We have begun by forming a food-buying club. We want to learn about the nitty-gritty of buying food together (and also have some good food to eat!).     What kinds of food do we actually want? How will we handle the money? Where will the food get picked up? Who in our group will take how much responsibility?
    At the same time, we have the long-term goal of opening a storefront together. To that end, we have formed three committees:
    Planning Committee: Conducts the feasibility study, researches locations, handles real estate negotiations, coordinates operational planning (research on equipment, local regulations, suppliers, etc.), coordinates preparation of a business plan.
    Finance Committee: Develops financial projections, researches funding options, coordinates a campaign for member loans.
    Membership Committee: Researches membership structures, prepares membership administration paperwork, coordinates recruitment of new members, organizes membership communications (newsletters, websites, etc.) and meetings, surveys members, plans outreach to the community.

Please fill out our Food Co-op Survey!

To keep in the loop and participate in this effort,
we have set up 3 web-groups:

1) Announcements    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StGeorgeFoodCoop/
This group is for those who are interested in receiving only formal announcements from the St George Food Co-op and St. George Food Buying Club development teams. You can expect to receive approximately one email a week or less. If you would like to be more involved in the development process, please join our development discussion group as well and come to our meetings. We'd love to meet you!

2) Food-buying club:   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StGeorgeFoodBuyingClub
This group is for those interested in getting involved in the St. George Food Buying Club.  The St. George Food Buying Club is a way for people to save money by buying foods together in bulk.  Our main interest is in whole, natural and locally grown foods, though not limited to these criteria.  If you want to get involved and benefit from the club, some volunteer time will be required occasionally to receive the delivery and separate out each person's order.  More details to come.

3) Food Co-op Development   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SGFCDevelopment
This group is for those who are interested in being involved at the grassroots level and helping out with all the minutia required to plan and start up the St. George Food Co-op storefront.  You can expect to receive a larger volume of emails than the announcement group, but will be kept up to date on everything we are doing to make the storefront a reality and have the ability to post messages and be personally involved in the project.  If you would like to help out or get involved in any way, please don't be shy!!!  We especially need people with expertise in the following areas: Legal, Accounting, Finance, Computer/Website Technical Support, Grocery/Food Industry, and Food Coop establishment/management, but welcome help in any area in which you want to be involved.

If you would like more information, please email us

We have meetings every other Thursday at 7pm at
the ETG Book Café, 208 Bay Street. All are welcome.

We have informal meetings also, for people who cannot come to the Thursday meeting. These can be arranged by writing to our email address.

FIRST FOOD CO-OP ORDER!
The first cooperative food purchase
came to term on the stage of the Book Cafe Wednesday June 18th (full moon). Pictured are Leslie, Dan Icolari, J.P. and Charlie, who did the final sorting and subdividing for the rest of the membership. Yay!