Johnson City Woman's Meal Prep Business Brings Local, Healthy Meals to Triple Cities Residents
A Johnson City woman who retired during the pandemic is now the newest owner of "Flaming Bag Food" LLC, based out of Binghamton. this past November, cooking up prepared meals to go, as well as offering catering related services.
"And I said, you know what, I need a chapter three for my time in Binghamton. And this was the that flaming bag was born out of that." says Weiber.
After graduating from Binghamton University in the 90's, and then working in the area for 20 years, Weiber turned to a new profession -- cooking. "Flaming Bag" was a way for her to do something fun and meaningful.
"Any time that I would be thinking about what my future was going to be, I would say, you know what -- this is a flaming bag. I need to do something that that makes me happy and actually serves people."
Weiber found the kitchen to just do that, at the Binghamton Farmers Market. She runs the business with an all women crew, made up of volunteers and her daughter.
"[The kitchen] was part of my own internal agenda for this for this company, which is kind of farm to table from seed to stomach."
The Farmers Market has helped her connect and buy local, fresh ingredients to use in her meals. Patrons can order said meals online by Sunday, and have their food ready to pick up by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
"So we run four meals per week and it's everything from vegan and vegetarian all the way up to some decadent dishes for folks who want to treat themselves."
The purpose of the business, is convenience, and healthy options for the residents of the triple cities.
"It's designed for families, it's designed for single people. So it really has a wide array of target market." explains Weiber. "The mission of of this this company is for folks to gather around the table and actually eat dinner together, even if they don't have time to cook, that this will give them good, healthy meals, healthy options to eat dinner together."
She adds that her end goal is to work with Cornell Cooperative, which is located in the same parking lot, as well as the Farmers Market, to help people suffering from food insecurity.