Plans Underway To Open New Mobile Food Co-Op In LIC, Astoria

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — Residents in Western Queens are organizing to open a food co-op to serve communities bereft of grocery stores and fresh produce in Astoria, Woodside, Long Island City, and other neighborhoods.

The Western Queens Food Co-Op has been in the works for nearly two years, with residents planning to open the community-owned grocery store in three to five years.

"As a member of the food coop, you would have a vote in what kind of food we carry, where it comes from, and we will own it together as a community," Rachel Brown, an organizer with The Western Queens Food Co-Op, told Patch. "We will keep the prices low and keep the food local and fresh"

The group plans to launch a mobile food co-op and eventually use a community land trust space for a permanent location. Brown said that, through a survey, over 150 people have expressed interest in becoming members of the co-op.

The food co-op is part of the larger efforts from residents in Western Queens to support low-income communities hit by the rising prices of food and housing, as well as gentrification.

The co-op is hoping to establish its brick-and-mortar store in a building where Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos once considered building a second company headquarters. Residents are advocating for the conversion of the underutilized building located at 44-36 Vernon Boulevard into a space championed by community members, artists, and small business owners.

The food co-op will work with local food sources such as rooftop farms, vertical farms, and regional food manufacturers to stock its shelves.

"We will have those direct relationships so that we are cutting out middle people that only want to profit from people buying food," Brown said. "Our mission is to keep prices as low as possible because we want this to be accessible for all income brackets."

For now, the Western Queens Food Co-Op is assembling advisors and volunteers, launching member recruitment campaigns, seeking funding through grants, and developing start-up budgets.

Brown said that the group hopes to have about 1,000 members when the co-op launches. The group is planning to station itself in different food deserts, including Astoria Houses, Queensbridge Houses, and southern Sunnyside, with its mobile co-op during different days of the week.

The Western Queens Food Co-Op will host a community outreach event on June 3 at Queensbridge Park from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.