Gave up... Joining the food coop today...

Let us know what you think. i have been a member so long I feel like I have zero perspective on the place anymore.

If you get a bad shift, put your name on the waiting list for the shift you want. You'll get it within a couple months - even if it's a coveted weekday evening slot.

I like the checkout line because you get to see what other people are buying / what's fresh.

I just joined and I am pretty excited. One 2-3/4 hour shift every 4th week is really not much of a commitment to me. They offerred to let us work whenever. People were signing up for all different days and different shifts. I didn't hear anyone get denied a time that works for them. I personally took a day shift in receiving which I will do later this week. I see it as a free gym session. A little manual labor to keep me healthy. After orientation you get a guest pass to shop and I was VERY happy with the selection and prices. I got a package of blueberries and a package of rasberries for less than $3 each. The people who I signed up with all seemed like normal Park Slope folks, not hippie commies, or whatever the stereotype is. The only bad side is (and this applies to shopping anywhere) that the line for checkout and crowds in the place are heavier on evenings during the week and during the day on the weekend. I have not tried Fairway but for a non car owning person, it's just not feasible for me no matter how nice their food or pricing is. The jobs that you can do include register, helping walk people home with carts, stocking, office work, childcare, cleaning, etc. They also have a work arrangement where you can work a long shift cleaning (for example) and basically you have then banked 3 months of your work commitment. It's maybe not for everyone, but I am looking forward to it. And you can cancel the membership and get your money back ($100) if it isn't right for you.

But they're special, fresh, organic berries. Thanks to the Coop I can afford to eat organic for less than what I would pay non-organic anywhere else in the neighborhood. A little cost comparison: my first week I bought a bag of Spanish black olives for $2 that cost $6 over on Wash Ave.

I got the exact shift I wanted when I joined 6 months ago, btw, on a Wed evening. No problem.

And if the initial $25 member fee/$100 investment is what's keeping anyone away, just wanted to spread the word that there are payment plans and also reduced pricing for people on any kind of govt assistance.

We didn't have any problem getting the shifts that we wanted. Also, if you don't get a good shift it's pretty easy to switch once you get started.

Used to be a member and quit. Mainly due to the absolute crazy bureaucratic and political mess the place is. The phrase is "run by hippies for yuppies".

My wife and I got screwed over with their silly work register system which believe it or not runs on a card file rather than the computers in front of them, 13,000+ cards. Don't ever consider going to a general meeting without a sleeping bag. The crazy go to checkout then queue up again to pay line system. Cash only. Annoying people on workshifts which seem to consist of holding a clipboard and being a pain in the ass. Workshifts sound ok at only a couple of hours every 4 weeks but they soon become a real drag. The produce prices are ok, the meat prices are no better than other places. I could go on.

sir_eccles wrote:
My wife and I got screwed over with their silly work register system which believe it or not runs on a card file rather than the computers in front of them, 13,000+ cards. Don't ever consider going to a general meeting without a sleeping bag. The crazy go to checkout then queue up again to pay line system. Cash only. Annoying people on workshifts which seem to consist of holding a clipboard and being a pain in the ass. Workshifts sound ok at only a couple of hours every 4 weeks but they soon become a real drag. The produce prices are ok, the meat prices are no better than other places. I could go on.

The membership system is now computerized but are still kept on an ancient card file too. They cross reference the two systems regularly. I always pay with my debit card, I don't go to General Meetings and the meat prices are much better than the supermarket, as long as you are comparing the right things, don't compare grass fed beef to no-brand Pathmark beef.

Indeed! As a cashier it's been almost boring.

Sorry in advance for the length of this essay, but I must've read 10 threads about the money-saving wonders of the co-op, and I finally have to say my piece.

My husband and I sat through two separate orientations, a few years apart, after being very thoroughly recruited by neighbors. Both times we really truly wanted to join, but were left with a strange uneasy feeling that we wouldn't fit in, wouldn't enjoy membership, and wouldn't benefit. I kept putting off using the guest passes we'd earned, and finally had to admit that I just plain didn't want to shop there or be any part of it. Obviously, many people do fit in there and are deliriously happy, and I'm all for it. But it really isn't for me.

