything that it has to offer.

Seeing as though nothing like this or the Buyer’s Club has ever taken place on Denison’s

campus before, it was essential to really work out the logistics of the event. First, we had to

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determine a time, date, and place that would attract the most attention from the Denison

community and would best fit the busy schedules of Denison students, faculty, and staff. As a

result, we decided on October 14th from 11:30-1:00pm in the Slayter Pit. Not only is Slayter a

central location on campus, but typically, Slayter is busier on Tuesdays and Thursdays in

comparison to other days of the week. Therefore, having the event in Slayter on a Tuesday in the

middle of the day would make it easy for the interested members of the Denison community to

come to and attract the attention of other community members who had not heard about the

Tasting Event.

Another important part of our preparation for the Tasting Event was marketing and

promoting the event. Our goal was to reach out to as many Denison students, faculty, and staff as

possible, which is why we implemented several different strategies. Our strategies included

tabling in Slayter, creating flyers, constructing a big sign about the Buyer’s Club to be posted in

front of the Slayter Pit, and sending out mass emails- all of which were crucial in boosting

awareness of the event and the Buyer’s Club. We would use similar marketing strategies for the

Buyer’s Club in order to continually stay in contact with our members, keeping them informed

about order form due dates, pickup days, our newsletter, and other important information. In

addition, we have continued to use our big sign to this day by posting it in front of the Slayter Pit

for every pickup day. Therefore, the marketing skills that we learned from the Tasting Event

would be used to successfully launch our Big Red Buyer’s Club and would consistently be used

throughout the entirety of our semester long project.

Finally, the last aspect of our preparation for the Tasting Event was setting up profile

making and payment stations so Buyer’s Club members could do both of these things at the

Tasting Event. In order to become members of the Big Red Buyer’s Club, people have to make a

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profile on denison.catertrax.com and then pay a $15 registration fee. We wanted to allow

potential members the opportunity to do both of these things while at Tasting Event, which is

why we set up separate profile making and payment stations. This would allow us to answer any

questions that potential members may have with the process of becoming a member and allow

them to pay their membership fee right on the spot instead of having to worry about going to the

Denison Dining Office in Curtis West. In fact, we actually had quite a few interested members

come and do so, demonstrating exactly why we had these two stations. In addition, this better

allowed us to keep track of who had paid their membership fees and how to clear up any

payment issues, so thank you to Cindy from Denison Dining for helping us out.

Our Tasting Event featured multiple products from different vendors. Not only did we

feature the exact products that members could find in the Buyer’s Club, but also dishes that

featured the Buyer’s Club products. These sample dishes were prepared by the Denison Dining

staff, so thank you to them for preparing those delicious dishes for us. The entire list of products

featured included: Velvet View’s plain yogurt; Stutzman Amish Mill’s Krispy Treat Granola,

Honey Puffed Corn, and wheatberries (featured in the wheatberry salad); Shagbark Seed and

Mill’s azuki beans (featured in the black corn bean salad); Middlefield Cheese Coop’s pepper

jack cheese, marble cheese, mild cheddar cheese, and swiss cheese; Covered Bridge Creamery’s

chocolate milk and plain milk; and Gluten and Grain Free Gourmet’s chocolate bar, No Bake

Cookies, Crunchy Nut Mix, and Cashew Butter Cookies.

Throughout the whole event, we received a lot of positive reviews about the sample

dishes and sample products that we had available. We were also fortunate enough to have one of

our vendors, Jen Cuevas from Gluten and Grain Free Gourmet, present. The Denison

community, in particular, raved about her products. It was really rewarding for us to see the

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Denison students, faculty, and staff directly giving compliments and positive reviews to Jen. We

were witnessing firsthand the formation of consumer-producer relationships, which is something

that we focused on with the creation of the Big Red Buyer’s Club. In addition, this made us

realize the importance of having different vendors present at our pickup days so Buyer’s Club

members could meet and interact with those different vendors. This facilitates consumer

awareness and draws the consumers closer to the producers.

Also, at the Tasting Event, we garnered a lot of Denison community interest and attracted

a lot of new members. Therefore, the Tasting Event was validation that our marketing strategies

had worked. Not only did we increase awareness of the Big Red Buyer’s Club, but we also were

able to showcase a lot of the products available in the Buyer’s Club. Some of the people at the

event had gotten our emails about the Tasting Event or seen our flyers and were excited for the

Buyer’s Club to take off or others had simply walked into Slayter and had seen our event taking

place. As a result, we got a lot of new interest in the Buyer’s Club, which translated to a lot of

additions for our email list. In our opinion, our Tasting Event was a big success and definitely a

step in the right direction towards promoting the Big Red Buyer’s Club, successfully launching

it, and experiencing continual growth throughout the semester.

Despite our successes, we unfortunately did run into a few issues. We felt that there could

have been more organization in terms of setting up Catertrax profiles and paying the $15

registration fee at the Tasting event. We were receiving a lot of questions about payment and

how people could pay this fee with their credit cards, checks, or previous Catertrax accounts.

During the Tasting Event, we had two computers available for signup and payment and Cindy,

from Dining Services, was available to answer questions. However, we had both computers and

Cindy at the same table, which created some confusion and some clutter at the event. Instead, we

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should have just directed all of the questions to Cindy to allow for one unified source to address

any issues that members were having with paying their registration fee. Another thing that we

think could’ve been improved for the Tasting Event was the day of the week that the event took

place. Tuesdays are a day when a lot of Denison community, faculty, and staff are coming in and

out of Slayter during the middle of the day. That being said, there are still many community

members that have classes or meetings during this time on Tuesdays. We knew when we started

our planning for the Tasting Event that no matter what day of the week that we chose to have our

Tasting Event, we would run into conflicts. We felt that these conflicts could be minimized even

more on Thursdays during common hour from 11:30-1:00pm. Although people frequently have

meetings during common hours, students, faculty, and staff do not have classes at this time. In

addition, this would have created more uniformity as pickup days occur every other Thursday

during common hour in the Slayter Pit. Therefore, we feel that awareness and attendance could

have been further enhanced with the Tasting Event if we had instead elected to have it on a

Thursday during common hour.

