Growing our Leadership

The Richmond Food Co-op grows every day.  Our recognition spreads, new members sign up, and current members become more involved.  Over the past year, this venture has expanded from a living room meeting of a dozen interested participants into a community of nearly 300 member/owners.  Our earned media record, relationships with national cooperative organizations, and popular chalkboard membership campaign all tout our success.  We were also just awarded a $10,000 seed grant from the Co-op Initiative, a cooperative assistance nonprofit.

Not bad, Richmond Food Co-op.

Now we are at the point to grow our leadership core.  This month, the board expands from five to seven members, and we will add a project manager position. 

I write to speak to the excitement and importance of the implementation of a paid project manager.  We have made incredible strides as a volunteer-run start-up.  The Co-op’s marketing and planning is a consistent part of many of our lives.  And now we find ourselves with a burgeoning business on our hands, requiring daily attention and maintenance.  Our attendance (thanks to a scholarship) at the Consumer Cooperative Management Association’s conference back in June taught us how tightly formal project management and successful start-up progression are linked.

Michele Lord’s transition from Board Chair to Project Manager is natural and necessary.  She has been at the helm of the Co-op, from idea to implementation, and is currently managing all member administration and communications.  Her new role will help advance the Co-op in several critical ways:

•                Increase our membership base

•                Strengthen the power of our member committees

•                Identify new allies and sources of support in the community

•                Stay connected with the national food co-op organizations

The Co-op is growing and growing up.  We celebrate this benchmark of our first hire as a sign of progress and commitment to opening this business as soon as possible.  We are on our way!

-Susan Hill, Board Chair

Earth Day Principles

Earth Day.  Earth Week.  Earth Month.  Earth Year.  

As this formal celebration of our home planet winds down, let's reflect on our actions, decisions, and commitments to the environment.  We are indeed charged with the responsibility of making changes that will help align our values with our conduct.  Our industrial food system as it is today is loud, big, and destructive.  We know that.  Food cooperatives remediate this impact by exchanging it for locally grown, sustainable, healthy, happy produce and products. 



A big welcome to Giles, one of our new Earth Day member/owners



It’s time to do your best for our bitty part on the Earth called Richmond.  If you haven’t yet become a member/owner of the Richmond Food Co-op, the time is now.  For those of you who have already made this commitment, refer a friend.  Act out your Earth Day principles.

Eat:  Fresh food.  Eat it.

Act:  Don’t stand by the sidelines.

Recycle:  Co-ops are great recyclers.  

Together:  Cooperation is where it’s at.

Healthy:  Food. Mind. Body.  

Decision:  If you have the choice, make the right one.

Affordable:  Shop at the Co-op, knowing you are paying a price that’s as low as possible.

Yours:  And Mine.  And Ours.  The Co-op belongs to us all.

Growing our membership opens our doors. 

Next year let’s celebrate Earth Day together at the Co-op!

I Joined the Co-op Because...

You've heard a lot of compelling reasons from us, your Co-op Board and Steering Committee, as to why you should become a member/owner of the Richmond Food Co-op.

Now it's time to bring in the voices of our Founding Member/Owners, those that have taken a leap for local, by becoming one of the first 100.

I JOINED THE RICHMOND FOOD CO-OP BECAUSE...

“It's long overdue in Richmond.  I have been a member in a co-op in another state in the past and loved being able to shape where I shop.”

“I have been dreaming of a co-op in Richmond ever since I moved here. It is about damn time!”

"To take part in something I believe in, healthy local food options.  I am a local farmer and nurseryman myself, and I understand the importance of a non-csa and non "Saturday" farmers market-related buying experience in Richmond.”

“We have big concerns about the sourcing of our food by big grocery chains.” 

 “I have always tried to eat healthy foods and support local businesses.  I'm a single working mother who is short on time, but now that my children are getting older I feel like I have the time to get involved in causes that mean something to me... joining the co-op as a member/owner seems like a good step in that direction.”

"I support community involvement, local farmers.... I love healthy food all year long. I want to be able to get good food not just during seasonal farmers' markets but anytime.”

These are the voices of your friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family members.  They have joined a community dedicated to eating fresh, healthy food that supports our local economy. 

And finally, a couple of quotes from folks who likely would have joined the Co-op too:

“We shall have no better conditions in the future if we are satisfied with all those which we have at present.”  -Thomas Edison

"Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is?"  -Frank Scully

Come out on this limb with us...where the VA fresh fruit is...

The sun is shining on Richmond now - so let's bloom!

Wide World of Co-ops







Maps tell the best stories.  And this map is making a couple of points:

1)  Richmond can support a co-op.

• Our smaller VA cities (whom we love) are showing us up.  Take a look:
• Harrisonburg, VA: Population 49,973
• Roanoke, VA: Population 96,714
• Neighboring states have cities comparable and larger in size to us that have thriving food co-ops:
• Durham, NC: 233,252
• Greensboro, NC: Population 273,425

Richmond, VA:  Population 205,533

2)  Richmond needs a co-op. 

Looking at Richmond on this map, it's clear that we are smack in an underserved area.  There are 7 food co-ops in North Carolina and 5 in Maryland. Virginia's capital needs to be represented in the co-op landscape.

So we're doing something about it.  As we write this post, we are 75 members strong and barely a week into our membership campaign.  We have the momentum, and we are funneling it into action.

Let's be the cartographers of our own food destiny. Together we will put Richmond on the map and help fill that hole!

Why a co-op?

Dear Richmond,

I know we’re hungry.  And it’s time to feed the fire in our bellies.

We have done a good job bringing more local food options to Richmond.  It’s happening in conjunction with a broader growth and enlivening of our city center.  But we can continue to improve our food access and build our community with the birth of a very special business model:  the cooperative.

Imagine a grocery store with a bottom line of providing food options that are as local, as organic, and as affordable as possible.  Then picture yourself voting on who runs the place and ultimately what stocks the shelves.  If you decide to become a member of the Richmond Food Co-op, you will have an equal share in the business.  We all will.  For a co-op is communally and democratically owned, so as members we all get a voice in the operations.

This can’t happen without you!  The Richmond Food Co-op depends on members to open and to operate, and we need to grow our community of support.  This is a unique opportunity to join a start-up venture that has the potential to change Richmond’s food landscape in a critical and meaningful way.

Today, so much of what we eat has already been decided for us.  The best of intentions to eat healthy, local foods can be undermined by a poor grocery store selection or prohibitive prices.  We can, however, assume control of our food buying options and not wait for others to do it for us. 

Dear Richmond:  We are fired up to renovate our great city neighborhoods, beautify our riverfront, and expand our arts scene.  Let’s build on this momentum and make our food access richer, more varied, and more affordable.  I know we’re hungry.  So let’s eat!

Cooperatively,
Susan Hill