Board Blog

From time to time we receive comments from members about pricing, product selection, and how to make the co-op an inclusive resource for the entire community.

Here is a recent comment:

I can afford to buy fewer and fewer things because of price increases. I miss the old co-op for many reasons - this being the main one. Is there a way to go back to "food for people not for profit"? I’m going to use this blog posting to outline the challenges I’ve discovered in addressing these issues and hopefully solicit creative ideas and comments from the membership. This is a complex topic and very deeply involved in the operation of the store so let me be clear that the views and opinions expressed here are those of my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the board, co-op management, etc.

Here goes: The food industry has changed significantly in the past 34 years. Large buyers have emerged who are able to demand much lower prices than a little co-op can get from its suppliers. We keep our markup extremely low to try to make up for the differences in supply prices, but we can only do so much, and the low mark up means that we are not able to offer our staff basic benefits that we feel they deserve.

We can gain access to better prices by joining a co-op buying group and are actually in discussions with such a group. Buying through this group would lower our costs by 4 – 5% and would make a big difference in our prices and health of the co-op. These groups have pretty strict conditions on which co-ops they allow to participate. The entire group takes a financial risk if one of the co-ops can’t pay its bills. To be allowed into this group we would need to be operating from a traditional shop front, allow non-members to shop, and have a higher annual sales figure. These are certainly things that we are working towards, but at the moment we cannot join the group and therefore cannot pass these better prices on.

At the extremely large scale, of course there is Wal Mart. They have immense buying power with the suppliers and are able to demand very low prices. I have discovered that even if the co-op reverted to splitting bags of beans in the parking lot of the IDF we’d still be more expensive than the superstores!

Of course this cheap food comes at a price. The farmers are squeezed and struggle to make a living. The low prices for the big buyers are subsidized by higher prices for small organizations such as Common Ground.

So back to “Food for people, not profit”. Obviously, the co-op does not make a profit and we operate on very low costs. I think we do our best to channel money to the local people who produce our food. Of course we do sell packaged goods that are made by for-profit companies, but the staff and membership are able to choose which companies we support. Finally, I think that we do a good job in providing space for bulk products for those of us who can’t afford or don’t agree with buying produced foods.

In conclusion, the prices were lower in the “old co-op” because food prices were generally lower in the industry. We also had several years where the co-op was actually selling items at a loss and member equity was being drained out to subsidize artificially low prices.

As you can see, it’s a tricky problem, but one that is very important to everyone involved in the co-op. The most important step we can take is to complete this move and expansion to allow us to lower our supplier costs.

These are my thoughts about this. What are yours?

Our mission statement declares, among other things, that our food co-op "builds community," and I was pondering this last night while making cabbage kim-chi, a spicy Korean dish. We have a bumper crop of various hot peppers from our garden this year, and so I was chopping peppers, trying not to itch my nose, and thinking of the web of food and people that is formed by even the simplest of acts. You see, I was chopping peppers grown from seed which I bought from Kit, using an extremely sharp knife given to me by my wife Beth, on the counter that Lee and Spencer built. In the background Kevin was spinning tunes on Weft. I separated out the flesh and seeds, saving some of the latter for next year's crop. John's cabbage came next, a mountain of beautiful napa (but compliment him, and he'll say it's all in the soil.) Then Karen's garlic, big luscious cloves, smashed under the side of the knive, peeled, and diced. The peppers went into a food processor to get an even pulp (and for the next hour you could hear the kids coughing as the pungent pepper fumes took flight through our house.) While I wait for the cabbage to ferment, the pepper pulp goes into canning jars...and it turns out that one was a gift from Jill, when it was filled with jam of her making. The sheer number of human connections involved in making food from local ingredients is breathtaking to me. There are few moments of our lives that aren't in some way connected to our community, and I believe our lives our made richer by the choices we make to increase our connection to others living around us. How does our co-op serve to do this? A few truisms pop into my head: Food with a face Our food doesn't magically appear on the shelves, and the co-op works to make sure you can find out who grew it. If you know your farmer, or at least know of your farmer, you're more connected to your community. Even when food comes from elsewhere (there are no Urbana Banana Collectives yet), it's important to understand the connection that's created by consuming it, and to support those that are growing in a way that's kind to the earth and to those that work it. Food with a place The co-op connects people to the farmers that are growing food right here. We seek them out. We work with them. Big and small. Year round vegetable farmers to one-month raspberry growers. By buying at the co-op, you're connected to the soil you walk on, sharing in the bounty and the fragility of this place. (Not much stone fruit survived this year's frost, but next year's cherries will taste that much better!) A place with faces Corporate America believes you're more comfortable shopping in a place that looks exactly like every other place you shop, and that people want retail anonymity. In contrast, the co-op strives to build a unique store where you know the people who are working to bring you this food, from the board, to the manager, to the staff, to our volunteers, to your fellow shoppers. Through email, blogs, newsletters, meetings, and parties. Sharing recipes, ideas, and stories. Sharing our lives.

