Food in Boston

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Bozeman Community Food Co-op in Montana, and my understanding of what is possible in a co-op has been expanded. How do I love thee, Community Food Co-op? Let me count the ways:

Location

The co-op is right on Bozeman’s main drag, so it’s easy to get to and easy for new people to stumble upon. The building is very spacious, with plenty of room for a deli, coffee shop, inside and outside dining & lounging areas, an inviting membership desk, and of course, the food.

Selection

Everything I’d hope to see was in place: organic foods, local foods, whole grains, and an extensive bulk section. I saw very little of the unhealthy and unremarkable industrial food products that are commonly found in American grocers: if you were here for Spam, Corn Flakes and Pepsi, you were out of luck. The choice to focus shelf space on higher quality foods with greater appeal to the co-op’s core audience seemed to be working well.

I was in the store gathering food for a backpacking trip, and was happily surprised by how many good options were to be found, including a wide variety of bulk dehydrated goods and trail mixes, which makes sense given Bozeman’s proximity to so many good places to hike and camp.

Employee and Membership benefits

I chatted with a friendly cashier while checking out, and got a good impression of the co-op’s treatment of its employees. Workers are paid a living wage, and have decent benefits. According to the brochure I picked up at the membership desk, there are 18,000+ members, all of whom have the option to work in the store. Membership is a one-time $35 fee, which is refundable.

Transparency

Produce, meats, fish, and other foods, including the sandwiches and prepared foods in the deli, were all well-labeled with their origins and production standards. Information about the operation of the co-op itself was also available, including a wall section dedicated to the board and its meetings, as well as profiles of farmers whose products were available at the store.

The Community Food Co-op has been operating since 1979, and my conversation with the checkout clerk made it clear that it has taken consistent hard work throughout all 28 of those years to get the co-op to the state it’s in today. Living in Boston, it’s hard not to make comparisons with Boston’s own Harvest Co-op, which is a task I plan to tackle in the near future.