Cooperative Principles

Founded on the principles of private initiative, entrepreneurship and self-employment, underpinned by the values of democracy, equality and solidarity, the co-operative movement can help pave the way to a more just and inclusive economic order. 

-Kofi Annan

At the heart of any cooperative venture there is a core set of guiding principles - the guidelines that help put our values into practice. The International Co-operative Alliance lays out a framework of 7 guiding principles that stem from the Rochdale Pioneers who started the movement in 1844.

These principles serve as the foundation upon which the Richmond Food Co-op is laying its roots. In the coming months we will be taking a deep dive into each -- bringing you a monthly blog post reflection on how our efforts put the principles in action.

Stay tuned and stay cooperative!

-Michele Lord, Co-Founder & Project Manager

Give the Gift of the Co-op!

Co-op Friends! What a thrill it is to realize that we have doubled our member numbers since last holiday season! In order to keep up our momentum, consider this year buying a membership for someone with a cooperative spirit on your gift list. For two consecutive years, my partner Nathan and our daughter Isadora have given the gift of the co-op to close friends whom we knew were committed to ethical consumer practices. Rather than to distribute gifts that we can surely thrive without, why not give someone a gift that invites them into our cooperative venture, a gift that promises more sustainable ways of nurturing ourselves, our communities, and our environments?

This year, co-op gift parcels can be purchased at three of the Co-op’s favorite local shops in Richmond: 

Bizarre Market located during the holiday season upstairs in Chop Suey Books at 1317 West Cary Street, where a small abundance of locally made holiday treasures will delight you – from tree ornaments to chopping blocks, from jewelry to poster art. 

Harvest Grocery & Supply at 1531 W Main Street, where local and sustainable food and drink are accompanied by beautiful housewares and cookbooks. 

Na Nin at 101 S Addison Street, where you will discover earthy fragrances, artisanal body products, and a finely curated selection of new and vintage clothing. 

Pick up a co-op gift membership at any of these fantastic local businesses as you peruse some of the very best goods that RVA has to offer. 

And of course you can always purchase a gift membership online! We will make arrangements for delivery before Christmas.

Happy holiday, friends!

-Julietta Singh, Co-op Board Member

Crowdsource Us

The Co-op recently launched an IndieGoGo crowd with a goal of raising $10,000 to match the seed grant funding we received from the Food Co-op Initiative. 

Here's the rundown of why getting this funding, and ultimately getting the Co-op itself up and running, benefits us all.

Co-ops Are Great Because...

They offer a member-owner model that allows people to shop with their values and benefit from it. The Richmond Food Co-op is focused on making it easy to get healthy, sustainable and affordable food. Even better? The cooperative brings together an engaged community to make it happen. We are a truly community grown venture united by a common vision of creating a better food future for Richmond.

Simply put, we are working to open a full-service grocery store that stocks real food that you can trust. 

Bonus: 

There is a democratic process that governs the business which means each member has real impact.

Start-up co-ops that open are more likely to succeed than traditional businesses because there is already a loyal and invested customer base.

Food + Community = Co-op 

The Richmond Food Co-op will be a 100% locally owned, 100% locally governed grocery store focused 100% on supporting our local farmers, economy and community; not to mention increasing affordability of good food through a member/owner model.

This Co-op is Great Because...

This idea grew from two friends, to a group of 15 pioneering steering committee members, to a family of nearly 500 Member/Owners which continues to grow every day. We are half way to our goal of 1000 member/owners to open!

There is momentum and interest fueling this venture forward - our roots are strong and we have a large social media following, earned media coverage, and recognition from the larger cooperative community.

We are an organized and results driven group with 7 talented Board Members,a committed and passionate Project Manager and a dedicated volunteer force.

Richmond is Ready!

We have recently received a $10,000 seed grant to help fund our start up costs and we need your help to match the funds! 

Help Fund THIS Campaign Because...

This venture demonstrates that when self-responsibility and care for community come together great things happen. We urge you to lend your support and contribute to make this great thing happen.

Plus there are some great things you can look forward to with your donation - from stylish Co-op wear to yummy dinners with Co-op Board members. 

Like What You've Heard?

