About Us

History and Timeline

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Who we are

We are a growing group of people in Miami County who believe that food should be good, clean, and fair, and that Miami County is best served by keeping our food dollars in the local economy, where it recirculates and keeps our community strong. (Read more about our people or our vision.)

Our mission is to create a local market for local foods.

The goal of the Miami River Foods Project is to inspire local efforts that support people making choices that are healthy for our families, healthy for our community, and are part of a sustainable future.

Stone's Throw Foods

Our first project is organizing a cooperative grocery store called Stone’s Throw Foods, which specializes in “close food” and socially responsible goods. Stone’s Throw Foods will be owned by the community and work for the good of the community.

Stone's Throw Foods will be a catalyst to create local markets for goods that are not currently produced locally. It will also be a source of education and outreach related to health, nutrition, and sustainable living. As the Miami River Foods Project grows, we look forward to incubating other efforts that bring us closer to our vision of a sustainable future.

Since we hosted our first community meeting in October 2009, the Miami River Foods Project has created a local foods map, hosted educational events, and launched the cooperative organizing process! Our Organizing Team includes two full time Organizers and over 40 volunteers working on everything from outreach to design. Would you like to join us? Email info@miamiriverfoods.org to get involved!

The Beta Test

Stone’s Throw Foods is now inviting members of the community to invest in the start-up phase of the cooperative grocery by participating in an online market program. Families may place orders for local and socially responsible staples (e.g. pastured, organic, fair trade, non-GMO) and artisan foods through the Stone’s Throw Foods online catalog, then pick up their orders at the Troy Meat Shop.

The online market program is currently in “beta test” mode (in the software world, “beta” is a pre-release version ready for testing). 38 families tested and shared their feedback about the first Beta Box in January, and we've now welcomed over 107 families to the program. Check out our Join the Beta Test page to learn how you can get involved!