{"id":12002,"date":"2020-07-19T17:53:27","date_gmt":"2020-07-19T21:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/?p=12002"},"modified":"2020-08-19T18:04:06","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T22:04:06","slug":"touring-mi-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Touring Michigan Food Co-ops"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ray Anderson\u00a0 l\u00a0 originally appeared in March 2020 PFC Newsletter<\/em><\/p>\n

As Peoples Food Co-op Ann Arbor nears its 50th Anniversary come July of 2021, it is interesting to reflect on the early co-op years of the late 1960\u2019s and the beginning of the 1970\u2019s which spawned a broad concern for healthy, natural foods commonly unavailable.\u00a0 With our many established Michigan food cooperatives, there is a similar history through the formation of small food buying clubs. \u00a0Several of those food buying clubs took on greater purpose forming and incorporating as not for profit storefronts to serve their communities and inviting member ownership of these new businesses instead of following corporate models.\u00a0 These brave cooperatives became oasis for all who were concerned with a healthy lifestyle and soon became engines for generating their local economies in organic farming and production of other locally made goods.\u00a0 Michigan co-ops grew steadily through\u00a0 the next few decades needing to find bigger spaces and often moving several times.\u00a0 By 2013, corporate food chains discovered the burgeoning natural foods market and thus began a sea change in many co-ops\u2019 financial viability.<\/p>\n

As a result, much has changed since those early days and many of our Michigan co-ops as well as food co-ops across the nation have needed to adapt and evolve to remain a vibrant part of their respective local economies.\u00a0 In response to members\/owners growing interest and needs, co-ops alike have strove to add more choices and products requiring more space and efficiency.\u00a0 Today, food cooperatives stay strong by their shared community while supporting local food security and promoting food justice. In turn, loyal cooperative members have increased their financial support in their respective businesses they own to make needed changes to remain sustainable in the ever increasing competitive natural foods market.\u00a0 A tour of our wonderful Michigan food co-ops shows many models of adaptation to a sustainable future.<\/p>\n

Located in the most northern area of the Upper Peninsula is Keweenaw Co-op. Starting as a bulk buying club in 1973, Keweenaw Co-op first formed as a store in a small restaurant in Houghton.\u00a0 After several moves including across the Keweenaw Waterway to Hancock, the co-op found their current home as a full-line grocery store in 1986.\u00a0 In 2010, Keweenaw Co-op, by vote of\u00a0 their membership, reincorporated as a true cooperative requiring their member\/owners to increase their economic participation and investment to the new $200 member fee.\u00a0 They report that they have created a stronger and more financially sound business.<\/p>\n

Traveling a bit south in the Upper Peninsula to Marquette the growth of Marquette Food Co-op (MFC) over the past ten years is evident and felt throughout their local economy.\u00a0 The Marquette Food Co-op opened its doors in 1971.\u00a0 With limited space and little opportunity to better serve its members, the co-op board began considering expansion in 2010.\u00a0 By 2014 and with member support, MFC took on a $4.6 expansion into a newly renovated retail space with parking.\u00a0 Members now join with a $150 fee and their co-op has experienced significant growth.<\/p>\n

Moving into the Lower Peninsula, Grain Train Co-op in Petoskey is certainly a great stop when visiting the Little Traverse Bay area.\u00a0 Grain Train formed as a buying club in 1971, and after years of fundraising and asking members for a larger financial commitment, they were able to move into its current 4,500 square-foot storefront on the western edge of downtown Petoskey in 2002. \u00a0In 2012, Grain Train opened a second grocery in Boyne City.\u00a0 Member\/Owner investment is $210 total.\u00a0 They have subsequently opened up a standalone market caf\u00e9 also in downtown Petoskey in 2018.<\/p>\n

While visiting Grand Traverse Bay in Traverse City, Oryana Food Co-op is a definite must visit.\u00a0 Oryana is Michigan\u2019s largest\u00a0 food co-op and it is clear when in their store that Oryana is a vibrant part of the Traverse City community and economy.\u00a0 Emerging out of a local buying club in 1972,\u00a0 the co-op moved into a downtown store front in 1974.\u00a0 In 1997, Oryana moved away from downtown into a former lumber store building \u00a0which required significant renovations.\u00a0 They have expanded in their space many times since then including their 2007 addition doubling their capacity.\u00a0 In 2016, they added a new dining area for their caf\u00e9.\u00a0 They have also been able to continue to increase parking area while adding solar panels since moving into their 10th Street store.\u00a0 Oryana is an easy, comfortable and fully stocked cooperative store to shop and meet.\u00a0 Members must pay yearly $20 to enjoy the benefits of ownership.<\/p>\n

Moving further south, Greentree Co-op in Mount Pleasant is about to undergo a major change.\u00a0 Greentree started a capital campaign in September 2019\u00a0 with the plan to move into their new space July 2021.\u00a0 They will quadruple the size of their existing store.\u00a0 Members currently purchase memberships with a $210 payment.<\/p>\n

Among the \u201cCool Cities\u201d tour, People\u2019s Food Co-op in Kalamazoo moved into its new location in 2011 near two of Michigan\u2019s highest rated craft breweries, Bell\u2019s and Arcadia.\u00a0 The co-op took over operations of three local farmer\u2019s markets in 2013.\u00a0 In its new location it provides ample parking as well as keeping its energy footprint low with the addition of solar panels.\u00a0 Owner investment and membership fee is available for a $250 payment.<\/p>\n