Watch this quick video for even more compelling reasons to give.

Contribute today!

Don't forget to tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell your neighbors! Shout it from the rooftops. Help us get out the word about the Co-op (and the campaign). It's a quick and easy way to help get the Richmond Food Co-op open. 

Cooperation & Coffee

My friend Craig likes to make up his own rules. He started a self-sustaining non profit, Richmond Cycling Corps., that offers kids from rough neighborhoods a chance to experience the joys of cycling. Real cycling. This program is funded directly by and operated out of Richmond Bicycle Studio . RBS is basically a high-end custom fit bike shop complete with its own life style brand (Phaup St. Journal) and indoor training facility. The idea is the people who can afford high-end bicycles can get the best bicycle on the market with all proceeds going to the RCC. The shop is beautiful, repurposed 100 year old barn beams, salvaged iconic neighborhood signs , all hand worked. A few years ago he wanted to bring more people into the shop. He asked if we would be interested in subletting the back of the shop to operate a kiosk. For us, it represented an opportunity to try out a different version of our experience. We ended up with a pour-over bar, a skylight, a record player, and 2 leather couches, the Kickstand. In exchange for nominal rent we were able to provide a second option for our community connection . While I initially thought of the kickstand as our tasting room/ think tank, I soon realized what we actually had was the “model home “ for scott’s addition. All day you would see building owners meeting with people who had ideas . Ideas about brewing beer. Ideas about flipping over giant tires. Ideas about Massive event spaces/catering facilities . Actually, several different people had ideas about brewing beer. They all liked to talk about what these old spaces could be. Here they could look through our door and see a second modern business in action with RBS. The Kickstand was better than a traditional model home because here is an actual business , 2 in fact, that seem to be making a go of it.

Never mind the fact that making money was not part of our plan for the Kickstand. Our business then featured an over crowded café and a back alley anonymous roasting operation. We were making great coffee, winning accolades , and learning vast amounts of information about our craft. We wanted a place to slow down and connect with the people who were interested in our coffee.. We were meeting other small batch roasters around the country and world and finding our product to be on the level and we wanted the make our cupping’s accessible to the public . Adding to the hustle and bustle of Addison st. didn’t make sense. At our Addison St. café, the barista rarely have the chance to interact with guests in more than a passing manner due to the volume of and diversity of offerings, but at the Kickstand we could talk to you about the coffee we were preparing for you. We could try new brew methods and share a chemex with guests. We never advertise, so basically as long as it wasn’t a money pit we would come out ahead. If you were to ask me if the neighborhood could support a coffee shop then I would say no, but for us it was perfect.

During one of those idea sessions our benevolent landlord, Scott Coleman, made it known that if we were interested in the space next door, it was ours. It was a no brainer, of course we wanted a place where we could invite the public to be a part of our process start to finish , where they can witness the workings of a modern coffee laboratory. We had organically grown from roasting on site to paying rent on a warehouse and rent on a tasting room so when the time came tocombine the two the end cost was not a great leap for us. Now we are able to generate revenue and build customer knowledge of our product in addition to roasting a larger amount of coffee beans. Recently the Scott Coleman presented us with the opportunity to run a café at 26 Morris St. effectively doing for our food operations what Summit Ave. did for our coffee. Since we are already leasing a commercial kitchen, we are able to offset the rent increase by consolidation. Sustainable organic growth has been made possible by building relationships that are mutually beneficial. And that is the point of cooperation. 

-Zach Crinklbine, Lamplighter Roasting Co.

Join us this Saturday, Jan 18th 3-5pm at Lamplighter's Summit Ave Roastery for Coffee Cupping & Cooperation!

Cooperative Thanksgiving Donation, Part 2: Thank You!

No matter how you say it, grace can transform an ordinary meal into a celebration—of family, love, and gratitude. -Anne Lamott

The Lovely Lockhart Family

This Thanksgiving offered the Co-op community the opportunity to come together and form a few new traditions - a potluck celebration and social, and the start of the Cooperative Donation. Like all things Co-op these came together because of a group effort to take action around shared values. Gratitude is a core value for this community.

