STEVENS
SQUARE
FOOD COOPERATIVE
SYNOPSIS:
The residents of Stevens Square-Loring Heights might
create a food co-op
to serve their neighborhood and other nearby neighborhoods,
some of which are poorly served by other food-distribution systems.
This new co-op would buy ordinary foods at wholesale prices
and sell them at retail prices to neighborhood residents.
A Task Force for the purpose of creating this new
co-op
grew out of the Stevens Square Neighborhood Development Committee,
which is one of the arms of the Stevens
Square Community Organization.
OUTLINE:
1.
OWNERSHIP
2. DEMOGRAPHICS
3.
PRODUCT SELECTION
4.
PRICING
5.
SUPPLY SYSTEM
6. THE NEIGHBORHOOD SETTING
FOR THE STEVENS SQUARE CO-OP
7.
STORE HOURS
8.
TOBACCO, ALCOHOL, & OTHER CONTROVERSIAL PRODUCTS
9.
COMMUNICATION
10.
POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL SECURITY MEASURES
11.
FINANCIAL PRINCIPLES
12.
SIZE OF MEMBERSHIP AND ANNUAL SALES
13. HOW OUR CO-OP WOULD DIFFER FROM OTHER FOOD COOPERATIVES
14. WINNERS AND LOSERS: FOOD STORES THAT WOULD SELL LESS
15. PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BECOME THE FIRST BOARD OF DIRECTORS
16.
MORE SUGGESTIONS
STEVENS SQUARE
FOOD COOPERATIVE
1. OWNERSHIP
This co-op will be owned and operated by residents
of
Stevens Square-Loring Heights,
a neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Membership will also be open to residents of other
nearby neighborhoods.
This collective ownership will probably be in the
form of
a cooperative corporation under Minnesota law.
Most members will be residential households
within walking distance of the co-op.
When some of the people who make up a household move
away,
that membership can continue by registering the revised household
make-up
and by having a new picture taken including all the members of that
household.
Each member-household will have one vote,
without regard to the number of people who make up that household.
If they buy food together and eat together, they can be one member.
If apartment-mates or house-mates buy and eat their food separately,
then each such buyer should become a separate member.
Thus, more than one member can be registered at a single residential
address.
For the rest of this proposal,
these groups of people who buy food together
will simply be called the "members".
Residential households will become members by means
of investing $100 in the co-op.
Such memberships might last 5 years.
Membership will end with the return of a pro-rated amount of the
beginning investment,
either at the request
of the member
or by some other action of the Board of Directors.
Members will determine all store policies,
including what food items should be distributed by our co-op.
The number of members at any given time might be
limited by the Board of Directors.
A first guess would be 300-500 households.
This limitation will be governed by the physical size of our co-op.
How much space is needed to handle most of the food eaten by
300-500 households?
The size of the membership could be expanded
if the food-flow for the members does not overwhelm the physical space.
Once the maximum size of membership has been reached,
a waiting list will be established for new prospective members.
When old members move away or die,
they will be replaced by new members from this waiting list.
The location of where the owners actually do their
eating
will be the main criterion for selecting members.
Our co-op will probably not
be a commercial enterprise serving all who come to
the door.
Rather, it will be a new non-profit food-distribution service,
making food available to people who live nearby.
Members would select themselves
because they live within a few blocks of the Stevens Square Food Co-op.
Within the limits of our space,
trucks will deliver groceries to our co-op.
Our food cooperative will pay wholesale prices for these foods.
And members will buy their food from our co-op,
for which they will pay retail (but non-profit) prices.
Our co-op should reserve the right to refuse
membership
to specific applicants for any specified reasons.
This right to control who can be members
will include the right to cancel memberships
by returning a pro-rated part of the beginning investment.
Members who become dissatisfied with the operation of our co-op
can request the return of their investment at any time.
Departing members will make room for new members.
The Board of Directors should have the power to make
exceptions about membership.
For example, the Stevens Square Community Organization itself
could become a member by virtue of all the time and money invested to
start our co-op.
2. DEMOGRAPHICS
The most likely members will be neighborhood
residents who do not own cars.
Most of the buildings that make up our neighborhood
were built before cars became a common means of transportation.
Thus, most of the buildings do not have garages or even parking
lots.
