Food Co-ops: Good Food and Good Prices

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And while the buyers and volunteers work on their friendly yet focused errands, the co-op's collective staffers fill in the gaps and keep the store running smoothly. Cathy, for one, restocks produce shelves and explains why it's important to carry organic as well as nonorganic produce: "There's a real difference ... folks who 'fast' on our nonorganic grapes get sick from the pesticide residue, while those who eat only organic fruits feel fine."

Mike-another staff member-takes a break from his record-keeping figurework to describe the purpose of Sevenanda: "We try to provide good food to anyone who wants it, member or nonmember." The co-op accomplishes this goal equitably-by using four buying scales: 20% off list price for members who work three hours a week in the store, 10% off for those who put in three hours a month, list price for dues-paying but nonworking members, and a 10% surcharge for off the street shoppers. Thus the hardest working"co-opers" can buy almost at cost, while even nonmembers reap some savings.

Sevenanda's service (the unusual name is Sanskrit for "Service is Blessedness") has affected the surrounding community as well. The entire area has taken the store as a nexus and is on the upswing. People are moving back into the area, and several new businesses-with names like C.W. Sprouting, New Leaf Book Distributors, and Dave's Bread-have sprung up. As Mike says, "We're a people exchange as well as a food and money exchange."

But the group's success didn't come easy. Unlike most working co-ops, Sevenanda was formed on a nondemocratic basis. An eastern religious community Ananda Marga founded the food store as a health service project. When-just one year ago-the growing community consciousness of some of the members clashed with the external control policies of the "parent" group, Sevenanda was caught in the agony of a coop crisis. The split had to be resolved in court . . . eventually the governing board disbanded itself and-for the first time in Sevenanda's history-the co-op held elections.

The store's staffers have also had to abandon a lot of their "New Age naivete" for some realistic business practices. This meant, for example, improving their accounting system (after redoing two years' worth of records for the IRS) and prosecuting-rather than forgiving-any shoplifters.

Such problems serve to demonstrate why co-ops have to change as they expand. Not all groups survive their growth pangs. But Sevenanda has made it . . . in style. In fact, the food store has just launched a separate whole food warehouse-Magnolia-that's delivering good food at good prices to co-op customers throughout the Southeast.

WEAVER'S WAY

While Sevenanda was founded on the ideals of nutritional and spiritual service, Weaver's Way-a prosperous middleclass food co-op in Philadelphia-was established solely to provide bargains. Jules Timmerman, Weaver's founder, created a moneysaving members-only food store through a lot of dedication . . . an ability to corral new membership fees to cover ongoing debts . . . and an amazing talent for finding suppliers of inexpensive food. At first, co=op members didn't have to work (a small paid staff ran the store), but simply handed in a $10 admission fee and started shopping. Weaver's Way quickly gained a booming enrollment.

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