Buyer’s Club Launch

Overall, we marked October 16th, the day that the first order form was due, as the official

launch of the Buyer’s Club. Leading up to that day, we had put a lot of work into getting the

Buyer’s Club ready in terms of organization, creating the order form, marketing, and building

our email list. Like the Tasting Event, the biggest part of preparation was definitely marketing

and we did this through mass emails, flyers, and tabling in Slayter. Therefore, we used the

marketing skills that we had gained from holding the Tasting Event and directly applied those

skills in order to boost awareness for the Buyer’s Club and our official launch date. One of our

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most successful strategies was the mass emails to all of the different departments and offices

around campus. Throughout our times at Denison, we have found that one of the most effective

forms of communication is through emails. Although we had to rely on other people (heads of

departments and campus office staff) to pass on our emails, we felt that our email would be more

likely to be read if it was coming from prominent figures in the Denison community. As a result,

we received many requests shortly after from people requesting to be added to our email list in

order to receive more information. We have continued to use emailing as an avenue to pass along

important information, our newsletters, and reminders about order form due dates throughout the

course of the entire semester and will do the same in the future.

Although we had originally intended our launch date to be October 2nd, we decided to

push the date back two weeks to give us more time to coordinate with the farmers, market,

organize the order forms, and increase our member base. When October 16th finally came, it was

cool to see all of our work culminate in the launch of our Buyer’s Club. For our first order form

due date, we decided to have the order form due on a Thursday at noon. We felt that this would

create uniformity as order forms would need to be completed by a Thursday and then pickup

would be the following Thursday. However, this Thursday due date created some problems in

coordinating with the vendors as the Thursday due date did not coincide with the vendor’s

delivery schedules. Although, we were able to manage this problem for the first due date by

planning ahead, we decided to instead have order forms due on Wednesday’s by noon. Not only

would this make the process easier on the vendors, but it would also allow a bit of a ‘grace

period’ for Buyer’s Club members. Therefore, if someone forgot to complete his or her order

form by noon on that Wednesday, he or she would have a bit of time to get it in. As long as the

members got their order forms in by Thursday morning, then their order would be included for

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the next pickup day. However, in order to avoid confusion and to give our members a ‘grace

period,’ we told everyone to have their order forms finished by Wednesday at noon.

We got five orders for our first pickup day, which was October 23rd. This number was a

bit low, but seeing that this was our first official launch, we were confident that we could build

off of this number. However, we did have trouble working the Catertrax website in trying to

complete our first order. Therefore, some members that wanted to place an order in the Buyer’s

Club for the first pickup day were unable to do so. We made sure to fix the kinks in our website

so that we would not run into any similar issues for the following order form due dates.

Our first pickup day, like the order form due date, was pushed back 2 weeks to facilitate

better organization and allot more time to boost awareness. We think that if there had been a lot

of orders for the first pickup day, we would have struggled in carrying out a successful and

organized first pickup day. Therefore, having a smaller number of orders really allowed us to

create and test out a system to effectively run the pickup and to check people out. We discovered

that the best way to run our pickup was to have members bring their order lists with them so that

the two of us and Piper could use those lists to check them out. In using those lists, we ensured

that the members were receiving everything that they had ordered and were not accidentally

taking products that were not theirs. This also allowed us to directly interact with the Buyer’s

Club members and see their excitement about the products that they were receiving, which was

great to be able to witness firsthand. Once we were done checking out the members, we went

into our email list spreadsheet to denote that they had received their Buyer’s Club tote bag.

As a whole, the first pickup day went pretty smoothly as all of the members happily

received their purchases and we established our system for pickup days. In addition, we figured

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out to set up, organize the products, and properly check out members- all of which would be

used in our following pickup days.

Limitations

        Through our work with the Big Red Buyer’s Club, we came across a handful of

limitations and areas to improve. To start, we had a limitation when it came to reaching out to

different people in the Denison community, and therefore it was difficult at times to increase

participation. We did not have access to large groups of people—for example, all of the students,

faculty, and staff on campus—so we had to do a lot of outside research into how we could

contact those people. To get the word out to students, we had Jeremy King send out a mass email

to the seniors, promoting the Buyer’s Club. That being said, we wanted to get the word out about

the Buyer’s Club without overdoing it. As students ourselves, we know that receiving a bunch of

emails about a particular topic can be extremely annoying, so we wanted to be sure that that

would not be the case for the Buyer’s Club. To combat this issue, we decided to table and post

flyers around the academic quad as well. On the other hand, to get the word out to faculty and

staff, we researched all of the department heads on campus as well as important staff offices and

asked that they would forward our email to their fellow workers. This seemed to really increase

our publicity, as the number of people who emailed us asking to be added to our email list

jumped significantly.

        Even though we were able to reach a large population of the Denison community through

our emailing, tabling, and flyers, we still had a hard time increasing participation. We had a very

large email list, close to 100 people, but a much smaller number of actual members, close to 20

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people. In the future, it is important that we continue to increase participation through marketing

and outreach.

        Another limitation we had throughout the project was at pickup days. Our method of

checking people out can definitely be improved. For each pickup day, we have all of the Buyer’s

Club products laid out on a table, and we ask that members bring the list of what they purchased.

We then have to go through and check everyone out by double-checking that they have the

correct products in their bags. This can be very time consuming, which is especially hard on a

busy pickup day. Additionally, we sometimes had products that were missing, as we never

received them. That member was then unable to retrieve that product and we had to refund their

account. In the future, it is very important that we have better communication with the vendors to

make sure all of the products arrive in time for our pickup day.

        Additionally, we were limited in this project when it came to relying on other people.

There were often miscommunications and misinformation throughout the semester. This

miscommunication became the most apparent when we had to give people access to the Buyer’s

Club portion of the order form. At one point in the semester, Piper was on a trip, and since we

were not administrators of the Catertrax website, we were not able to give people access to the

website. This was a problem because, at the time, the next order form due date was approaching

very quickly. As time went on, we all made sure we stayed more in touch with each other so that

we could avoid problems like this one.

        Finally, our economic analysis for the price markup was a limitation. We were easily able

to find the price markup percentage for our Buyer’s Club products because vendors were able to

give us both the wholesale cost and the Buyer’s Club cost, but this was not true for other grocery

stores. We were able to see the selling price of grocery store items, but we were not able to

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obtain the retail price of those items. Grocery stores do not make this information available to the

public because that would be a bad marketing strategy on their end. If customers knew how

much grocery stores were marking up their products, then those customers may not only be

angry, but may also not be as willing to buy from that grocery store. To combat this issue, we

decided to research the average price markup percentage for general grocery store products that

were similar to those of the Buyer’s Club. In the end, this limitation threw us for a loophole, as

we should have realized that there was going to be a problem obtaining the retail price sooner,

but regardless, we were still able to learn the lesson that research does not always go the way that

one plans and it is important to figure out a new path to take.

