
Co-operation is all about two or more people joining forces and working together to achieve something they probably couldn't do on their own.
In the case of food co-ops a group of people join forces in order to be able to buy foods they may otherwise find it hard to get hold of at a price they can afford. By volunteering their time and pooling their buying power they can get produce direct from local farmers or wholesalers.
This toolkit was produced as part of the Big Lottery funded Making Local Food Work programme to help more communities set up their own food co-ops and buying groups.
It was produced by Sustain in partnership with Somerset Community Food, London Food Link, Newham Food Access Partnership, Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency, Food Chain North East, F3 and Co-operatives UK.
The Food Co-ops project has now ended but the toolkit and other resources will all remain on-line.To find more about food co-ops you can visit our main website www.foodcoops.org
More useful information:
Click here to download a PDF version of the food co-ops toolkit (3MB)
Click here to download our fact sheets on setting up food co-ops in different settings
Click here to view case studies on food co-ops.
Click here to visit our food co-ops map to find your nearest food co-op