Co-op will nourish individuals and be an economic hub for community, farmers, growers
By Jana Eisenberg
African Heritage Food Co-op participates in a farmers market during the pandemic. Photo by Ahrian Stevens/Ahrie Photography
During the pandemic last year, African Heritage Food Co-op was able to supply food to hundreds of thousands of people in Erie, Niagara, and Cattaraugus counties.
Alexander J. Wright founded the African Heritage Food Co-op in Buffalo in 2016.
He had multiple goals: one was to provide fresh, affordable food in communities where resources are traditionally hampered. Some call them “food deserts.”
He began by bringing together like-minded people, and creating a community supported agriculture share program. Many CSAs require advance payment for a seasonal share, but for the AFHC iteration, people could pay as they went.
“We advertised the buy-in, people signed up and paid; we went to a farm, and bought as much food as we could,” explained Wright. “We divvied it up and announced share pickups at convenient neighborhood spots.”
Wright is determined to demonstrate the power of community serving community, rather than outsiders—either government or corporations—trying to “fix it.” His motto, and his underlying philosophy is: “Anything less than ownership is unacceptable.”
The efforts quickly gained attention, and with it, partnerships with Kaleida Health, Erie County Medical Center, and the Greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network.
“With our partners, we started doing mobile and pop-up food markets in high traffic areas, offering staples like onions, potatoes, and peppers on a ‘pay-as-you-can’ basis,” said Wright.
“In 2018, with funding from General Mills and the United Way, we opened a store in the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal on Buffalo’s east side,” said Wright. “By 2019, a private donor gifted us a building on Carlton Street. While we started work on the building, we went to a delivery-only model. At the same time, the city of Niagara Falls granted us $160,000; with that we purchased a building and opened a store there.”
But the pandemic wreaked havoc on their progress, also hammering home the fact that people desperately need the goods and services AFHC provides.
“The effects of the pandemic were manifold,” said Wright. “One, it severely delayed our fundraising to build the stores. During a pandemic, people are losing jobs, struggling; also, they aren’t as eager to invest in something they can’t see or walk through.”
The second effect hit home more obviously, as many small businesses the co-op worked with struggled or shut down, and resources became scarce. “It was a nightmare,” he said.“We closed the stores, and as far as getting food for people, we had to be creative; go to different sources and just see what people had.”
He was committed to distributing food, and in 2020, with pandemic-specific funding from the federal government and grants from organizations including Univera Healthcare, Independent Health, the Tower Foundation, the Community Foundation of WNY, and the Buffalo Food Equity Network, AFHC supplied food to hundreds of thousands of people in Erie, Niagara, and Cattaraugus counties.
“As a grocery store, we were deemed an essential business,” said Wright. “We were able to do direct deliveries and ‘pay-as-you-can’ farmers’ markets. We didn’t want anyone to be hungry.”
At the onset of the pandemic, Kinzer Pointer, pastor of the Agape Fellowship Baptist Church in Buffalo, formed a coalition of 25 churches to help feed people. They partnered with the AFHC.
“We partnered with Alex during the pandemic because he could deliver fresh fruit and vegetables to people in their homes with no contact,” said Pointer. “Even when some of the funding ended, Alex continued to deliver food. We served over 200,000 people; some had been on the verge of food insecurity, and with the effects of the pandemic, they became food insecure.”
Pointer agrees with Wright that ownership is key to be able to make decisions for any business and for the community it serves. “We can’t depend on either corporate America or the government; we have to be able to take care of ourselves,” he added. “Many people in Buffalo don’t have a car, and the city has a limited number of large grocery stores. An entity like AHFC becomes a lifeline; a partner to tens of thousands of people who can’t get to the supermarket, or if they can, might not have the means to pay for food.”
Wright’s plans include continuing as a source of healthier, more affordable food, helping people regain control of their diets and health, as well as an empowering economic driver: an employment, training, and education hub. He also plans on presenting events, like community health fairs.
“Impatience is the biggest challenge right now,” said Wright. “We all want the pandemic to be over—especially because, in the communities we work in, people have been promised all sorts of things. AFHC is different because we live here, we are accountable; we’re not going home to a suburb. People within the communities are understanding—seeing that we are doing markets and deliveries, but they also want us to come through on what we promised.”
Wright is grateful to funders and businesses with whom the co-op has relationships. “The people who partner with us are taking brave steps to work with people in the community. As a large institution, it can be difficult to truly support people in the community…but it’s the only way we will have real change,” he said.
How to Contact
For more information on the African Heritage Food Co-op, visit myahfc.com or call 716-573-1844.
Photo: Alex Wright, founder of African Heritage Food Co-op, distributes food in Niagara Falls in April, 2020. Photo by Ahrian Stevens/Ahrie Photography