        Overall, there was the limitation that there was a semester-long time constraint. Even

though we will continue to work on the Buyer’s Club next semester, we had wanted to get more

things accomplished and furthered in this one semester, for example, the economic analysis and

increased participation. Ultimately, these limitations have taught us about research and projects

though, and they have showed us how to better adapt when faced with problems so that we can

better move forward with our work.

Overall Outcome: Was This a Success?

Here, we wanted to do something a little bit differently by giving both of our individual

perspectives. The word “success” can encompass many different meanings. Each of our

responses discuss how we felt the Big Red Buyer’s Club was or was not a success in this single

semester:

Jennifer’s Response   

Although the word “success” can be considered rather vague, I feel that the Big Red

Buyer’s Club was in fact a success. At the start of the semester, when picking a project to

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overtake, it was extremely important to me to choose a project that was a physical application,

something where I could see change happen. I did not want to write up a proposal for a potential

event, but instead wanted to actually get my hands dirty in a big project that I felt would leave at

least some sort of impact on the Denison community. This project may not have been as big of a

success over this particular semester as I had wanted in terms of participation, and more

specifically the number of orders per each pickup day, but it did impact Denison.

We created something on this campus that not many other campuses are doing. We

started to help people to become more aware of what buying and supporting local means. We

began to open people’s eyes to the types of products out there that local vendors are selling. We

helped to urge producer-consumer interactions through our farmer’s table at pickup days and

farmer spotlights in our newsletter.

One could say that yes, the Buyer’s Club is not very big quite yet, but that does not mean

that is will not grow in the future and continue to teach people the benefits to buying and

supporting local. That does not mean that it will not continue to help change people’s mindsets

when it comes to purchasing foods from local vendors versus large chain grocery stores.

Ultimately, in my eyes, that makes the Big Red Buyer’s Club a success.

Emily’s Response

As a whole, I am very pleased with our project and how far we had come since the

beginning of the semester. I would definitely label this project as successful, but first I think it is

very important to define what I feel that success means within this project. I see success as

having multiple facets with the Big Red Buyer’s Club. The first facet is looking at the total

picture and seeing how far we have come since the beginning of the semester. Coming into this

project, I had no idea what to expect. In the beginning of the semester, I had talked to Jen and

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Piper about the Big Red Buyer’s Club and everything that would entail, but at that point, it was

merely just an idea. Flash forward to the end of the semester and one can see that this idea has

clearly turned into something big. Not only have we have carried out multiple successful order

forms and pickup days, but we have also steadily increased our number of members, sent out

multiple newsletters, tabled in Slayter, responded to numerous emails, marketed, boosted

awareness, and much more. Therefore, when I look at the overall picture, I see how far we have

come from a small idea to the end of our semester, I can most definitely label our project as a

success.

Another facet of success to me is the total number of members and people on our email

list. We started out with 3 members and 3 people on the email list (Jen, myself, and Piper) and

have now grown to around 20 members and 100 people on the email list. Just in looking at those

numbers, it is evident how much our Buyer’s Club has grown over the course of one short

semester. I think a lot of this success stemmed from all of our marketing efforts in which we

utilized various methods to reach to as many of the Denison University students, faculty, and

staff as possible. If we boosted participation this much in one short semester, I am excited to see

how much this will continue to increase in the future.

The third piece of success can be seen through our tracking of revenue for the vendors for

each pickup day. Seeing that these local vendors play a fundamental role in the local economy,

these influxes of revenue will help sustain and boost the local economy. Although the exact

effect cannot be measured, I know that these revenue increases had a positive impact on the local

economy of Granville and of the surrounding area. Buying local has numerous economic

benefits, which is why I consider the Big Red Buyer’s Club to be successful in achieving

economic sustainability. One of our main objectives was to demonstrate the economic impact on

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the producers and consumers and I can definitely say that we met this objective in looking at the

total revenue that the local vendors took in from the pickup days.

The final aspect of success deals with the social side of the Big Red Buyer’s Club.

Throughout the course of the semester, we worked diligently to create a new community in

which the Denison students, faculty, and staff were effectively linked with the local vendors

through the purchasing and consumption of local food. This fostered a connection between our

Buyer’s Club members and the local vendors and made our members more aware of the benefits

of buying and supporting local. In addition, in providing Denison students, faculty, and staff the

opportunity to meet and interact with a different local vendor each day, I was able to witness the

formations of numerous producer-consumer relationships. The vendors were happy to be there

and the Denison community was even more eager to meet them and sample their products.

People always say that our world is truly connected through a mutual love of food and I can

easily say that our Buyer’s Club members and vendors were most definitely linked through this

mutual love. In addition, I got to know a lot of the vendors myself and it was great to be able to

interact with them and experience their true passion for producing these high quality and

delicious products. Once again the social side of our Big Red Buyer’s Club cannot be truly

measured, but I definitely saw it come through when our members came to each pickup day

excited about meeting the vendors and picking up the delicious products.

Sustaining the Buyer’s Club Beyond This Semester

        After much discussion with Piper, she has explained to us that there will be an internship

offered for next semester through Bon Appetit. This internship will be similar to the Denison

Sustainability Fellows and will most likely be called the Denison Dining Sustainability Fellows.

Four interns will work with Piper on the Big Red Buyer’s Club and help to sustain it. We have

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both decided that we want to continue working with the Buyer’s Club in some capacity. We have

two options within this internship position, (1) there is the possibility that we can turn this into a

directed study opportunity with credit hours given in return, or (2) we can work four hours a

week for the Buyer’s Club as an intern and be paid a stipend for the semester. Regardless of what

we choose in the end, we both want to continue working with Piper for the Buyer’s Club,

especially because we are the ones that know all of the in’s and out’s. We want to be able to train

others to run the Buyer’s Club so that it can sustain itself next year when we are no longer at

Denison. This is very important to us, as we want the Buyer’s Club to continue to grow over the

oncoming years and really make an impact on the Denison community.

