People's Food Co-op or just the People's Co-op is a

food cooperative A food cooperative or food co-op is a food distribution outlet organized as a cooperative, rather than a private or public company. Food cooperatives are usually consumer cooperatives, where the decisions regarding the production and distribution of ...

located in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. Founded in 1970 by the members of a food-buying club, the co-op is owned by over 3000 member owners and is a member of the

National Cooperative Grocers Association National Co+op Grocers (NCG) is a business services cooperative for retail cooperative grocery stores located throughout the United States. NCG offers franchise-like services to food co-ops that help businesses optimize operational and marketing ...

and the

United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) is a federation of worker cooperatives in the United States. USFWC was founded at the U.S. Conference of Democratic Workplaces in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May 2004. The Federation w ...

Governance and management

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors at People's consists of 5-9 members elected by the membership of the co-op. The Board uses a modified version of

consensus decision-making Consensus decision-making or consensus process (often abbreviated to ''consensus'') are group decision-making processes in which participants develop and decide on proposals with the aim, or requirement, of acceptance by all. The focus on es ...

to reach its decisions. In 2006, the Board adopted

Policy Governance Policy Governance, informally known as the Carver model, is a system for organizational governance. Policy Governance defines and guides appropriate relationships between an organization's owners, board of directors, and chief executive. The Polic ...

as its governance model.

Collective management

People's is managed by a non-hierarchical

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

. As of 2007, there are 27 co-managers. Collective meetings are held once a month where co-managers make decisions regarding the co-op's operations. Like the Board, the collective uses a modified version of

. 26 out of the 27 co-managers have to agree on given proposals. The collective is divided into semi-autonomous “teams” which are responsible for reporting and heading up their various departments. The collective is accountable to the membership via the Board.

Expansion

In 2002, People's embarked upon an expansion project to increase its retail space. People's secured loans from its membership and Shorebank Pacific to finance the $900,000 expansion project. The expansion doubled the store's retail space and included an expanded Community Room as well as an elevator for wheelchair access. The co-op's efforts won them a BEST ''(Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow)'' award from the City of Portland’s Office of Sustainable Development in 2003 for energy efficiency.

Building features

The building which People's occupies incorporates a number of

environmentally friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...

technologies. All of the wood used for the expansion was either salvaged or FSC certified. The building's natural ventilation was improved by use of a

solar chimney :''This article refers to a device for ventilation. For the power generation technology, see Solar updraft tower.'' A solar chimney often referred to as a thermal chimney is a way of improving the natural ventilation of buildings by using convecti ...

Green roofs

People's added two

green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...

s to its building during its expansion. Drought-tolerant plant species were chosen for the green roofs. Due to the

stormwater Stormwater, also spelled storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed la ...

management benefits, People's received a $2,500 grant from the Community Watershed Stewardship Program.

Cob

Cob, a mixture of earth, sand and straw, was used as infill for two walls of the building as well as for benches inside and outside of the store. People's was the first commercially zoned building in North America to build with cob wall infill.

Geothermal

The co-op is heated and cooled by use of a

geothermal exchange heat pump A ground source heat pump (also geothermal heat pump) is a heating/cooling system for buildings that uses a type of heat pump to transfer heat to or from the ground, taking advantage of the relative constancy of temperatures of the earth through ...

which includes a series of tubes coursing water through the store's floor. This system, in conjunction with other design strategies, has reduced the heating and cooling energy consumption at the co-op by approximately 40%.

People's farmers' market

People's hosts a year round

farmers market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

in its courtyard on Wednesday afternoons. In the summer months, there are typically 15-20 vendors offering a variety of locally grown and produced goods.

Philosophy and buying guidelines

People's has adopted a model of

ethical consumerism Ethical consumerism (alternatively called ethical consumption, ethical purchasing, moral purchasing, ethical sourcing, or ethical shopping and also associated with sustainable and green consumerism) is a type of consumer activism based on the conc ...

and adheres to strict guidelines for the products that are retailed as well as its practices. By vote of the membership, the co-op does not carry any products containing meat with the exception of pet food. The Board of Directors has approved product selection guidelines which prohibit products containing

artificial colors Food coloring, or color additive, is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or drink. They come in many forms consisting of liquids, powders, gels, and pastes. Food coloring is used in both commercial food ...

, flavoring, or preservatives. The guidelines also allow for the exclusion of products from companies that test on animals or operate in contradiction to the co-op's mission. People's composts all of its vegetable waste off site at the 47th Avenue Farm in Portland via an industrial

vermicomposting Vermicompost (vermi-compost) is the product of the decomposition process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and ...

bin. People's maintains connections to the

cooperative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

via its membership in regional and national cooperative federations. People's is currently a member of the

, the

, and the Portland Alliance of Worker Cooperatives.

People's community room

People's has a meeting space on site used for public and private events. Free

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

classes for members are held in the room. The room is also used for

capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th century ...

and

t'ai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...

, as well as for meetings of both the membership and Board of Directors. A lift was built during the expansion to ensure accessibility to the space.

IS4C

In 2006, People's began using

IS4C IS4C or Integrated Systems for Co-ops is a free web-based point of sale software for retail stores initially developed by Tak Tang for the Wedge Community Co-op in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The software utilizes an SQL database and enables track ...

, a

Point of Sale The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

(PoS) System. The program was developed by Tak Tang of the

Wedge Community Co-op The Wedge Community Co-op or The Wedge is a food cooperative located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Located at 2105 Lyndale Avenue South, the Wedge derives its name from the popular nickname for the Lowry Hill East neighborhood, called "The Wedge" du ...

in Minneapolis, Minnesota. People's ported the IS4C software to the Linux platform, making it the only open-source software made specifically for food cooperatives.
Co-ops Making History

References

External links

Official Website

People's Expansion - Portland Office of Sustainable Development

U.S Department of Energy: Buildings Database
{{coord, 45, 30, 2.9, N, 122, 38, 41.71, W, region:US, display=title Food markets in the United States Food cooperatives in the United States Consumers' cooperatives in the United States Organic farming organizations Companies based in Portland, Oregon Food and drink companies established in 1970 Retail companies established in 1970 1970 establishments in Oregon Supermarkets of the United States