Dear cooperators and friends,

It may be October, but I’m still riding the joyous and determined energy from the Up & Coming Food Co-op Conference in mid-September. FCI proudly co-hosts the conference with the Indiana Cooperative Development Center, and it was truly an honor to welcome so many startup food cooperators from all over the country to St. Paul for an inspiring and momentum-building three days together. Nearly 300 people attended this year, representing 65 different food co-ops in 29 states. And, 160 of us were there for the first time ever. And, to kick off the conference, National Black Food & Justice Alliance organized Black-Led Day, which brought over 100 Black cooperators together for shared learning and community building. In its third year, Black Led Day continues to grow; this was its biggest year yet! 

I left St. Paul with a full brain and a full heart. I learned so much from the cooperative development experts, the food co-op industry insiders, and from the experts on the ground – the startup cooperators themselves. Startup food co-ops are truly innovating and leading the way. They are envisioning new kinds of co-ops: new ways for food co-ops to be foundations of their community, new ways for food co-ops to be deeply led by their communities and for their communities, and new ways to build not just food access, but food sovereignty. 

We connected with startups from southern California, to rural North Carolina, to Detroit, to Connecticut. We celebrated the wave of food co-ops who have just opened or who are opening in the next year with cheers, joy, and song. And, we learned from the co-ops just behind them, who are honing in on their sites, hitting membership and fundraising targets, and more. And, excitingly, we met community organizers who are just getting started and holding their first meetings and preparing to launch Member Owner shares. These new startups left with information, inspiration, and importantly - the knowledge that they are not alone and have a huge network ready to support them. 

Up & Coming is so special because so many people share so generously their expertise, their learnings, and their time. Thank you to our fellow organizers –  Indiana Cooperative Development Center and National Black Food & Justice Alliance – our five dedicated local co-op hosts, our generous sponsors, the intrepid volunteers, hotel & conference support staff, and all of our presenters for bringing their expertise and perspectives. 

We can’t wait to see where the learning and connecting from this year’s Up & Coming takes us all over the next twelve months!

Resource SpotlighT

Coming soon – videos of over a dozen sessions from Up and Coming 2023! Thanks to our dedicated volunteers , some of the sessions presented by experts and peers alike from the conference were able to be recorded and will be shared on the Up & Coming YouTube page in mid November.

While you wait for the recordings, here are some photo highlights from the conference:

Startup UPDATES & Celebrations

The Up & Coming Conference bestows three awards annually: the Startup Innovator Award, the Co-op Citizen Award, and the Best of the Best Award. Please join us in celebrating these innovative and inspiring startups!

Winner of the 2023 Startup Innovator Award: Northside Food Co-op

Northside Food Co-op is a Black-led startup in Wilmington, North Carolina that is in stage 2B development. They have forged an ingenuitive partnership with their local county government to come together and make a thriving food co-op a reality in a historically redlined neighborhood. They were chosen for this honor for their work forging an innovative way for a community and municipality to together address entrenched food injustice through the use of the cooperative model.

Also nominated:  Rise Community Market, West Georgia Farmers Cooperative

Winner of the 2023 Co-op Citizen Award: Suncoast Co-op Market

Suncoast Market is a stage 3A startup food co-op in Imperial Beach, California. This startup has shared their experience and knowledge extensively with their peers through the FCI Live series, FCI peer group calls, as well as one-on-one calls, sharing knowledge about their successful efforts to obtain substantial grants, an important new frontier in funding for startup food co-ops. They were chosen for this honor due to their proactive efforts spanning multiple years to share their knowledge about and tools utilized to win grants with the entire startup food co-op movement.

Also nominated:  Dorchester Food Co-op, Food Shed Co-op

Winner of the 2023 Best of the Best Award:  Detroit People’s Food Co-op

The Detroit People’s Food Co-op is a Black-led  startup food co-op in Detroit, Michigan in late stage development. This startup food co-op has been both open to the teachings of “4-in-3” development model throughout their organizing and powerfully utilized it, while also identifying and generously sharing back to the startup community where the model needs re-imagining to serve Black-led startup food cooperatives. They were chosen for this honor due to their powerful use of the 4-in-3 development model and their illumination of how this model can best serve Black-led food co-ops.

Also nominated:  Austin Community Food Co-op, The Butte Food Co-op

In addition, when merited, the conference names a Startup Champion, which is given to a startup food co-op organizer or leader from among our movement that lifts the tide for our entire movement, growing our movement’s ability to build a better future.

Our 2023 Startup Champion Award was given to cooperative leader Malik Yakini. As the Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Malik was integral to launching and growing the Detroit People’s Food Co-op, and is co-founder of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. In both roles, Malik has been a leader, guiding the growing Black startup food co-op community into becoming a powerful movement. He has mentored countless numbers of startup food cooperators, and donated numerous hours sharing his experience and knowledge with startups across the country in numerous ways. Malik’s generous love of and commitment to the startup food co-op movement has challenged all of us to put food and racial justice at the center of the movement, and left an indelible mark upon its present and future. 

SUPPORT SUCCESSFUL STARTUPS CO-OP

It’s the best time of the year:  Co-op Month! This month, we celebrate all things co-op. Food co-ops across the country are celebrating Co-op Month by dedicating their Round Up programs to FCI and the startup food co-op movement. We are grateful, and honored to be highlighted in this way. 

It’s a great time for you to invest in the next generation of food co-ops, too! Startup food co-ops are innovating and leading the way, spreading the cooperative movement to new communities all over the country. By supporting FCI, you’re helping these new co-ops access the vital information and support they need to open a strong co-op that will serve its community for the long haul. 

DONATE

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