Starting a food co-op: Year 1

Re:Starting a food co-op: Year 1 by jt2190 on Monday October 10, 2022 @06:35PM (#33157194)

I mean… Stop and Shop is literally two blocks from where Russo’s was [1] so I’m not sure what relevance Harvest or Market Basket bring to this conversation. (Edit: I’m not trying to be dismissive, but it’s not really clear why these other stores are relevant. Are you suggesting that perhaps labor is being treated better than at the big chains?)

Russo’s was definitely a high-end, premium prices place: Fancy imported cheeses, a large bakery, fresh-made pasta, and a large selection of fresh fruit and vegetables. I have no idea if the workers were paid better or treated better than anywhere else.

A co-op feels like a different beast altogether, so I’m not sure that the patrons of Russo’s will suddenly just move to shopping there en masse, especially since the market for groceries around here is well served. It really feels like the coop would mostly not be about the food.

[1] https://www.google.com/maps/dir/570+Pleasant+St,+Watertown,+...

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Re:Starting a food co-op: Year 1 by neilv on Tuesday October 11, 2022 @03:07AM (#33160288)

I thought someone who's interested in new co-ops in this area would be interested in the history of a prior co-op that operated in this area.

Also, one of the things that the co-op seemed to value was treating workers well, which overlaps with one of my favorite recent stories of people banding together (a little like a co-op), to succeed. And that store is known for better prices than the others, making it more accessible while a certain premium store has been gobbling up other ones, so there's another social justice angle that might be of interest.

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