Future Possibilities

        In the near future, the Buyer’s Club will be adding more vendors to the order form, while

also expanding the products of current Buyer’s Club vendors. The reason the Big Red Buyer’s

Club only offers staple foods is because we did not want to take away from the produce that was

being sold by the local vendors down at the Farmer’s Market in town. Now that the Farmer’s

Market is over for the winter, we hope to add any of those Farmer’s Market farmers who are

interested to the Buyer’s Club. This would increase options to Buyer’s Club consumers and help

out those local farmers economically as well.

Additionally, we have recently sent out an email letting members know that in the future

they will be able to pay their membership fee with their first order and pay in cash at pickup days

if they wish. Throughout the course of the semester we also received suggestions about being

able to view the products before signing up and paying the $15 membership fee, so we sent out

another email with this information. We believe this will help to improve our membership base

in the future and help to create awareness of the products that are in the Buyer’s Club.

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        Further into the future, we also hope to expand the Buyer’s Club to the Granville

community. Currently, this cannot be done because of limitations within Bon Appetit’s

infrastructure, but we feel that this addition could really help to strengthen the Denison-Granville

community as a whole by bringing people together.

Overall Reflection of the Experience

As before, we wanted to give our own individual perspectives on this topic because this

semester’s experience meant so many different things to each of us. Although we both gained

substantial insight from this project, we each had our own unique outlooks.

Jennifer’s Response

Through this project, I not only gained a better appreciation for the field of

Environmental Studies, but I also acquired tremendous knowledge in my chosen topic of local

foods and environmental sustainability as well as economic sustainability, specifically within the

local community. While working with Emily to start up the Big Red Buyer’s Club, I feel that we

accomplished our end goal of spreading awareness of the benefits to buying and supporting

local, while also increasing Buyer’s Club consumer awareness and participation from week to

week, thereby positively impacting local vendors and future consumption choices. In the process,

I learned about survey development, PR and marketing, and data analysis in conjunction with

engaging in outside research, holding a Tasting event, and drafting a bimonthly newsletter.

Sustainability encompasses society, the environment, and the economy and this project took all

three of these things into consideration.

In the end, I am proud of the work that Emily and I have accomplished. This experience

has taught me so much not only about myself, but also about working with other people who

may be very different from me in their attitude, work ethic, and communication skills. I was able

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to work with Emily, Piper, various vendors, and many people from within the Denison

community in order to grow and support this Buyer’s Club. It was a great experience that I will

be able to take with me into any future job opportunities.

Emily’s Response

When I look back on our semester, it’s hard to put into words everything that I gained

from this project. First and foremost, since the Big Red Buyer’s Club involved so many different

people and the coordination between multiple parties, I learned a lot about interpersonal skills

and gained many of these skills myself. Seeing that I was working on this project with another

Denison University student, Jen, I gained a lot of valuable experience in working with others and

having to rely on others to get everything done. Jen and I were always collaborating and

bouncing ideas off of each other in order to complete all of our project goals and objectives.

Although there were plenty of times that we disagreed, we always seemed to compromise

quickly to move onto our next task. The best part about working with someone else on this

project was always having someone to discuss every aspect of our project with in order to carry

our project forward and create the best possible outcome. Seeing that the Big Red Buyer’s Club

was something completely new to the Denison University campus, there was a lot of initial

uncertainty surrounding how to launch the Buyer’s Club, market it, coordinate with the local

vendors, create an order form, and organize pickup days. Therefore, it was essential to discuss

every piece with each other in order to make sure that we were headed in the right direction. This

collaboration was essential to the completion of our semester long project. As a result, I really

came to understand the importance of group work and how it can be used effectively to meet

project goals and objectives. In the workforce, I know that I will consistently be working with

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others, which is why I know that these interpersonal skills that I gained from this project will be

translated to the later phases of my life.

In addition, I obtained a lot of valuable experience in having to coordinate with multiple

people and numerous sources at the same time. Throughout the course of our semester long

project, we were consistently having to keep in contact with one another, Piper, Dr. Aguilar, the

vendors, and the Buyer’s Club members. It was a lot to keep track of at times, which is why I

realized just how organized you have to be in order to make sure that everyone is on the same

page and that your project is moving forward appropriately. Since the Big Red Buyer’s Club was

completely new to the Denison campus, there was a lot of logistical work involved, which is why

communication and coordination were so essential. I was able to see this firsthand and it

definitely inspired me to build better communication skills because I had experienced how

frustrating it was to reach out for help and receive no response.

Perhaps, the most important thing that I will take from this experience is that all people

have the power to make change. Inspired by Piper’s never-ending enthusiasm and passion for the

environment and Jen’s relentless work ethic, I realized that every person can make a difference

with a small project, a big task, or a simple action. Yes, it may require a lot of work to reach your

objectives and achieve success, but it can be done. Coming into this semester, I wasn’t sure

about the impact that Jen, Piper, and I could make with our Big Red Buyer’s Club in one short

semester. However, looking back on it all, I cannot believe how much we were able to

accomplish in just three months because what started out as a small idea quickly materialized

into something much larger.

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References

Barrett, M. (2014). How Far Does Your Food Travel? 1500 Miles on Average. Natural

Society. Retrieved from http://www.cuesa.org/learn/how-far-does-your-food-travel-get-

your-plate

Biggest Grocery Store Markups: The Worst Deals in the Aisles. (2011). Retrieved from

http://new102.cbslocal.com/2011/03/17/biggest-grocery-store-markups-the-worst-deals-

in-the-aisles/

Champaign County Ohio Virtual Farmers’ Market, Small Farms Making a Difference. (n.d.).

Retrieved from http://champaignoh.locallygrown.net/faq#4105

Community Supported Agriculture (n.d.). Retrieved from Brandeis University, Campus

Sustainability Initiative website:

http://www.brandeis.edu/campussustainability/food/csa.html

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Market Program (n.d.). Retrieved from Clemson

University, Sustainable Agriculture Program website:

http://www.clemson.edu/sustainableag/csaprogram.html

Cone, C.A, Myhre, Andrea. (2000). Community Supported Agriculture: A Sustainable

Alternative to Industrial Agriculture. Human Organization, 59, 187-197. Retrieved from

http://sfaa.metapress.com/content/715203t206g 2j153/fulltext.pdf.

