Description
Book SynopsisHungry for change? Put the power of food co-ops on your plate and grow your local food economy.
Food has become ground-zero in our efforts to increase awareness of how our choices impact the world. Yet while we have begun to transform our communities and dinner plates, the most authoritative strand of the food web has received surprisingly little attention: the grocery storethe epicenter of our food-gathering ritual.
Through penetrating analysis and inspiring stories and examples of American and Canadian food co-ops, Grocery Story makes a compelling case for the transformation of the grocery store aisles as the emerging frontier in the local and good food movements. Author Jon Steinman:
- Deconstructs the food retail sector and the shadows cast by corporate giants
- Makes the case for food co-ops as an alternative
- Shows how co-ops spur the creation of local food-based economies and enhance low-income food access.
Grocery Story is for everyone who eats. Whether you strive to eat more local and sustainable food, or are in support of community economic development, Grocery Story will leave you hungry to join the food co-op movement in your own community.
Table of Contents"Food System" Defined
Preface
Note from the Author: Big Food
Introduction
[1] Rise of the Grocery Giants
A&P — The First of the Giants
Other Giants Emerge
Self-Service
Regulating the Rise of Big Business
Expanding the War on Chain Grocers
Enter the Supermarket
[2] Retailer Market Power
Taming the Chains
The Giants Break Loose
The Accelerating of Supermarket Dominance
Regulating Market Power Today
The Generational Effect and Self-Reinforcing Apathy
[3] Food Prices and the People Who Grow Our Food
The Farm Crisis of the 1980s
The "Farm Share" and "Marketing Share" of Our Food Dollars
Squeezing Food Dollars Through Bottlenecks
Farm Value vs. Retail Price
Eaters Pay the Price for Concentrated Markets
Mergers Decrease Prices Paid to Farmers
The Most Extreme Expression of the Farm Income Crisis
[4] Grocery Stores — The Food System's Control Center
Shaping Food — Literally
Losses in Flavor
Cosmetic Requirements and Food Safety
Genetic Diversity
Food Standards as Buyer Leverage
Standards and Food Waste
Marching Orders for Suppliers
Suppliers Finance Their Own Servitude
Category Management
Pay to Play, Pay to Stay
Is It Bribery?
Private Labels (Deliberately Anonymous)
Barriers to Entry
Setting Food Policy
Eaters at the Controls
INTERLUDE
Welcome to What's Possible, North America
Welcome to Resisterville (Nelson, British Columbia)
Grocery Giants in Nelson
The Regional Food Movement
Viroqua, Wisconsin
[5] Enter the Co-op
What Is a Co-op?
Mission-Driven and Transparent
Resilience
History of the Cooperative Movement
The First Consumer Co-ops in Canada and the United States
The Empowered Consumer
[6] The Food Co-op Waves
The Consumer Wave
The New Wave
The New Wave Grows Up
The Newest Wave
Beyond Natural Foods — Co-ops for Low-Income Communities
[7] Consumer Food Co-ops Today
There's Nothing Cookie-Cutter About Food Co-ops
Food Co-ops as Community Centers
Education
Kitchen Skills Training
Children's Programming
Co-ops in Schools
Food Access
Inexpensive Meals for Community Building
Community Giving
Nonprofit Arms
Positive Workplace
Working Members
Cooperation with Local Businesses
The Co-op Footprint
Community-Owned Good Food Media
College Town Co-ops
Governance and Ownership
Profiles of Board Directors at Food Co-ops
Engaging Members in Their Co-op
Diversity
Social Cohesion
Activism
On Prices
Unleashing Potential
[8] Co-ops as Food Desert Remediation
Greensboro, North Carolina
Cincinnati, Ohio
Other Stories of "What's Possible"
Starting a Co-op Isn't a Shoo-In for Success
[9] Food Co-ops and the Local Economy
Easier Access to Eaters
True Local
The Language of "Economic Development"
Food Co-ops as Economic Development
Local Food System Stimulation
Anchors for Main Street
Retention and Rearing of Community Leaders
A Different Kind of Profit
[10] Local Foodmakers — The People Behind the Products
Co-ops as Small Business Incubators
The People Behind the Products
Where Does Your Food Dollar Go?
Planning the Co-op Shelves with Local Producers
[11] Threats to Food Co-ops
Fierce Competition
The Co-opting of "Local"
The "Whole Foods Effect"
The Demise of Co-op Atlantic
Closed
Relevance
Ideology
Institutional Isomorphism
Member Engagement
[12] Growing Food Co-ops, Growing the Movement
Start-ups
Financing Food Co-ops
Co-ops Supporting Co-ops
Epilogue: Where Do We Go from Here?
Acknowledgments
Grocery Story's Supporters
Endnotes
Index
About the Author
A Note about the Publisher
