Organic Co-op Brings Madison Members Closer to Food

Five years ago, Evelyn Cucchiara saw an ad in a newspaper for an organic fruit and vegetable co-op called Purple Dragon.

"I thought it sounded perfect, so I joined," she said.

The idea behind the co-op is a group of people buying food together and sharing the labor involved in order to save money, while gaining access to fresh, and in most cases, local produce, thereby supporting local farmers.

Now Cucchiara is a site manager for the Madison pod of Purple Dragon, which means she keeps all fifteen members in the loop about deliveries, assigns sorting duties, and organizes pickups twice a month. Site managers are not paid, but they get a $40 discount on each delivery.

"Once you have it up and running, it's really easy," she said. "And the best part is I only pay $7 for all my fruits and vegetables!"

Every other Saturday, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., the Madison members pull into her driveway, leave a check (the cost is $47 per delivery), and load a box of organic and ecologically-grown produce into their cars—each box weighs in anywhere between 20 to 30 pounds.

Because the food often comes straight from the farm, there's very little storage and travel time.

"All the local food is just picked, so when you get it it's really fresh, unlike store produce which can sit around for weeks," said Cucchiara.

Purple Dragon has more than 70 pods throughout New Jersey and New York, in towns including Chatham, Summit, Maplewood, and Morris Plains. It all began in 1987, when a woman named Janit London decided to start the co-op, upon discovering that the fruit and vegetables at her health food store were not fresh.

"I said, Let me see if I can organize something, then develop it and make it bigger," London said.

"Co-ops are important to a community like Madison because they benefit all of us," she said. "They benefit the farmers so they can focus on growing. And they are a way to meet people in an informal setting. Modern life can be alienating, but co-ops can help people to connect."

Cucchiara agrees, adding: "Co-ops bring you closer to the food. You feel more in touch with where it's coming from. I eat organically because it just makes sense and I want to avoid the chemicals. My family eats almost only organic food and my kids are never sick. I think it's a direct result."

"Eating organically is important," said London, "because it's an investment for all of us to take care of our earth, and this is the best way to do it. It benefits both our health and the environment; there is no separation between the two."

"You don't realize how many types of greens there are until you join Purple Dragon!" said Cucchiara, who has lived in Madison for 21 years. "Sometimes we get wacky stuff; one time it was a piece of sugarcane. The kids got a kick out of that, but I had to go online and research how to use it! And a couple of weeks ago we got star fruit—those were unusual too."

She thinks the best season for Purple Dragon produce is late summer, when there is so much "that the bins are practically overflowing and we can hardly close them," she said. "But I enjoy it year round, because I like eating seasonally."

The Madison pod is currently full, and there is a six-person wait list.

"We have such a mixed group," Cucchiara said of the members. "We have a Drew professor, the head of the Madison Y, lots of families… there's a real variety of people."

One of those is Mary Bodenstein, a member for eight years.

"I joined because I made a conscious decision to live a more healthy lifestyle, and this was a convenient way to do it," she said. "I call it my personal shopper! I don't have a lot of spare time, so I am grateful to Purple Dragon for selecting good produce for me. It has introduced me to delicious fruits and vegetables I might not otherwise have tried."

"You learn a lot of weird things about food—it never ends," says London, who works up to 100 hours a week, with her staff, out of her home and a warehouse in East Orange. "I believe in slow growth, so we don't do what big retailers do. Our mission is to keep costs very low for our members. We really value them."

Indeed, in 21 years, the price has gone up just $14.

Having created a successful business out of fruit and vegetables, London naturally is a fan of fresh produce.

"You're talking to a woman who so loves fruits and vegetables, so it's hard to say what my favorite is," she said. "But I do dearly love bok choy. And we get amazing asparagus and blueberries that would knock your socks off. We also have one farmer who grows delicious nectarines—look out!"

She then laughed.

"You would trade your children for these nectarines!"

For more information, log on to purpledragon.com.