Is Bed-Stuy Ready to CO-OPerate?

What do the longtime residents of Clinton Hill have against food co-ops?

In a recent Daily News article, owners of the Greene Hill Food Cooperative, opened in December 2011 on Putnam Avenue in Clinton Hill, say they’re struggling with diversifying the coop’s membership, which is mostly white.

"It's a great way for people of all economic statuses to get really good food, but I do think that it signals to the neighborhood that all these white people are coming in, and they're bringing their co-op," said Claire Cannon, 25, a current coop member.

Sound ridiculous and a bit superficial? Yes, and for the majority of longtime residents, let’s assume that’s probably not the reason.

Then what is the reason? Do the longtime residents imagine the coop is too expensive for their pocketbooks? Or maybe they’ve grown accustomed to shopping at their neighborhood grocer. Or perhaps they assume a coop does not carry the variety of products, spices, etc., to fulfill their needs.

The truth is, coops are a wonderful opportunity for its members to make available for themselves the products they want (as opposed to accepting what the grocery store decides) and at a reduced cost.

Currently, Bed-Stuy does not have a food co-op. Long referred to as a “food desert,” Bed-Stuy struggles to increase the number of available business that provide quality, fresh and healthy food options.

In a recent Bed-Stuy Patch poll of the types of new businesses residents would like to see opened in the forthcoming Merchant Quad, readers chose a quality grocery store and market by the largest margin—49 percent.

Some efforts have already started in Bed-Stuy for healthy food share programs, including the Bed-Stuy Farm Share. And, most recently, BSP blogger Melissa Danielle launched Bed-Stuy Bounty, a buying club that will give neighborhood residents access to local, organic and fair-trade foods at wholesale prices.

But how do you think Bed-Stuy’s residents would react to a co-op in the neighborhood? Would its residents – and not just new residents, but also longtime residents – patronize and participate in a food co-op? Or would a coop be met with the same lack of diverse participation as experienced in neighboring Clinton Hill?

Take our poll, and tell us what you think in the comments: