Creating New Food Cooperatives with an Equity Focus
Wednesday May 31, 2023
10:00 – 11:30 am ET
Zoom meeting
Captioning and interpretation available
Register Here
Co-sponsored by Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders
Food cooperatives have long been filling gaps in food access in communities. Many of the food co-ops organizing across the country today are focused on bringing equity to the local food system and breaking down decades of food apartheid – a history of systematic segregation that has resulted in many Black and other historically marginalized communities living in food deserts or without access to quality, nutritious, and affordable food. Food cooperatives are a powerful tool in building local economies. Because they are organized and owned by the community, profits stay local and are returned to members, and cooperatives are likely to buy directly from local producers and engage in community building activities.
Join CFF to learn about two justice-oriented food co-ops in the region: the Central Brooklyn Food Co-op (CBFC), a startup food co-op working to open a store in Central Brooklyn, and Kingston Food Co-op, a recently opened co-op in Kingston, NY. You’ll also hear from Food Co-op Initiative, a nonprofit organization that trains and supports co-op organizers across the country and has worked with CBFC and Kingston Food Co-op.
Come learn about food cooperatives and the role the current wave of new food co-ops is having on growing food sovereignty, the local food food system, and economies in local communities. You will also hear about the role of philanthropy in co-op development, including stories of how CBFC and Kingston Co-op’s journeys so far have been impacted by access to philanthropy.
Speakers:
- Faye Mack, Food Cooperative Initiative
- Keyvious Avery, Kingston Food Coop
- Rae Gomes, Central Brooklyn Food Coop
More about the presenting organizations
The Central Brooklyn Food Coop (CBFC) is a Black-led community project utilizing our collective strength to ensure access to affordable and fresh food for low-moderate income Black people in Central Brooklyn. Our work is rooted in centuries of Black cooperative economics and organizing, and is aligned with other movements for Black liberation & self-determination. CBFC’s mission is to utilize our collective strength to ensure access to affordable and fresh food while centering the Black, low-to-moderate-income communities of Central Brooklyn.
Kingston Food Coop is community-owned grocery store. Through each individual’s participation we build relationships around food toward the goal of a thriving and equitable local food system that reflects the people and abundance of Kingston. We envision a transformed Kingston food system that is upheld by a culture of collective ownership for intergenerational community wealth.
Food Co-op Initiative (FCI) paves the way for new food co-op excellence, leading to better fed, healthier communities with local control and connections. FCI improves the success and sustainability of new food cooperatives in diverse communities across this country. We provide information, training, technical assistance, and other support, and engage in research to blaze, maintain and improve the development path for new food co-ops.
