Release: Schoharie Fresh is Budget Friendly

Cobleskill, NY (March 5, 2015) – A local family from north of Saratoga, has had to learn to survive on a limited income over the last several years. Their young adult daughter, became ill in 2011 and had to move home to her parents’ house in 2012. The daughter Claire (name changed for privacy) is a self- taught “chef” and worked in an exclusive restaurant in Albany as a prep chef until she became ill in 2011. She has a passion for food, but unfortunately doesn't have the strength to shop and prepare her own foods any longer. While searching the internet one day last fall, she found Schoharie Fresh and found some independence. 

Claire is able to go on line and select foods and plan menus meeting her dietary needs using the Schoharie Fresh website. Her mother Tammy and her father John make the trip to Central Bridge a couple times a month to pick up their order. Tammy commented that the selection is incredible. They are able to purchase so many more varieties of vegetables than through a store and Claire is choosing the foods, which has given her some control in a situation where she doesn’t have a lot of control. Plus, since the items are fresh, they tend to last longer than store bought vegetables that have been shipped and have had to go through a longer distribution process than is used at Schoharie Fresh. When they shop every couple of weeks, the food stays fresh until the next trip. 

The best news was the fact that they are really saving money. Tammy said that they are able to budget their limited resources better because they know how much the vegetables will cost. Schoharie Fresh sells produce by the piece or quart and not by weight which eliminates guessing as to what something will cost. For Tammy who has chosen to stay home with her daughter, this is important.  Tammy figures that they are able to purchase twice as much produce through Schoharie Fresh than what they would purchase through the store for the same amount of money. They do not have the luxury of spending a lot of money on produce that will go bad before they use it. Tammy commented that the drive to Central Bridge is over an hour long, but well worth the trip! She is supportive of Schoharie Fresh and would like to educate others that buying through Schoharie Fresh is good for your budget. 

Schoharie Fresh is an online farmers market with a location on the SUNY Cobleskill campus as well as at Bethany Lutheran Church in Central Bridge and Schoharie Presbyterian Church in Schoharie. Schoharie Fresh re-opens for sales as of January 30th with the first customer pick up on February 6th. Orders for Schoharie Fresh need to be placed by Wednesday at 11:59 PM for pick up on Friday afternoon at one of the three locations. Please refer to the website www.schohariefresh.com for additional information and to see product availability. Schoharie Fresh has received funding from the Creating Healthy Places grant at SUNY Cobleskill, a New York State Department of Health grant that was awarded to SUNY Cobleskill in 2010 as well as a United Against Hunger grant through the United Way of the Greater Capital Region in 2014. Schoharie Fresh has over 40 producers from Schoharie County selling a wide variety of products that are grown, raised or produced in Schoharie County. For more information please contact Maureen Blanchard the Project Coordinator for Creating Healthy Places at blanchma@cobleskill.edu.