What is a Food Co-op?

(This is an article I wrote for a local advertising newspaper to promote the food co-op.)

Co-op is short for cooperative. A cooperative is a group of people who voluntarily work together for a common goal, and usually the goal is financially beneficial. A Credit Union is an example of a financial type of cooperative. Make no mistake, these groups are not casual, fly by the seat of their pants operations – they are businesses owned by the members and run democratically. Which means that if you participate in a cooperative business you will have a say in how it is operated. Because cooperatives are non-profits, owned solely by the members, any profits made by the business are dispersed equally among the members. Sometimes members of a co-op are asked to work a few hours to support the business.  Usually a secondary purpose of a co-op is to aid the community.

Now the food part of the co-op. Most food co-ops are all about natural foods; promoting them, offering them at reasonable prices, and making them more readily available. In today’s world of complicated food jargon it can be confusing to find natural, organic, and/or local food at the grocery store. When shopping with a food cooperative you have a more direct link to the producers of your food, so finding out details is easier. Details such as, when your apples were picked, or how long the milk has been sitting on the shelf and what the cows that produced it had for breakfast. 

 Buying food as a group is financially beneficial as well. When the co-op buys a large amount of natural food to satisfy the demands of it’s large membership, they get the food in bulk, resulting in greater bargaining power and a better price. Some of the ways in which food co-ops help the community is through fund-raising, education, and actual food donations. 

Comments

[The Sweet Escape]

1.

My last ward did a food co-op and it actually did quite well. Thanks for the reminder. I may have to talk with a few ladies here to see if they are game for a food co-op!