Save the Good Tern's Refrigerators and Freezers

The Good Tern's 20-year old refrigeration and freezer equipment is failing beyond repair – threatening the co-op and its ability to provide the fresh locally farmed produce, dairy and meat, and many other products that our community depends on.

A hard-won USDA grant gave us money to purchase this indispensable new equipment, but we need more funds to cover (rising!) construction costs of the new (big!) walk-in cooler/freezer as well as increased retail space that will serve our membership and other patrons for years to come.

You are invited to LOVE YOUR CO-OP! We need to raise $165,000 in the next two months. Please make a tax-deductible donation now to see the project through.

Many thanks to our fiscal sponsor, Cooperative Development Institute, for helping to make this campaign possible!

About the Good Tern Co-op:

We are a community-focused cooperative: Since 1980, the Good Tern Co-op has served as the only cooperative, member-owned grocery store in Knox county offering locally farmed, sustainably grown food in Rockland, Maine and surrounding communities.

We are a primary hub for local food commerce:

The Good Tern provides key support of local farmers and food producers. Fifteen regional farms provide vegetables to our co-op including root crops, greens, mushrooms, alliums, microgreens, and seedlings. Cow and goat dairy products come from eleven local producers including cheeses, kefir, milk, and yoghurt. Maine sea vegetables are harvested by two small Maine businesses and sold dried and in packaged tea. The co-op purchases between 35 to 50 pounds of tofu per week, depending on the season, from a local family-owned tofu company. And products from more than 20 local suppliers are offered in the Health and Beauty Aisle including soaps, oils, tinctures, and syrups. Many of the Good Tern’s suppliers are local businesses owned and operated by women – we work with six women-owned farms, a woman-owned goat and and sheep dairy, and two women-owned local companies which sell medicinal herbal products and tea.

As a consequence of our work with local farms and producers, we are a hub for food security in the region: during the pandemic we were able to support and sell locally produced food at a normal rates in spite of national supply chain shortages.

Our Co-op runs programs to make sustainable and local food affordable to more people:

Rockland has a poverty rate of 15.4%, slightly higher than the state average, and greater Knox County has a poverty rate of 9-10%, with poor food security. Our region is also home to one of the oldest populations in the country – some 20% of Knox County residents are over the age of 65. With respect to these conditions, the co-op makes it possible for families and seniors to purchase quality food at the coop at reasonable prices by offering a standard discount to members and higher discounts to working members. Good Tern accepts SNAP benefits and also works with the Maine Farmland Trust’s Farm Fresh Rewards Program through which every $10 spent on local foods with SNAP benefits earns a shopper $5 in vouchers toward local fruit and vegetable products. We are also members of National Co-op Grocers, a national co-operative buyers conglomerate that allows us to purchase and sell a wide array of products at competitive prices.

The Good Tern regularly contributes to community service programs:

Every month we raise money for a different nonprofit or local cause with our Register Roundup program. We also are a regular sponsor of the yearly Harbor Cleanup volunteer day. The Good Tern offers regular classes as well, on diverse subjects such as cooking, gardening, raising chickens at home, knitting, etc.