The best way to understand how food co-ops work is to visit a few in person but this isn't always possible. The next best thing is to see inspiring videos about them and listen to people who run or buy from food co-ops to discover what motivated them to do so.
As part of our Food Co-op work between 2008 and 2012 we made some short videos about different types of food co-ops. You can view some of our favourites below but there are more on our Making Local Food Work YouTube playlist. For a curated selection of videos made by a variety of food co-ops visit our Food co-op videos YouTube playlist.
A film we made about the benefits of food co-ops compared to large supermarket chains:
A short film about True Food Co-op in Reading, winner of the 2012 BBC Food and Farming Award for Best Retail Initiative:
A short film about student run food co-ops at Brighton and Sussex Universities:
A short film about the Windmill Community Allotment Project in Margate. This box scheme is also part of Growing Communities start up programme and is funded by the Local Food Fund:
A short documentary about the Real Food Store in Exeter, a community owned shop selling the finest local, sustainable produce from Devon:
Food Co-ops: Building community wealth, supporting the planet and championing farmers.