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Before the Town-n-Country grocery shut down last fall, a group of area residents began working to pick up the slack and make quality food – fresh local produce, organic meat and dairy – available in Oriental. They considered a food co-op/community-owned store but found it would take years – and considerable money – to set up. They looked into other options and then persuaded a marine store, the Provision Company, to sell those foods.

Now, to share what they’ve learned and done so far, the Oriental Food Initiative is holding a public meeting on Wednesday, January 27, 2016 at 6:30p at the Old Theater. They’ll cover the tough economics of starting a store from scratch in low-density areas, how existing locally owned businesses in Oriental are now filling some of the needs in the wake of one grocery store closing and how to keep that local food economy chugging. (Note:The meeting was set up before Walmart announced its store was closing. Some of this may apply to the concerns many now have about attracting a full-service grocery to town.) Public input and questions welcome at the gathering.