About half of the residents do not use cars to get to their jobs.
Membership will also be open to car-owning
households,
but all policies should remember those who will lack the automotive
option.
(Car-owners who are reading this proposal might ask themselves:
"If I had no car, how would I get food?")
Our new co-op will exist in the middle of a
low-moderate income neighborhood.
Several members will be living below the federal poverty level.
(one person: 11K: two people: 15K; three people: 19K; four people: 23K;
five people: 27K)
About 30% of the households in Stevens Square-Loring Heights live below
the poverty level.
Over 40% are eligible for food assistance from the federal government
(SNAP).
Some of these people run out of food before the end of the month.
These might be described as "food insecure".
Having good food at reasonable prices will benefit all of the members
of our co-op.
Once the actual members of our new co-op are signed
up,
a survey of these households should be taken.
(Or such data could be collected as part of the process of
admitting
new members.)
This will establish the actual profile of members.
For example, what percentage receive food assistance from the federal
government?
What percentage are living below the poverty line?
What percentage have no motor vehicle?
However, there should be no upper-income limit for
membership.
Our co-op will not be a food-shelf or food-bank
providing free food to neighborhood residents.
However, we will cooperate as fully as possible with the following:
Resources for free food that already exist:
The Groveland Food
Shelf serves all of the same area.
Groceries may be collected up to 15 times per year.
And there is no income test, just proof of address.
Loaves
and Fishes
serves free suppers five nights a week
at St. Stephen's Catholic Church, 2123 Clinton Avenue South.
No questions are asked of the people who come to eat.
Our food co-op could probably coordinate with such
services,
publicizing these sources of free food
and perhaps using some of the same wholesale sources of food.
Two high-rise buildings of public housing stand near
the likely location of our co-op.
This food-buying cooperative should be an excellent resource for them.
Here is a complete demographic picture of Stevens
Square-Loring Heights:
http://www.mncompass.org/_pdfs/neighborhood-profiles/Minneapolis-StevensSquareLoringHeights-102011.pdf
3. PRODUCT SELECTION
Members will suggest food items to be handled by our
co-op,
indicating the retail price they would be willing to pay.
Where are we buying our food now?
How do we get our food from the place of purchase to our apartments?
And how much are we paying?
(Some likely current sources of our food are mentioned in section 14
below.)
The total number of different food items
will be limited by the size of our co-op.
Perhaps a few hundred different items would be a starting guess.
How many different foods will our members want?
Unless space limitations can be overcome,
when a new item is added to our co-op, an old item will be
discontinued.
De-selection will be based on actual sales.
And new items will also be discontinued
if they do not sell enough to justify the shelf-space.
Members should be consulted regularly about new
foods
to handle
and less-popular items that might be discontinued.
But as a non-profit food distribution service,
the mark-up received for each foot of shelf space ('profit')
should not be the
basic criterion for selecting products to handle.
4. PRICING
Our co-op should seek to provide food products
at the same prices that are available at supermarkets in Minneapolis.
This should be possible because our co-op would be a non-profit
organization.
The difference between the wholesale and the retail price
will cover all costs of operating our cooperative.
If a food item cannot be sold for close to the price
consumers are already paying in supermarkets,
it should not be handled by our co-op.
In principle, however, the members could decide to
carry even a high-price food item
as long as there are enough members willing to pay the necessary retail
price.
For example, organic apples at $2 per pound
could be sold right alongside regular apples for $1 per pound.
The Board of Directors should resist
attempting to impose their
own food preferences on the other members.
Any group of owners can suggest our co-op buy a certain product
as long as it can be delivered to the store for a reasonable wholesale
price.
Our co-op should reserve the right to decline large
purchases
that do not seem destined for local households to be consumed there.
Merely being able to pay the required retail price
is not sufficient to complete any transaction.
This food-buying cooperative exists to serve the individual members,
not as a means of generating profits by selling food.
And almost all of the members live in apartments and have small
families.
Churches, shelters, group homes, restaurants, etc. will probably not
qualify for membership.
Such high-volume users of food should continue to buy directly from
wholesalers.
But they might cooperate with our co-op in using the same wholesalers.
There will probably not be enough space in the Stevens Square Food Co-op
to handle the needs of organizations that buy large amounts of food.
