Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

We wanted to take a moment to answer your questions about what Winnie Mae's is and what we do. So, here goes.

1. What is Winnie Mae's?
Winnie Mae's is a lot of things. We are a CSA right now, but we are growing. We are going to be a cafe, a market that is open to the public, a meeting place, a community garden, and much more.

2. What is a CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agri-culture, and yes, I meant to hyphenate it. A CSA is a business centered around cutting down the middle men between you and your local producers. The average CSA just acts as a delivery point for local farmers who do not deal with big supermarkets and haven't the time for Farmers Markets. CSAs allow buyers to order their produce and provide a place for pick up.

3. What are the benefits of joining a CSA
There are many. You get to know the people who make your food is the primary plus. CSAs provide more than just your food, they provide a link that would not be there otherwise. The person handing you your food, may well be the person who put the first seeds for it into the ground. CSAs support the local economy. The money you spend on your produce goes right into the pockets of people who live around the corner from you.

4.What is a cooperative?
A cooperative is a group of people who get together to apply their resources to run a business and share in the profits. A cooperative works toward a common goal and each person has a share in running it and profitting from it.

5. When I join Winnie Mae's, where does my money go?
Winnie Mae's is a combination of things, but the main thing is that it is a mechanism for community support. Your contribution to Winnie Mae's goes to things like paying the rent and keeping the lights on, but it also goes to local growers. It goes to the charities we support like breastcancer.org. It goes to Maya's Garden the community garden right in our front yard! Most of all, it all comes back to you.

Let us know if you have any more questions!

Winnie Mae's is not Home yet!

Hello all,
   Monday is an historic day for Winnie Mae's.  The property owners have shown a tremendous amount of faith in what we are doing.  Everyone is excited about the things that are on the horizon even as it gets cooler outside.  My goals for Monday are to, even though I have dubbed it opening day and that should be a flurry of activity, take a step back and look at how far we have come and how far we have to go.
   I have warned everyone that there are bare walls, empty space, and gravel where there was once parking.  I have spoken to artists and members from all around town and those walls will not be bare for long.  We have commitments from many for materials and equipment so the space will not be empty for long and local growers will soon be bringing product from places all around the area to place on shelves.  The gravel will soon be covered with dirt from raised beds for "Maya's Garden" and soon thereafter things will spring from the ground.  This is really something special, if I do say so myself.  We are not home yet. 
   I know that each of you has a belief in creating a green, healthy, sustainable community here in the upstate.  I know that you would like to see that same environment flourish elsewhere so think about the fact that Winnie Mae's can serve as a beacon and a template for any other community and show that they can get together and create the type of environment we want rather than be at the mercy of others. 
   In the coming weeks not months, there will classes on permaculture, yoga classes, and cooking classes.  In the coming days, not weeks there will be family-strenghtening "date nights", and events where you meet the farmers who grow your food.  We will have tastings and meetings and even a book club and all of those things are on the other side of that door at Winnie Mae's.
   If you are not a member, become one.  Go to http://www.winniemaes.com/, click on "membership" and get involved.  It will pay off.
   If you have not made a donation and would like to, just go to http://www.winniemaes.com/  click on "membership" scroll down to the bottom and make a donation.
   We have a goal to reach and a long way to go before we can open that door and a long way to go once the door is open.
  
Help us make this happen!
Thank you,Eli Montgomery
Winnie Mae's
http://www.winniemaes.com/

Grand Opening: Do you see what I see?

   When you walk in, you will see bare walls.  You will see empty space.  You will see gravel in the "yard" out front.  You will not be impressed.  Or maybe you will?  Winnie Mae's is an empty vessel and though many have tried to press me into defining it, into labeling what it needs to be.  I have not nor do I really want to.  What do you really see though?
   I am fascinated by the people who implore me to present a finished product.  They ask me to quantify and define and it is not that I cannot, I just do not want to.  It is not even my job. We are surrounded with entities that present their wares to us and, without choice, say, "This is what we have to offer.  Take it or leave it."  Winnie Mae's is not like that at all.  Making it what is to become is your job.
   Winnie Mae's is named for my mother.  Moreover it is named for what she stands for.  I will always have a home as long as she can help it and the freedom to do what I want there.  Everyone who is involved in this thing of ours will always have a home as long as I can help it.  I want to be the man my mother raised me to be. I can handle the food part.  The rest is up to you!
   Maybe you see bare walls.  I see a surface that needs to be covered.  Maybe you see an empty space.   I see a space that needs to be filled.  You see an empty yard, I see the greatest garden one could make.  So, the question is; Do you see what I see?

