Anne Gentry

When I was younger, going to Neiman’s Family Market was a weekly routine. Like other weekend errands with my parents, my brother and I were often rewarded with a slurpee from 7-11 or getting to listen to Sunday afternoon polka or opera on the radio (for me, this was a treat).

As we got a little older, we quickly realized that a “quick” grocery shopping outing to the neighborhood market was never a “quick” ordeal. It seemed like every aisle we went down, my dad would run into someone he knew. Whether talking about running, or retirement benefits, or how the kids are, or what was going on in the community, he never hesitated to stop and chat with whoever it is that we encountered– whether an old colleague, a friend, or one of the employees who had worked there for years.

As I moved back to Alpena after college, Neiman’s became my own weekly grocery store stop, finding myself following in my father’s footsteps. I was genuinely happy to shop there, whether being greeted by Hal, perusing the bulk food section, eating at the Bagel Stop, or snagging some Alpena strawberries, in all their peak, juicy, perfection.

In the last several years, this type of grocery store experience has become increasingly rare. Sure, I run into my fair amount of colleagues and friends while out at Meijer, but it’s normally a quick wave from across the aisle to ensure we can get in and out of there as fast and painlessly as possible.

Grocery stores are one of the most-visited places in our daily and weekly routines– not to mention one of the places we probably spend the most money monthly. What if they were places we were actually happy to shop at, happy to linger in, happy to run into people at? What if grocery shopping were a weekly routine we actually looked forward to doing?

A group of passionate community members, business owners, farmers, and grocery shoppers, led by the Alpena Downtown Development Authority and United Way of Northeast Michigan, has been pursuing this question by pursuing the creation of a food co-op in Downtown Alpena. If you’ve been lucky enough to shop at or visit a food co-op– whether the Grain Train in Petoskey, the Marquette Food Co-Op, or the newly opened Detroit People’s Food Co-Op– most likely, you noticed it provided a starkly different shopping experience than your typical grocery store.

Food co-ops are grocery stores that are owned and democratically controlled by its community members rather than outside corporate investors. Shoppers can become “owners” by purchasing a share in the business, which gives them voting rights, access to discounts, and a say in how the store operates. If you’re a member of a credit union, you already participate in a co-op business model as a member-owner.

Food co-ops are committed to certain values that ensure they are doing well by their community, the people who grow and make food, and often, the environment. In addition to all the normal departments you’d expect at a grocery store, they often have space for (and a deep commitment to) educational opportunities like cooking classes, local food sampling, composting workshops, how-to classes like kombucha, sourdough, etc. and so much more. Realizing the importance that food has to a community’s overall well-being, food co-ops exist to put control of food access and food choice back into the community– instead of into the hands of outside shareholders, national food manufacturers, and corporate grocery chains (like Walmart, whose 23% control of the national grocery market has given the Walton family $430 billion dollars of net worth and positioned Jim, Rob, and Alice Walton, as the 11th-13th richest people in the world, according to Forbes).

We believe Alpena deserves a better grocery store experience– one we are happy to shop, one that builds connections between growers and eaters, one that offers daily, affordable access to fresh, nutritious, and Michigan-grown food, whenever possible. One that truly exists to serve the community and whose profits are invested right back into the community and to the people who shop there.

If you’re passionate about food or just interested in a better grocery shopping experience, I encourage you to get involved with our efforts by attending an upcoming meeting (July 13 at 5:00 pm at Marithyme Cafe in the Center Building) or visiting www.alpenafoodcoop.com to stay updated on our efforts to redefine what is possible in Northeast Michigan.