CUESA. How Far Does Your Food Travel to Get to Your Plate? (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.cuesa.org/learn/how-far-does-your-food-travel-get-your-plate.

Erway, C. (2013, May 6). The Pros and Cons of Joining a CSA. Retrieved from

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/05/should-you-join-a-csa-what-is-a-community-

supported-agriculture-pros-and-cons.html

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First Research. First Research Best Practices. (2013). Retrieved from

http://www.firstresearch.com/industryanalysis/First_Research_Industry_Profile_Sample.

pdf

Horrigan, L; Lawrence, R.S; Walker, Polly (2002). Journal of Agriculture and Environmental

Science, 42, 445-456. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/x3G9/adx99.

Matthew, B. (2010, October 1). Book of Matthew: Sustainable Eats, Part Two. The Brandeis

Hoot. Retrieved from http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/8455.

Mitchell, S. (2012). Top 10 Reasons to Support Locally Owned Businesses. Retrieved from

http://www.ilsr.org/why-support-locally-owned-businesses/

Re:Vision (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.revision.coop/buying-club-faq.

Sign Up for a CSA on Campus (n.d.). Retrieved from Tufts University, Office of Sustainability

website: http://sustainability.tufts.edu/get-involved/community-supported-agriculture/

The Full Plate Farm Collective. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://fullplatefarms.webs.com/whatisacsa.htm

Watson, M. (n.d.). Why Should I Buy and Eat Local Foods? Retrieved from

http://localfoods.about.com/od/finduselocalfoods/tp/5-Reasons-to-Eat-Local-Foods.htm

Why Buy Locally Grown? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/why-

buy-locally-grown

Why Buy Locally Owned? (2014). Retrieved from

http://sustainableconnections.org/thinklocal/why

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Appendix AReusable Tote Bag

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Appendix BOriginal Product List

Shagbark Seed & MillProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club CostBlack Beans 2# $6.18Pinto Beans 2# $6.54Heirloom popcorn 1# $3.40Corn Tortilla Chips 12oz $3.22Corn Cracker Minis 12oz $3.22Corn Flour 2# $4.50Corn Meal 2# $4.20Corn Polenta 2# $11.70Corn Grits 2# $6.96Spelt Flour 2# $5.64Cream of Spelt 2# $7.02Buckwheat Flour 2# $5.10Cream of Buckwheat 2# $15.60Spelt Pasta 8oz $4.80

Covered Bridge CreameryProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club Costplain milk gallon $6.60 1/2 gallon $3.60chocolate milk 1/2 gallon $4.80

Velvet View FarmsteadProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club CostPlain greek yogurt 32oz $6.00Strawberry greek yogurt 32oz $6.00Blueberry greek yogurt 32oz $6.00

Middlefield Cheese CoopProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club CostMild Cheddar 16oz $3.66Monterey Jack 16oz $3.66Mozzarella 16oz $4.08Pepper Jack 16oz $3.66Sharp Cheddar 16oz $5.22Sharp White Cheddar 16oz $5.22Smoked Cheddar 16oz $3.66Swiss 16oz $4.08

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Hemisphere Coffee RoastersProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club Cost

Nicaragua - House Blend 5lbs $45.00 1 lb $10.50 8 oz $6.60Thailand - lighter roast 5 lbs $55.26 1 lb $12.84 8 oz $7.73Sumatra - darker roast 5 lbs $51.30 1 lb $11.98 8 oz $7.19Mad River Blend - decaf 5 lbs $51.30 1 lb $11.98 8 oz $7.19Jamaican me crazy - flavored 5 lbs $49.50 1 lb $11.54 8 oz $6.94

Gourmet Candy by KarenProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club CostM&M 1 pretzel $2.50 Peanut Butter Cup 1 pretzel $2.50 S'More 1 pretzel $2.50 Chocolate Mint 1 pretzel $2.50 Amaretto 1 pretzel $2.50 Cookies & Cream 1 pretzel $2.50 Gingerbread 1 pretzel $2.50

Simple Products LLCProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club Costblack raspberry syrup 8 oz $8 jalapeno syrup 8 oz $8 habanero syrup 8 oz $8 hickory syrup 8 oz $8 lavender 8 oz $8 pure maple syrup 8 oz $8

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Granville Whoopie PiesProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club CostTraditional 1 pie $2.75 pumpkin 1 pie $2.75cool mint 1 pie $2.75buckeye 1 pie $2.75chocolate crème 1 pie $2.75red velvet 1 pie $2.75

Gluten & Grain FreeProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club CostPaleo Sea Salt Almond Chocolate Bar 1.5 oz $3 Paleo Crunch NO NUTS Choc Bar 1.5 oz $3 Paleo Coco Crazy No Bake 3pk 3 oz $6 Paleo Noco Crazy No Bake 3pk 3 oz $6 Paleo Crunchy Nut Mix 3.5 oz $7.50

Unkle Timz SalsaProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club CostExtra hot salsa 13 oz jar $6.00hot salsa 13 oz jar $6.00medium salsa 13 oz jar $6.00spicy garlic salsa 13 oz jar $6.00

Stutzman Farms Amish MillProduct Labeled pack size Buyer's Club CostORGANIC WHOLE GRAINSSpelt Berries 2# $2.32 5# $5.98Amaranth 1# $3.80 5# $17.93Wheat Berries (soft red) 2# $1.66 5# $4.32Barley (hulled) 2# $3.44 5# $8.78Brown Rice (long grain) lone pine 1# $2.59 5# $10.94Buckwheat (hulled) 1# $2.88 5# $12.24Quinoa 1# $6.55 5# $31.68

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Millet 1# $2.40 5# $10.947 whole grain mix 1# $1.90 5# $8.42Kamut 1# $3.25 5# $15.19

BREAKFAST! Oats, pancake mix, cereals and granolasRolled Oats 1.5# $2.06 4# $5.59Rolled Spelt 1.5# $1.97 4# $5.35Stutzmans Pancake Mix 1# $2.66 5# $12.24Spelt Maple Crunch Cereal 1# $5.40 3# $16.56Krispie Treat Granola 1# $3.96 3# $12.24Spelt Granola w/ raisins & sunflower seeds 1# $4.68 3# $14.40Honey puffed corn 0.2# $1.44 1# $6.12Honey Puffed Spelt 0.5# $3.10 1.16# $6.86Puffed Corn 0.42# $2.51 3.5# $8.82Puffed Spelt 0.25# $1.37 0.62# $3.46 6# $19.44Puffed Wheat 0.25# $1.44 0.62# $3.23 6# $17.287 grain puffed cereal 0.25# $1.73 5.5# $25.74