Slow Food vs. Fast Food...The Battle Rages! Super Taco vs. Taco Bell

Make no mistake...at the end of this blog, you will be asked for money.  Donate, but for good reason!

 

Last night I went to dinner with some great new friends at a new little eatery in town, Super Taco.  When I walked in, I was surprised to see several people crammed into the small space waiting to get something...anything.  Though I have only been in the area for a short time, I saw a lot of familiar faces while I was waiting for the friends I was meeting.  Then I stepped outside to enjoy the beginning of the crisp fall air. 

Directly across the parking lot, there sat the remains of the Taco Bell.  It had been there for quite some time and a couple of weeks prior, people had cheered when it fell.  The massive behemoth and the creator of "fourth meal" lay in shambles; a pile of dust!  From the dust and detritus begins to arise...well...another Taco Bell.

I have worked for major corporations for some years and I liked them, for the most part, because the ones I worked for had no malice in their hearts and within the microcosm of the particular property I was working at at the time, there was a family atmosphere.  It is the indifference of the conglomerate that often causes the problems.  Again, no overt malice, just a desire to make a buck and satisfy a bottom line for their investors.  Do you have any idea how much cheaper "cheese product" and "taco meat" are than aged cheddar and grass fed beef?  Do you know how much easier it is to buy pre shredded lettuce treated with chemicals to keep it from browning than it is to hire someone to shred it or even chop tomatoes for that matter.  Fast food is cheap and barely edible which is what the average person is looking for at 2 a.m., right around the time "fourth meal" rolls around.

My friends arrived and we sat and talked for a while and ate as the September sun went down.  These were friends with similar interests, of course, and we talked about the things that were frustrating us while eating vegetarian burritos, beginning with Taco Bell. 

From what I understand, people like us just want good food.  We want it well prepared.  We want it to be nourishing and healthy and we want it (because it is the thing that keeps us alive) to be prepared with somewhat of a conscience.  People have different goals, needs, and ideas, whether they be vegetarian or with some personal health issue, or whatever, but processed cheese product barely fits the bill.  We can get into GMO's later.  The main thing to realize is that what we are asking for is simple; for our food to be good.

The fact that the little Mexican place was packed on a Wednesday night should tell us something.  Good food, prepared well, can survive and that in the long run Super Taco should win this battle, if only on points.  Fast food, prepared fast has to resort to gimmicks and volume to survive.  Wouldn't they thrive if they stopped the gimmicks and the "fourth meals" and stop rebuilding the buildings?

I like what I do now and I like meetings like that.  I was offered a ride, but ended up just walking.  I took in the night air and went in search of coffee.  The dominant thought in my mind was how to do this with Winnie Mae's AND take it one step further.  We have to get the word out.  We have to have events.  We have to shake the tree.  We need people to get involved.  We need suggestions. We need involvement. We need donations. 

If you want someplace that cares about the community...DONATE
If you want someplace that will bring you good, sustainably, ethically grown food...DONATE
If you want someplace that will educate...
that will serve as a community center...
that will help...
where you can get to know your food!!!
Donate!

Email us at: Info@winniemaes.com or Eli@winniemaes.com if you have any questions
Keep up with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/winniemaecafeandmarket

Welcome to September!

September has always been a facinating month for me.  Though it is still pretty warm outside, it feels immediately like fall.  So here is to a new month, and a new season!

Winnie Mae's at the Arts Center

Nothing is written in stone, but things are definitely taking shape with Winnie Mae's beginning operations out of the Arts Center.  They have some big plans in their future and we love being even a small part of that.  Having that as a "home" for Winnie Mae's gives us a place to serve some delicious and locally owned Leopard Forest Coffee, and a number of light, simple accompanying snacks and light lunches.  It will also give people a chance to pick up some of their CSA orders at more convenient times and even take a stroll around and look at some great art.

Bulk Sales
Winnie Mae's has a lot of things planned for this month.  This month will see the beginning of bulk sales in greater volume.  We like that we can get you anything within reason at wholesale prices, so let us know what you need!  There is definitely strength in numbers.

