Overview

In recent years, American shoppers have become more conscious of their food choices and have increasingly turned to CSAs, farmers' markets, organic foods in supermarkets, and to joining and forming new food co-ops. In fact, food co-ops have been a viable food source, as well as a means of collective and democratic ownership, for nearly 180 years. In Food Co-ops in America, Anne Meis Knupfer examines the economic and democratic ideals of food cooperatives. She shows readers what the histories of food co-ops can tell us about our rights as consumers, how we can practice democracy and community, and how we might do business differently. In the first history of food co-ops in the United States, Knupfer draws on newsletters, correspondence, newspaper coverage, and board meeting minutes, as well as visits to food co-ops around the country, where she listened to managers, board members, workers, and members. What possibilities for change-be they economic, political, environmental or social-might food co-ops offer to their members, communities, and the globalized world? Food co-ops have long advocated for consumer legislation, accurate product labeling, and environmental protection. Food co-ops have many constituents-members, workers, board members, local and even global producers-making the process of collective decision-making complex and often difficult. Even so, food co-ops offer us a viable alternative to corporate capitalism. In recent years, committed co-ops have expanded their social vision to improve access to healthy food for all by helping to establish food co-ops in poorer communities.

Full Product Details

Author:   Anne Meis Knupfer
Publisher:   Cornell University Press
Imprint:   Cornell University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 2.40cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.907kg
ISBN:  

9780801451140

ISBN 10:   0801451140
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   21 May 2013
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

"Introduction: A Democratic Impulse 1. Food Cooperatives before the Great Depression Part I. Collective Visions of the Depression 2. Food Cooperatives, 1930s-1950s 3. Ithaca Consumer Co-operative Society 4. The Hyde Park Co-operative Society 5. Hanover Consumer Co-operative Society 6. Adamant Food Co-operative and Putney Food Co-operative Part II. Food for People or Profit? 7. Food Cooperatives, 1960s-1990s 8. North Coast Co-operatives in Arcata, Eureka, and Fortuna 9. New Pioneer Co-operative Society 10. Cooperatives in the Twin Cities Epilogue: The Age of the ""Organic-Industrial Complex"" Appendix: Website Sources about Food Cooperatives Notes Bibliography Index"

Reviews

Skillfully crafted, this study positions the history of food cooperatives as an extension of the histories of consumption in the US by authors such as Tracey Deutsch and Lizabeth Cohen... Knupfer brings to light the significant scale and scope of cooperatives, reminding us in an age of individual responsibility and conscious consumption that collective models succeeded, and continue to succeed today. Her study underscores the importance of local commitments, and the democratic principles and practices that inform cooperatives and the work of building and sustaining community. -Choice (December 2013) In Food Co-ops in America, Anne Meis Knupfer offers a fresh look at a part of the co-op movement that has tended toward the small scale as opposed to many farmer co-operatives, which have often become big businesses... What remains here of substantial value is the noteworthy fireld research, which will no doubt become the basis of textbooks on food co-ops and other secondary works. -Philip Nelson,The Annals of Iowa (Spring 2014) Food Co-ops in America contains a wealth of valuable historical information. It makes an important contribution to the history of food cooperatives in modern America. -Lawrence B. Glickman, Carolina Trustee Professor of History, University of South Carolina, author of Buying Power: A History of Consumer Activism Food Co-ops in America is an important and very well-written book. It will be of interest to many who study cooperatives, as well as the many more who participate in them and work to keep them afloat. Anne Meis Knupfer presents compelling and thought-provoking studies of individual cooperatives, based on extraordinary levels of research, in a very readable manner. -Tracey Deutsch, author of Building a Housewife's Paradise: Gender, Politics and American Grocery Stores in the Twentieth Century Anne Meis Knupfer makes a compelling case for creating and sustaining food co-ops where lively political, social, and economic discourse converge on the all-important topic of food. Food Co-ops in America is a great book for anyone interested in the lessons and challenges of alternative economics. -Steve Alves, documentary filmmaker, Food For Change Anne Meis Knupfer's book is not only an outstanding historical resource for both present and future generations of cooperators but also a fascinating read. Her insightful commentary inspires reflection on what it means to be a cooperative and challenges cooperatives to play a more politically active role in the welfare of their communities. -Rosemary Fifield, Director of Education and Member Services, Co-op Food Stores (Hanover and Lebanon, NH, and White River Junction, VT), author of The Co-Op Cookbook

<p> Food Co-ops in America is an important and very well-written book. It will be of interest to many who study cooperatives, as well as the many more who participate in them and work to keep them afloat. Anne Meis Knupfer presents compelling and thought-provoking studies of individual cooperatives, based on extraordinary levels of research, in a very readable manner. -Tracey Deutsch, author of Building a Housewife's Paradise: Gender, Politics and American Grocery Stores in the Twentieth Century

Author Information

Anne Meis Knupfer is Professor of Cultural Foundations at Purdue University. She is the author of three books, including The Chicago Black Renaissance and Women's Activism, and coeditor, most recently, of The Educational Work of Women's Organizations, 1890-1960.

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