I recently had the opportunity to attend a meeting for co-op General Managers from across the country held by National Co-op Grocers. NCG is a cooperative of food co-ops, of which we are a member. The same way many co-ops begin, NCG was founded by a group that wanted to improve their situation. In this case it was a group of GM’s who came together to improve their stores and leverage their purchasing power. That initiative has grown into a cooperative of 165 member co-ops and 1.3 million co-op owners; which continues to work to leverage our purchasing power among many other things. The positive impact that can be achieved with that number of people is not insignificant; indeed, it is powerful. NCG’s website states that “the food co-op communities across the country that own National Co-op Grocers work together collectively to strengthen our ability to positively impact our food system and grow the cooperative economy in an inclusive and environmentally regenerative manner.”  

Often when we think about Earth Day (don’t miss our celebration on Saturday 4/19) we think about the many ways we can support our planet. There are a variety of options, such as buying in bulk, purchasing earth friendly products, reducing our plastic consumption, composting; the list is endless. Buying local products cuts down on transportation emissions, builds community food security, and strengthens our local economy. Buying organic food means purchasing food that does not have synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, or GMOs.  

A study conducted by the Rodale Institute shows that there are many more benefits to supporting the organic industry as well, including building soil health and holding CO2 from the atmosphere. Last year, we had $9 million in organic product sales (30% of our sales) and over $11 million in local sales (37% of our sales). When we zoom out to think about the larger impact from the collective local and organic purchases from the 165 co-ops who have similar sales percentages, it is clear that our choices are having a positive impact.  Conventional grocers only average 2% of their sales in local products and 3% for organic product sales. Your participation strengthens our community and supports our local food system and planet. I hope you can join our celebration tomorrow! 

—Mary Mullally, General Manager