Jared Thompson
Environmental Geography 125
Final Project 2009
My service learning placement site was at the River West Co- op. The River West Co- op
have been around for about seven years, and the membership keeps growing. At the River
West Co-op the goal of the organization is to provide locally grown, organic food to the
neighborhood of River West, and or those who just wish to join. They do this by connecting
locally with farmers and food merchants to provide these services. The River West Co-op
connects with processes operating at other places by staying close to home and really only
getting food products that are from the area. By getting the ingredients that are sold from
locally owned operating places in Wisconsin they are providing a huge cut of costs associated
with ordering foods from other states or even countries. In fact the River West Co- op actually
looses a small portion of all their money taken in, in order to be able to provide this service to
the community. They do this for instance, by selecting the entire dairy selection of products
sold there, most are from Wisconsin. Also by carefully choosing products that members
specifically ask for, most of the products that are carried are certified organic at way lower
prices then big name retailers. However all products are from the area. Local farmers in the
neighborhood have recently sprung up as well, leading to many other foods being grown
naturally in the neighborhood. People are pickling and making tamales for instance, other
people have started making homemade jams and juices, and actually more so doing this just in
order to be able to sell food at the co-op. This realistically connects as far away as global levels
scales, or at least could. By providing all these organically grown foods, they are reducing
pollution, saving money and keeping it here in Wisconsin, and providing cheaper naturally
alternatives to big name grocery chains like Whole Foods. By providing these services to
community and focusing on the neighborhood scale as their course for change they are
allowing members of the community to have interactions with each other and become more
unified. It is giving the community a chance to address the problems in the neighborhood by a
"do it yourself" sort of approach.
The co-op was starting by members in the community and remains to be member
owned. it costs only five dollars to become a member and you then, receive the discount on
food and groceries. When addressing wealth inequalities in this neighborhood this is key. The
co-op even goes as far, as to allow people to volunteer in the co-op to earn their membership,
for those who cannot afford it, and this way they are helping out and receiving the benefits and
services and of the co-op. Anyone can be a member. This is affecting the neighborhood both by
gentrifying the neighborhood changing it economically. Another goal of the co-op is to reflect
the community; they do this by carrying products that members ask for, and with their
members and stuff, by encouraging diversity. When you walk into the River West Co- op you
would never feel out of place, there is a wide genre of people and afflicting personalities. In
efforts to do this they have attracted many different types of people I was told, from indie kids,
to hippies next door, and with the locally pickling, they have a few southern members now as
well. By addressing these inequalities in the neighborhood they are allowing members to feel
that even if they are different from their neighbor, perhaps they have something in common,
such a s shopping at the river west co-op. Being a not for profit organization they are realizing
the extreme poverty in the neighborhood and addressing it by providing this cheaper
alternative for everyone. As earlier mentioned about the volunteer option, you receive a 15
percent discount on all your services there. Members get 5 percent. Rather than spending
money on advertising they save that capital that would be needed to draw in massive business,
and put it towards the community in varies ways. For instance, they work with the food pantry
up the block, some of the local school, and churches, even the Milwaukee Health Initiative.
They are one of the only businesses on the board of the river west neighborhood association.
The River West Co- op addresses differences in land use and ecology by directly and indirectly,
by minimizing material use, such as using a piece of paper multiple times and multiple times
after that as I saw. Even then possibly using it for a sign. The River West Co-op chooses not to
use fancy displays that cost electricity to run, or using any form of air conditioning in the store
or heat for that matter. All in efforts to reduce waste. By supporting sustainable agriculture,
and organic farming, or small perm cultured farms. Their goal is not so much to be directly
effecting a national scale but as I was told, "a bonus" if that were the case. By addressing land
use and the different types that degrade our environment just so companies can make a quick
buck is just that exactly in which the Co-op does not want to have any part in. They look at it as
a whole picture, or cake. From scratch to finish. They are taking initiatives for other places to
start Co-ops and supportive if that is the case, but they are more primarily focused on the
neighborhood of River West. This has brought very tangible results when dealing locally they
feel. As far as limitations to the contributions that the River West Co- op can make towards
solving environmental inequalities and problems in Milwaukee they are endless. For simple
things like have to do with size of the co- op and the nature of being a Co- op. They are not over
ambitious and in a lot of ways working against the bigger chain name of organic grocery
stores/cafes, and the larger tides of society and culture. Yet are still succeeding in their own
way being open for about seven a half years. For the river west co- op acting locally is enough
for the members, realizing of course that there are barriers on a much larger scale. I kind of felt
that they were a little pebble in a huge pond, but, that those small ripples of the river west coop could become huge waves. Acting locally is incredibly rewarding to this entire neighborhood
of members and volunteers of this co- op in River West. By acting locally, they are setting an
example of how and what people should be doing, or could be doing in their communities,
world wired. The lives of these people are dramatically being drawn in towards the idea of
“one” community and if something effects one of them it will affect all of them.
In conclusion, the River West Co- op acts locally and strongly in their stroke. They
provide affordable naturally grown and local foods to the neighborhood at a very reasonable
cost, cutting down on the traffic and congestion that it sometimes takes just to import foods of
the same quality, all for the “Man” to make a buck. This organizations limitations are far less
than their positive enforcements in the community.