In a small student house just off George Street lies the headquarters of the York Student Food Cooperative, a fast expanding group of likeminded students determined to offer cheap, wholesome, fair-trade and organic food to the ever-more discriminating student market. Having worked in a fair-trade shop myself, and often despairing of the choices available to me at the local shops near to my house, the student cooperative, ‘SCOOP’ for short, sounded like a fantastic alternative.
However, after attending their weekly meeting last night, the doubts that had gathered in my head over the potential for the economic viability of a cooperative run part time by students, were shattered by the drive and professionalism of the group. After a warm welcome and an introduction to the members responsible for the running of the cooperative, I was sat in their living room with tea and cake facing a blackboard painted on the wall. I was astonished by the breadth of issues raised at the meeting, from discussing arrangements for an up-coming fair to raise funds and publicity to the group, to their plans for training for all members of the cooperative who take responsibility for the accounting and managing of their stocks.
The cooperative places regular bulk orders with the trading co-op Lembas, based in Sheffield, and are thus able to offer ethically sourced food at competitive prices to the student population. Upon arrival, dry stock is then sold in kilogram or 100g scoops to members of the cooperative who arrive at George Street at set times to browse their stock. Looking into their stock cupboard, the variety and cheapness of the food on offer surprised me; as someone used to paying inflated prices for organic or fair-trade food, the cost of organic staples such as flour (70p per kilogram) or cocoa powder (83p per 100g) came as a pleasant shock. What’s more, every Thursday SCOOP offers a delivery service of Goosemoor organic vegetable boxes from a local farm; boxes start from £3 and the group assured me the box scheme was fantastic value, each box holding up to 5kg of delicious fruit or vegetables.
The amount of support SCOOP has already attracted was astounding; set up just before Christmas, the group already has around 30 fully paid-up members, and has received offers of financial aid from various groups, for example the Green Action Food Cooperative, in order to expand their not-for-profit enterprise. Yet more importantly for the cooperative, the university has shown it also sees a future and economic viability to the group. Although the group is not yet ratified by YUSU, following very favourable student feedback to a questionnaire carried out by SCOOP on campus, the group is currently in talks with vice-chancellor Jane Grenville about possible future collaboration between the cooperative and the university to offer the group a shop on campus premises, with Commercial services feeding back that the idea is “laudable”.
The cooperative, however, do state that their purpose “is not about entering into competition with businesses on campus, but rather believe their project is about providing students with a viable and creative alternative”, with a focus on education and an appreciation of food and cooking. Furthermore, the university will arguably benefit from a partnership with the cooperative; support for the provision of the ethical and environmentally friendly goods offered by SCOOP could add a much needed boost to the university’s actions following their 10:10 pledge. The results of discussion over this fantastic opportunity for the co-op and students alike are hoped to be revealed soon, and with Jane Grenville adding the weight of her support to their case, SCOOP could well be trading within the boundaries of the university in the near future.
In order to buy from SCOOP, anyone wishing to join the group must first pay a membership fee of £5, fully refundable when a member chooses to leave; however, the cooperative offers a trial shop to anyone wishing to find out more about the shop without any commitment. The group will be at Vanbrugh stalls on Wednesday 12th May, and anyone wishing to find out more information is urged to wander down and talk to the members. Alternatively, anyone wishing to join the cooperative or to receive any more information can email [email protected].