Jeremy Larochelle is a passionate advocate for the Fredericksburg Food Cooperative where he and his wife and daughter do at least 95% of their grocery shopping. He was a member early on, long, long before we were even close to meeting the initial goal of 800 and 1000 members — back when having such a spectacular food cooperative right here in our community was still a dream to be strived for. The wonderful store and community that we have now, with over 4000 member owners, exceeds all expectations and it’s a joy to see so many people not only shopping local but making connections every day, attending cooking classes, book groups, ukalele jam sessions, and inspiring presentations about Juneteenth, and all the other activities that are planned every month.
Jeremy is starting his twentieth year at the University of Mary Washington where he is Professor of Spanish and Assistant Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. His research interests revolve around sustainability and environmental issues in Latin America. He also serves as Faculty Fellow in the Office of Academic Services where he advises and mentors students from entering first years to seniors looking for viable paths to graduation. In addition to his teaching and advising work, he also serves as co director of the IMPACT program through the Center for Community Engagement where he helps get first year students connected to service opportunities in the Fredericksburg area. Over the past three years, he has brought his IMPACT students to the Coop for a tour and to hear the history of how the coop was formed –and also to enjoy the awesome smoothies, of course! Students are inspired to learn that the coop came to be due to the hard work of a small group of volunteers who persevered over a number of years to make this dream a reality. If elected, Jeremy would continue to advocate for the coop as we continue to grow, emphasizing the coop principles, without losing sight of how this whole enterprise began.