The three recipients of the Cooperative Donations came from across the city (Northside, East End & SouthWest) and feasted with their families after a hard year. A single mother and PTA Vice-President, working multiple jobs while getting her degree; a great-grandmother whose house tragically burned down last Christmas; a single mother who has struggled with housing security for years; the common thread between these families is that each nomination stressed the ways that the nominee took great responsibility for caring for their families despite hard circumstances. Being able to provide a cooperatively created meal for these families is a testament of what this community can do together. We even had a sponsorship for one of the families to become Co-op Member/Owners. This Co-op is your Co-op - so thank you.

A very special thank you to Lockhart Family Farm (turkeys!), Shalom Farms (potatoes, kale, salad greens, carrots), Origins Farm (acorn squash), Milton's Local Harvest (pork belly) WPA Bakery (pies) and Costello Personal Services (sweet potato casserole) for making these meals possible. 

A Lockhart turkey prepared by Tim Vidra Eats

Milton's Local Harvest Pork Belly

Origins Acorn Squash

WPA Pecan Pie

Give the Gift of the Co-op

We are excited this holiday season to introduce our Give the Gift of the Co-op Campaign! Our Co-op Membership Gift comes with a tote bag; a welcome card; a bumper sticker; and a brochure, all beautifully wrapped in a burlap bag tied with red ribbon and a sprig of rosemary. You can purchase these gift packages at all of our upcoming Co-op events this holiday season, through the Co-op website, and at the Bizarre Market on the second floor of Chop Suey Bookstore in Carytown throughout the month of December. 

By giving the gift of the Co-op, you are not simply giving someone a membership. You are offering them access to a warm and growing community in Richmond that cares about our collective health and our environment. You are supporting local farmers, local businesses, and local activists who are striving to create a healthier and more equitable society. And you are broadening our member base to ensure that the Richmond Food Co-op becomes a vital part of a more inclusive and more responsible city. This is a gift that will continue to benefit many for years to come by offering your loved ones community, health, discounts on local products, and a voice in the democratic life of the Co-operative. 

As the holiday season in North America becomes increasingly defined by disposable gifts, ecologically unsound practices, and labor exploitation at home and abroad, let’s make sustainable choices that benefit the health of our families, our communities, and the planet this season and well beyond. The gift of the Co-op is a perfect way to begin!

-Julietta Singh, Co-op Board Member

Cooperative Thanksgiving Donation

This Thanksgiving, the Richmond Food Co-op will be sponsoring a Cooperative Thanksgiving Donation. We are teaming up with Lockhart Family Farm, Shalom Farms, WPA Bakery, Catering By Jill, Costello Personal Services, and Party Perfect to create a few cooperatively delicious meals.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Lockhart Family, some creative thinking, a cooperative community with shared values, and a little elbow grease, we are able to provide three families with a Thanksgiving heritage breed turkey and all the trimmings to go with it.

There are many initiatives throughout the state that aim to fight hunger, however, many families fall shy of standard qualifications. This nomination process aims to make that net a little wider. If you know a family who has found themselves in an unfamiliar circumstance, is experiencing unforeseen challenges, or is especially in need this holiday season, then sign them up! 

How can you get involved and help?

• Nominate a family
• help prepare and deliver the meals* 
• sponsor a Co-op membership for the recipient*, or 
• contribute a donation*

*Email Brandon@richmondfoodcoop.com

Nominations are due by Wednesday, November 20. Recipients will be notified by Friday, November 22, and meals will be delivered Thanksgiving morning.

Lets give back - the Co-op way!

-Brandon Walton, Co-op Member/Owner

A SPECIAL THANKS TO:

WPA Bakery

Lockhart Family Farm

Shalom Farms

Party Perfect

Catering By Jill Inc.

COSTELLO PERSONAL SERVICES - PRIVATE CHEF - (804-241-2401)

Report from Austin

This past weekend I had the opportunity to participate in CCMA (the Consumer Cooperative Management Association)'s national conference in Austin, Texas. I would like to offer a great big thank you to CCMA and the Bowers Fund for supporting our startup venture and providing the Richmond Food Co-op with a scholarship to attend!

