Neighbors' cooperative helps them take control
LEONEL SANCHEZ Staff Writer
09-Aug-1993 Monday
Neighbors United Food Cooperative in Logan Heights
The few shelves of the Neighbors United Food Cooperative in Logan Heights are well-stocked, with boxes of grits neatly arranged next to cans of enchilada sauce and menudo.
Rice, beans, lentils and pancake mix are heaped in plastic containers. Fresh vegetables and fruits pile up in rickety crates.
Handwritten signs in English and Spanish remind shoppers that here they pay 20 to 30 percent less for their groceries.
Conspicuously missing from the racks are the cigarettes, liquor and candy sold by grocers in the neighborhood. The co-op members chose not to sell any when they opened their store at 30th Street and Imperial Avenue. It was their way of showing how community ownership leads to responsible decisions.
"This co-op is a training ground for community control," organizer Richard Flyer says. "What we want to do is own our own neighborhood. It's a long-term process, but that is the only thing that makes sense."
By offering affordable, healthy food, the co-op aims to give residents an alternative to high-priced grocery stores in the area. Its members don't want to wait for a big-name supermarket to decide to move into their area.
"We need to get away from bringing businesses from the outside into low-income neighborhoods and instead encourage people to develop small businesses within their own neighborhoods," Flyer said.
'Feel like a family'
The co-op grew out of a campaign by area residents last year to drive out drug dealers from nearby Webster Avenue. After they helped reduce crime through anti-drug marches and increased cooperation with police, the organizers focused on economic development.
The co-op began as a food-buying club with about 25 families as members. They pooled their money to buy bulk food for their own consumption.
After they built up their stock, they opened a storefront in May and began recruiting more members. It is open daily from 9 a.m to 5 p.m.
"We generally told people that this was going to be a community-owned store," said Flyer. "And that the money stays in the neighborhood, and that any profit we make will be used to expand and create jobs for residents in the neighborhood."
About 200 families are members of the co-op. They pay monthly dues of $2 and work two hours a month to support it.
In return, they are given a say in how the co-op is managed and an alternative to shopping the neighborhood grocery stores that residents believe are more interested in selling liquor than fresh produce and milk.
"Things are cheaper here," Petra Cardenas, 31, said as she scanned the store looking for corn tortillas. "The other stores cost more. Here they make you feel like a family because you're asked to donate two hours of work."
Ulises Rodriguez says he has a personal stake in the store's well-being. He fulfills his two hours of volunteer work by sweeping the floor and stocking the shelves. He looks forward to learning how to operate the cash register.
"Everybody here helps each other because we all own this place," he said, wiping sweat from his brow.
Yolanda Rondan, a single parent who lives with her five children on Webster Avenue, said she has a hard time believing that she is part-owner of the store.
"They tell me that, but I don't believe it," she said cracking a smile after scooping 10 pounds of rice into a plastic bag. She paid $2 for it.
Leana Buggs, 73, appreciates what the co-op is trying to do to help the community. Soon the store will give her a chance to sell the floral dresses and evening gowns she makes.
Carol Bess, 48, remembers growing up in the neighborhood when most of the stores were owned by community residents. The building where the co-op now stands used to be a pharmacy owned by an African-American family, she said.
Bess said members of the community have the potential to own their own homes and businesses again, but they must work together.
"What we have now are merchants who siphon their money and take it to live in wealthy neighborhoods," she said.
Neighborhood center
Although the co-op is still in its infancy, a larger, more established competitor across the street is paying close attention to its development.
"We've lost 200 to 300 people to them already," said the manager of Bruno's Grocery and Liquor store. "We had to cut our prices, too. If we don't, we lose the business."
Another grocer down the street said that he did not know about the food cooperative and that he did not mind the competition, since produce accounted for few of his sales.
"What we sell is the other stuff," said the grocer, who also did not want to be quoted by name. "We call it the party stuff," he said, pointing to the liquor bottles and cigarette cartons that line his store.
The grocers acknowledged that some of their competitors sold high-priced merchandise, but denied that they did it themselves.
The riots in Los Angeles last year focused attention on inner-city grocery stores. Residents in hard-hit areas strongly objected to the reopening of many of these stores, saying they overcharged their customers and encouraged drinking by selling liquor.
Community-owned businesses are the only ones who can preach unity and responsibility ahead of profits, Flyer said.
At weekly meetings in the store, co-op members not only talk about what foods they want to sell but also what they can do to fight crime in their neighborhood.
"We discuss issues such as drug trafficking, prostitution, dirty streets, high rents and safety concerns," said Flyer, pointing to scribbled notes from the last meeting hanging on the store's wall.
The group wants to use space at the store to begin a child-care co-op and to hold English, nutrition, parenting and small-business development classes. Co-op members have dreams of opening more stores in Logan Heights.
'On right track'
First, however, the co-op must survive. Most of its members are low-income Mexican immigrant and African-American families who lack the resources of other successful co-ops in the county.
The co-op's founders decided to hurry the opening of the store because they did not want to lose the momentum they built after the successful anti-drug campaign on Webster Avenue. And like most small businesses, it is vulnerable in the beginning.
The co-op is able to cut costs because of the work donated by members, some of whom are painters, carpenters, electricians and produce experts. However, organizers acknowledge that the store needs to build up its stock and offer a variety of products to attract more customers. Only half of the store is being used, and much of the equipment is antiquated.
The co-op's funding comes mainly from a $60,000 federal education grant, which was initially awarded to help organize the community -- and smaller grants and donations that pay for three workers, rent, food orders and other expenses.
Most food cooperatives are organized by affluent or middle-class professionals who have the organizational skills and cash resources to sustain them, said Scott Kessler, a co-op expert and executive director of the Adams Avenue Business Association. About a dozen operate in the county.
The most pressing needs for co-ops are in poorer neighborhoods, but that is where they have the most problems getting started and need the most public and private help.
Co-op members say they will need at least $200,000 to hire more cashiers and managers and buy a delivery truck and other equipment.
City Councilman Juan Carlos Vargas has persuaded the city to award the store a $10,000 community development grant.
"They are absolutely on the right track," said Vargas. "They want to bring people together and show them how to get better prices for food and then move on to bigger issues."
But the $10,000 grant is tied up in bureaucratic red tape. The co-op applied for an economic development grant, but some city officials say the organization is a social-service agency and does not qualify for such funds.
Vargas, co-op members and city officials are to meet Thursday to discuss the problem. Meanwhile, the San Diego State University Foundation has offered to pay the co-op's rent for three months.
Copyright Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
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