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Some of the newest and most innovative developments in Canadian culture over the last five years are the growth of the organic food market and shoppers’ interest in purchasing groceries from local sources. Many neighbourhoods now showcase local farmers markets and the phrase “local organic” and “100 mile diet” have become part of everyday speech. To illustrate the wonder and diversity that local and organic foods can bring to a community, a new grocery store, the Sandy Hill People Food Co-op, opened its doors in Ottawa’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood in late October 2008.
“I find big grocery stores pretty belittling,” explained Derek Reid, one of the founding members of the new co-operative. “I find the vast selection of food products manufactured by largely unaccountable multinational corporations more than a little scary. For the most part, consumers have very little idea where a particular food was made and with what ingredients,” he said. “The Sandy Hill People Food Co-op is going to be dealing with companies that have ethics in mind all the time.”
One of the things that make the Sandy Hill People Food Co-op so unique is that it is a worker cooperative with no separate group of owners or shareholders. Instead, its employees democratically control the direction and development of the co-op. “It is membership-based, but on a worker level,” Reid explained. “It’s a nice environment. There’s no evil boss perching over you. Everybody is a boss. Everybody respects each other.” This allows the co-op to grow and develop in terms of what the staff want, working together to grow a vision with deep community roots. “We’re going to grow based on what all of us collectively want,” Reid added. “As a cooperative, it’s a democratic environment. I can sit here and tell you what I think, but in the end it’s not going to be my decision; it’s going to be out of my control as soon as we start having our regular staff meetings. The ultimate direction is going to be based on the way the group wants it to go.”
About the Sandy Hill People Food Co-op
While the co-op only recently opened its doors, its roots date back to 2004 and the founding of its sister store, the Sandy Hill Pet Food Co-op (sandyhillpetfood.ca). In only five years of operation, the Sandy Hill Pet Food Co-op (sandyhillpetfood.ca) has become a key part of the Sandy Hill community, offering a wide variety of healthy, natural, holistic and organic pet food. In addition, the staff avoids stocking products made with artificial ingredients, chemical preservatives, meat by-products, or any other ingredients that are known to cause long-term health problems for human beings, animals and the environment. Lastly, the store does not stock any product made by companies that are known to test on animals.
The growth and development of the Sandy Hill Pet Food Co-op over the past five years paved the way for a similar store catering to food aimed at human beings – the Sandy Hill People Food Co-op. The two stores are located directly across the street from one another and are operated by the same enthusiastic staff. While membership is not required for purchases at either the Pet Food Co-op or the People Food Co-op, staff do encourage customers to purchase one in order to receive discounted pricing (the membership fee is very low and good at both stores).
About Worker Co-ops
In a worker co-op, the employees are both owners and operators, working together to run the business and democratically making decisions about all important issues including wages and finances. The primary goal of the cooperative is to operate an enterprise in which control and decision-making rest with the members. Because workers mutually decide on the policies that develop and determine the cooperative’s weekly and long-term operation and health, trust, communication and co-operation are vital elements in the co-op’s success.
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