![\"food-coops\"](\"https:\/\/blog.befrugal.com:444\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/food-coops.jpg\" "\\"food-coops\\"")
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Food co-ops, or cooperatives, have the conveniences of larger supermarket retailers, but are member owned and run. By becoming a member of a food co-op, you end up saving money on groceries because you are buying from the distributor directly. Many food co-ops also support local farmers, and as a result offer high-quality in-season food. Your local food co-op might function as a regular retail store and sell food to non-members, or it might take on the form of a buying club<\/a>.<\/p>\n Joining a co-op requires the member to pay a member's fee, because you are in a sense, buying into the business. But as a member, you help make all the decisions pertaining to the co-op. You have a say in what food should be purchased in bulk and have the opportunity to place your own grocery orders. If the co-op does sell to non-members, then you also have a say in how the retail portion of the business is carried out.<\/p>\n Just like running a business, there is a lot you should know about joining a co-op and how it works. The Co-op Directory Service<\/a> offers some great information about how co-ops operate and what you should do if you want to start your own. It also lists already established co-op locations across the country. And be sure to check out Local Harvest<\/a> to find even more co-op locations near you.<\/p>\n Image thanks to David Barrie<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Food co-ops, or cooperatives, have the conveniences of larger supermarket retailers, but are member owned and run. By becoming a member of a food co-op, you end up saving money on groceries because you are buying from the distributor directly. Many food co-ops also support local farmers, and as a result offer high-quality in-season food.Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[281,654,778,1082,1414],"class_list":["post-1749","post","type-post","status-archive","format-standard","hentry","category-frugal-articles","tag-buying-clubs","tag-food-co-ops","tag-groceries","tag-members","tag-savings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>