Urban Greens was founded as a cooperative buying club in 2000 by a group of West Side Providence residents who felt that their need for an affordable source of healthy foods was not being met. Urban Greens has grown to nearly 200 members and operates out of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association headquarters located at 1560 Westminster Street in the Armory District of Providence. Urban Greens is currently finalizing plans for a full cooperative market that will open in 2009.
An entirely volunteer-run organization for the first five years of its life, Urban Greens received an Americorps Vista member in the fall of 2005, its first staff position. Since then, the groups' membership and order sizes have grown to over 100 households ordering nearly $5000 per month. As the group has grown, we have refined our ordering processes, expanded and revised our volunteer system and added more locally-produced goods.
We believe that establishing a full cooperative market is the most effective means of expanding access to healthy foods throughout our community. We are currently in the planning stages, with a dedicated group of coop members developing the project's business plans and structure and finalizing the store layout and financing. We have also run several progressive new projects related to the availability of local food in the winter, including a winter vegetable subscription in collaboration with Red Planet Vegetables, a small urban farm, providing vegetables to 40 families and households and allowing the farmers to invest in much-needed winter growing equipment.
Establishing a cooperative market has been Urban Greens' main goal since inception, and the coop is currently well on its way to a 2009 grand opening.
Urban Greens Food Coop will be guided by the following values:
Equal Access: Every person, regardless of economic or social status, deserves access to healthy, affordable food produced in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
Local Agriculture: Our health is dependent upon responsible stewardship of the planet's resources. Supporting local agriculture is an important part of this stewardship. Happily, local food also tastes better.
Local Economy: Small businesses, as opposed to national retail chains, keep a higher percentage of every dollar spent within the community. The coop will help create and support jobs for local farmers, food producers, and staff.
Co-operative Principles, Co-operative Values: Co-operatives are based on the values of democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. As a co-operative, we believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.
Community Partnerships: Building and sharing strength requires actively seeking collaboration with neighbors, community members, local community groups, small businesses, non-profits, members and non-members.
Social Entrepreneurship: We can affect social change in our food systems through entrepreneurship. The cooperative measures success in terms of both social change and economic viability.
