By Patricia Cumbie - From the May-June 2010, Volume 10, Number 3 issue.

There’s something magical happening out there — so many communities around the country are looking seriously into how they can start food co-ops in their own towns and cities.

Actually, it’s not really magic. Given current market forces and the practical benefits of the cooperative business model on many economic and social levels, it’s not surprising. Add to that all the effort by people in the sector going toward helping start-ups get the information they need to get organized, well, the food co-op sector has a burgeoning new co-op movement that is rapidly gaining more visibility.

CDS Consulting Co-op and Food Co-op 500 have been at the forefront of marshalling resources to assist these groups. Strategically, Food Co-op 500 is reorganizing as a nonprofit called Food Co-op Initiative (FCI) to continue and expand services to food co-op start-up development. Not only is it the right thing for the sector, based on the Co-op Principle of cooperation among co-ops, but the timing itself couldn’t be better. So many people are receptive to cooperation as a way to address challenges where they live.

Existing food co-ops can be proud that the Blooming Prairie Foundation, set up after the sale of the Blooming Prairie Warehouse to create an endowment fund, is supporting FCI’s work going forward with a five-year, $1 million dollar grant. All that was saved through their patronage over the years will pay off in helping build new co-ops in the sector. It is a most important legacy to the new generation.