ORGANIC STONE GROUND FLOURSGolden White - Wheat Pastry Flour (soft red) 2# $2.06 5# $5.33Golden White - Wheat Flour (hard red) 2# $2.15 5# $6.70Golden White - Spelt Flour 2# $2.60 5# $6.70Whole Buckwheat Flour (dark) 2# $3.96 5# $10.08Whole Corn Meal (open pollinated) 2# $1.86

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5# $4.82Whole Rye Flour 1.75# $2.75 5# $7.85Whole Spelt Flour 1.75# $2.35 5# $6.70Whole Wheat Flour (hard red) 1.75# $1.81 5# $5.18Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (soft red) 1.75# $1.78

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Appendix CLocal Pre-Survey

“Local”: Pre-SurveyTo us, “supporting local” and “buying local” means supporting your farmers that are nearby, which then helps the local community economically and environmentally. It is about building a relationship between the producers (the farmers) and the consumers (the buyers).

1. Circle your affiliation with Denison: Student Faculty Staff

2. Circle your class year (Note: if not a student, circle N/A): Fr. So. Jr. Sr. N/A

3. Are you an Environmental Studies major/minor or ENVS faculty member? Yes No

4. To what extent do you agree with the following statement: The Denison community prioritizes supporting local farmers. (Circle ONE)

Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree

5. To what extent do you agree with the following statement: I (myself) prioritize supporting local farmers. (Circle ONE)

Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree

6. The average distance that food travels to get from the producer to the buyer is around 1,500 miles. To what extent do you consider it important to know where your food comes from? (Circle ONE)

Very important Somewhat important Neither important nor unimportant

Somewhat unimportant Very unimportant

7. In your opinion, what is the most significant benefit of consuming local foods? (Circle ONE)

Awareness of where/who your food comes from

Boosts local economy

Shorter travel (less pollution from transportation)

Increases revenue of producers

Fresher food

8. Would you be interested in purchasing local foods from local farmers if you could buy their staple products (i.e. milk, cheese, coffee, yogurt, beans, flour, etc.) on Denison’s campus?

Yes No

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Appendix DD.1: Tasting Event Flyer

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D.2: Buyer’s Club Marketing Flyer

67

Appendix EE.1: Newsletter #1

68

E.2: Newsletter #1 Written Sections

What is the Big Red Buyer’s Club?The Big Red Buyer’s Club will allow the Denison community- students, faculty, and staff- to purchase staple foods on campus from local farmers. Participants will place an order and can pick up their purchases in Slayter every other week. This Big Red Buyer’s Club is giving the Denison community access to the wonderful local products that are used by our dining service.

Tasting Event 10/14On October 14th, the Big Red Buyer’s Club hosted a Tasting Event that featured sample dishes made with various local products that are available in the Buyer’s Club for the Denison community to taste-test. Not only did the tasting event garner a lot of Denison community support, but also received many great reviews about the sample dishes and products. We also had one of our local vendors, Jenny Cuevas from Gluten and Grain Free Gourmet, present with her products that students, faculty, and staff absolutely loved.

Jeremy’s Sustainability Tip:Jeremy King- Sustainability Coordinator

The change of seasons means it time to start thinking hard about sustainability and energy-efficiency.  You’ve all been around Denison long enough to have experienced what I call the DU Goldilocks Effect.  As you move from room to room and space to space on campus it’s either too hot or too cold.  What’s our quick solution?  Unfortunately, we open windows, use space heaters, and/or crank up the thermostat even when we’re not around. What can you do to be more energy-wise and more comfortable on campus during the winter?  For starters, you can dress appropriately for the weather and wear layers of clothing.  If your room, office, or classroom are too hot, check the thermostat and if that doesn’t work, let Phys. Plant know of the problem.  Leaving windows open, while a temporary solution, is the worst thing you can do with respect to energy conservation

My Plate: The New Food PyramidCatherine Champagne – The Whisler Center for Student Wellness

Nutrition guides from the USDA are continually changing. Remember the Food Pyramid? Introduced in 1992, the Food Pyramid was a visual representation of the five food groups (breads, fruits/vegetables, dairy, proteins, and fats/sugars), and how many servings of each we should eat per day. Although thorough, the food pyramid could feel a little overwhelming! In 2011, the USDA introduced a new model to help guide our decisions about healthy eating. The latest food guide is called “My Plate,” and provides a simple, visual cue of what we should strive for to maintain a healthy diet. When we eat a meal, half our plate should be fruits and vegetables, a quarter should be protein, and another quarter should be grains. You can read a more detailed description by visiting ChooseMyPlate.gov. The new website also includes a nutrition education series, and a tool called “SuperTracker” which helps you plan, analyze, and track your diet and physical activity. It’s a great wellness resource to explore!

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Sustainable Eating TipSarah Piper- Sustainability Manager for Dining Services

Buying your beans dried is a great way of cooking low carbon.  Not only are you not buying them in a can that has to be recycled (and shipped, and pumped with unnecessary preservatives), but you can rehydrate them in a lower carbon way too!  Try soaking in water overnight, this will reduce your cook time dramatically saving energy.

Featured Recipe: Fall Wheatberry Salad

From: Dylan Brandt- Catering Cook with Denison DiningIngredients:-4 cups dry wheatberries-1 medium butternut squash-1 bunch Italian parsley-1 bunch fresh thyme leaves, chopped-1 cinnamon stick, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon-1/4 cup apple cider vinegar-1/4 cup plus 1 table spoon extra virgin olive oil-2 tablespoons honey-1/2 tablespoon whole grain mustard-Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:1) To cook wheatberries bring 3 qt. water to a boil in a pot with the cinnamon stick and a tablespoon of salt, once boiling add wheatberries and bring back to a boil turn down to a simmer.  Simmer the wheatberries for about a half hour.  The wheatberries will only slightly soften up they should be chewy but not crunchy. 2) While the wheatberries are cooking peel the butternut squash and remove the seeds from inside.  Dice the squash into small cubes and toss with the tablespoon of oil, thyme leaves and ground cinnamon. Lay onto a sheet pan and roast at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until slightly brown on the edges and soft. Once done allow to cool and place into a bowl 3) Combine the vinegar honey and whole grain mustard and whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in the oil to combine into a vinaigrette.  Set aside. You might need to add a little more honey taste the vinaigrette when it is done if it tastes a little tart add more honey also a little cinnamon in here wouldn't hurt.4) During the last five minutes of cooking time for the wheatberries add the cranberries and apricots to the cooking liquid. This will soften the dried fruits up and help to flavor the wheatberries. When the wheatberries are done drain from the water and allow to cool.5) Combine the wheatberries, squash and remaining dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Toss the salad with the vinaigrette a little at a time until everything is coated but not swimming in the vinaigrette.

