Co-op aims at fast, healthy food on campus

Students seeking locally grown, organic and preservative-free food on campus are in luck.

La Montañita Co-op opened its third location in Albuquerque last week next to the UNM Bookstore.

Student Jake Wellman said students want more local and organic food.

“Students want to eat healthy, and students want to be environmentally conscious,” he said. “So having a store that sells locally grown food will really be a plus for students walking to and from class.”

Wellman and alumnus Abdullah Feroze proposed running a student co-op to the SUB Board last spring. Wellman said a student-run co-op in Washington, D.C., as well as a presentation by Robin Seydel, the membership director at La Montañita Co-op, inspired the idea.

“There were a lot of hurdles, and we worked over the past year on trying to put together a proposal that was realistic and that would be able to make a positive impact on campus,” he said. “Through working with Chartwells and the SUB Board, we were finally able to reach an agreement with La Montañita co-op, and they opened last week.”

Co-op Team Leader Mark Lane said he is thrilled with students’ positive response to the co-op. He said he will work to select products students want more of, such as prepared meals students can eat right away.

“We carry 1,500 local products produced by over 900 producers in New Mexico,” he said. “I want as much as possible in here, but some of that local stuff might not fit the specific needs of the students. Because a lot of it isn’t quick-consumption type food; it’s take-home and bake.”

Lane said he wants to change the store so that about 70 percent of food is made for quick consumption with no preparation needed. He said organic food is more expensive, but becoming a member of the co-op can offset costs. Lane said annual membership costs $15 per year and lifetime membership costs $200.

“We track all the money that you spend, and at the end of the year when we’re profitable, we’ll return a portion of the profit in a dividend check based on a sliding scale of how much you spend,” he said.

Wellman said quality, locally grown food costs more because lesser-quality foods are often processed using government-subsidized products, such as corn and soy.

“In the sustainability program, they teach there is a huge cost that we don’t realize for the food that we are importing from around the world, or from the easy food that comes from corn in the Midwest,” Wellman said. “Whereas a store that takes local food into consideration uses food that’s grown within a 300-mile radius. That’s very valuable when you look at the environmental impacts on the area, our footprint, as the University and as a student.”