PHOENIX — Cord Moorhead from Moorhead Creative is looking around the Town & Country Farmer’s Market in Phoenix to see what he wants to take home.
There’s a lot to choose from; everything from fresh fruits and veggies from Pinnacle Farms in Waddell to specialty items like kale chips and super powered honey.
Moorhead has his eyes on the Alaskan Pride Seafood booth where he is told the king salmon and halibut are great choices.
After all, he has $50 dollars to spend on salmon. And it’s not coming out of his pocket.
Moorhead just signed up for Edible Exchange. He’s trading his services as a graphic designer for food.
As he shows us his shopping bags filled with organic carrots and cabbage, Moorhead explains, “I had a gift certificate for five of the vendors. Each of them sells everything from $4 crème brulee to the fish market where I have $50 I can spend today.”
As we walked through the busy market, we asked Edible Exchange founder, Lori Baker, to share her thoughts.
Baker tells 3TV, “It feels like I’m a kid at Christmas right now. This has been a dream, a passion of mine for a long time”.
Back in 1978, Baker’s family started The Barter Group.
Recently, she came up with what she believes will be the next big thing: Edible Exchange.
Baker is trying to bring small business owners and local food vendors together.
“We approached growers, ranchers, the food trucks, the artisan food vendors and we asked if they would like to barter with, like 500 people.”
People like Cord Moorhead. His business, Moorhead Creative, will charge barter clients for graphic design services exactly the same as he would with cash, but he’s paid with barter credit. He can then use these Edible Exchange dollars to buy food.
The farmers and food vendors can then put that money back into the system to buy what they need.
Baker explains the owner of Pinnacle Farms needs a new garage door. So she will bank enough to buy that door on barter.
Baker hopes the concept will catch on nationwide.
She believes this will also introduce more people to fresh foods that they may otherwise not be able to afford or may not seek out at the grocery store.
“Not everybody has a passion for shopping at Farmer’s Markets,” Baker tells us, “but for those who do – or who would like to – now we’re giving you the opportunity.”
