What it means to be a member of a Co-op

by Kenna Eaton, General Manager

Recently a group of people chose to create an incident at The Food Co-op to publicize their opposition to the mask mandates decreed by the state and county. We sympathize with people wanting to have their voices heard. Co-ops, though, are founded on the principle of working together, and purposely creating conflict over masks unnecessarily divides people. It does not help our community.

Being a member of a cooperative has both benefits and responsibilities. The benefits of membership in our Food Co-op are both personal and social. The personal benefits include special ordering, special deals, and member dividends—and of course, a great little store with an amazing organic produce department. The social benefits, which many members see as at least as important, include supporting local farmers and vendors, keeping the local economy in local hands, a more sustainable economy, and the camaraderie of meeting up with friends at the “Coop.”

Being a member-owner also comes with responsibility. Members are expected to treat staff and each other civilly and respectfully, and they must follow rules and procedures. Just as being a citizen of the US doesn’t mean we can disregard the laws, being a member of a co-op doesn’t mean we can ignore the rules. That is part of the social contract we share—there are no rights without responsibilities.

Just as members must follow the rules of the Co-op, the Co-op must follow the rules, mandates, and laws put in place by our government. If The Food Co-op fails to meet the rules and expectations, we can be shut down. In this time of pandemic, those rules and expectations can change as new data emerges, so the situation is often in flux, but the state and county currently mandate that masks must be worn in stores.

Cooperatives are democratic organizations, and just as in democratic government, co-op members vote for representatives, empowering them to act on behalf of the membership. In our cooperative, member-owners elect board members, who in turn create policies to direct the cooperative. The board empowers the general manager to run the cooperative within those parameters. And they in turn create rules and procedures to make our co-op a safe and civil space, and everyone is expected to follow the rules for the good of all the members.

In a cooperative, that is our goal—the common good. Sometimes we don’t all agree on what that common good looks like, but in a cooperative, as in a democracy, working for the common good sometimes means we accept policies or outcomes that we might not have chosen ourselves.

It has been a challenging year for all of us. Many changes have been made to life as we used to know it, but operational changes made at the Co-op were put in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our staff as well as our customers. And those changes were done in the hopes of being able to do what we do best, working together to nourish our community with healthy food in a clean, safe space. We couldn’t be more excited about seeing the light at the end of this tunnel, and for when we can once again see everyone’s smiling faces!