5. SUPPLY SYSTEM
Because our co-op will probably be a very small
operation,
it will depend on wholesale
sources that are able to deliver to the store.
No staff time will be devoted to bringing food items into our co-op.
If there is no wholesaler willing and able to deliver a food item
for a wholesale price we are willing to pay,
then that food item will not be available in our co-op.
It seems likely that our co-op will use at least
some of the same wholesale sources
that supply food to the other food cooperatives in Minneapolis.
Direct-from-the-farm sources should also be encouraged,
as long as the food can be delivered directly from the growers to our
co-op.
Also, some of the same distribution systems now providing free food to
food-shelves
might be willing to sell
the same food items to our co-op,
where they will be sold
on a non-profit basis to neighborhood residents.
Changes in wholesalers and their prices can be
expected.
The e-mailing list of all members will discuss and announce any such
changes.
6. THE NEIGHBORHOOD SETTING FOR THE STEVENS SQUARE FOOD CO-OP
Four convenience stores already serve our
neighborhood.
Two of these small stores are on Franklin Avenue.
Two are on Nicollet Avenue.
There are two additional convenience stores in the
Whittier neighborhood,
at 2109 Nicollet and at Nicollet and 24th Street.
Convenience stores sell a very limited range of
items.
They decide what to carry based on sales and profit-margins.
High-profit items make more sense economically
than foods that are good to eat.
As a non-profit food cooperative,
we should not look first at the 'profit' earned by each item,
but we should choose foods that the individual members want to eat.
What foods do we have at home right now? And where did we buy
these?
Renovations or new construction to establish the
Stevens Square Food Co-op
will probably include installing
state-of-the-art security systems,
with video cameras both inside and outside the building.
A new computer system will keep track of the purchases of each member
and automatically deduct any and all discounts for members when they
buy
food.
Electronic payments (debit cards, credit cards, EBT cards)
will be encouraged for all transactions,
which will reduce the risk of robbery and theft.
Whenever possible, bar-codes on products will make check-out easier.
Electronic records will also enable the early
detection of 'households'
that are buying impossibly-large amounts of food.
The prices at our co-op might be low enough
to tempt some people to buy
food for resale.
But this will not be permitted,
since our co-op exists to provide food directly to neighborhood eaters.
Because the new Stevens Square Food Co-op will probably be small,
all of its space will be needed for supplying food to residents,
not as a location for wider food distribution
even if our non-profit prices might be attractive to everyone.
When our co-op reaches the maximum food-flow for its
space,
instead of expanding at its original location,
other groups of eaters might be encouraged
to start their
own food co-ops or community pantries,
closer to where they actually live and eat.
Some convenience stores have been converted into
food co-ops.
Individual residential buildings with sufficient
numbers of residents
could start their own community pantries inside their own buildings.
And the experience of the Stevens Square Food Co-op
could help create such
smaller
pantries.
And, even at the beginning, we should consider how
to dissolve our
co-op.
If a supermarket is re-established at 18th and Nicollet, in
Village Center,
the Stevens Square Food Co-op will probably no longer be necessary,
at least not in the same form or serving the same purposes.
Stevens Square's years as a 'food desert' will be over.
Our most ambitious dream might be to take over this Village Center
location
(which was a supermarket for many years) for our Food Co-op.
If and when the Stevens Square Food Cooperative
dissolves,
equipment can be sold to other community food
pantries or food co-ops
that are just beginning in other neighborhoods.
Our co-op might become an example to other urban food deserts,
showing how neighbors can come together to satisfy their food needs.
7. STORE HOURS
Because our food co-op will exist to serve its
specific
members,
these members will vote to establish the hours of operation.
These will probably be noticeably less than the hours of a convenience
store.
Having shorter hours will save money for payroll.
And each hour our co-op is open will be used more efficiently by the
members.
For example, there might be no morning hours or late-evening hours.
Our co-op might be closed one or two days per week.
But the Stevens Square Food Cooperative is likely to be open all day
both
Saturdays and Sundays.
And as our co-op evolves, the hours of operation
can be
changed
in response to the changing membership and their wishes.
8. TOBACCO, ALCOHOL, &
OTHER CONTROVERSIAL PRODUCTS
Most convenience stores do sell cigarettes, beer,
etc.
But our co-op (by a majority vote of all current members)
might decide not to
sell such items.
