City Garden Coop
Since July 2008, I have been the General Manager of the City Garden Coop in Washington DC. The Coop is a food buying club which buys local and/or organic produce. We pay for the food at the cost price plus a small markup to cover overheads. The price of food is a bargain. The quality is at least as good as Whole Foods, but at the price of shopping at Safeway.
It sounds great doesn't it! So what is the catch. How are we able to keep prices so low? Each Coop member must work, some members are drivers picking up the produce, others are buyers who try to source new food at the best price. Most of our membership are shift workers helping to price and weigh the food for the members.
The City Garden Coop has been running since 1979 and currently has about 70 members. It is one of the best things I have come across since moving to the USA. When one thinks about shopping in the US, inevitably Walmart comes to mind, but there is a thriving small scale Coop/buying club industry which really can compete.