Co-op Memories from an Early Lakewinds Owner

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We talk a lot about cultivating community at the co-op. Turns out, that commitment was baked into the Lakewinds story from the very beginning! Lynn C, an early owner of the co-op, recalls the days when shopping at Lakewinds (then still St Luke Co-op) looked very different than shopping here today. It took a community of folks with a shared vision to make things work back then. As communities often do, these determined folks found ways to make the work both fun and fulfilling, a culture we continue to cultivate to this day.

Please enjoy these memories from Lynn from an article that she wrote with her husband Jerry decades ago, looking back at our community roots.

Before the organization came about of the St Luke Co-op (the predecessor to Lakewinds Food Co-op), a small group of couples from St Luke Presbyterian Church met on a regular basis on the topic of “Simple Living.” When we met, one of the group had often gone to one of the Minneapolis food co-ops and brought back a 50-pound bag of oatmeal and/or other large quantity bulk foods; we sat in someone’s living room measuring and divvying up the food for our families. Distributing a big container of peanut butter was surely a finger-licking task!!

The St Luke Food Co-op sign still hangs at our Minnetonka store.

Once the co-op structure was in place with plans to move into the vacant old house behind the church which we called “The Hut” (once was the pastor’s study/office), Jerry was dispatched to a store to bring back a large number of galvanized garbage cans with tight fitting lids, those black heavy-duty garbage bags, and grain scoops. The cans were lined up along the inside walls of the main room and bulk bags of oats, flours, beans, rice, and other food items were dumped into those black bags inside the garbage cans, with the grain scoops in the food item waiting for use. When we came to shop, we brought our own plastic bags or take-home containers. Entering the building before handling any food, we followed the signage instructions to first “wash hands.” A certain day of the week was “cheese day” and we could sign up to help cut, wrap, and weigh cheese into small packages. It was a merry time of “community” as we met and chatted with others as we measured and weighed all our foods that we wished to purchase or to “cut the cheese.”

Lakewinds Local Co-op – The Original Red Shack
The Little Red Hut behind St Luke’s Church.

Thanks to Lynn for sharing these memories that connect us with our humble roots!

Curious to learn more about Lakewinds’ history of cultivating community? Learn about our commitment to local food and how we support small farmers through the LOFF grant.