Ms. Geri - a member of the South Atlanta Food Cooperative
We are so excited to announce that our bi-weekly food co-op, the South Atlanta Food Cooperative, is growing! For the past year, we’ve had forty members attend the co-op. We’re setting a goal to grow it to fifty members, and we’re already at 45.
Most recently, we gained a new member when a younger lady came in to pick up a co-op share for her mother, a regular attendee. Upon walking into the splendor of boxes, people chatting about life and recipes, she received the box and asked in surprise, “What is this now? This is awesome!” Right then and there, she learned more about the food co-op and started the process of becoming a member.
We believe this model, taken from our wonderful partner Urban Recipe, sows food security, dignity, and community simultaneously. Community members gather every other Wednesday at FCS offices and unload a delivery from a Food Bank. The fare includes meats, vegetables, fresh fruits, and more. Once unpacked, the co-op members put together boxes for each co-op member to take home, ensuring that all shares are equivalent. Afterwards, community members will gather to share thoughts, prayers, and sometimes swap goods (“Do you want to take this edamame?” a co-op member recently asked a neighbor, “I’m not going to be using this”).
The food co-op is a place for members and supporters to create food security, build community and provide a platform for personal development while affirming dignity. Like the new member who found out about the co-op by picking up her mother’s share, most of the five new member families are younger. They’re mostly people under forty with kids. We’re so excited to welcome them!
It’s great to see our neighbors come and bless each other with food for the body and food for the soul. Thousands of dollars worth of food walk out of the door each week in neighbors’ hands, but it’s hard to put a price tag on the relationships grown there.
Please join us in praying for the next five members to round out our group of fifty co-op members.
