Park Slope Food Coop is Organic, Cheap, Trendy

Cooperative Members Work, Get Inexpensive, Locally-Grown Health Food

Sep 3, 2009

A cooperative supermarket, it's often the butt of "PC" jokes and NY Times articles. Park Slope Food Coop members enjoy cheap, organic health food, in exchange for work.

Founded in 1973, Brooklyn's Park Slope Food Coop (or just the “Coop” as it’s often called) is America’s largest member-owned-and-operated health food cooperative. Its 14,000-plus members benefit from food bills that are, on average, 20% to 40% cheaper than had they bought the same products at a profit-making store around the corner. It's so famous it's been written up more than once in the New York Times.

For years, everything at the non-profit Park Slope Food Coop has been marked up only by 20% or less, far cheaper than at a regular supermarket. Their online price list for produce tells the tale.

The "secret ingredient" to the Coop's inexpensive prices is that it is nonprofit, uses local suppliers, and relies on the labor of its members.

You have to be a member to shop here. Period. Members must maintain a regular schedule of work shifts. Every adult in a household should work 2 hours and 45 minutes every four weeks.

Members include octogenarians and recent college grads. While most members live within a local walk or car ride, some have been known to travel for miles, and even out of state. Like co-housing, the Coop is non-denominational, has no political or religious affiliation, and is open to all.

Organic and Health Food, Cheap Prices in NYC

There’s wonderful locally-grown (within 500 miles) produce in the fruits and vegetable isle. The store has hundreds of healthful products, from locally made tofu and Steve’s Key Lime Pie to gluten-free pasta.

In their own words, the Coop carries “a wide variety of products, including local, organic and conventionally grown produce; pasture-raised and grass-fed meat; free-range, organic and kosher poultry; fair-traded chocolate and coffee; wild and sustainably farmed fish; supplements and vitamins; imported and artisan cheese; freshly baked bread; bulk grains and spices; environmentally safe cleaning supplies.”

Members swear by the freshness of the produce. Members with specific food concerns — for instance, avoiding wheat or dairy — will find a wide array of products at prices cheaper than most commercial health food stores. Organic and some kosher food is also available.

Members pay by cash, check if pre-arranged, and debit card, but not credit card.

Park Slope Food Co-op "Culture"

Most people one sees working at the Coop — stocking the shelves, organizing the cabbages, unloading delivery trucks, doing checkout and cash register jobs, mopping the floor, whatever—are volunteer members, not paid staff.

In addition to the Coop’s overall sense of community, it sponsors concerts, dances, cooking lessons, classes on homeopathy and first aid, periodic clothing swaps, and meetings on food and environmental issues.

True, there are lots of systems and "rules." Some people poke fun at it for being politically correct. But nothing succeeds like success,; the Coop has survived for 30 years and has thousands of dedicated members.

“Working at the Food Coop:” Swapping Time for Access to Cheap Organic Health Food

Joining the Coop is a household affair. Everyone over 18 and living in the household must join. All Coop members sign up for a shift or “work slot.” Most join squads.

A work slot might involve stacking shelves with canned goods, cutting cheese, weighing spices, cleaning the floor, breaking down boxes, restocking the frozen goods area, working the cash register, doing child care, walking people to their cars and returning empty carts, or office work.

Park Slope Food Coop: Brooklyn's Most Progressive "Green" Supermarkets

For environmental reasons, plastic and paper shopping bags are no longer provided. Coop members generally bring their own bags (or buy one there), or use one of hundreds of recycled boxes available. Everyone bags or boxes their own groceries at checkout.

A childcare room upstairs serves up to 12 children of members who are working or shopping, allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Joining the Food Co-op

Joining costs a non-refundable $25.00 Joining Fee plus a $100.00 investment loan to the Coop, refundable upon request if a member leaves. Fees are reduced under certain circumstances, for instance for those receiving food stamps or on Medicaid.

To join. one must register ahead and attend the two-hour New Member Orientation, held four times a week.

Shopping at Park Slope's Food Coop

The copyright of the article Park Slope Food Coop is Organic, Cheap, Trendy in Healthy Cooking is owned by Ellen Freudenheim. Permission to republish Park Slope Food Coop is Organic, Cheap, Trendy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.