Food Co-operatives

A food co-op is a way for a group of people to get the food they want by pooling their buying power and sourcing directly from producers. This means that fresh, healthy, local and even organic or fair trade foods can be obtained in places where no other outlet exists. Food co-ops can also help communities access more affordable food and when the co-op buys direct from the farm it can mean a better deal for the grower too.

There are lots of different types of community food co-ops which run in different settings and distribute food in different ways. For example, Wythenshawe's St Marks Church are working towards setting up a community shop which will sell fresh produce from one of the church buildings.

foodcoops.org

Check out sustains food co-op site for everything you need to know to setup your own food co-op, including a very useful toolkit.