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(Lander, WY) – Folks in Lander may have noticed a new Main Street business blooming throughout the month of March, as Meadowlark Market and Kitchen celebrates a full month of being open as of April 1.
Located at 228 Main Street, Meadowlark’s soft opening was on March 1, and has since provided Landerites with an ever-growing array of locally grown and produced groceries and goods.
Meadowlark Market and Kitchen is an official project of the Slow Food Wind River non-profit program, which models itself after the Slow Food USA movement.
This model aims to “grow local and regional sustainable food economy by supporting producers, educating consumers and connecting them together in the spirit of good, clean and fair food,” and originated in Italy in the 1980’s as a protest to the proliferation of fast food restaurants.
With assistance from other state chapters in Wyoming like Slow Food in the Tetons, and guidance from locally-produced-centric stores like the Fremont Local Market in Riverton, Meadowlark’s mission is to “repair our relationship with the food system,” and to “let our community know how our food is grown (and how to eat it), shake hands with the people who produce it—and be able to afford to eat it.”
“Our vision is for Slow Food Wind River to be a springboard for all local food action in our community,” startup support lead Lindsay Guerin told County 10. “We want to be a vehicle for all local food producers and entrepreneurs.”
In addition to providing access to locally grown and produced goods, the “Kitchen” portion of Meadowlark Market and Kitchen aims to be “an incubator of culinary talent and a space to help support local food entrepreneurs.”
Head chef and Director at Large Colin Hemens was the executive chef at the Snake River Grill in Jackson for seven years, and is excited to help foster the idea of a shared kitchen that focuses on utilizing local products.
The kitchen will also develop in many ways over the ensuing months, including hosting pop-up dinners from local chefs, periodic cooking classes, dinner nights hosted by Hemens, curated local food dinner series, hourly/daily kitchen rentals, and even cooking/nutrition classes to help educate people about food.
Meadowlark will also be an official pickup location for Eat Wyoming deliveries, and will additionally function as a designated agent to sell Wyoming Food Freedom Act products, meaning producers can use Meadowlark to sell goods like raw milk and ungraded eggs.
In addition to the mentioned entities, Meadowlark is also partnering with groups like CWC, the LOR Foundation, the USDA Northwest Regional Business Council, the Lander Valley Farmer’s Market, the Lander Care and Share Food Bank, Wind River Food Sovereignty Project, the Wyoming Food Coalition and various individuals who all have a passion for locally produced foods.
At the end of the day, Meadowlark Market will be a “grocery store first,” with a goal of providing “what people need to make a complete healthy meal.”
“We want to be here for producers and provide them a foundation to grow their product,” Guerin added.
Their current operating hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10am-6pm, and Saturday from 11am-5pm. These hours will continue through Spring, and are likely to change going into the summer months.
To learn more about what the process is for selling goods (on a 75% to producer, 25% to Market consignment basis), call (307) 206-1021, or visit Meadowlark’s website or Facebook page. (It should also be noted, Wind River Slow Food is still in the process of making a website and having social media presence, so Meadowlark’s contacts are the best way to learn more about the non-profit.)
