Officially Doing Business As:
Green Seed Co-op on March 15, 2005
Christine Gulrajani and Erich Brown moved to Saginaw from Milwaukee in summer 2004. Shortly after arriving, they met Amy Bradley through La Leche League. During several conversations, it was revealed that all three had many true desires in common. Amy was newly interested in organic food, Christine and Erich enjoyed the abundance of organic variety and availability at the best prices, while shopping local co-op grocers in Milwaukee. All three were also interested in saving money and time, and open to the idea of creating community in Saginaw. After months of discussion, they rounded up a group of people to discuss the idea of creating a co-op in Saginaw.
Within two weeks of the first meeting, the original 7 members cooperatively ordered produce from a Certified Organic produce distributor. Initial deliveries distributed in the basement of White's Bar, a local tavern specializing in nightly live music, open 8 am - 2 am. Talk was set into motion as we met again to firm up our goals, policies, and procedures, just one month after our initial gathering. We continue to purchase natural and organic groceries and add new distributors to meet the needs of our Members. We welcome your input and suggestions!
Goals & Purposes
- To coordinate our food buying so as to be able to get the best food prices
- To create a community of people with shared values
- To support local farmers/growers
- To experience the pleasures and challenges of working together cooperatively
- To participate in the world-wide cooperative movement by working together cooperatively and educating ourselves and others about cooperatives
- To promote organic agriculture and environmentally responsible technology and products by informed buying
- To educate ourselves by sharing our skills and knowledge with each other
- Promote social responsibility
- To embrace and support our members and their families
How we accomplish our goals & purposes
- By respecting policies and procedures of our co-op
- By respecting the work each individual does for the co-op
- By making connections with other co-ops
- By actively sharing our skills with each other
- By having more than one person know how to perform each co-op job
- By allowing children to participate in all the varied activities of the co-op