Thought you might like some addresses of food co-ops. I don't know if they're in all areas. Maybe others will have more addresses. We save a lot of money this way and get some orgainic food....Something Better Natural Foods, 22201 North M-66, Battle Creek, Michigan 49017, 616-965-1199, Fax,616-965-8500...Frontier Natural Product Co-op(Herb, vitamin, natural products), 1-800-669-3275, www.frontiercoop.com....North Farm Cooperative, 204 Regas Road, Madison, Wi. 53714, 800-236-5880, www.northfarm.com

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 23, 2000

Answers

Cindy: Do you order by mail then from these co ops? Are they priced competitively even with shipping? Jan

-- Jan B (Janice12@aol.com), May 23, 2000.

I belong to a group locally(east of Cinti.) and we order as a group from FORK(located in Columbus). FORC, 32o-E Outerbelt Street, Columbus, Ohio 43213-1597 or 1-888- WE OWN IT. They offer a huge catalog each month with a variety of organic and non organic selections. Since we order as a group and come in well above minimum order we get additional discounts and dont pay shipping. The catalog also has a large section of specials for the month. Many of us order by the case or do what we call splits with other people. I love the coop! It would be to your advantage to find agroup or start a group as it would be cheaper. Our group is at their limit with a waiting list so another group about 20 mins. away farther east is forming. They just placed their first order. It's neat to see things growing. As you know it only helps to support the organic growers out there. Denise

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-- Denise (jphammock@earthlink.net), May 24, 2000.

Denise, I was hoping someone would include FORC. I used to belong to one in Indy. but no longer have an address. Jan, someone will open an account with a co-op company. There's usually a membership fee, around $25. You give your order to that person, they order- usually by phone. The ones around here you order by the pound or container size in the catalog. You then pick up your order at their house. There is usually a mark up and sometimes a fuel charge and a delivery charge if the minimum is not met. When I was a member of FORC, we did the same to order, but we all gather to divide up the goodies. We would all get a job such as weighing beans, flour, etc. You didn't have to order 5# if wwe only wanted 4. The excess would be stored til someone wanted it. You have to have a large enough space to do keep the food and a refrigerator for perishables. The quality of the products is excellent, esp, the cheese. In the years that I've done this I've only had one or two things that weren't up to par. I would like to get into a FORC group again. I live in southeastern In. if anyone belongs to one around here let me know. Thanks

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 24, 2000.

In the Northeast, there is the brattleboro food coop 802-257-0236 http://www.brattleborofoodcoop.com/ -mark

-- Mark (markr@trinitech.com), May 26, 2000.

Our co-op orders from Blooming Prairie. They have warehouses in Iowa City, IA and Minneapolis, MN. I live in West Central Indiana. Our order comes from the Iowa warehouse. We also usually hit our minimum order so no shipping charges are paid although there is a 5% premium over the catalog price. According to the co-op manager, that charge should be going away soon, if our orders stay consistent. I guess the premium is charged to new customers for a time (the co-op has been ordering from BP for almost a year). We have had very few problems and most products have been very good. I don't have their phone number with me but their web address is www.bloomingprairie.com.

-- Sandy (tripletreefarm@hotmail.com), May 26, 2000.

Oops! That isn't the right web address. I'm at work and thought I remembered it correctly. Sorry!!! I will look when I get home and post the proper web address for Blooming Prairie.

-- Sandy (tripletreefarm@hotmail.com), May 26, 2000.

Okay, here's the right web address. www.bpco-op.com. Sorry for the confusion!

-- Sandy (tripletreefarm@hotmail.com), May 26, 2000.

Anyone know of one near Knoxville or Chattanooga? I will be contacting FORC, but was hoping for something closer.

-- Jennifer (KY) (acornfork@hotmail.com), May 26, 2000.

Does anyone know of a co-op in SW MO? Is anyone interested in starting an ordering group here? Carol

-- Carol (fchambers@mail.janics.com), May 29, 2000.