This procedure will also be followed for other
controversial products.
For example, a majority of the members might decide not to sell bottled
water,
even if a sub-set of members are willing and able to pay the necessary
retail price.
And candy might also be excluded from our co-op,
even tho it is a high-profit item that does not occupy much space.
9. COMMUNICATION
Almost all members will be put on an e-mail
list and/or a Facebook Group.
This will enable members to suggest new food items that might be put
into our co-op.
The manager will investigate possible wholesale sources
and report to members what the likely price would be.
Members who lack electronic connections
will be encouraged to share their views in writing when they visit our
co-op in person.
And even members who do not initially have e-mail, etc.,
will probably get such connections in the future.
Even low-income residents of high-rises might obtain a shared computer,
which will allow them to communicate with our co-op.
Our computers and cell phones makes instant
communication possible:
"Ripe bananas are half price today only—until
they are gone."
Good communication about items that must be sold today
will mean that nothing need be thrown away.
Here is another possible e-mail message:
"We have three boxes of donated outdated baked goods.
These are available free of charge
—two
items per family please—until
they are gone."
And here is a third kind of message,
intended to encourage shopping during slow hours:
"Because of the weather today, we have very few shoppers:
1% additional discount for all members who buy their food today.
No waiting at check-out."
A Google Group has been established called
Stevens Square Food Cooperative.
Anyone may join this free e-mailing group:
Using your preferred e-mail address
where you wish to send and receive messages,
send a blank message to:
SS-CO-OP+subscribe@googlegroups.com
10. POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL
SECURITY MEASURES
If our urban co-op becomes a model for other
neighborhoods
—perhaps
neighborhoods that have worse rates of crime than Stevens
Square—
some
of the following suggested security measures might be used.
It is always better to begin with strict security measures,
which might be relaxed later based on experience,
than to start with lax security, which causes problems,
which must be corrected by imposing additional safety measures later.
If our co-op is not open to the public, the
doors should be kept locked
even during the normal hours of operation.
On a key-pad at the front door,
owners would enter their individual security codes (ownership numbers).
Their pictures would appear on the screen at the cash register.
If the clerk on duty sees that the person at the door is an owner,
the front door can be buzzed open to admit only that person and his or
her family.
Eventually the clerks will come to recognize almost all owners
and admit them when they come to the front door.
Persons at the door might be seen either by means of
closed-circuit video
or thru glass if our co-op exists in a store-front.
Of course, delivery persons will always be admitted
immediately,
as soon as they are recognized as service people delivering food
already ordered.
And Minneapolis Police officers will always be
welcome.
When members check-out, the cash register will
record
the amount of the purchase for that household
and the time when that member checked out.
In high-crime neighborhoods,
ownership might
require a clear criminal
record.
Only households without any criminal convictions
would be permitted to
become members.
Careful exceptions to this rule could be made by the Board of
Directors.
And conviction for any crimes should result in exclusion from
membership.
Do members of our co-op have a right to know
that no other members have been convicted of criminal offenses?
This would be similar to criminal background checks
for renting an apartment:
The owner of the apartment building and the other residents
have a right to know that there are no persons with criminal records in
their building.
Members of our co-op have a right to know that all other members are
law-abiding people.
Having a locked store-front or warehouse should make
our co-op
very friendly for families with small children.
And there will be almost no crime inside our building
because everyone inside will
already be identified.
And the members should quickly get to know one another.
Also, all behavior inside the building will also be recorded by
security
cameras.
If the Stevens Square Food Co-op does decide to sell
food
to the
general public,
they could be asked to prove
their names and addresses before they enter.
The security system will automatically record what everyone looks like.
As indicated earlier, our co-op should have a
state-of-the-art security system,
including video cameras recording all happenings inside and outside our
building.
Cameras and lighting will make it possible to make a complete record
of everything that happens both inside the Stevens Square Food Co-op
and on all sides of the building outside.
These cameras will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
These video records should be used to identify all criminals operating
nearby.
Such records will be preserved for future review by the police.
Sometimes it takes several months to identify patterns of criminal
behavior.
If the building is open to the public,
even people who wish to use the bathroom
will be identified and have their pictures taken before they enter.
Should we refuse entry to people who merely want to use the bathroom?