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E.3: Newsletter #2

71

E.4: Newsletter #2 Written Sections

What is the Big Red Buyer’s Club?The Big Red Buyer’s Club will allow the Denison community- students, faculty, and staff- to purchase staple foods on campus from local farmers. Participants will place an order and can pick up their purchases in Slayter every other week. This Big Red Buyer’s Club is giving the

Denison community access to the wonderful local products that are used by our dining service

Unkle Timz SalsaHow he came up with his name:

Unkle Tim was building a house with the help of his nephews where he would constantly feed them with his homemade salsa. This is how he got his name, but he changed the spelling because there are “too many Uncle Tim’s spelled normally”

How he got into this profession:Throughout his life, he would always receive homemade salsa from his sisters as gifts. Using these salsa recipes as inspiration, he began playing around with these recipes in order to create something to his liking. Originally made by hand and started as a hobby, he gave his salsas to his friends and family. Soon after, his salsa became so popular that he began selling it to the public. To this date, he has been making salsa for 23 years and selling it for 7 years.

Where he gets his tomatoes from:Not only does he try to use all fresh produce, but he also supports three local farmers when he is able to. During the offseason, he goes to places like Columbus.

His favorite part of making salsa:He just loves making salsa and because of this, he is able to incorporate it into everything.

What Can I Do With Unkle Timz Salsa? Add it to an omelet Make a queso dip Mix the garlic salsa with cream cheese and spread on a bagel or cracker Substitute any salsa for spices in a meatloaf Blend it for flavor and add it to anything!

Buyer’s Club GrowthThe Big Red Buyer’s Club is continually growing and receiving more members and orders! In fact, the total number of orders from the first pickup day (10/23) to the second pickup day (11/6) increased by 200% and the total revenue for the vendors increased by $258.24. In addition, 66 more products were purchased for the second pickup day, demonstrating the growth of the Big Red Buyer’s Club in two short weeks. We are looking forward to even more growth in the future!

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Jeremy’s Sustainability Tip- Denison Moves to Cleaner Burning Natural GasJeremy King- Sustainability Coordinator

Here's to breathing cleaner air!  As part of our Campus Sustainability Plan and commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030, Denison has made the decision to switch from burning coal to natural gas at our central heating plant.  This move is effective immediately and will reduce our carbon footprint approximately 17%.  While natural gas has historically been more expensive than coal, that price differential has narrowed and when factoring in the cost of continuing to maintain appropriate EPA emission standards for coal fired facilities, this decision makes sense for Denison both environmentally and financially. In addition to this move, we’ll continue to explore a longer-term option for our heating plant that may allow us to further reduce our carbon footprint and our utility costs.

Food and SleepCatherine Champagne, The Whisler Center for Student Wellness

This week on campus, we are doing an awareness campaign about the importance of sleep. Getting enough quality sleep is such an important part of staying healthy. This year, we decided to include information in our campaign about the relationship between nutrition and sleep quality. As it turns out, the things that we eat and drink can affect how well we sleep. For example, drinking too much caffeine during the day, eating too close to bedtime, and consuming alcohol before bed can all be potential sleep disrupters. There are also a number of foods that can promote good quality sleep. To introduce a few, we worked with Bon Appétit to create a “sleep friendly” menu for this week’s Classics station in Curtis Dining Hall. We hope to see you in Curtis for lunch on November 11 to pick up some sleep goodies (sleep masks, ear plugs, and tea) and to try out this healthy sleep menu!

Piper’s Sustainability TipPiper- Sustainability Manager for Dining Services

Does 5 pounds of flour seem excessive?  Go in on it with some friends or roommates, not only is there less packaging waste than buying multiple smaller bags, but it's less expensive too!

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E.5: Newsletter #3

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E.6: Newsletter #3 Written Sections

What is the Big Red Buyer’s Club?The Big Red Buyer’s Club will allow the Denison community- students, faculty, and staff- to purchase staple foods on campus from local farmers. Participants will place an order and can pick up their purchases in Slayter every other week. This Big Red Buyer’s Club is giving the Denison community access to the wonderful local products that are used by our dining service.

We know that the holiday season is right around the corner, so don’t forget that the Buyer’s Club products can make great gift options or be fun additions to any holiday party!

Most Popular Items PurchasedThroughout the course of the semester, we have noticed the popularity of the following products: Stutzman Farms : Honey Puffed Corn Stutzman Farms : Krispy Treat Granola Stutzman Farms : Spelt Maple Crunch Cereal Gluten and Grain Free Gourmet : Paleo Sea Salt and Almond Chocolate Bars Middlefield Original Cheese Coop : Mild Cheddar Shagbark Seed and Mill : Corn Tortilla Chips Velvet View Farmstead : Plain Greek Yogurt Velvet View Farmstead : Strawberry Greek Yogurt

Christmas Trees: Artificial vs. LiveJeremy King- Sustainability Coordinator

Let’s break this down a bit. A live tree certainly evokes the season with its pine-fresh smell, and families often enjoy the annual ritual of picking out the perfect tree. Before strapping that huge tree to your car roof, however, you must consider the following: PROS

Biodegradable Can be mulched, composted, or made into wood chips Christmas trees trap more carbon dioxide than other tree forests Renewable Smell terrific

CONS Trees can be loaded with pesticides Trees might be shipped across the country, adding to fuel costs and air pollution Need to be watered regularly Shed needles that will need to be cleaned up regularly Trees are not flame retardant You will need to determine what to do with your tree after its use and likely transport it

yourself Not every community provides recycling options (Granville does!!!)