Taking a tour of our host Wheatsville Food Co-op 

There were roughly 450 people in attendance, representing over 100 co-ops from all over the country. I met representatives from other startups. I met managers of small stores turning million dollar sales out of spaces less than 3000 square feet. I met board members of large co-ops serving tens of thousands of members, with annual profits of over $30 million. I met those who have successfully been through the process of gathering a community together with the shared vision of opening a store. I met others whose communities have a longstanding history of co-ops; whose issues, concerns and successes we are many years away from knowing. There were co-ops for us to aspire to be, and those who can teach us from their lessons learned.

The breadth and scope of this conference speaks to the larger community that we, together, have joined. When you become a member/owner of the Richmond Food Co-op you are making a stand to support our neighborhoods, city and region; you are also becoming a participant in a larger movement. We have been welcomed with open arms into a community dedicated to supporting each other's growth and impact on a larger scale. During Mark Winne's keynote speech he stated, "It's not enough to be good food consumers, you need to be good food citizens." Together this call to action becomes feasible.

A key takeaway for me was that co-ops don't "sell" memberships - they invite people to take action around shared values. There is an authenticity to the cooperative model. Co-ops start - and succeed - because of participation. As member/owners we have an open invitation to participate in a transformative experience. I invite all of you to join the 200+ member/owners of the Richmond Food Co-op in our shared action.

T-shirts!

Ready to wear that Co-op pride?! 

One of the connections that came out of our participation in the i.e.* Competition last month was meeting the creator of Bonfire Funds (a finalist last year) - a new company that pairs crowd-sourcing with a t-shirt company. The result is the launch of our Co-op t-shirt campaign. For the next 2 weeks you will have the opportunity to purchase our very cool limited edition Co-op t-shirt (designed by the ever awesome Liana Mensh), with $15 from every shirt going toward the Co-op. We need to sell 50 shirts during this period for the order to go through - so make sure to act fast and spread the word.

There is even a free shipping option! If you use shipping code izmwz1844 you can pick up your shirts at our Co-op picnic at Bryan Park on June 23rd.

Visit the site now to buy your shirt: https://www.bonfirefunds.com/fund/richmond-food-co-op

It starts with you! Let the world know.

Richmond Food Co-op "Goals for 2013"

We are so thrilled to bring in the New Year! We will have plenty of events that we hope will help you to get to know us better. One event we are looking forward to is our meet and greet January 31st at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery! Stand by for all the details early in 2013.

As we head into the new year, we here at the Richmond Food Co-op have some resolutions of our own we'd like to share and several of them you can help us achieve!

Richmond Food Co-op 2013 Resolutions

1. 800 members by September 1st 2013. Our membership drive will begin early in January with more details to come!
2. Building partnerships with local business who support our vision.
3. 2000 followers on the Richmond Food Co-op Facebook Page!
4. Growing our community and spreading the word through member-hosted Pot Luck parties.
5. Keeping and growing money in our local economy through community investments and 200 member loans.
6. 1000 followers on the Richmond Food Co-op Twitter Page!
7. Host 12 member and non-member "Meet and Greets" (remember the 1st one is January 31st).
8. Supporting as many local farms and artisan food sources as possible.
9. Growing our network of volunteer and support; media, sales, and event experts.
10. Have our physical space picked out and defined as early as we can in 2013.
11. Once we've defined the space, getting those doors open for shopping!

So to say we have some lofty resolutions is an understatement, but it will ultimately start with YOU, our members. We have some exciting ideas to help our efforts once our memberships start rolling in — some of which involve a Kickstarter campaign and a Member Loan Drive. More to come!

So with that, all of us here at the Richmond Food Co-op wish you a Happy New Year — with much prosperity and good health in 2013! We are so excited to get to meet all of you in the community.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the Richmond Food Co-op blog; we're so glad to see you! While we continue to get things rolling, please take a moment to look around and make yourself at home. Great places to start are our About page, FAQ's page.

Keep up with Richmond Food Co-op news, events and general going-ons by following this blog. Enter in your email and press submit above, or add us to your reader by clicking the orange RSS button in your sidebar and choosing your preferred method for following.

We're always happy to hear from you — please feel free to contact us any time via Richmondfoodcoop@gmail.com or call us: 804-384-0583.