With such careful security measures,
our co-op could become the center of a crime-free zone.
If and when other inner-city community pantries
or food co-ops emerge,
they will also make certain to protect the health and safety of
everyone involved.
11. FINANCIAL PRINCIPLES
The Stevens Square Food Cooperative will probably
operate
as a non-profit corporation.
It will sell food items to the members at retail prices
similar to those
available in local supermarkets.
And the foods available will also be similar to the foods sold in
supermarkets.
We will keep track of the prices of bread, milk,
oatmeal, & orange juice.
Whatever we are now eating should be available in our co-op
for prices that are in the same range we are now paying.
Some members might buy all
of
their food from our co-op.
There should be no annual rebates to members if
there
is a surplus.
Rather, any excess cash realized from operations
could be returned to the owners in the form of lower prices.
Likewise, if there is likely to be an operating loss,
this deficit could be corrected by raising prices.
Higher or lower prices would thus be spread over all members
—either
costing them more for their food
or giving them the benefit of cheaper food.
And this burden or benefit would be distributed
in proportion to how much each household buys.
When the wholesale price of some food item is going
to increase significantly,
the members could be informally polled by means of the e-mail list or
Facebook Group
to see if they would continue to buy at the higher price required
by the rise in the wholesale price.
Perhaps a particular kind of cookie or cake could be discontinued
unless and until the wholesale price falls to an acceptable level.
Some items can be expected to change because of their seasonal nature.
For example, watermelons and fresh corn on the cob
will be sold only in the summer.
And beyond polling the members,
the actual sales of each item could be carefully followed.
(by means of a computer record generated at check-out).
If the members do not buy as much as first projected,
a less-popular item could be discontinued
in favor of giving that shelf-space to some item that will sell more.
Perhaps, at first, our co-op will serve only its
members.
This will be a strong method
of getting more residents living nearby to become members.
If they like the idea of owning their own store or warehouse
and if they like the actual prices offered
on food items they are already buying elsewhere,
they will be willing to invest their $100
to become members of the Stevens Square Food Cooperative.
Neighborhood residents receiving food assistance
(originally called "food stamps", then "food support",
now Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program—SNAP)
will be welcome as members,
even if it takes them a few months to accumulate their $100 to become
members.
Once the full membership-investment has been received,
that member-household will have the same discounts available to all
members.
If sales are permitted to members of the general
public,
co-op members should receive a 10% discount from the listed retail
price.
This will be another strong motivation for neighborhood residents
to
become official members.
Once our co-op becomes a registered non-profit
organization
(or if it's parent organization is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity),
it might receive donations from any source.
Food donations might come from food-shelves
that have a surplus they cannot give away fast enough.
Left-overs from the Farmers' Market might be donated (or purchased at
very low prices).
Other distributors of free food might find our co-op a good way to get
food to the people.
Donated food could either be given away to members (and other shoppers)
or sold at such low prices that such items would be distributed
immediately.
The e-mail or Facebook communications could alert all members
when a particular food-item needs to be sold and eaten quickly.
Donations of money would also be welcome
from anyone who wants to support our movement for urban non-profit food
distribution.
Members might even name the Stevens Square Food Co-op in their wills or
estate plans.
All such donations will reduce the operating costs,
which will be passed on to all eaters in the form of sustained lower
prices.
Because there will be no profits (even before
tax-exempt status),
there will be no income taxes to pay.
12. SIZE OF MEMBERSHIP AND ANNUAL SALES
Because there are over 2,000 households in our
neighborhood,
it seems reasonable to project that the Stevens Square Food Cooperative
could have 300-500
household-members.
300 households is 10-15% of everyone living within walking distance
of the center of our neighborhood.
These first members would invest $30,000-50,000 at
$100 for
each household.
This is a modest amount to start a new store.
So perhaps there would have to be other sources
of investment, loans, grants, or gifts at the beginning.
What public funds might be available to support this form of community
development?
Each household might spend between
$1,000 and $3,000
per year on groceries from our co-op.
If so, the annual cash-flow would be between $300,000 and $900,000.
The necessary mark-up between the wholesale price and the retail price
would cover all costs such as rent, taxes, utilities, insurance,
up-grading,
& salaries.
Such costs would amount to a few thousand dollars per year.
