New co-op grocery store coming to Parkdale later this year
The West End Food Co-op—the folks behind the popular Sorauren Farmers’ Market—have partnered up with the Parkdale Community Health Centre to open a grocery store at Queen and Dufferin in the coming months. We caught up with Ayal Dinner, the WEFC operations coordinator, who spoke about taking the organization in this new direction.
“Part of the challenge with the current food system is that people are disconnected with their food,” Dinner says. The co-op, like the farmers’ market, encourages a mutually beneficial relationship between producers and the consumers. “It’s really about giving people access to the kind of food they want.”
The co-op was created in as a multi-stakeholder organization, meaning that the producers, the consumers and the workers all have a say in its development and operation. Unlike many mainstream co-op models, there won’t be any working requirements for grocery store members. Rather, a $5 membership will get patrons access to local, fresh and even bulk food seven days a week once the shop opens. That fee means that members are also partial owners in the business and are therefore able to participate in decision-making during the annual meetings. Participants will also be able to buy five- and 10-year bonds, which will see a small return.
The new co-op grocery store should be open by the end of the year. In the meantime, the WEFC is hosting a fundraiser and information night on Wednesday, June 15th at the Gladstone Hotel.
Wicked… This is exactly what the hood needs.
I am stoked to have something like this come into the neighbour hood, Sorry but parkdale No-Frills is scary, scary place and Metro well its Metro over priced and everyone in Liberty Metro needs a slap(not everyone but like 89.7%).
Wonderful!!! The neighborhood really needs fresh local groceries. A fish monger and an organic butcher would be amazing too.
One of the BEST neighbourhoods in the city! I even like the crazies at no frills..now if we could only get rid of Gord Perks
Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The crazies are good people, I am just off Tyndall and King so they tend to congregate on the other side of the street as they say…
This is the best news I heard today! Honestly, No Frills with its mostly dumb staff and young ignorant princesses behind the cashier desks need to be demoted to the first place from the end.
We so need fresh food, good variety, produced locally and better quality that the No Frills dumpster.