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There is a local group trying to "disrupt" coops in this way: find members to shell out $$, have a steering committee, do a lot of marketing, all before the coo

There is a local group trying to "disrupt" coops in this way: find members to shell out $$, have a steering committee, do a lot of marketing, all before the coop even has a location in mind. Meanwhile there are actual coops (though they don't call themselves that) with skyrocketing membership who are doing, not planning, and slowly growing to encompass more than just produce. One of them now has a year-round greenhouse. I haven't been impressed by the style of coop the author writes about. It seems like the doers are much more successful. Just this past year a new farmers market started in an urban food desert with two vendors in a church parking lot. Now they are trying to find new space because they have 20+ vendors weekly. To my knowledge, they raised zero dollars to get started.

socialismisok 4y ago
Where do the "doers" get the capital to create greenhouses and raise vegetables?
- phphphphp 4y ago
  Do you need to create greenhouses and raise vegetables from the start? My understanding is that a coop (like any business) is a means to an end and so you can start out by leveraging what is effectively group buying to source high quality fresh produce and then, once established, gradually iterate towards total self reliance. Does that not work for this model?
  - socialismisok 4y ago
    It could, but where do you get the capital to do the group buying? My point is that the parent is likely simply not aware of the organizing that went into creating the group of "doers" they are praising.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      Around here the "doers" (we have farmer's markets and similar) are spouses/children of actual farmers, and even though their main product may be fifty five billion bushels of ethanol wheat, the family grows some crops for personal use, and they have been "roadside standing" the excess for years; the farmers market starts as an extension of that and from there can grow. You'll note that they already were farming for the big players. The other half are often "hobby farm" hobbyists who may or may not grow to be an actual business (there are at least two or three honey providers that have done this around here - starting small and obviously not the primary income to being large enough to have employees).
- yojo 4y ago
  I’ve shopped at a couple worker owned co-ops. None of them grow their own food, though some do value-add preparation (e.g. prepared salads). I think there are farming co-ops, but that does not seem to be what the article is about.
  - boole1854 4y ago
    Having seen the inside workings of a local farming co-op, I can tell you that they they also do not necessarily grow their own food. Some produce is literally sourced from major chain grocery stores in town and resold with markup by the farmers at the farmer's market. To be fair, the sellers usually do sell some of their own produce as well, if it's in season, but some of them don't hesitate to also simply resell grocery store produce to bulk out their product offerings. (And frankly, the grocery store produce often just looks more fresh than the produce actually grown by the vendors themselves.)
bombcar 4y ago
There's one trying to get off the ground here, and it's a similar story - it has been more than five years and nothing has actually happened except marketing whatever it is they're doing. Meanwhile at least two different actual grocery stores have closed, and two more changed ownership; they could have bought either of them (I daresay a fundraiser would have worked) and kept them running. Some farmer's markets are hilarious, however, in that they don't actually involve any farmers, just people buying from the same massive supply firms that feed the grocery stores and selling it in little stalls.
- trelane 4y ago
  Yeah, similar where I moved from about 8 years ago. We joined, they reached their numbers, and then.. nothing happened. We moved away, and it seems to be the same as when we left it. Still no store, but got a website etc.
- jeegsy 4y ago
  > just people buying from the same massive supply firms that feed the grocery stores and selling it in little stalls. This was so funny and a bit sad because it suddenly occurred to me that this is likely the case.
sct202 4y ago
The type of coop that is in the article will end up partnering with UNFI for sourcing of products, and will end up with worse pricing than all the other places that UNFI supplies (Whole Foods is their largest) for the same products. The coops in my city all used the same consultants that are listed in the article and follow the exact same playbook.
PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
One problem with the "doers" just doing is that they don't build up the same level of social capital. When times get tough (and as long as we have capitalism, and likely after that too, they will get tough), they tend to fail out much harder and faster than the more traditional style of co-op that can fall back on more solidly established local goodwill.
- debacle 4y ago
  The local farmer's market that I patronize (not a coop) has been around for 60 years. The one nearer me (a coop, the doer kind) has grown to multiple gigantic facilities, a few satellite locations, and regional name recognition for quality. I think they'll be okay.
micromacrofoot 4y ago
They're just two different ways of approaching risk. The so-called "doers" are taking on much more up-front risk than this type of grassroots attempt. Ultimately the goal is the same.
- argiopetech 4y ago
  I'm not sure that's true. "Doers" by definition, are putting their effort solely into providing food for a populace. If a company becomes necessary to do that, so be it, but it's an obstacle to be overcome. "Planners" (in this case, at least) are focused on building an organization which meets the 7 + 1 coop goals linked at the end of the article and will, when complete, allow the provision of food to a populace. One is a bottom-up approach, the other is top-down. They share a goal, but they have different aims.
nelsondev 4y ago
With the loss of the community grocery store, it seems the author is working on replacing the “community”, and not yet the “grocery store”. I too am wondering if there is a way to make incremental progress on getting groceries here, without needing to get enough momentum to build a giant store. Maybe there are 10 most common fruits/vegetables, and the coop with the existing 400 members can bulk purchase those? CSA models ostensibly seem a viable alternative.

