On 11/23/04 1:49 PM, "Dyna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Consumer grocery co-ops in this area tend to be a bastardation of the > concept, pretty much providing high priced organic food to their > affluent members. They have a market niche in upscale neighborhoods > like the Wedge and have done well there but less well elsewhere. > Attempts to develop these sort of yuppie co-ops have been less > successful in working class areas like the Northeast- despite heavy > subsidy from the neighborhood group the co-op there is having a hard > time competing against similar co-ops and the organic food departments > of much larger retailers. Thusly a yuppie style food co-op for the > less affluent Northside is doomed to failure and should not receive a > cent of public money.
I'm not sure where Dyna gets her news, but as a member of the "yuppie coop" in Northeast who attended the annual membership meeting about a month ago, I'm pleased to state that she's wrong. The Eastside Food Cooperative <http://www.eastsidefoodcoop.org/> is doing just fine as it nears the end of it's first year of operation. We now have more than 1200 members and sales are about what was projected for the first year. Our coop was also recently recognized by the Northeast Chamber of Commerce as the 2004 Northeast Business of the Year for businesses with less than 50 employees. Whether a food cooperative can be successful on Northside is still a subject for debate, but I applaud the folks at Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund and Community Design Group for starting this discussion. It would seem to me that less-affluent communities might be well-served by cooperatively owned businesses that are designed to create jobs for local residents and keep resources within the neighborhoods, rather than send them to some far away corporate headquarters. Here's a simple statistic to consider: A dollar spent at a locally-owned store usually circulates six to fifteen times before leaving the community. Spend a dollar at a national chain store and 80% of it leaves town immediately. I also remember reading a while back in the Eastside Food Coop newsletter about our assistant general manager attended a workshop on the very topic of successful coops in less-affluent neighborhoods at the annual Consumer Cooperative Management Association conference that was held in downtown Minneapolis this past June, so it would seem there are resources and expertise available to be tapped by folks interested in starting a food coop on the Northside. > In my travels in the Dakotas recently I was pleased to find the > traditional co-ops who have evolved to meet their contemporary member's > needs. Besides offering the 2% SoyDiesel my car craves many offered > coffee and hot food as well as hardware and lawn and garden supplies. > The Cenex co-op in Berthould is an excellent example, offering fuels, > farm supplies, car and truck parts and repair, hardware, hot chicken > and coffee, cold and hot subs, and a relaxing place to sit down and > enjoy eating same. They also have a campground and I believe are open > 24 hours to serve travelers on lonely US 2. Larger quantities of farm > supplies and ag fuels and chemicals are available at their elevator > along the BNSF "High Line" tracks a few blocks away. Perhaps if Dyna were to actually stop by the Eastside Food Cooperative, she'd know that she can get both coffee and hot or cold foods from the deli and she can sit down and relax in the seating area near the entrance. While our coop is unfortunately not able to offer biodiesel or a campground at this time, it does feature locally-roasted Peace Coffee, which is delivered by bicycle or by their new 100% biodiesel-fueled delivery van. https://www.peacecoffee.com/pcfg/0410/biodiesel.html The biodiesel for their van is made from soy oil and is supplied by Cannon Valley Coop (there's that word again!), which is located southeast of the Twin Cities. I'm not sure how much of a need there is for farm supplies or agricultural chemicals in either North or Northeast Minneapolis, but I do admit it would be nice to be able to get lawn and garden supplies at my coop. Perhaps that could someday be offered in one of the storefronts that is currently subleased in our store's building. North or Northeast Minneapolis residents who are interested in learning more about natural foods coops might want to come by the Eastside Food Coop this Saturday, December 4th when we celebrate our first anniversary. Our store is located at 2551 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418. Store hours are 9am-9pm, festivities are planned from 11am-5pm. Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