And btw, I don't mind hard, dirty work. I have never had a maid, I do all my own housework, I'm used to cleaning toilets, scrubbing floors, hauling around compost, etc, and I do it for much more than 2-3/4 hours a month.

Now, about the "cheapness" of the co-op. Let's take the generous example of a husband-and-wife household that likes to eat well, with a typical grocery bill of $200 a month. Let's say their co-op membership cuts that to $100 a month (though if we're honest, they'll probably want some things that the co-op doesn't carry, and have to shop elsewhere for those).

So they save $100 a month. And they work 5.5 hours, generally at a time and at a task of someone else's choosing, to save that money. That comes out to a wage of $18.18 an hour. Then if you add the extra effort and inconvenience of shopping at the co-op, you aren't exactly making out like a bandit. And that "wage" falls further if you're saving less than $100 a month.

Now, for some co-op members, sweeping floors or bagging beans for $18.18 an hour (or less) is a dream job, one they're grateful to have. For me, it's not. And yes, I know some say the produce is far, far better than can be bought at any supermarket, farmer's market, etc. It didn't look that way to me when I toured (twice), but whatever; maybe it tastes better than it looks. And the meat selection was small and more expensive than C-town, let alone Costco (which now has organic ground chuck at $3.99/lb, btw).

I think that for anyone but the money-poor and time-rich, joining the co-op is an act of virtue, perhaps more of a mitzvah than a practical boon. That's how I know I couldn't fit in at the co-op; I'm just not pure and virtuous. Hell, I even own a car -- how evil can you get? I'm just a capitalist scumbucket who wants to save money, not make a Grand Political Statement every time I buy an onion or a half-pound of barley.

Any other evil, fallen, capitalist scumbag sumbitches out there know what I'm sayin'? See you on line at Costco! :twisted: :twisted:

i'm seriously considering the coop and will probably join soon, despite its distance from my house.

the produce is far and away better than what is available near me (PH/CH) outside of the farmer's market. the farmer's market is wonderful and i fully intend to continue going, but 1) it's only once a week, so i end up missing it sometimes and 2) the prices are such that i don't end up buying all of my veggies for the week there and 3) i get sick of root vegetables all winter (sorry, locavores!). i have a plot at a community garden, but i eat more than that can produce.

without a car, costco is not an option, and fairway -- though do-able with a huge time investment and a cab ride home -- has not impressed me in the produce department at all. last time i was there, conventional, ordinary lemons were 3x the price at my local store, and much of what i've bought there in the past has gone bad at a surprising pace.

on visits to the coop, i've been very impressed with the produce selection. the meat selection is less great, but the meat selection at my local store isn't so great either -- i end up hiking to los paisanos and packing the freezer every month or two anyway.

"Brooklyn Baby Daddy" wrote: Never joined, and I've had a kind of irrational bias against them. No real reason about it, other than all these people told us we had to join when we first moved to the nabe, in 2004. They seemed a little cultish about it.

so did i. made fun of it endlessly. told everyone who'd listen that their communist sensibilities didn't go well with my Cuban-American blood.

a pint of Ciao Bella is $2.50. you should the bunch of veggies my wife bouught for about 1/3-1/2 the price of anywhere else. they absolutely walk the walk as far as local and sustainable foods.

as much as i'm hating myself for it, it's uncompletely unreasonable at this point for me NOT to do it.....so i'm going to orientation next week.

I just find it odd that an entity that prides itself on being ULTRA green- with aggressive recycling and free from plastic bags seems to be completely ignorant to the environmental damage they're doing with non-stop truck idling... I'd come to expect that from a key food, etc. but you get far less noise and truck hassles from Union Market.

The Coop is several times bigger in size! The amount of stock they contain in everything (produce, bakery, meats, paper goods, vitamins, etc.) far outnumbers what is at the Union Market. How on earth are they supposed to ship in all of that merchandise it if not for the trucks? Several smaller vehicles? Is that a real viable solutuon?

Have you tried talking to the drivers? A fun bunch.