Artificial trees are the other option to consider. They can be shipped right to your door and don't need to be watered or pruned. The key things to consider when deciding on an artificial tree are whether you have room to store it and if you can find a tree that hasn't been shipped from

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overseas. PROS

Can be used year after year Less expensive Don't dry out Good for urban dwellers Can be put up earlier in the season

CONS Made mostly of plastics and metals, including lead, that are not biodegradable Often shipped long distances overseas Need to be stored every year Not as aesthetically pleasing Typically cost 5 times more upfront than a real tree

The best option is to choose what makes the most sense to you. Some years the spirit moves me and I buy a live potted tree then plant it after the season, other years I bring out the saw, and this year I have two artificial trees decorating my house (both of which are hand-me-downs).

Staying well during finals weekCatherine Champagne, Whisler Center for Student Wellness

Finals week is almost here, and everyone knows that the words “finals” and “stress” often go hand in hand. Although there may be no magical solution for eliminating stress completely, simple self-care practices can go a long way in helping you stay calm and manage these demands. Get enough sleep, take breaks, and remember to breathe! What you eat also matters. Eating a good, protein filled breakfast and spacing small meals throughout the day will keep you nourished and energized. While you’re studying, it’s helpful to keep healthy snacks nearby in case you get hungry. Granola bars, yogurt, fruit, or unsalted popcorn are all good things to munch on. Finally, try to limit the amount of caffeine you consume. One cup of coffee is usually okay, but too much can make you dehydrated and feel jittery. Water is your best option to stay hydrated. Good luck everyone!

Piper’s Sustainability TipPiper- Sustainability Manager for Dining Services

Still looking for the perfect gift for your loved ones? Give them the gift of food from the Buyer's Club! Not only is the stomach a proven path to the heart, but you'll be giving a gift to the farmer, your community, and the earth all at the same time! Plus, instead of having one more "thing", they'll have a gift that will be enjoyed, and then quickly returning to earth.

Thank you!We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support throughout the semester.

We appreciate your feedback as well as your flexibility and understanding as this Buyer’s Club continues to grow. We are looking forward to where the Buyer’s Club will go in the future so

keep an eye out for us because we will be back next semester!

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Appendix FSurvey Results

Q1: Circle your affiliation with Denison

57%22%

21%

Affiliation

Student

Faculty

Staff

N=81

Q2: Circle your class year (Note: if not a student, circle N/A)

10%

10%

12%

25%

43%

Class Year

Freshman

Sophomore

Junior

Senior

N/A

N=81

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Q3: Are you an Environmental Studies major/minor or ENVS faculty member?

36%

64%

Relation to the Envs Department

Yes No

N=80

Q4: To what extent do you agree with the following statement: The Denison community prioritizes supporting local farmers. (Circle ONE)

12%

73%

12%

2%

Statement: The Denison community prioritizes supporting local farmers

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N=81

78

Q5: To what extent do you agree with the following statement: I (myself) prioritize supporting local farmers. (Circle ONE)

26%

48%

25%

1%

Statement: I (myself) prioritize supporting local farmers

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly DisagreeN=81

Q6: The average distance that food travels to get from the producer to the buyer is around 1,500 miles. To what extent do you consider it important to know where your food comes from? (Circle ONE)

57%38%

5%

Extent to Which You Consider it Important to Know Where Your

Food Comes From

Very Important

Somewhat Impor-tant

Neither Important nor Unimportant

Somewhat Unimportant

Very UnimportantN=81

79

Q7: In your opinion, what is the most significant benefit of consuming local foods? (Circle ONE)

20%

31%21%

7%

21%

Most Significant Benefit of Consum-ing Local Foods

Awareness of where/who your food comes from

Boosts local economy

Shorter travel (less pollution from transportation)

Increases revenue of producers

Fresher foodN=81

Q8: Would you be interested in purchasing local foods from local farmers if you could buy their staple products (ie: milk, cheese, coffee, yogurt, beans, flour, etc.) on Denison's campus?

90%

10%

Interest in Purchasing Local Foods From Local Farmers on Denison's

Campus

Yes

No

N=81

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Appendix GBuyer’s Club Price Markup Percentages

Vendor ProductLabeled pack size

Wholesale cost

Buyer's Club cost

Buyer's Club Markup

Shagbark Black Beans 2# $5.15 $6.18 20%

Heirloom popcorn 1# $2.83 $3.40 20.14%

Corn Tortilla Chips 12 oz $2.68 $3.22 20.15%

Corn Meal 2# $3.50 $4.20 20%

Spelt Flour 2# $4.70 $5.64 20%

StutzmanWheat Berries (soft red) 2# $1.38 $1.66 20.29%

Rolled Oats 1.5# $1.72 $2.06 19.77%

Stutzmans Pancake Mix 1# $2.22 $2.66 19.82%

Krispie Treat Granola 1# $3.30 $3.96 20%

Honey Puffed Corn 0.2# $1.20 $1.44 20%

Golden White - Wheat Pastry Flour (soft red) 2# $1.72 $2.06 19.77%

Covered Bridge Plain Milk gallon $5.50 $6.60 20%

Plain Milk 1/2 gallon $3.00 $3.60 20%

Chocolate Milk 1/2 gallon $4.00 $4.80 20%

Velvet View Plain Greek Yogurt 32oz $5.00 $6.00 20%

Middlefield Mozzarella 16oz $3.40 $4.08 20%

Sharp Cheddar 16oz $4.35 $5.22 20%

Sharp White Cheddar 16oz $4.35 $5.22 20%

HemisphereNicaragua - House Blend 5lbs $37.50 $45.00 20%

1 lb $8.75 $10.50 20%

8 oz $5.50 $6.60 20%

Granville Whoopie Pies Traditional 1 pie $2.06 $2.75 33.50%

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Unkle Timz Hot Salsa 13 oz $4.50 $6 33.33%

Simple Products Pure Maple Syrup 8 oz $6 $8 33.33%

G&G FreePaleo Sea Salt Almond Chocolate Bar 1.5 oz $2.40 $3 25%

Paleo Coco Crazy No Bake 3pk 3 oz $4.89 $6 22.70%

Paleo Crunchy Nut Mix 3.5 oz $6.00 $7.50 25%

Gourmet Candy M&M 1 pretzel $2.00 $2.50 25%

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