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I've heard of food cooperatives, but am unsure exactly how they work. Would joining such a group be useful for a small family, or are they better suited for larger families with more mouths to feed? Anyone have a list of good resources on cooperatives?

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Excellent question. A friend on Facebook was just asking about this topic. – mbhunter Jan 26 at 5:55

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Cooperative stores are socially owned. This means that left-over items within the store cannot be sold for profit. The amount of food that a share purchases depends on the total volume of food and the number of shares available, so each member gets a proportion equal to his/her fractional ownership of the cooperative.

Figuring out whether a given cooperative is worth it, then, depends on the following:

  1. How much does a share buy? If it's too much food to eat, then it's probably not a good deal.
  2. Is the food a good value? If the same food can be bought more cheaply from other sources, then it's not a good deal.
  3. Is the kind of food what you want? If not, then it's not a good deal.

LocalHarvest.org seems to be a good resource for particular food cooperatives.

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LocalHarvest does look like a great site. Thanks for the link. – nessili24 Feb 2 at 1:46
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A co-op can be great, so long is it is a going concern. Find out if your would-be co-op is a viable business and not just a lovely idea.

I say this because I used to belong to a co-op that worked like a grocery store. Member-owners purchased a share and I think saved a nominal amount on each purchase. Non-member-owners could shop there, too, but they didn't get the discount. It wasn't like you got an allotted share of goods every week, you still shopped and picked out what you wanted. Sadly, my co-op was mismanaged though extraordinarily well-intentioned, and was never a commercial success as long as it existed. It finally died in 2008, may it rest in peace. I loved the community atmosphere there -- there was space for small groups to meet and they often held lectures and live music -- and the variety of bulk foods. It never carried enough stuff for it to be the only place I shopped, though, and that might have been part of why it folded.

I hope that you can find a viable co-op and some great deals.

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