APEACH SO juicy it drips down to your elbows, fresh and creamy pimento cheese, crisp yellow squash — all of this can be found at Demeter’s Common, lovingly gathered from growers and artisans across Lebanon. Alongside the produce are fresh flowers, organic soaps, and daily grab-and-go foods like chicken pot pies and bowtie pasta.
The grocery is the design of Lebanon native Mallory Jennings, and its success in the past five years shows how much of an impact the store has had on the Lebanon community — and how much the community cares about its local sellers.
“We have such a beautiful community here,” Jennings said. “They just want to come in to feel seen. They want to come in to feel loved. They know that … anything that I sell them is going to be something that is good — that is from somewhere that we trust and that we love.”
The idea for the store’s name came from an experience Jennings had in college, studying agriculture abroad in the Czech Republic. There, she saw a statue of Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture and fertility of the earth. Since she wanted her grocery to offer more than just food, Demeter was an obvious focus.
“We sell just a bunch of different stuff, and so I wanted to be able to include every aspect of the earth — not just the vegetables,” Jennings said.
Demeter’s Common aims to support local farmers by providing healthy, high-quality ingredients to the families of Lebanon. As a farm girl herself, Jennings loved to celebrate those things and had the knowledge to teach others. All of those facets became folded into her store.
“I love to not only sell and be a small grocery, but I love to empower people to know not only that they should eat local or support local but also why,” Jennings said. “I also like to just sell the products so I can teach people different ways to cook it and different ways to celebrate the seasons.”
The store often offers classes and community events to facilitate that celebration. Some are seasonal, like a gravy and dressing class for Thanksgiving, but many are simply meant to get people together to make friends.
Since Demeter’s Common sells produce from local growers, its offerings are heavily dependent on the seasons. However, some things are constant, and many families depend on Demeter’s for that consistency.
“I get local glass-bottled milk. I get fresh bread delivered on Wednesdays, and I get fresh eggs almost every day,” Jennings said. “I have over 40 families in Wilson County and the surrounding counties that solely count on Demeter’s Common for their eggs, bread, and milk — and I think that’s pretty cool.”
Having so many regular customers is a wonderful responsibility, Jennings said, since she has the resources to find the farms and artisans that provide goods, as well as the place for her customers to see those goods. Jennings also sees herself as having a responsibility to the community as a whole and regularly donates leftover food to the nearby homeless shelter.
“[It] has been able to help with us reducing waste, and to help us to give back to our community as well,” Jennings said. “That’s been really nice — to be able to [do] that.”
As the store grows, Jennings’ ability to give back will also increase. The hope is for Demeter’s Common to become a hub for the community, with people constantly coming in and out and aisles full of amazing, wonderful stuff that locals have made for the community.
“I love the location that we’re at now, and I really just want to continue to make this location a well-oiled machine,” Jennings said. “I want to be able to have more products on my shelves. I want to be able to have eventually more employees to where I can do more and have different facets of the store — to where we can just keep growing and keep perfecting our craft.”
It may start with just a few eggs and a jug of milk, but anyone can eat local and support local, as Demeter’s Common is trying to do. After all, a community that supports itself is a community that thrives. GN
