Wisconsin has a long history of social co-operatives. According to Wisconsin Hometown Stories (1), in 1841 Anne Pickett, residing near Lake Mills, pooled milk from neighboring farmers to be made into cheese in her kitchen and subsequently sold that cheese to people from Milwaukee. The first co-operative grain elevator was started in Madison, Wisconsin in 1857. The now famous Organic Valley was started by a group of organic farmers in La Farge, Wisconsin in 1988(2) and the list goes on. Given the state’s historical inclination to lean toward collectives, it seems natural that several successful co-operatives have appeared in one of Milwaukee’s long time working class neighborhoods, Riverwest. While the social implications of co-operatives can be debated, the benefits demonstrated are far reaching, according to David G. Rand, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. “All of us engage in public goods games, on both large and small scales,” Rand says. “Climate change is a huge public goods game: If each person does his or her part to conserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions, it benefits us all. On a more local level, public goods games include volunteering on school boards and helping to maintain public facilities in your community…”(3) A little co-operative in Riverwest is one of the public goods games that does more than simply sell food; it has helped organize a community to create a robust good food movement. As the Riverwest Co-Op logo states, “Food for People – Not for Profit.”
The Riverwest Co-Operative Café and Grocery, located at 733 E. Clarke Street, is a natural foods grocery store and café that has been open to the public since November 3rd, 2001. Situated in the heart of a beautiful and diverse community replete with nineteenth century architecture, a multitude of parks and community gardens, the Riverwest Co-Op is community-based, member-owned, volunteer-run, and offers a sustainable shopping experience. When you purchase goods at the Riverwest Co-Op, you have access to knowledge about where your food comes from and how that food is grown while the Co-Op keeps their profit margins just high enough to cover their overhead. In a true co-operative spirit, everyone participates and everyone voices their ideas in a model of self-governance and collective decision-making.
The evidence is in the pudding, literally. You can find a laundry list of local items at the Riverwest Co-Op. Here are just some of the local names you will find at the store; Mt. Sterling Co-operative Creamery, Wisconsin Honey Cooperative, Sugar River Dairy, Castle Rock Organic Farms, Growing Power, Yuppie Farms, Caroline’s, Mamasita’s Tamales, Black Bear, and Organic Valley products. The Riverwest Co-Operative supports local businesses and food producers and has remained loyal to them. This in turn keeps shipping costs down and saves money for the collective membership. So, why should you become a member of the famously local Riverwest Co-Op? Why not shop at the large box stores? Well, here are a couple of reasons.
-- Locally grown food obviously has a smaller carbon footprint than out-of-state grown food due to shorter transportation imperatives.
-- Keeping family farms operating is important. Supporting family farms keeps rural landscape alive and robust, and helps keep farmland from being turned into sprawl and toxic waste.
-- Spending your money where you live keeps your community thriving and ultimately your money comes back to you at a greater percentage than if you had spent it at a big box store.
-- When out-of-towners look for local flavor, a visit to the Riverwest Co-Op is more authentic than shopping at a big box grocery store similar to one they can find at home. People don't travel to Paris looking for Australian wine. If you come to the Riverwest Co-Op, you will be able to taste the bounty of our Wisconsin organic farms as well as meet the local Co-opians.
-- Milwaukee is particularly blessed with a booming borderline community of small organic farms and food producers.
-- And, if all of this is not reason enough, think of the health and safety of you and your family. Small, local farms do not use hormones, and often raise grass fed or free-range animals and organically grown vegetables.
-- The Riverwest Co-Op knows your farmer and knows where to ask questions; the shorter the route from the farm to your table (at home or in their cafe), the more knowledge you have at hand and the more flavor you have on your plate.
(1) September 26, 2010 http://www.wisconsinstories.org/
(2) September 26, 2010 http://www.organicvalley.coop/who-is-your-farmer/heartland/
(3) Published September 2009, “Science” - Harvard University and the Stockholm School of Economics.
Comments