by Judy Hurvid

Have you ever wished you could feed your family with more organic foods than the vegetables you grow? Have you tried in vain to convince your grocery store manager to stock organic foods? My solution to this dilemma was to join a buying club. Now I can get a wide variety of organic foods at reasonable prices without having to travel great distances.

A buying club, also called a food co-op, is a group of from two to 100 people who get together to order from a distributor. The club I belong to is served by the Ontario Federation of Food Co-operatives and Clubs (OFFCC), which buys items from different companies and in turn, offers these items through a catalogue to member clubs like mine. We receive an updated catalogue every six months, and we have the option of ordering once a month, every two months, twice a year, or however often we wish. The food and dry goods are delivered to one member’s home by truck, and we then divide the orders up.

The OFFCC serves 250 buying clubs throughout Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. It also serves ten co-operative retailers and 200 other retailers including institutions, health food stores, and progressive restaurants. Other wholesale distributors in Canada operate much like the OFFCC, although not all are co-operatively run as it is.

When you become a member of a food co-op you are not buying from a large grocery chain, but literally buying from yourself as a member of the co-op.

I joined the Newtonville Buying Club because it offers organic food, which is important to my growing family’s health. Although this continues to be my main reason for membership, I also belong because of the opportunity to be part of an alternative food system which supports local growers and small businesses, and allows for my input into the quality and source of my food.

Jane Moore, a COG member, joined our co-op "to be able to provide my family with organic food. I had trouble finding that in supermarkets. Being a member of COG, I’ve learned the importance of eating organically. I’m following COG’s aims by supporting small businesses and sustainable agriculture by buying through the food co-op."

Randy Whitteker, the general manager of the OFFCC, says: "Co-ops are.... vehicles for consumers to change the direction of food-growing practices. Marketing organic food takes a high level of education because of the price but COG members already have that education. Organics are an investment in our health and the health of the environment. Conventional food has hidden costs such as [degradation of] human and environmental health and expenses to the health care system. The co-op sells ‘affordable food’, not cheap food, for people that make this kind of choice. Joining the co-op will educate you on issues of food growth and distribution, and purchasing criteria such as bioregionalism."

Most of the businesses which supply the OFFCC are not only small but worker-run as well. Dean Spence, executive member of COG and of Oshawa’s Marigold Food Club, and former board member of the OFFCC, says: "There is more to food issues than getting the lowest price. Co-ops are about people taking charge of our economic and marketing systems. Co-op principles are wonderful. I joined the co-op to take a more active role in controlling what kind of companies and products are available to me, as well as buying organic food."

Through the OFFCC, our buying group supports local growers and processors whenever possible. Foods are not shipped to us from great distances and so do not impact negatively on the environment. The small Canadian and American businesses we support in turn support those who are practising a sustainable form of farming, another environmental plus.

Large agribusiness, such as grocery stores, is not supporting the selling of organic food because of the nature of it, for example, the emphasis on local production. This creates problems for centralized distribution which demands a uniform product.

When Dean Spence says "Think globally, eat locally", he means: enjoy the various cuisines of the world offered through a co-op, while supporting local agriculture. Some buying clubs supplement their distributor’s fare with organic vegetables, fruit, bread and even meat from local suppliers.

Children are at great risk from pesticides (see p. 36), and many adults are now becoming sensitized to the chemicals in our environment. People of all ages can benefit from the pure food offered by the co-ops.

All ten members of our club are also members of COG or grow organically. Friendships with like-minded people in your community can provide you with opportunities to socialize and learn new skills. I have attended many parties given by co-op members. We often serve only vegetarian dishes and in doing so learn new ways of preparing delicious food from each other. Some of our members learned to bake bread last winter at one member’s house.

Of course, the main reason to join a co-op is to buy food. Each distributor has its own food offerings. Our distributor, the OFFCC, offers a 57-page catalogue, with l500 items of food and dry goods for us to choose from.

Many of the companies that advertise in COGNITION supply the OFFCC. How nice for us to have these products delivered to us instead of driving around the province to buy directly from these companies.

Most of the organic companies listed in the OFFCC catalogue are certified through Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) or California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).

Much co-op food is offered in bulk, cutting out packaging waste. Whether you are a vegetarian or just try to eat low on the food chain for ecological and health reasons, the co-op can give you access to a great variety of organic and unprocessed foods.

Fruit can be one of the most heavily sprayed foods, and comes to us from a distance in our Canadian winters at great ecological cost. Through our co-op, we can buy dried organic fruit such as figs, prunes, raisins, currants and dates. We can also get organic nuts, and a whole range of organic vegetable and whole wheat pastas.

The many offerings of organic seeds and beans include alfalfa, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds; chick peas; kidney, pinto and soy beans; and lentils. These are a great bonus for those of us without the talent of Salt Spring Seeds owner Dan Jason or the room in our backyard gardens to grow them!

Many items that are not organic are offered in the OFFCC catalogue: soups without MSG, low-fat ice creams, herbal teas, pure juices, non-irradiated herbs and spices, and nonfood items like personal care products, soaps and cleaners.

Switching from supermarket buying to co-op buying will require some adjustment!

A trip to the grocery store is easier and less time-consuming, and it requires less organization. Membership in a buying club means time at order, distribution and business meetings.

And buying clubs can’t compete with supermarkets in offering every needed item for one-stop shopping. although some distributors offer more variety than others.

Some items come in very large quantities, making storage awkward. Sharing orders helps our members get around this. And items you need could be out of stock when your group places its order.

Some families will find it hard to budget to buy in bulk every few months. Others, used to making frequent trips to the supermarket, will initially have trouble estimating how much of each item they will need for a much longer period.

Placing small frequent orders can cost clubs more. For example, the OFFCC puts a 15 per cent surcharge on orders under $500, but only three per cent on orders over $2000.

"The average person doesn’t care how their food is grown or distributed," says Dean Spence. "Those of us who who know better should be eating these foods and obtaining them through the co-op model."

An alternative to having your order shipped to your group is placing orders through co-op stores or warehouses and picking them up there. The Wild West Organic Harvest Co-op in Richmond, B.C., the Earth Harvest Co-op in Calgary, the Healthy Harvest Food & Craft Co-op in Tisdale, Sask., the Harvest Collective in Winnipeg and the Co-op Atlantic in Moncton, N.B. are a few such stores around the country.

If you can’t tap into an existing buying club, start one of your own. Any of the distributors listed in the box below (and others not listed here) can supply you with guidelines for getting started. Ask friends who belong to buying clubs for advice. To keep transportation costs to a minimum, it is best to deal with a distributor near you.

Get involved with your food choices!