[SustainableTompkins] garden gate- new green business in ithaca!

[Tony Del Plato]

Best wishes Marlo on your new venture
Tony Del Plato

On 12/13/07, marlo capoccia <marloco at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> hello everyone,
> i had been waiting to let people know, but you guys are my first
> official announcement that my family and i are beginning a new home
> delivery service in ithaca in february.  garden gate will be
> delivering local foods "milk man" style, but more like a farmers'
> market on wheels.  in most cases we are getting our food directly
> from farms and processors within 100 miles of ithaca.  in the rest of
> the cases we are getting foods through a distributor, but ALL
> products will be from within 100 miles of ithaca.  we will begin
> delivering in the city of ithaca and expand into tompkins county once
> we get our systems perfected.    we're running the business out of
> our downtown ithaca home.
>
> the green part of our business includes retrofitting our vehicle for
> veggie oil.  when we're big enough i'd like to get an electric
> vehicle and am even considering a delivery bike, but doubt i can
> manage that.  (it's still a wonderful dream, though.)  we will be
> using only reusable bags for delivery and will work with suppliers to
> minimize waste from packaging.
>
> the benefits are far greater than the green tools we'll be using,
> though.  if we can prevent vehicles from being out on the road for
> mid-week trips to the grocery store, we can reduce ithaca's
> contribution to carbon emissions right away.  keeping the food supply
> local is very appealing to me, and we'll be doing tons of product
> education and marketing on behalf of our suppliers.
>
> so far, we have about 25 local farms and producers and easily over
> 100 products, probably on the way to 200 at this point.  we'll
> deliver meat, dairy products, eggs, sauces and chutneys, breads and
> pastries, prepared foods, tofu and seitan, coffee and tea, maple
> syrup and honey, chips, nut butters, cleaners and tons more.  i am
> particularly interested in working with new farms and processors, so
> if you know of anyone getting started who'd like to sell a few more
> units of product, please let me know!
>
> in addition to announcing garden gate delivery to you all, i am
> looking for feedback from people about what kinds of things you
> anticipate i should be thinking about.  i am beginning to make
> purchases for the business and though i have spent dozens of hours on
> research, any snippets of advice or insight will be very helpful.
>
> our website is:
>
> gardengatedelivery.com and will be ready for viewing in just over a
> month from now.  if people have questions or ideas and would like to
> contact me directly, please call me at 607 342 6228.
>
> i am really looking forward to working with some of you in various
> ways as garden gate begins delivery in february.
>
> many thanks,
> marlo capoccia
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May the conscience and the common sense of the peoples be awakened, so that
we may reach a new stage in the life of nations, where people will look back
on war as an incomprehensible aberration of their forefathers!
Albert Einstein