Perhaps the total operating cost
will be in the range of 25% when our co-op is operating a full
capacity.
(This percentage of operating costs is calculated
as a percentage of the total amount of money paid for food.)
Food cooperatives that include foods prepared on site
have an even higher percentage of operating costs.
But there would be no profit
included in these necessary operating expenses.
Someone who has experience (or relevant data) can tell us more about
what it would actually costs to own and operate our co-op.
Does
our neighborhood already have people with retail food experience?
Exactly
what
percentage would have to be added to the wholesale prices
in order to cover all the costs of operating our co-op?
How much should we expect to pay the manager and other workers?
How many hours of volunteer labor will be donated by the members?
Very low mortgage rates right now might make buying
a building
more attractive and sustainable than renting from a landlord.
In that case, the annual rental expense would be replaced by the
mortgage payments.
If we are handling a million dollars worth of food every year,
it should be possible to cover all of the operating expenses of our
co-op
even more easily than operating a convenience store in the
neighborhood.
13. HOW OUR CO-OP WOULD DIFFER FROM OTHER FOOD COOPERATIVES
Because our co-op might exist in a limited
physical space,
it might limit its
membership to nearby residential households.
Most food coops accept members from anywhere.
All of them sell food to the general public, not just members.
And most of the people who shop at food co-ops arrive in their cars.
And they drive home with bags of food in their vehicles.
Because our co-op will exists in a neighborhood with
the
highest density in Minneapolis,
most of the members will probably WALK to our store or
warehouse.
One non-food item that our co-op might sell at
first
would be a two-wheel, folding shopping basket,
which will hold up to two bags of food.
This would empower neighbors to take their food home on foot,
even in winter weather.
Members could also bring their own shopping bags for carrying food home.
Not only will our co-op sell regular food at normal
prices,
but shoppers will save the time and money they now spend
obtaining their food from more distant supermarkets and food co-ops.
When time and gasoline (or bus fare) are
figured into the food budget,
it would still be cheaper to get food from our co-op,
even if the prices are slightly higher than the supermarket
alternatives.
One trend in Minneapolis food cooperatives is to
move 'upscale'.
This means that special foods are available,
but they also cost more than standard foods brought from a
supermarket.
Our co-op will not be able to stock as
many items
as The Wedge, for example.
But it should be possible to
buy a balanced diet from our food co-op.
Some members will depend on
our co-op for all of their food needs.
Especially members who have no cars might spend all of their
food-budget
at our co-op.
Two public high-rises with hundreds of residents stand within our
neighborhood.
Because decisions would be made by
asking the members,
it should always be possible for a sub-set of members
to request organic foods, for example.
And this should be permitted as long as those members
are willing and able to pay the higher prices required
and as long as the organic
products do not displace the standard
products.
The same policy should apply to ethnic foods:
If enough of the owners want our co-op to handle a specific ethnic
food,
then that food should be made available.
Our co-op will exist in the middle of a
modest-income neighborhood.
Most residents are renters. Many do not own cars.
Altho it is not likely, it would be unfortunate if this co-op
came to serve mainly the upper-income residents.
People with lots of money to spend on food have many other
alternatives,
even if they have to drive some time and distance to get what they
want.
And because better-off residents have chosen to live in Stevens
Square,
they are sensitive to the
limitations of the less-affluent.
Because the members will easily get to know one
another,
our co-op might become an informal community meeting place.
Some members might decide to volunteer their services
to help the Stevens Square Food Co-op to fulfill its mission.
And such volunteers would be the first people likely
to be hired
if and when new staff persons are needed.
Thus, at least in its first concept,
the Stevens Square Food Cooperative will provide ordinary
food for ordinary folk.
Perhaps we will describe our food co-op as one of
the first inner
city cooperatives for the poor.
It might even become a focus of community pride
that we the people
have been able to create our own non-profit grocery store.
14. WINNERS AND LOSERS: FOOD STORES THAT WOULD SELL LESS
This
proposal for a new food distribution system for the residents of
Stevens Square-Loring Heights and nearby Whittier neighborhoods
would create both some winners and some losers.
The eating population will probably remain stable.
Right now the people who might become members of our co-op
are buying most of their food at other locations and bringing it into the
neighborhood.
