Bodega Party in a Box

Love your neighborhood corner store? Yeah, so do we. Show it off in all its splendor -- including its fresh produce -- by throwing a Bodega Tasting Party. Bust open your Bodega Party in a Box for recipes, shopping tips, invitations and even a hot shopping bag and party decorations. You can be a party of one or invite the whole neighborhood, on one night or every night of the year. $10 plus shipping.

Your Bodega Party in a Box is part of the Food & Liquor project, which helps get more fresh produce into local corner and liquor stores.

In your box:

1. The Bodega Cook Book: Eating well from your neighborhood corner store

(click images for larger view)

44-page book of recipes, advice and shopping tips from corner store cooking experts. Featuring:

Chef Daisy Martinez, BoriquaBlog and DaisyMartinez.com
Brittany Adams, Pie Lady (Seattle)
Jessica Arnold, 3DayWeekend (Brooklyn)
Mandy Booth, Drive-Thru (Chicago)
Chris Brunn, Drive-Thru (Chicago)
Debbie Carlos, Bunny Pie (Chicago)
Mark Ely, Eating Cleveland (Cleveland)
Cathy Erway, Not Eating Out in New York (Brooklyn)
Stefanie Gansie, Endless Simmer (DC)
Lauren Klein, Proleptic (Brooklyn)
Katrina Ligget (Pittsburgh)
Ramona Padavano, DC Foodies (DC)
Kit Pollard, Mango & Ginger (Baltimore)
Rachel Rappaport, Coconut and Lime (Baltimore)
Loida Casares Ruiz, Shoegirl Corner (Houston)
Daniel Spoonhower (Pittsburgh)
Genevieve Wang, Bribe me with a Muffin (Berkeley)

2. Silkscreened resuable shopping bag

New! Buy just the bag!

3. 8 Party invitations and envelopes

4. Corner store-style flags - aka, perfect party decoration

Bonus! (web only) Two Ways to Take Your Corner Store from Rotten to Ripe: How-To Guides Even the Lazy or Busy Can Use

If your store has no produce, or just bananas that look like they're in pain, use our guide to working with your local store owners to make fresh produce readily available. The guides are based on the Food & Liquor project in Uptown, Chicago. Choose your level:

Check out a great corner store in action, courtesy of the excellent Red Sea Market (profiled in the Bodega Cook Book):

Part 2

$10 plus shipping.

This project has been made possible by the generous support of the following great companies and people:


Quality Design	Quality Screen Printing	Quality Printing	Quality Paper

Photos by Neal Patel and Dana Davis.

FAQ
Media
Contact

Why would I want to eat stuff from my corner store?

Eating out every night can get expensive. If you are known to get hungry and are a slave to convenience, then it's the no-brainer since corner stores are usually right down the block and full of ... food. Most of us aren't able to anticipate every single grocery need during our weekly mega-shopping trips to the big grocery store/farmers market/etc. Plus, independent corner stores usually help recycle money back into the neighborhood by hiring locally and helping out local folks and groups with informal arrangements. Oh, and corner stores can make fresh food much more accessible to vulnerable people in your neighborhood, like seniors and lower-income folks with zero time to waste. If your neighborhood is being pressured by gentrification, chances are local independent retailers, like your corner store, could use some help staying in business. Finally, it's nice to shop somewhere that you know the owner and are likely to run into friends.

Why is this called the "Bodega Party in a Box"? What's a bodega?

Bodega is a mostly New York City term for a corner store. We just thought it sounded better than "Corner Store Party in a Box" even though this project originated in Chicago with a bunch of people who'd never even heard of a bodega. Here is a great video about Bronx bodegas. But as we say in the Bodega Cook Book, corner stores can be as different as Death Metal and Dusties. So don't get hung up on the Grand Theft Auto image of the bodega/corner store. There are stores that sell high end champagne, fancy cheese and arugula, some that sell a lot of frosting, bananas and mac and cheese and some that sell quarter water and off-brand chips. And everything in between.

My neighborhood doesn't have any corner stores. Can I still use the Bodega Party in a Box?

We're sorry to hear that. Every city neighborhood should have a great independent corner store. That said, you can definitely still throw a Bodega Tasting Party. Check out a store in a nearby neighborhood or downtown. Or check out your liquor store or independent grocery store.

Do I have to throw a party? I don't like people.

You can be a party of one, assuming you can tolerate yourself. The Bodega Party in a Box can be used to throw a party with actual other people. Or you can use it to make dinner or brunch or breakfast for yourself any day of the week. It's the gift that keeps on giving ... to you.

Why are you selling this?

The Food & Liquor project found that one of the major obstacles to getting more fresh produce into local corner stores in Uptown, Chicago was that lots of neighborhood residents weren't shopping at the stores and buying the produce that was already being sold. So store owners didn't see any evidence that carrying produce would be a good idea. A little bit of research made us realize that too many people simply don't know that some corner stores already carry good food and produce. So we put together the Bodega Party in a Box in the hopes of getting more people to try shopping at their corner store. And to equip interested people with the tools they need to get produce into stores that have none (or just bad quality). Neighbors Project likes corner stores because they're often where neighbors of lots of different backgrounds learn how to be each others' neighbors.

How much money really goes to the Food & Liquor project and other Neighbors Project initiatives?

About $5. Check out the Food & Liquor project page for information on how we're using it, and join our mailing list (on the left of this page) or check out our blog to see what else we're up to, including how you can volunteer (for the motivated). We're a grassroots 501(c)3 non-profit that depends on contributions and lots of volunteer work, so trust us when we tell you that no one is building themselves a solid gold house out of the money raised from the Bodega Party in a Box. Or check out our annual report.

Who did the design?!

We were extremely lucky that Summer Powell, of Summerized, designed the entire box as a volunteer. That meant months of free design work. We're incredibly lucky. And yes, Summer lives down the block from two corner stores.

Do you do refunds?

Sure. Please send us an e-mail within 30 days of receiving your box, and mail it back to us.

Will you use or sell my contact information?

We don't sell or trade your information to anyone.

If you're a member of the press or just someone who wants more information about the Bodega Party in a Box, please contact:

Kit Hodge, CEO of Neighbors Project, 312-218-2466

She'll put you in touch with the volunteers behind the Food & Liquor project.

We've been honored to be on:

... and many other blogs. We'll be adding them all here soon.

Questions about your order, problems and feedback, e-mail us here.

Please note that we are a tiny non-profit. We'll answer you as fast as our little hands can work. In the meantime, might we recommend this?