MILLERTON — This summer, Millerton will welcome a bold new experiment in community-driven food access and farmer sustainability: TriCorner F.E.E.D. Market, a nonprofit store located at 56 S. Center St., designed to serve everyone in the tri-county area — Dutchess, Litchfield, and Columbia — regardless of income.
Founded by Linda Quella, a former finance executive turned farmer, and Blake Myers, Director of Food Programs and Midwest farm kid turned food justice advocate, the TriCorner F.E.E.D. Market is the result of years of listening, learning and reimagining how a food system can serve both the people who grow food and the people who need it.
“Food is a basic human right,” said Myers at a recent “Gather,” a monthly event hosted by Troutbeck in Amenia highlighting the work of local entrepreneurs, where the new market’s vision was met with many questions and much excitement. “And 40% of people in our region are having to make difficult tradeoffs every month — between food, rent, medicine,” Myers said.
At its core, the market operates on a sliding scale pricing model. Customers will select from three levels: full retail, 30% off, or 60% off. Through conversation, tiers will be determined based on families’ individual circumstances. “It’s not like you have to show your tax returns,” laughed Quella. “It’s about trust and relationships.”
The business model is designed to ensure that farmers always get paid the price they set. “This is not our store,” said Quella. “It’s the farmers’ store. We’re just building the infrastructure around it.”
The inspiration came from models like Hudson’s Rolling Grocer and Michigan’s Argus Farm Stop. Quella and Myers conducted surveys with local farmers, identifying barriers like inconsistent markets, high labor costs, and the elitism often associated with traditional farmers markets.
“We asked farmers what they needed,” Myers said. “They told us: regular, direct sales to consumers. And they want to stay on their farms, not drive to the city three days a week.”
Quella knows that grind firsthand. After years of running Q Farms and schlepping meat to city markets before dawn, she saw a broken system. “We were doing regenerative, intensive grazing, but only really privileged customers could afford it,” she said. “It wasn’t sustainable — financially or spiritually.”
The pilot version of the market ran last summer outside the Northeast Community Center in Millerton, offering local goods on a sliding scale. The team learned as they went, from signage readability to the necessity of a Spanish-speaking staff member.
When a storefront across the street from the NECC became available, Quella and Myers jumped. “It was destiny,” Myers said. “We had been staring at that empty space every week from our pop-up tent.”
The location will include a commercial kitchen, allowing farmers to create value-added products like bone broth on-site. It also opens the door to job training for NECC teens and opportunities to reduce food waste by turning unsold goods into frozen meals for local pantries and NECC’s food sovereignty program.
Quella and Myers are equally focused on creating a welcoming community space. “This isn’t just about food,” said Myers. “It’s about relationships. It’s hard to make connections in rural areas. We want this to be a place where everyone feels they belong.”
To keep prices accessible, the store will rely on philanthropy and full-price shoppers. “Every full-price shopper subsidizes a 60% discount,” Quella said. “That’s how we balance the margins.”
But this isn’t charity. It’s solidarity. “30% of every full-price dollar goes to ensuring someone else can eat the same food,” Myers said. “The same eggs, the same produce, the same dignity.”
Quella and Myers said they hope their model inspires other communities. “We’re trying to change broken systems,” Quella said. “This is social change through private initiative. If we can do it here, others can too.”
The TriCorner F.E.E.D. Market is scheduled to open June 20. Check its website for updates, more information or to get involved at tricornerfeed.org.