Tuesday Events

We have events planned for every Tuesday this month at the Arts Center in Clemson.  We will be putting on demos on how to cut up a chicken to make it last longer for your family, beginning permaculture at home and what to do for next year now that the weather is getting cooler, making baby food form all of the things that you get from your CSA, and a wine tasting at the end of this month to get ready for our In Vino Veritas wine event in October.

Greenfest
Greenfest is taking shape.  The progress we have made is the result of many hands working together to get the word out, to create, and to make a difference.  We are excited to create this event so that we can lobby to have it be our permanent space.  The thought is that it is perfect because of its proximity to the Police Station, City Hall, while not being directly on the "ave".  Also, its condition shows a lot of promise and possibilities.

So, stay tuned, keep in touch, and join up if you have not already.  Basic membership is just $45 and full membership is $65.  Let us know what Winnie Mae's can do for you!

Living Deliberately.

As I am writing this, I am sitting at a busy intersection in Clemson.  I see people crowding into fast food joints, honking their horns and, just in a foul mood on a beautiful day.  Part of it could be that it is Sunday afternoon and they know that in the morning, they will have to go back to work.  Part of it could be that it is getting cooler outside, by just a bit, and we can tell that soon it will be fall.  I think the major reason is the crowd. 

   All of these people are shuttled into the streets of this small college town.  Tires are squealing, music is blaring and it is just loud and frustrating.  It is a testament to how hard we work to shove square pegs into round holes.   We should not be so rushed in such a small town and where is everyone going in such a hurry?

   My good friend Ellen K. has been advising me to live deliberately.  No one can plan every moment of their day or week, but you do have a great deal of control over what you do now and if you think about the future those decisions can yield better, more positive time saving results in the future.  If you pay attention to your life and the things going on in it,  things will work out better.  Sound simple enough?

   Winnie Mae's Cooking Demo Series is focusing on just that idea; living deliberately.  Thinking about the things you can do right now in your life to make your future easier and less stressful.  It is about shifting the foundations of your life so that the things that you build on those foundations are more stable and less taxing.

   In the coming weeks we are going to have classes like how to cut up a whole chicken, saving time on a daily basis and money.  When you buy a chicken already cut, you are basically paying someone to do what would take the average person 10 minutes to do with a little practice.  It is not rocket science and a few moments of time at the beginning of the week could save you a lot of time later and a lot of money at the shopping center or CSA. 

   So join us as we try to round out some of the square pegs in your life.  This week is marinades and oils along with some coffee demonstrations with the crew from Leopard Forest Coffee.  So think ahead and join us at the Arts Center, every Tuesday for the forseeable future.

We all breathe the same air.

This is repost of something that I had written on another blog, before beginning Winnie Mae's.  I think it still fits.
   We have often talked about what it means to be a part of a community.  What should we expect from one another?  I have always thought that, as Kennedy said, "...our most basic, common link is that we all inhabit this small planet.  We all breathe the same air."  We are facing difficult times and I do not think that we can face them alone, sequestered from one another.  As a community, we can be bold and accomplish much.  There is strength in numbers.   This past week, we have talked and we have listened to one another.  We have seen the each others' needs and we have seen each others' wants, for ourselves and for our children.
   This past week we talked about health care.  We talked about education, both grade school and college,  and we talked about child care.  We talked about jobs, and owning homes, and retirement.  We talked about war and peace and supporting local economies and the storms in Clemson have made us wonder about global warming and the environment.  This past week has been a week of conversations about what really matters to people.
    So, now that we know the problems, what are the solutions?   The Co-op idea came up.  A group of people, each having needs and wants, yet each also having something to offer to their neighbor.  This is not so much the beginning of a new tradition, yet a continuation and revitalization of an old one.  The thing that makes us Americans and moreover, what makes us humans is our responsiblity to one another; the knowledge that though you skin is a different color or you worship a different or many gods in different ways, you, as I am, are human.  I am my brother's keeper and what gives me faith, what gives me hope, is that he too shall believe that he is mine.
   We believe that if we take care of the small problems, the big problems will be that much easier to deal with.  We believe that if we take care of what is right in front of us, those things in the distance will not be so  scary.  The future is not so scary if the present is not so bad and there is no darkness that we cannot all walk through together.  So, ask me about the co-op.