Grocery Story , livre audio

Hungry for change? Put the power of food co-ops on your plate and grow your local food economy

Hungry for change? Put the power of food co-ops on your plate and grow your local food economy.

Food has become ground-zero in our efforts to increase awareness of how our choices impact the world. Yet while we have begun to transform our communities and dinner plates, the most authoritative strand of the food web has received surprisingly little attention: the grocery store—the epicenter of our food-gathering ritual.

Through penetrating analysis and inspiring stories and examples of American and Canadian food co-ops, Grocery Story makes a compelling case for the transformation of the grocery store aisles as the emerging frontier in the local and good food movements. Author Jon Steinman:

• Deconstructs the food retail sector and the shadows cast by corporate giants
• Makes the case for food co-ops as an alternative
• Shows how co-ops spur the creation of local food-based economies and enhance low-income food access.

Grocery Story is for everyone who eats. Whether you strive to eat more local and sustainable food, or are in support of community economic development, Grocery Story will leave you hungry to join the food co-op movement in your own community.

"Food System" Defined
Preface
Note from the Author: Big Food
Introduction

[1] Rise of the Grocery Giants
   A&P — The First of the Giants
   Other Giants Emerge
   Self-Service
   Regulating the Rise of Big Business
   Expanding the War on Chain Grocers
   Enter the Supermarket

[2] Retailer Market Power
   Taming the Chains
   The Giants Break Loose
   The Accelerating of Supermarket Dominance
   Regulating Market Power Today
   The Generational Effect and Self-Reinforcing Apathy

[3] Food Prices and the People Who Grow Our Food
   The Farm Crisis of the 1980s
   The "Farm Share" and "Marketing Share" of Our Food Dollars
   Squeezing Food Dollars Through Bottlenecks
   Farm Value vs. Retail Price
   Eaters Pay the Price for Concentrated Markets
   Mergers Decrease Prices Paid to Farmers
   The Most Extreme Expression of the Farm Income Crisis

[4] Grocery Stores — The Food System's Control Center
   Shaping Food — Literally
   Losses in Flavor
   Cosmetic Requirements and Food Safety
   Genetic Diversity
   Food Standards as Buyer Leverage
   Standards and Food Waste
   Marching Orders for Suppliers
   Suppliers Finance Their Own Servitude
   Category Management
   Pay to Play, Pay to Stay
   Is It Bribery?
   Private Labels (Deliberately Anonymous)
   Barriers to Entry
   Setting Food Policy
   Eaters at the Controls

INTERLUDE
Welcome to What's Possible, North America
Welcome to Resisterville (Nelson, British Columbia)
Grocery Giants in Nelson
The Regional Food Movement
Viroqua, Wisconsin

[5] Enter the Co-op
   What Is a Co-op?
   Mission-Driven and Transparent
   Resilience
   History of the Cooperative Movement
   The First Consumer Co-ops in Canada and the United States
   The Empowered Consumer

[6] The Food Co-op Waves
   The Consumer Wave
   The New Wave
   The New Wave Grows Up
   The Newest Wave
   Beyond Natural Foods — Co-ops for Low-Income Communities

[7] Consumer Food Co-ops Today
   There's Nothing Cookie-Cutter About Food Co-ops
   Food Co-ops as Community Centers
   Education
   Kitchen Skills Training
   Children's Programming
   Co-ops in Schools
   Food Access
   Inexpensive Meals for Community Building
   Community Giving
   Nonprofit Arms
   Positive Workplace
   Working Members
   Cooperation with Local Businesses
   The Co-op Footprint
   Community-Owned Good Food Media
   College Town Co-ops
   Governance and Ownership
   Profiles of Board Directors at Food Co-ops
   Engaging Members in Their Co-op
   Diversity
   Social Cohesion
   Activism
   On Prices
   Unleashing Potential

[8] Co-ops as Food Desert Remediation
   Greensboro, North Carolina
   Cincinnati, Ohio
   Other Stories of "What's Possible"
   Starting a Co-op Isn't a Shoo-In for Success

[9] Food Co-ops and the Local Economy
   Easier Access to Eaters
   True Local
   The Language of "Economic Development"
   Food Co-ops as Economic Development
   Local Food System Stimulation
   Anchors for Main Street
   Retention and Rearing of Community Leaders
   A Different Kind of Profit

[10] Local Foodmakers — The People Behind the Products
   Co-ops as Small Business Incubators
   The People Behind the Products
   Where Does Your Food Dollar Go?
   Planning the Co-op Shelves with Local Producers

[11] Threats to Food Co-ops
   Fierce Competition
   The Co-opting of "Local"
   The "Whole Foods Effect"
   The Demise of Co-op Atlantic
   Closed
   Relevance
   Ideology
   Institutional Isomorphism
   Member Engagement

[12] Growing Food Co-ops, Growing the Movement
   Start-ups
   Financing Food Co-ops
   Co-ops Supporting Co-ops

Epilogue: Where Do We Go from Here?
Acknowledgments
Grocery Story's Supporters
Endnotes
Index
About the Author
A Note about the Publisher