It all started with four friends in a living room and a big idea.
It was 1973 and the cultural shake-up of the 1960s had effected widespread change across the nation, bringing with it the demand for healthier, natural foods without the high price tag and that supported the local economy.
Rod Davis, Jim Eagan, and Dave and Katie Mosel wanted to be a part of this food revolution by opening a food co-op. Moscow, Idaho, was the perfect place to see this big idea — a grocery store owned and governed by its members — to fruition.
Set in the sprawling hills of the Palouse and home to the University of Idaho, and being adjacent to Pullman and Washington State University, Moscow at the time was ripe with young, idealistic minds who wanted to retake consumer control and support their community rather than the bottom line of big chain supermarkets.
And so Moscow Food Co-op was born, opening its doors that year (its first name was The Good Food Store) to eagerly waiting residents.
To have access to fresh, local food and other products for a fair price, and to have a voice in the process of operating the co-op — which also benefits regional farmers and artisans — was like finding a missing puzzle piece of life in this small town.
"We were drawn to Moscow in 1980 because there was so much going on then surrounding natural food," recalls Kenna Eaton, who was general manager of the co-op from 1991 to 2011. She's now general manager of The Food Co-op in Port Townsend, Washington.
"The information coming from the area on how to live sustainably really drew us to this very dynamic, vibrant and cutting-edge town, and yet it was all the way out in the middle of the country. The co-op fit perfectly... It's no surprise they're celebrating their 50th," Eaton says.
In addition to giving rise to the organic, fair-trade and local food movements, this new wave of community-owned grocery stores was also about providing a "third place" for people to gather. Member ownership, called an equity share, in the Moscow Food Co-op is $10 a year (or $150 for lifetime membership) and comes with myriad benefits like discounts, but anyone can shop there.
Moscow Food Co-op has served its "third place" role well with its colorful, welcoming vibe and its community calendar full of food education classes, gatherings and celebrations. Throughout 2023, many of these events celebrate its 50 years in business.
"We joke about it often; our co-op is a community center that happens to sell groceries and produce," says Melinda Schab, who's been general manager since 2012.
Not only does the co-op foster community at its store, it seeks to create it outside those walls as well through many events.
For instance, the co-op had a hand in starting the award-winning Moscow Farmers Market in 1976. It also founded the Tuesday's Growers' Market in the co-op parking lot. When that market quickly outgrew the location on Fifth Street, it moved to the Latah County Fairgrounds as the Tuesday Community Market. And in 2018, it opened a satellite location at the University of Idaho, fittingly called The Co-op on Campus.
"I love being on campus," says Schab. "With record university enrollment last year, sales have been really good. I think we're reaching a lot of students, introducing them to the cooperative business model and how rad it is and all the good things co-ops do for the communities they serve, around the world."
Surprisingly, today the Moscow Food Co-op is one of just 325 food co-ops across the country.
When its founding members were looking for a cooperative business model to follow, close to 10,000 such ventures had sprouted up between 1969 and 1979. However, most didn't survive.
During that period in the Pacific Northwest, there were also plans brewing for The Food Co-op in Port Townsend and Boise's Co-op Market, which opened in 1972 and 1973, respectively, and which are both still going strong. But the blueprint of how to establish longevity — even though co-ops date back to the late 1800s — wasn't easy to come by, with grocery giants making it tough for smaller operations to gain traction.
One, however, stood out: the Puget Consumers Co-op (PCC), Washington's longest running food co-op. In operation since 1953, it presented an opportunity for the four friends from Moscow to glean from an established model.
PCC leaders realized early on that if they wanted to attract and retain more members, they needed to establish themselves as an "in-between store" where people who'd always gone to supermarkets felt comfortable by seeing similar items in addition to organic and natural foods. As well, PCC's evolving model included departing from strict democracy in 1980 toward a system of strong, centralized management, while still keeping in harmony with member ownership.
When the Moscow Food Co-op achieved success with these same practices, it positioned itself as a regional and even national leader in how to grow and sustain a thriving business.
"Today's shopper is more diverse," says Schab. "Not everyone wants natural and organic, but everyone wants to be seen and treated well and recognized for the value they bring to a community. We aren't just selling groceries; we're building relationships, and we're building community. It's just part of the cooperative principles and values."
Among the seven core principles of a cooperative, a set of values that's been followed by such organizations around the world since 1995, are voluntary and open membership, democratic member control, education, training and information, and concern for community.
Now 7,800 owner-members strong and bringing in $11 million in sales annually, the Moscow Food Co-op has acted as a consultant to others, including Main Market Co-op, which opened in 2010 in Spokane, and the Pullman Good Food Co-op, set to open in mid-2024.
Others are looking to Moscow for guidance as well.
"Lewiston [Idaho] asked if they could be next," says Schab.
So what do the next five, 10, 50 years hold for the Moscow Food Co-op?
"There's always the question of 'What do we value, and how can we support that?' That's what's kept this organization going," says board Chair Mark Thorne.
"Not knowing what the economy is going to look like, we want to be strategic in what we do," he continues. "What we're going to do is make responsible decisions going forward to preserve and promote what the co-op stands for. When you walk in the store you feel like you're part of something, there's a feel that's different, and that's really something worth preserving." ♦
Pullman residents soon won't have to travel across state lines to Moscow to shop at a local co-op.
The Pullman Good Food Co-op is eagerly anticipating an estimated opening in early 2024. Making good time, the small group started the process just four years ago.
"It typically takes eight to 10 years to fully realize a food co-op," said board member Ken Casavant.
"Over the four to five years we've been working on getting our co-op shaped and growing our member base, Moscow was our model, no question about it," he continues. "It's definitely made the process easier, having such a successful model to look to. They started small but have become a very well-functioning organization."
When the Pullman Good Food Co-op board looked into the viability of starting a co-op, a market study revealed that while the successful Moscow Food Co-op is just 14 minutes away, one in Pullman could also be successful.
In order to hit their early 2024 opening date, however, the Pullman team is working hard to secure 1,000 members. Currently they have close to 800.
"We're on the search for new members but also for the board of directors," Casavant says.
There are three levels of membership, including full investment owner, which is a lifetime membership and costs $200, paid up front. However, members can also become an owner for $25 per quarter or a student owner for $25 per year.
The Pullman co-op will be a full-service grocery store, employing 20 to 30 people, with a bakery and regional products such as produce, grains and meat.
Visit pullmangoodfoodcoop.com to learn more.