Guest Opinion: Why a Co-op?

— from Regina Zwilling —

Everybody wants to eat smarter today so the idea of local, organic food is quite popular. In some places, food travels thousands of miles before it reaches your table. The carbon footprint’s cost to our environment doesn’t make good sense. So food a little closer to home will be fresher and it will support sustainability. Within weeks, Orcas Island will be blessed with a new Food Co-op. To date the Orcas Food Co-op boasts over 500 members. Why such a tremendous show of support? Here’s why:

The concept of the Orcas Food Co-op is really pretty simple. It’s set up as a group-owned marketplace that brings together local food and local consumers. Orcas Food Co-op is a member-owned organization. Members are required to make an investment which gives them a stake or part ownership in the co-op. Our Co-op will do business with our neighbors who live and work in this community. It feels good to directly support the farmers and vendors who grow your food here on Orcas year round.

Co-ops give back to the community and the planet. In a comparison of the local impact of a co-op versus a chain grocery store, the figures don’t lie. It is estimated that on average 157 local farmers are represented in a co-op compared to 65 in a supermarket. 20% is locally sources compared to 6%. On average 13% is dedicated to charitable donations compared to supermarket’s 4%. Co-ops boast 82% of product sales are organic compared to supermarket’s 12%. Co-op’s overall grocery sales are 48% organic compared to 2% in a supermarket.
The direct economic impact co-op’s provide is surprising. The average starting salary for co-op employees is $14.31 with 68% eligible for insurance benefits compared to $13.36 per hour and 56% eligible for insurance in a conventional supermarket. To that end, an average of 38% of revenue is spent locally by a co-op vs. 24% of the supermarket’s revenue coming back to the local community. That’s more money for islanders.

Orcas Food Co-op is a great venue to meet our farmers. On a regular basis you can feel confident that you can ask about how your produce was nurtured or how animal was raised, how it was fed and other fun facts about the food you will enjoy. Since our family cooks meals at home having firsthand knowledge about the food on our plate is comforting.

My family and I are quite excited to support the Orcas Food Co-op. Please tell your friends to check out the website at Orcasfood.coop. There’s so much to be excited about.