New farm-to-table option launches in Erath

Dubliners will soon have a new way to secure quality food as the Cross Timbers REKO launches.

For those unfamiliar with REKO, it is an acronym for the Finnish words, “rejäl konsumtion” meaning responsible consumption and is a way to buy locally produced food, completely without intermediaries, directly from the producer to consumer.

The first REKO was created by a farmer in Finland in 2013 and now they are located throughout the world – six hundred REKO rings exist with over 2 million members in 14 different countries. REKOs are entirely nonprofit.

So how does REKO actually work? An area producer of goods, for example, a tomato grower, will list their items for sale on Cross Timbers REKO online. There is no cost to do this for the producer and they are responsible for updating their inventory for sale each week. Producers can also decide if they want to travel to all Cross Timbers REKO drop locations: Gorman, Thurber, Eastland, Cisco, Dublin and Ranger, or if they just want to travel to one closest to them.

Consumers go online and browse food offerings for the week, order what they want and set the drop location. For Dublin, drops are set from 1-1:15 p.m. each Saturday morning at Grafton Market.

There is a small service fee for consumers based on how much they order.

“We’ll come to your town if there is interest, producers are willing to participate and there is a location willing to host the drop,” Organizer Caryn Eaton said.

Eaton who lives in Cisco said she has wanted to start a local REKO ring for awhile now and has simply not had the time in conjunction with her homesteading lifestyle. Dublin’s own Amanda Christman has stepped up to act as drop captain for the REKO site in Dublin, basically making sure all producers show up to drop off goods.

“This values both the consumer’s and the producer’s time,” Eaton said.

During the pandemic, REKOs became even more important as individuals were limiting their time exposed to other people and there were food shortages due to supply chain issues.

“When farmers are sitting at a farmers market, they are losing time not at their farms and they may not even sell something that day,” Eaton said. “REKO helps solve that issue.”

REKO rings also allow consumers to talk to producers and know where their food is being grown. All offerings on the site must list allergens and ingredients.

Also, unlike some markets, REKO does not discourage similar producers.

“We can have more than one producer, for example, selling fresh eggs,” Christman explained. “Because one egg producer may not have any one week, or they may take themselves out of the rotation for a week so they can have time off.”

Both Christman and Eaton are excited for producers to offer fresh produce, which is lacking at many area farmers markets.

As time goes on with the REKO platform, the developers may look at setting up delivery in order to those who have limited transportation options.

“We will be selective with producers and REKO does not allow the reselling of goods,” Eaton said. “It has to be grown or made by local producers.”

Items can have value added like canning on the site.

“I’ve done a stint at Farmers Markets and it’s exhausting,” Christman said.

Cross Timbers REKO is actively looking for producers and will officially open March 31 though they are currently doing test runs. Dublin’s first drop day is Saturday, April 6.

Orders need to be in by Friday night at 9 p.m. so producers know what to pack up to bring.

“I’m so excited but it still depends on the farmers,” Eaton said For those interested in browsing selections and ordering, go to www. crosstimbersreko.com and producers can also sign up online through crosstimbersreko.com.