East Lansing Food Co-op (ELFCO) succumbed to the pressures of intense competition in 2017 when Whole Foods opened a store just 200 yards from their Michigan Avenue store.\u00a0 Upon closing their doors that year,\u00a0 the hard-working board of directors promised a rebirth in the future. In July of last year a new location was found and work progresses on necessary renovations to the space.\u00a0 We look forward to their reopening and perhaps a name change since their new store will be located in Lansing Township.<\/p>\n

Our friends at Ypsilanti Food Co-op over the years have continued to expand into their historic millworks building in Depot Town, Ypsilanti.\u00a0 The grocery operates in a small space, but it has big impact on local projects.\u00a0 Noteworthy is their Local Honey Project, which has helped get Ypsilanti designated as a \u201cBee City USA\u201d.\u00a0 They have also installed many energy saving additions including a 60 panel solar array.\u00a0 As Depot Town\u2019s popularity continues to grow, Ypsilanti Food Co-op is studying ways to further serve its growing membership.\u00a0 Current membership is a single $200 payment.<\/p>\n

Soon Detroit will be adding a new food co-op in Detroit\u2019s historic North End, Detroit People\u2019s Food Co-op.\u00a0 The mission of\u00a0 the co-op is to serve the low and moderate income predominately African American community.\u00a0\u00a0 The vision of the new co-op will be part of the planned Detroit Food Commons, which will feature an incubator kitchen where culinary artists and food entrepreneurs can test and hone their concepts.\u00a0 The co-op will be linked to D-Town Farm, Detroit\u2019s largest urban farm, which is located in the city\u2019s Rouge Park.\u00a0 DPFC membership is $200.<\/p>\n

When traveling around our great state, stop in to see what these co-ops have done with the help of their members and support them as they work to strengthen their respective local economies.\u00a0 They are all indeed our home away from home and have put together a great story for us all to celebrate in our shared, soon to be 50 years of cooperation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ray Anderson\u00a0 l\u00a0 originally appeared in March 2020 PFC Newsletter As Peoples Food Co-op Ann Arbor nears its 50th Anniversary come July of 2021, it is interesting to reflect on the early co-op years of the late 1960\u2019s and the beginning of the 1970\u2019s which spawned a broad concern for healthy, natural foods commonly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-board-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTouring Michigan Food Co-ops - People's Food Co-op<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Touring Michigan Food Co-ops - People's Food Co-op\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Ray Anderson\u00a0 l\u00a0 originally appeared in March 2020 PFC Newsletter As Peoples Food Co-op Ann Arbor nears its 50th Anniversary come July of 2021, it is interesting to reflect on the early co-op years of the late 1960\u2019s and the beginning of the 1970\u2019s which spawned a broad concern for healthy, natural foods commonly […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"People's Food Co-op\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/peoplesfoodcoop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-19T21:53:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-19T22:04:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/staff.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"685\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kelly Williamson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PeoplesFoodCoop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PeoplesFoodCoop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kelly Williamson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kelly Williamson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/#\/schema\/person\/a537bfee258d6c70a1225fa56dbb53fd\"},\"headline\":\"Touring Michigan Food Co-ops\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-19T21:53:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-19T22:04:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/\"},\"wordCount\":1195,\"articleSection\":[\"Board News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/\",\"name\":\"Touring Michigan Food Co-ops - People's Food Co-op\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-19T21:53:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-19T22:04:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/#\/schema\/person\/a537bfee258d6c70a1225fa56dbb53fd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Touring Michigan Food Co-ops\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/\",\"name\":\"People's Food Co-op\",\"description\":\"People's Food Co-op\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/#\/schema\/person\/a537bfee258d6c70a1225fa56dbb53fd\",\"name\":\"Kelly Williamson\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/author\/boardadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Touring Michigan Food Co-ops - People's Food Co-op","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Touring Michigan Food Co-ops - People's Food Co-op","og_description":"by Ray Anderson\u00a0 l\u00a0 originally appeared in March 2020 PFC Newsletter As Peoples Food Co-op Ann Arbor nears its 50th Anniversary come July of 2021, it is interesting to reflect on the early co-op years of the late 1960\u2019s and the beginning of the 1970\u2019s which spawned a broad concern for healthy, natural foods commonly […]","og_url":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/","og_site_name":"People's Food Co-op","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/peoplesfoodcoop","article_published_time":"2020-07-19T21:53:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-19T22:04:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":685,"url":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/staff.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kelly Williamson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@PeoplesFoodCoop","twitter_site":"@PeoplesFoodCoop","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kelly Williamson","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/"},"author":{"name":"Kelly Williamson","@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/#\/schema\/person\/a537bfee258d6c70a1225fa56dbb53fd"},"headline":"Touring Michigan Food Co-ops","datePublished":"2020-07-19T21:53:27+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-19T22:04:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/"},"wordCount":1195,"articleSection":["Board News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/","url":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/","name":"Touring Michigan Food Co-ops - People's Food Co-op","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-07-19T21:53:27+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-19T22:04:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/#\/schema\/person\/a537bfee258d6c70a1225fa56dbb53fd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/2020\/07\/19\/touring-mi-food\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Touring Michigan Food Co-ops"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/#website","url":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/","name":"People's Food Co-op","description":"People's Food Co-op","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/#\/schema\/person\/a537bfee258d6c70a1225fa56dbb53fd","name":"Kelly Williamson","url":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/author\/boardadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12004,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12002\/revisions\/12004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesfood.coop\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}