Grocery Story: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants

by Jon Steinman

Overview

Hungry 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 store—the 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771422963
Publisher:	New Society Publishers
Publication date:	05/16/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	308
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Jon Steinman has studied and worked with all things food for over two decades. He was the producer and host of the internationally syndicated radio show and podcast Deconstructing Dinner, once ranked as the most-listened-to food podcast in Canada. Jon was the writer and host of Deconstructing Dinner: Reconstructing our Food System – a television and web series currently streaming online. Jon coordinates and curates the annual Deconstructing Dinner Film Festival of compelling food documentaries and was an elected director from 2006-2016 of the Kootenay Co-op – Canada's largest independent retail consumer food co-op, serving as Board President from 2014-2016. He lives in Nelson, BC.

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

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A great read! Full of energy and eyes-wide-open hope. In an era of extreme economic concentration, Jon Steinman awakens us to elements of an arising democratic economy, hidden in plain sight. Grocery Story is, above all, an empowering tale we need now more than ever."
— Frances Moore Lappé, author, Diet for a Small Planet and Daring Democracy

"Wake up folks! Co-ops are cool. They bring power back to conscious citizenship. Co-ops are democracy at work in an age calling out for common sense."
— Joel Solomon, co-author, The Clean Money Revolution

"Steinman skillfully blends the history of food retailing with contemporary examples to explain how cooperative food stores consistently have served as a principled alternative and moderating influence on corporate consolidation of food retailing in North America."
— John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia

"An important consideration of the impact that can happen when going to the grocery store becomes an activity and not a chore, an" when a grocery cart can ultimately become a vehicle for social change."
— Melissa Cohen, General Manager, Isla Vista Food Co-op

"On par with many of the other food books that have inspired me — Diet for a Dead Planet, Food Politics, Slow Money, Stolen Harvest, Fast Food Nation, Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food."
— Ari Derfel, General Manager, Kootenay Co-op, past Executive Director, Slow Money, and cofounder, Gather Restaurant

"Explores how capitalism distorts the food system from farm to plate. A pleasure to read and is crammed with valuable information, stories and analysis. If you eat, you should give this book a read."
— Tom Webb, author, From Corporate Globalization to Global Co-operation and president, Global Co-operation

"An impressive synthesis of critical analysis of systemic societal ills and a very practical "how-to" manual on how to address them. This is literally the best thing I've read about cooperatives, monopolization / oligopolization, and the industrial food system in ages."
— Christopher DeAngelis, Food Co-op Manager (formerly Apple Street Market Cooperative, Mariposa Food Co-op)

"Presents a clear and engaging historical perspective on the evolution of our food co-ops and illustrates the many benefits that they offe" their owners and customers by sharing the stories of co-ops today. Grocery Story should be required reading for anyone helping to organize a new food co-op and everyone who cares at all about their food."
— Stuart Reid, Executive Director, Food Co-op Initiative / Past General Manager, Just Food Co-op and Seward Co-op

"Steinman shows us we can confront the power of food retailers and create an inclusive, health promoting, and sustainable food system."
— Rod MacRae, Associate Professor, York University

"It's worth studying the history of how and why food co-ops formed as a model to ensure continuing access and authenticity in an alternative local and organic food supply."
— Mark Kastel, Cornucopia Institute

"Not just a "must-read" for advocates and participants of the local food movement, it is a "must-implement" to pave the way toward a sustainable and just food system for us all."
— Rob Greenfield, author, Dude Making a Difference