We clasp the hands of those that go before us, And the hands of those who come after us. We enter the little circle of each other's arms And the larger circle of lovers, Whose hands are joined in a dance, And the larger circle of all creatures, Passing in and out of life, Who move also in a dance, To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it Except in fragments --Wendell Berry

I really believe it can be that beautiful, and I hope you do as well! Peace, -Clint

Did you make it to the General Membership Meeting (GMM) last week? If not, you missed out on some great food and some exciting news about the future of our co-op. But fear not-- you can read a recap of the goings-on below, and if you have any questions or comments, your feedback is welcome now more than ever! Contact the board (board@commonground.coop) or general manager (jacqueline@commonground.coop) in person or via email or by filling out comment cards in the store. Keep reading to catch up on the latest happenings!

This meeting of the CGFC General Membership was held in the Illinois Disciples Foundation on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 5:00 PM.

Potluck
Much food was consumed and genial conversation was had. YUM!

Board Governance Report
Clint, the board chair, gave a report on the recent activity of the board. You, the membership, elect us, the board members, to act as your representatives in steering the future of the co-op. To that end, the board is striving to meet two goals: 1) to create policy and 2) to connect with the membership. Recent policy discussions have centered around the debate over whether the co-op should focus on local or organic foods. We are also working to create a policy to govern our relationship with local producers. You can have a voice in policy by attending board meetings, responding to the board blog, or emailing the board at board@commonground.coop. Look for a strategic visioning day in January and a member survey in the store within the next few months. The board also came up with a calendar for the entire next year; that means our agendas are set for the next twelve meetings. The board calendar is available for you if you

con·viv·i·al (kn-vv-l) adj. 1. Fond of feasting, drinking, and good company; sociable. 2. Merry; festive: a convivial atmosphere at the Common Ground Food Co-op General Membership Meeting/Potluck on Sunday, September 30 at 5 PM in Wisegarver Hall. (OK, I made that last part up, but you should definitely come. See why below.) Seriously, though - has anyone else read the book Tools For Conviviality by Ivan Illich? Published in 1973, this short book discusses the institutions and systems that have come to dominate "modern life" - school systems, transportation systems, the health care system, etc - and whether or not all these complicated systems that we seem to have little or no control over make life better for us. It's been awhile since I've read the book, but I seem to remember Illich making the case for smaller groups of people getting together to figure out which tools, groups, and institutions worked best for them in their neighborhood or town - that facetime with one's friends and neighbors only leads to better understanding, creative problem-solving and further innovation. I'm not sure if he said anything about meetings with food and drink laying the groundwork for spirited, inventive discourse... but I like to think he did. Our co-op is about to embark on an awesome journey, people! It's vital, especially in these early stages, that the membership get together with itself and its leaders - in small meetings as well as big ones, like the GMM this weekend - to have real discussions about CGFC's future. New members: Step up! Many, many people have joined the co-op in the last year or so and thus have the most recent understanding of the concept of INVESTMENT. Newer members can provide lots of fresh energy and ideas and volunteer hours and new skills. Longtime/recently-rejoined members: Step up! We've been talking about relocating for years, and now it's becoming a reality! Your tireless support, dedication, and historical perspectives will all be much-needed while we navigate what really will be the co-op's occasionally-prickly adolescence. New members and longtime/recently-rejoined members: Step up! It's also important that we hang together as a unit, and not just for business purposes - part of what makes the co-op so great is its, well, convivial nature. We catch up with each other in the store; we ask about how school or work is going, marvel at the size of babies and children, compare garden notes, make connections. There's no other place - or idea - like it in town. Our General Membership Meeting is definitely a tool for conviviality - it gives the Common Ground membership a chance to discuss the store's relationship to the existing local food system and how we can best make it work for us. It gives us a chance to share a meal and some conversation. Also important - it provides a sense of face-to-face community that seems ever-fleeting in this modern world. If there was ever a time to start coming to these twice-yearly meetings, this is it. I hope to see you all there! - Lisa Bralts-Kelly

I was pretty new to the co-operative movement when I joined Common Ground so the culture of our store has shaped my view of what a food co-op should look like. I appreciate our little shop and even how the limited shelf space forces us to carefully choose which products we sell. It’s a complex interplay between space, member demand, and the co-op’s mission statement.

When I was visiting my brother in Austin this summer I dropped by the Wheatsville co-op and received a tour of the store from the General Manager. It’s a pretty big store: about the size of the IGA on Kirby in Champaign. Imagine my surprise when I walked in and saw Dorritos on the shelf! The GM explained to me that their goal is to grow the co-operative market and that means providing their members with what they want.

He showed me the canned bean section. They have organic beans at eye level, but also have conventional Bush Beans down on the bottom shelf. This encourages members to buy organic, but provides a choice that the members apparently appreciate.

I asked him about not carrying items on political grounds. He said that they have a process where members can vote to boycott a particular product, but that happens very rarely. Typically, they will carry a product and provide some background on issues surrounding the company. If the members wish to buy it they will continue to stock it. If members stop purchasing the product then it is removed.

We have a similar process that allows members feedback into the products that we do and don’t carry. When we move into the bigger space we will have many more decisions to make about what products we will carry and I’m certain that the members and the store staff will be very engaged in expanding the store’s products.

Having input into this process is one of the many benefits of owning our own grocery store!

Ben Galewsky