[Mpls] A cooperative for North Minneapolis?

[Dyna]

	Good luck in the grocery store graveyard, AKA North Minneapolis.

	Consumer grocery co-ops in this area tend to be a bastardation of the 
concept, pretty much providing high priced organic food to their 
affluent members. They have a market niche in upscale neighborhoods 
like the Wedge and have done well there but less well elsewhere. 
Attempts to develop these sort of yuppie co-ops have been less 
successful in working class areas like the Northeast- despite heavy 
subsidy from the neighborhood group the co-op there is having a hard 
time competing against similar co-ops and the organic food departments 
of much larger retailers.  Thusly a yuppie style food co-op for the 
less affluent Northside is doomed to failure and should not receive a 
cent of public money.

	In my travels in the Dakotas recently I was pleased to find the 
traditional co-ops who have evolved to meet their contemporary member's 
needs. Besides offering the 2% SoyDiesel my car craves many offered 
coffee and hot food as well as hardware and lawn and garden supplies. 
The Cenex co-op in Berthould is an excellent example, offering fuels, 
farm supplies, car and truck parts and repair, hardware, hot chicken 
and coffee, cold and hot subs, and a relaxing place to sit down and 
enjoy eating same. They also have a campground and I believe are open 
24 hours to serve travelers on lonely US 2. Larger quantities of farm 
supplies and ag fuels and chemicals are available at their elevator 
along the BNSF "High Line" tracks a few blocks away.

	If the organizers want to start a Northside co-op that serves the 
community's needs like Berthould's needs count me in!

	hanging on in Hawthorne,

		Dyna Sluyter

On Tuesday, November 23, 2004, at 11:32 AM, Angela Dawson wrote:

> NEWS RELEASE
>
> November 23, 2004-For immediate release
>
> For more information contact:
> Christopher DeAngelis
> (612) 331-5346
> or
> Antonio Rosell, Community Design Group
> (612) 298-8301
>
> NORTHSIDE FOOD CO-OP EFFORT TO LAUNCH DEC. 2 AT UNITY
> HOUSE
>
> MINNEAPOLIS - A community informational meeting to
> discuss forming a food cooperative on the Northside
> will be held December 2, 2004 at 6:30 p.m. at Unity
> House, 2507 Fremont Ave N.  A dinner with food donated
> by local farmers will be provided.
>
> The Northside is one of the few areas of Minneapolis
> that does not have a co-op today, despite the first
> modern co-op in Minneapolis being founded by the Black
> Panthers on Plymouth Avenue in the 1960s.  This effort
> aims to restore that proud history and reconnect
> Northside residents to their food supply and economic
> well-being.
>
> During the meeting, residents will discuss the basics
> of food co-ops, and will consider how a co-op could
> benefit ourselves and our neighbors.  We will talk
> about how to structure a co-op so that it meets our
> needs, including access to affordable, wholesome food
> and the opportunity to reinvest our money in the
> Northside.  Members of the press are welcome to
> attend.
>
> For additional information, please see
> http://www.c-d-g.org/ati/coop or contact Christopher
> DeAngelis at (612)331-5346 or Antonio Rosell at (612)
> 298-8301.
>
> ###
>
>
> 		
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