Their history, our future

As I was looking for ideas for logos to accompany our new name, Grassroots Community Co-op, I came across a page on the history of the co-op my family was a part of starting in the late-70's.  What struck me was how similar their goals for starting the Linden Hills Co-op were to the goals that we have for wanting a storefront food co-op.

The co-op was the brainchild of long-time Linden Hills resident Carol Vaubel. In the mid-70s, she was the chairperson of the Linden Hills Neighborhood Council (LHiNC). "My impetus for doing this was two things: the community aspect of it and the foods—having less processed, less packaged, whole food available at a reasonable price," said Vaubel recently. After floating the idea and receiving positive feedback, Vaubel set about turning it into a reality. For approximately nine months leading up to March 1976, an enormous volunteer effort went into the opening of the co-op.

The rest of the article includes some interesting details regarding the amount of money that it took them to get going (about $2,000, but it was 1976), the fact that volunteers built all of the shelving and bins, and the fact that they now have nearly 4,000 members and annually take in about $7 million (yes, a true storefront food co-op making $7,000,000 a year!).