socialismisok 4y ago

Where do the "doers" get the capital to create greenhouses and raise vegetables?

phphphphp 4y ago
Do you need to create greenhouses and raise vegetables from the start? My understanding is that a coop (like any business) is a means to an end and so you can start out by leveraging what is effectively group buying to source high quality fresh produce and then, once established, gradually iterate towards total self reliance. Does that not work for this model?
- socialismisok 4y ago
  It could, but where do you get the capital to do the group buying? My point is that the parent is likely simply not aware of the organizing that went into creating the group of "doers" they are praising.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    Around here the "doers" (we have farmer's markets and similar) are spouses/children of actual farmers, and even though their main product may be fifty five billion bushels of ethanol wheat, the family grows some crops for personal use, and they have been "roadside standing" the excess for years; the farmers market starts as an extension of that and from there can grow. You'll note that they already were farming for the big players. The other half are often "hobby farm" hobbyists who may or may not grow to be an actual business (there are at least two or three honey providers that have done this around here - starting small and obviously not the primary income to being large enough to have employees).
yojo 4y ago
I’ve shopped at a couple worker owned co-ops. None of them grow their own food, though some do value-add preparation (e.g. prepared salads). I think there are farming co-ops, but that does not seem to be what the article is about.
- boole1854 4y ago
  Having seen the inside workings of a local farming co-op, I can tell you that they they also do not necessarily grow their own food. Some produce is literally sourced from major chain grocery stores in town and resold with markup by the farmers at the farmer's market. To be fair, the sellers usually do sell some of their own produce as well, if it's in season, but some of them don't hesitate to also simply resell grocery store produce to bulk out their product offerings. (And frankly, the grocery store produce often just looks more fresh than the produce actually grown by the vendors themselves.)

bombcar 4y ago

There's one trying to get off the ground here, and it's a similar story - it has been more than five years and nothing has actually happened except marketing whatever it is they're doing. Meanwhile at least two different actual grocery stores have closed, and two more changed ownership; they could have bought either of them (I daresay a fundraiser would have worked) and kept them running. Some farmer's markets are hilarious, however, in that they don't actually involve any farmers, just people buying from the same massive supply firms that feed the grocery stores and selling it in little stalls.

trelane 4y ago
Yeah, similar where I moved from about 8 years ago. We joined, they reached their numbers, and then.. nothing happened. We moved away, and it seems to be the same as when we left it. Still no store, but got a website etc.
jeegsy 4y ago
> just people buying from the same massive supply firms that feed the grocery stores and selling it in little stalls. This was so funny and a bit sad because it suddenly occurred to me that this is likely the case.

sct202 4y ago

The type of coop that is in the article will end up partnering with UNFI for sourcing of products, and will end up with worse pricing than all the other places that UNFI supplies (Whole Foods is their largest) for the same products. The coops in my city all used the same consultants that are listed in the article and follow the exact same playbook.

PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago

One problem with the "doers" just doing is that they don't build up the same level of social capital. When times get tough (and as long as we have capitalism, and likely after that too, they will get tough), they tend to fail out much harder and faster than the more traditional style of co-op that can fall back on more solidly established local goodwill.

debacle 4y ago
The local farmer's market that I patronize (not a coop) has been around for 60 years. The one nearer me (a coop, the doer kind) has grown to multiple gigantic facilities, a few satellite locations, and regional name recognition for quality. I think they'll be okay.

micromacrofoot 4y ago

They're just two different ways of approaching risk. The so-called "doers" are taking on much more up-front risk than this type of grassroots attempt. Ultimately the goal is the same.

argiopetech 4y ago
I'm not sure that's true. "Doers" by definition, are putting their effort solely into providing food for a populace. If a company becomes necessary to do that, so be it, but it's an obstacle to be overcome. "Planners" (in this case, at least) are focused on building an organization which meets the 7 + 1 coop goals linked at the end of the article and will, when complete, allow the provision of food to a populace. One is a bottom-up approach, the other is top-down. They share a goal, but they have different aims.

nelsondev 4y ago

With the loss of the community grocery store, it seems the author is working on replacing the “community”, and not yet the “grocery store”. I too am wondering if there is a way to make incremental progress on getting groceries here, without needing to get enough momentum to build a giant store. Maybe there are 10 most common fruits/vegetables, and the coop with the existing 400 members can bulk purchase those? CSA models ostensibly seem a viable alternative.