Buy Club Meeting 4 July, 9:30 am @ Burgerville, 2200 E Fourth Plain Blvd
Mac Rory Bowman
Clark College at Burgerville #27, 2200 E Fourth Plain Blvd. The
purpose of this meeting is to discuss the future of the VFC buying
club and what people would like to see.
Among the immediate options I see are
1. Discontinuing it completely
2. Continuing it as is, but limiting new members
3. Expanding to include more than one location and more products
4. Expanding to a storefront location with more products
5. Something else to be proposed
When first founded, the buying club was intended as an organizing tool
for the Vancouver Food Cooperative, but was de-emphasized in early
2006, as VFC was incorporating. It has continued at Rory & Anja's
house as a sort of vestigal organ and community service, but ever-
increasing participation with no end in sight is becoming a burden.
Since my personal goal is VFC's original vision of a cooperative
grocery in west Vancouver, I would like to see VFC re-visit their
decision and organize a small retail space which would build from the
buying club, but current leadership seems enchanted by the larger
visions of consultants and those in the outlying areas who already
have access to other grocery stores.
A very common way for food co-ops to emerge is from buying clubs. All
three of the surviving Portland food co-ops began this way, including
Alberta Cooperative Grocery which opened five years ago. Such a
cooperative could focus on special orders, a modest stock of dry goods
and weekly deliveries from local farmers and other producers, using
volunteer labor to augment other food systems in the area such as the
Vancouver Farmer's Market. By opening only a few hours each week for
pick-ups and stock-ups (with possible delivery), this model seems the
most logical to Rory.
Another model worth considering is a "shared space" model such as used
by Proper Eats cafe in St. John's. Proper Eats is not a cooperative
but operates a modest grocery store in the front, with a cafe in the
rear. Positioning itself as a terrific source for local and organic
groceries, as well as a cultural center with music and "free speech"
movie screenings. This would seem a logical model to share a
commercial kitchen with one or more like-minded caterers. The store
would not necessarily be open all hours, but the space could be used
in a variety of ways as needed. Grower's Market in Eugene uses a model
similar to this, with two four-hour windows for pick-up, with an
office building as the main use of their facility.
Would local CSA's like a common drop-off point? Would farmer's market
vendors like a place to bring unsold produce? Would local neighbors
just like a place to bring and exchange their extra home-grown fruits,
eggs and vegetables? From bulk purchases of produce for home
processing to the sharing of whole-animals from local farms to a
delivery point for artisan breads or "grab-and-go" salads, what do you
imagine such a space being?
Please post your thoughts and possibilities to http://groups.google.com/group/vfc-buyersclub
and watch their for pages and other info or ideas.
The logic behind meeting on the morning of July 4 is to make it as
convenient as possible for folks to attend before holiday festivities.
Glenna Rose
rosemary, sage, oregano, lemon balm, peppermint, fennel, (maybe bay
leaves from Helen); just email and tell me what you want, and I'll
bring them Friday.
Glenna
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