Useful Links

Other Food Coops

La Montanita has stores in Santa Fe (The MarketPlace on West Alameda), Albuquerque and Gallup, and is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Its board and staff have been very generous with sharing information and advice with the Los Alamos Cooperative Market.

Dixon Cooperative Market (Dixon, New Mexico; open about a year).

The Española Natural Food Co-op (Española, New Mexico). Not yet in operation, this will be part of ¡Sostenga!, the Center for Sustainable Food, Agriculture, and Environment at Northern New Mexico College.

Silver City Food Co-op (Silver City, New Mexico).

Davis Food Co-op (Davis, California).

Boulder Co-op Market (Boulder, Colorado).

Community Food Co-op (Bozeman, Montana).

Willy Street Co-op (Madison, Wisconsin).

Ashland Food Cooperative (Ashland, Oregon).

Northfield Community Co-op (Northfield, Minnesota).

Chatham Marketplace (Pittsboro, North Carolina; just opened)

The Astoria Cooperative (Astoria, Oregon) became a cooperative in 2004 after almost thirty years as a non-profit.

Medford Market, another cooperative food market trying to get started.

Return to top of page

Starting a New Cooperative

Considering Cooperation: A Guide for New Cooperative Development (PDF 368 KB). Six phases of cooperative formation are presented including: 1) identifying the opportunity, 2) building consensus on the potential for a cooperative, 3) developing trust among potential members, 4) securing member commitment, 5) involving other stakeholders, and 6) starting up the cooperative enterprise.

How to Start a Cooperative (PDF 284 KB).

Cooperative Development Services specializes in working with food cooperatives, including their Food Coop 500 program.

How to Start a Food Co-op, an online guide to starting a food co-op provided by the Cooperative Grocers' Information Network.

General Information About Cooperatives

Cooperatives 101: An Introduction to Cooperatives (PDF 448 KB).

The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperation is a mine of information on governance, financial management, case studies, how to start a co-op, and much more.

University of California Center for Cooperatives.

National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA).

National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA).

National Cooperative Bank (NCB).

Rural Development, Business and Cooperative Programs of the USDA.

Cooperative Life is the site of the Northeast Federation of Cooperatives.

Tutorial about Cooperatives.

Local Producers

Santa Cruz Farm and Greenhouses, Don Bustos, P. O. Box 5045, Española, NM 87533, (505)514-1662.

¡Sostenga!, the Center for Sustainable Food, Agriculture, and Environment at Northern New Mexico College.

Return to top of page