If our co-op succeeds in providing the same good
foods at the same prices,
the members will be the
winners,
since they will not have to go so far to get their food.
They will save time (and gasoline if they used cars) for their shopping
trips.
Those residents who have been buying food at local
convenience stores
will find a wider selection of foods at lower prices.
Our co-op could probably handle about one millions
dollars worth of food per year.
This guess is based on the experience of much larger food cooperatives.
Because our co-op might operate in a small physical space,
it should not be expected to grow to serve more than the 300-500
members
projected.
If the waiting list of prospective members becomes large,
this will show the potential for starting food co-ops or community
pantries in other
locations.
FOOD STORES THAT WOULD SELL LESS:
These members of our co-op would probably buy
less food
from the following stores:
(All four of the following food stores have parking lots.)
Kowalski's Market, 2440 Hennepin Avenue South,
1.5 miles from 3rd Avenue South and East 19th Street
high-end supermarket
Wedge Community Cooperative, 2105 Lyndale Avenue South,
.9 miles from 3rd
Avenue South and East 19th Street
(This impact would be small, since the Wedge sells natural foods,
rather than standards food available at supermarkets like the others
mentioned here.)
organic foods and deli
Rainbow Foods, 1104 Lagoon Avenue,
2.2 miles from 3rd
Avenue South and East 19th Street
middle-price supermarket
Aldi Foods, East Franklin at 13th Avenue,
.9 miles from 3rd
Avenue South and East 19th Street
low-price supermarket
This listing of the closest food stores also shows
why Stevens Square
is not officially called a "food desert".
Regular food is available within one mile.
But one mile is generally too
far to walk carrying groceries
—particularly
in the winter.
The convenience stores mentioned in section 6 above
would also lose some business
because residents would be able to walk to our co-op just as easily.
15. PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BECOME THE FIRST BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
The
Stevens Square Food Cooperative will probably emerge from the
collective
effort
of a wide range of neighbors working together.
Even before members sign-up and select a Board of
Directors,
there will probably be a Task
Force of volunteers
who believe this is a good idea.
This Task Force will decide how best to proceed.
What combination of e-mail and face-to-face meetings will work for us?
Who will bring the Stevens Square Food Cooperative
into
being?
Could it be you?
Will you find yourself frequently thinking about
this
proposal?
Do you keep coming up with new ideas and new products?
What do you know about running a store?
Did you ever help to start a food co-op?
Do you know something about community organizing?
Do you have any connections with people who can help our co-op come
into being?
Can you put concepts into numbers that others can understand?
Would you like to become the manager of the Stevens Square Food
Cooperative?
Would you like to become part of the staff that buys and
sells food?
Can you see yourself as a member of the Board of Directors?
Are you already part of a local organization
that wants to see our co-op come into being?
If you find yourself answering "yes" to such
questions,
please volunteer to join the Task Force.
Send your ideas by e-mail to:
James Park, e-mail: parkx032@umn.edu
As of February 22, 2013, our Task Force has 7
members.
16. MORE SUGGESTIONS
This proposal is likely to go thru a number of
revisions
before anything concrete actually begins to happen.
See dates
of revision at the end of this file.
If other suggestions are radically different from
this one,
such alternatives can be linked from here.
Probably the likely
members will be gathered by electronic means
before any Articles of Incorporation,
by-laws, etc. are created.
Then a first public meetings will be held.
Potential members will be invited to bring empty food containers for
'show and
tell'.
Mark the price you paid on each item.
We will discover how far we
are now going to get our food
and exactly how much we are paying.
Only then would any
actual money for membership be collected
from those households that want to become the first members of our
co-op.
Possible problems and
their most likely solutions
will be added to this proposal as they become known.
Please suggest such additions to this proposal
and watch for changes suggested by others.
Send your ideas by
e-mail to:
James Park
parkx032@umn.edu
Created
November 9, 2012; Revised 11-10-2012; 11-13-2012; 11-14-2012;
11-15-2012; 11-16-2012;
11-20-2012; 11-24-2012; 11-27-2012; 11-29-2012; 11-30-20012; 12-1-2012;
12-4-2012;
The first
version of this proposal was radically changed on December 5, 2012,
including the new name.
Revised 12-8-2012; 1-15-2013; 1-23-2013; 2-9-2013; 2-22-2013; 2-24-2013