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How does Six Rivers Market work?
Six Rivers Market runs almost entirely from this site, marketing products grown and produced exclusively from within a 100 mile radius of Sandpoint. All marketing and purchasing of product is via the web, with drop-off and pick-up of product occurring weekly each Wednesday afternoon. Six Rivers Market is based upon a highly successful system developed in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Food Cooperative, a system also used by Idaho’s Bounty in southwestern Idaho. Oklahoma has generously shared this system and its unique software with developing local food co-ops throughout the nation.
Six Rivers Market is registered in the State of Idaho as an “Unincorporated Nonprofit Association,” meaning that no one person or entity profits from the business of the cooperative. Six Rivers was developed as a gift to the community, to be used as the community sees fit. As community members join together in supporting the cooperative, we help each other to secure a safe, local food supply. The more the community utilizes the system, the lower the costs will be for each user and the greater the benefits will be for all.
As a cooperative, anyone interested in buying or selling through Six Rivers Market joins the cooperative by submitting the online registration form and paying an annual membership fee, thus becoming a voting member of Six Rivers Market. The membership fees pay for costs which include licensing, insurance and management. Each member has one equal vote, and have equal say in electing a governing board at annual membership meetings. The governing board in turn hires a general manager to keep Six Rivers running smoothly and progressing forward.
 Once a Six Rivers Market member, interested producers apply to sell their local product through the Six Rivers site, where they can create a page detailing their products and production practices (for example, organic, conventional, hand-crafted, etc.). Product may include any fresh produce, breads, cookies, cakes, fruit pies, jams, jellies, candy and honey, eggs, meat and any food produced with a license. Producers then post their latest available products with detailed pictures and descriptions for the general market page each week, or as frequently as they have product.
Consumer-members shop for products from any combination of producers on the Six Rivers Market site. Shopping is done much like on any other retail website. After customers have placed their orders within the “open-market” time, the market then “closes” each Monday evening and the producers receive a notice of their sales. All product in shopping carts at the time of Market closure are considered orders. Customers can pay in advance with credit card or at time of pick-up with check. Producers have until Wednesday afternoon to harvest and prepare sold product for drop-off that afternoon at the Six Rivers Market delivery site, The Sandpoint Business and Events Center. Producers then receive payment for their sales. Volunteers and Six Rivers staff arrange all products into individual customer orders for customers to pick up within a 2-3 hour period that same Wednesday afternoon. For more information on the Order Cycle, please see our Order Cycle page.
Six Rivers Market has adopted a barn and silo as part of its logo, which is a fitting image for its development and purpose. Six Rivers Market has been developing since early spring of 2008 by a small group of community members passionate about local food. These people have devoted their “free time” to work through the system and to see how it can best be applied to our community. Now that the framework is in place, Six Rivers needs the community to join together in a “virtual barn raising” to put Six Rivers into action and help it grow. And growing it is! Thank you for all who have supported the local food co-op concept and who have encouraged Six Rivers Market along.
 Six Rivers Market conducted a survey through the month of August 2008 which revealed that the Sandpoint community has a solid interest in supporting a local food cooperative. Over 80% of survey participants would support a local food market even through the leaner months of winter. The majority of survey participants also support the web-based model, but there is also a need for consumers to touch and feel actual product. Six Rivers will meet that need by providing space in its market “hub” (an all-in-one drop-off point, sorting facility, and pick-up location) for producers to display product, as well as space for producers and consumers to meet and mingle.
Six Rivers Market provides the community with greater food security much as a well-stocked grain silo would. With all members able to sell product through the market for a reasonable membership fee, Six Rivers encourages local food production by providing a low-risk, year-round outlet for marketing homegrown food. Seasoned market gardeners also find great value in selling through Six Rivers in addition to the traditional farmers’ markets as Six Rivers will reach out to many community members unable to shop the farmers’ markets. These consumers can conveniently shop for local food from the Six Rivers site day or night, and buying from a number of producers will likely find it easier to find the quantities of food required to feed their families or institutions such as restaurants or schools. This circle of support will continue to encourage local production of food and employment,  which will in turn increase the amount of local food available, and so on, developing our local economy to be better able to withstand the blows of a turbulent national economy.
It will truly take a community to build Six Rivers Market. To join in this effort, please donate, volunteer, share your ideas, or just browse to learn more about how Six Rivers Market functions.
Who does Six Rivers Market benefit?
Farmers/Producers:
- Enlarges the market for local products, especially winter and spring products
- Convenient advertising with a wide customer base
- Frees up time from marketing endeavors for producing, harvesting and improving product
- Increases opportunities for expansion (greenhouse farming, value-added products, and/or increased production of current farm products)
- Gives “backyard gardeners” an outlet for selling excess produce
- May open up connections with schools, retirement centers, and restaurants by providing a collective volume of product from across the community
Consumers:
- Convenient, one-stop shopping for fresh, local products
- Some prices may be lower than grocer prices, especially as fuel prices increase
- In the future, system may be able to provide delivery (for a small fee) to home-bound individuals, increasing the availability of fresh, healthy foods to these individuals
Community:
- Will help move the community towards greater sustainability
- Will vitalize the local economy, by giving the community a convenient way to “shop local”
- A social benefit in bringing farmers and consumers together, both physically on Delivery days, and via this website
This is a beautiful system which has the potential to benefit all of us through creating a healthy, bountiful and sustainable, food network.
What exactly does Six Rivers Market do?
Acting as the agent of producer members, Six Rivers Market posts and publicizes the products the producers have for sale, receives orders, provides a way for products to be delivered to other members of the cooperative, collects from the customers and forwards the payments to the producers. Acting as the agent for consumer members, we provide them a catalog of available local food products that includes information about how and where the product was grown or processed. We receive their orders and notify the appropriate producers, arrange for the food to be delivered, receive and process their payments. For both producer and customer members, we provide a basic screening of products and producers based on our published parameters, and education and training regarding the use and the advantages of local foods.
For some of our producer members, we are agents that facilitate farm gate sales of their products. For other producer members, we facilitate off-farm sales or sales of processed products.
The essential business of the cooperative is to provide a marketplace where willing buyers and sellers can meet. At no time does the cooperative ever have title to any of the products. We have no inventory. The products that go through our distribution system are owned either by the producer, or by the customer who purchases "title" to the product from the producer.
What does it mean to become a member of Six Rivers Market?
By becoming a member of Six Rivers Market, you join your community in creating a sustainable food economy by supporting our local farmers and producers. In other words, you help buffer our community against the fluctuations of the larger world economy by encouraging local production and local jobs. In return you receive fresh, healthy food and a closer tie with the caring hands that produce your food.
You are also joining a cooperative, which means your contributions support the business of the cooperative and that you have equal say in how the business is run. Six Rivers Market will have annual membership meetings, during which the cooperative membership elects a board of directors to govern the business of the cooperative. Each member, whether producer or consumer, has an equal vote in how the market functions.
Do you want to see a new product category or a push for more growth? You’ll have a say in that. As a result, all members receive some sort of return, as determined by the health of the business and the discretion of the governing board of directors. This can be in the form of member discounts, special sales, or even in the form of an annual patronage dividend.
Why the name Six Rivers?
The Pend Oreille, Priest, Kootenai, Clark Fork, the Upper and Lower Pack, and Moyie Rivers all form and define our Communities. They give our communities beauty and life. They are a great symbol for a market that hopes to do the same. They will also loosely define the scope of Six Rivers Market, giving a general idea of what Six Rivers Market defines as “local.”
For more detailed information, you can read through the following pages:
Membership Handbook
Frequently Asked Questions
Terms of Service
Membership Structure |
