Each year, we’re inspired and humbled by the ongoing work of our Change Matters partner organizations. Every partner is mindfully selected by a dedicated committee of Twin Cities Co-op Partners staff to ensure your round up dollars are going to an array of Minnesota-based nonprofits working to uplift emerging farmers, support our BIPOC communities, and fight hunger.  

We spoke with Justa Heinen-Kay, Co-Director of our June partner, BrightSide Produce, about their work to make fresh produce more widely available & accessible throughout North Minneapolis. 

When and how did you get involved with the organization? 

I’ve been informally involved since the very beginning, as my husband is one of our co-founders! I became more officially involved in BrightSide in 2020 when we became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and really started growing and diversifying our programming. 

Tell us about Brightside’s “self-sustaining” program model. 

BrightSide was founded to help corner stores in underserved communities stock low-price, high-quality fresh produce on their shelves. We’ve been providing this convenient weekly service for 10 years, and serve 40+ corner stores in Minneapolis and St. Paul. But because we pay our employees a fair wage, keep prices low for the stores, and offer a “buyback” program, we lose money by providing this service. To fund this work, we offer a weekly fresh produce home delivery program where customers pay a small “food justice surcharge.” By subscribing, our customers fight food insecurity while enjoying a convenient service that makes it easier to eat more fresh produce. We also run a Pay What You Can branch of our Home Deliveries, completely funded by small donations. 

Brightside Produce was born from collaboration with Community Table Co-op and university students. How has the program evolved over the last decade, and how does collaborative partnership still guide the work today? 

We’ve gone from volunteer college students doing corner store delivery runs to now having quite a few part time staff and not only continuing to support corner stores, but also offering a home delivery program, managing farmers markets… and even more exciting new ventures in the pipeline. Bringing people together from diverse communities is still the core of BrightSide. Our employees are mostly college students, recent graduates, and young adults from the communities we serve. 

Who are some growers & sourcing partners Brightside works with?  

We hear from our corner store partners that they want the most value for their dollars, so we source conventional produce for them from a local wholesale distributor. For Home Delivery, we give folks the opportunity choose whether they would like organic produce. [Locally] we partner with Pleasant Valley Produce, Alstad Farm in Schafer, MN, and others. Any organic produce we can’t get from these farmers we purchase through Co-op Partners Warehouse. 

What varieties do you source from local growers?  

We offer free-range brown eggs [from Pleasant Valley Produce- an Amish farm collective in the St. Croix River Valley] as an add-on all year round for Home Delivery. During the growing season, we buy their radishes, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, kale and chard, onions, tomatoes… Alstad farm [in Schafer MN] grows beautiful lettuce and arugula, and we love including their apples in Home Delivery in the fall. 

What has been an important lesson you’ve learned along the way- maybe something that surprised you? 

I think the biggest lesson has been to not be afraid to try new things. Not everything we try works out, but we always learn from experience and often find new ways to help build a more equitable local food system. 

 What are some specific ways that the Wedge co-op community can support and get involved with BrightSide’s work? 

Subscribe to our Home Delivery program. The food justice surcharge included in the price funds our food access work. Donations also go a long way in supporting our corner store operations and our Pay What You Can service. Volunteering is another great way to get involved! Every week our Pay What You Can program is completely run by volunteers. We are always looking for more folks to help us pack and deliver these produce bags. Support BrightSide’s work here.