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| '''Open Co-op = a project to combine producers and consumers of locally-sourced high quality food.'''
| | #REDIRECT [[Open Cooperative]] |
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| URL = [http://sustainability.open.ac.uk/gary/blog/[http:/sustainability.open.ac.uk/gary/pages/food-co-ops-as-a-step-towards-for-a-sustainable-economy]
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| =Description=
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| An [[Open Food Co-op]] is…
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| a partnership of people who like locally-sourced, high quality food:
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| * It builds on what is there now: existing producer’s co-ops, farms and farmers’ markets, processors (bakers, cheesemakers, etc), distributors, shops, box schemes, regional support groups
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| * It adds new local food clubs
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| * It adds food-related social events
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| * And links them all with an innovative communication & information management system
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| There are already many co-operative groups on the producer side of local food and they are growing rapidly. This project would link them together to produce a one-shop shop like a distributed supermarket. (Some of them are already doing much of this.)
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| This project adds an enhanced form of buyer’s co-op that we are calling Food Clubs. It orders food online for its members from the range of participating producers, and has it delivered to a suitable depot, usually a participating local shop or farm shop, from where it collects and distributes to its members.
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| A small local shop thus becomes a depot for a virtual local supermarket. It would serve several Food Clubs for whom it can provide a much wide range of products than it would have room to stock, because the goods are all pre-ordered and only have to be stored briefly. It brings people into the shop who are committed to it and who can add extra goods from the shop.
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| The food clubs also take on wider roles: They hold small food events, such as shared meals, offer each other cooked food, and share produce from the gardeners among them. They contribute to the wider co-op by helping with organisation, distribution, and perhaps field work at times. This may be either on a voluntary or paid basis.
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| The communication and information management system makes it all possible and efficient:
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| * It combines the offerings of the producers into a virtual online market in which each producer has a virtual stall. Listings would include photos of the fields and processing workshops, map locations with food miles so consumers get a sense of connection with the producers.
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| * Listings also include quality ratings by previous consumers, and by monitoring organisations such as the Soil Association.
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| * It includes an internal payment and accounts system with a built in ‘time bank’ to reward volunteering. Online cheques have space for the user ratings of the produce, which then goes to the listing.
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| * It links the different local food clubs to each other by listing their events, garden produce and other offerings.
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| * It provides an online discussion forum with voting for democratic governance of the Food Co-op.
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| With their emphasis on local food with efficient local distribution Open Food Co-ops are healthy and environmentally sound. Their use of quality ratings and reviews to maintain quality and a local currency (the Time Bank) to reward volunteering blurs the distinction between producer and consumer, paid and voluntary work. Thus Open Food Co-ops will create a new social form that is a long step towards a community-oriented, trust-based, sustainable local economy."
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| [[Category:Resources]]
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| [[Category:Movements]] | |
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| [[Category:Open]]
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| [[Category:Sharing]]
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