Fairbanks Community Cooperative Market

www.fairbankscoop.org

(907) 457-1023
PO Box 81765 Fairbanks, Ak 99708



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Our membership drive is in FULL SWING!
Become a member today!

Vision statement:

"The Fairbanks Community Cooperative Market works for health and sustainability by providing natural foods and products, promoting local suppliers, and offering consumer education in an open community center environment."

Here in our corner of the world 700 people have already become founding members of Fairbanks Community Cooperative Market (FCCM) and many are volunteering their time, expertise and resources to make Dave Lacey's vision of a food co-op a reality! We hope to open our brand new community food co-op in April 2010.

With the generous donation of a little time and a small capital investment we can all work together towards the pleasure of shopping in our own grocery store.

A goal has been set to raise $100,000 in membership equity funds by November 1, 2009. This is the essential step that will make it possible for our financial team to apply for grants and start up funds from a bank.

Would you like to lend a hand towards creating our natural and local food co-op? If so go to our blog listing - HELP CREATE OUR FOOD CO-OP - JOIN A COMMITTEE.

To find out more about economic participation in FCCM go to YOUR CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN FCCM.

A market study, was conducted by G2G Research Group and released in July, 2008. The study analyzed two proposed sites and projected sales based on a number of factors. A portion of the old Foodland Building was the recommended site. Go here for the full report.

For more more information or to contribute your thoughts, desires and ideas email FCCM2010@gmail.com .

The Cooperative Principles:

Worldwide over 760 million people are members of cooperatives, united by the the Cooperative Principles

VOLUNTARY AND OPEN MEMBERSHIP
DEMOCRATIC MEMBER CONTROL
MEMBER ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION
AUTONOMY AND INDEPENDENCE
EDUCATION, TRAINING AND INFORMATION
COOPERATION AMONG COOPERATIVES
CONCERN FOR COMMUNITY

Adopted by the International Cooperative Alliance 1995

[Link Here] Article about the Coop in the News-Miner

[Link Here] Battle for the Soul of Organic

Resource Links:

Feel free to peruse the resources gathered from many different places like flyers, online links, etc. The first are from the Northwest Coop Development Center in Olympia, WA developed for their educational programs designed to stimulate coop development in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The others are examples of materials collected from various coops around the country illustrating how they operate and the consumer educational materials that they provide.

Click on any of the following links for details:

[Link Here] 'Power of 2': Change the Way You Eat

[Link Here] A Primer on Consumer Co-op Membership

[Link Here] A Recommended Membership Structure

[Link Here] About Member Loans

[Link Here] Creating a Committee Charter

[Link Here] Grow Your Own Food Co-op

Facilitated by Andrew McLeod
Part Two: Growing Leaders and Members

[Link Here] Grow Your Own Food Co-op

Facilitated by Andrew McLeod
Part Three: Feasibility and Finance

[Link Here] COOPS Do it Better with Democracy

[Link Here] Food Front Cooperative (page 1)

[Link Here] Food Front Cooperative (page 2)

[Link Here] People Shares (page 1)

[Link Here] People Shares (page 2)

[Link Here] Types of Flour (page 1)

[Link Here] Types of Flour (page 2)-->

"Locavore" is 2007 word of the year:
The New Oxford American Dictionary chose locavore, a person who seeks out locally produced food, as its word of the year. The local foods movement is gaining momentum as people discover that the best-tasting and most sustainable choices are foods that are fresh, seasonal, and grown close to home. Some locavores draw inspiration from the 100-mile diet or from advocates of local eating like Barbara Kingsolver. Others just follow their taste buds to farmers' markets, community supported agriculture programs, and community gardens. Check out Local Harvest to find sustainably grown food near you, and make a New Year's Resolution to be a locavore in 2008!

"the original FCCM logo"

Food is the one consumer choice we have to make every
day. We can use that buying power in a transaction
that burns excessive fossil fuels, erodes topsoil,
supports multinationals that pay their workers just a
few bucks a day -- or the same money could strengthen
neighborhood food economies, keep green spaces alive
around our towns, and compensate farmers for applying
humane values. Every purchase weighs in on one side or
the other. It just isn't possible to opt out.
Otherwise, if you're going to eat food, you belong to
some kind of food chain. The goal of this book is to
reveal that truth.

It's not necessary to live on a farm to eat mindfully,
but it's necessary to know farms exist, and have some
appreciation for what they do. It takes a little
background to recognize the social, biological and
epicurean differences between CAFOs [Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations] and pasture operations,
extractive vs. sustainable farming, or even what will
be in season each month of the year. Amazingly, the
outcome of responsible choices can be good health,
money saved and a happy palate. Really, it's good news.

Barbara Kingsolver

Each year, the average American consumes 260 pounds of imported food.
98.7% of foods imported into the U.S. are NOT inspected by the FDA for safety.
Of the scant 1.3% of imported foods the FDA tests, over 200 shipments of grains, fish, vegetables, nuts, spice, oils and other imported foods are detained each month for issues ranging from filth to unsafe food coloring to contamination with pesticides to salmonella.
The other 98.7% of untested food is immediately green-lighted for the American diet.
The U.S. imports almost twice as much food today as it did just ten years ago, yet the FDA's budget for testing imports has been cut nearly in half since 2000.
Source: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/