“....ways that we can circulate wealth within the existing community.”

January 27, 2019 7:48 AM

The project, which is called the Detroit Food Commons and contains the Detroit People’s Food Co-op, builds on a tradition of African-American business cooperatives that were championed by the likes of W.E.B. Dubois as tools for building economic and ultimately political power. Following slavery, African Americans formed co-ops for things like credit and farming to survive under a segregated and exploitative system. Unlike other businesses, co-ops are jointly owned enterprises, focused more on meeting collective needs than turning profits, although profit or “surplus” as it’s sometimes called is necessary to exist in a capitalist system. At the Detroit People’s Food Co-op, each owner will get one vote, creating equality between owners, at least in theory. A Black-Led Food Co-op Grows in Detroit
posted by The Whelk (6 comments total)

Given the recent closing of food coops in Cambridge, MA (apparently due to blinkered/burned-out management), it's good news to hear about nascent food co-ops around the country, especially those run by and serving people of color. Thanks for posting this.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 8:20 AM on January 27, 2019 [1 favorite]

Has someone else been watching Killer Mike's awesome new Netflix series? :)
posted by trackofalljades at 8:46 AM on January 27, 2019 [2 favorites]

Killer Mike of Run the Jewels fame has a new Netflix documentary called "Trigger Warning" and it's all about exploring issues relevant to the black community. His first episode "Living black" is about trying to keep money in a black economy and he goes about this by only consuming, eating, using, things that are produced by black people (this includes food). It's definitely worth watching and really raises some interesting ideas.
posted by Fizz at 8:48 AM on January 27, 2019

Also, what trackofalljades said. :)
posted by Fizz at 8:48 AM on January 27, 2019

Related: Though organic farming has been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the American farming market, Black farmers have historically been left out of that growth due to discrimination in startup capital and land loss.
posted by The Whelk at 8:52 AM on January 27, 2019

Given the recent closing of food coops in Cambridge, MA (apparently due to blinkered/burned-out management), it's good news to hear about nascent food co-ops around the country, especially those run by and serving people of color.

Meh, the big issue with the MA co-ops is that Whole Foods ate their organic lunch. There was nothing you could get at Harvest that you couldn't get at WF a bit further down Mass Ave., and a lot of things you could get at WF but not Harvest. They were victims of their own cultural success. There are still very few Whole Foods in Detroit, though, and there may be other factors at play that make it easier for them to keep prices low. Certainly the quality of regular supermarkets can be quite bad, such that you might prefer a co-op for even everyday goods.
posted by praemunire at 9:47 AM on January 28, 2019