Food Co-op 1/13/08
Present: Ron (facilitator), Sarah, Erica, Kim, Marcus, Randy, Dave, Hillary, Jessica, Ann (notes), Lara, Breanna, Lois, Michelle
1. First year check-in
Pros: lots of food, abundance, worked out communication kinks with farmers, bringing communities together, creating alternatives to existing systems of food acquisition, small carbon footprint, supporting local farmers, potential for teaching other groups, new faces, sharing recipes, low effort, bulk orders
Cons/areas improvement: dividing the work – lots end up on Randy, identifying the work that needs to be done, more food variety – fruit, nuts, making sure people pick up their food, making our information accessible, database that tracks peoples purchases and workshifts, more outreach to our immediate geographical neighbors, more people = more variety
2. Plugging in new people
- unclear how to sign up for workshifts
- having a schedule person(s) to help folks plug in? will this be too much work for one person? Rotating or overlapping system?
- outside of Sunday work opportunities
- roles: 1) coordinates workshifts 2) new member orientation contact 3) veggie room clean-up 4) newsletters (in boxes or email) 5) coordinating bulk orders 6) reminder phone calls 7) database designer 8) data entry 9) outreach
- Ann: new member contact person
Ron: coordinates workshifts
Dave: database management
3. Update on bulk
- doing another order?
- participation requires doing a workshift specifically related for bulk
4. Where are we going?- distributed network of chapters throughout the area, based on protocols/system that we develop
- do we want to build towards a storefront operation or keep it more as a buyers club?
- growth requires more responsibility, managerial positions, food storage
- do we want to add a mark-up to support people to manage the operation if we grow larger?
- network of small localized groups v. one large operation
- more networking, interacting, hanging out
- consider making shifts with 6 people
5. Current
- we’re up to about $250 per week
- between 30 and 50 people active
- start having meeting the 2nd Sunday of the month at 4pm, next meeting February 10th