Grocery Story

Jon Steinman has studied and worked with all things food for over two decades. He was the producer and host of the internationally syndicated radio show and podcast Deconstructing Dinner, once ranked as the most-listened-to food podcast in Canada. Jon was the writer and host of Deconstructing Dinner: Reconstructing our Food System – a television and web series currently streaming online. Jon coordinates and curates the annual Deconstructing Dinner Film Festival of compelling food documentaries and was an elected director from 2006-2016 of the Kootenay Co-op – Canada's largest independent retail consumer food co-op, serving as Board President from 2014-2016. He lives in Nelson, BC.

• "Food System" DefinedPrefaceNote from the Author: Big FoodIntroduction[1] Rise of the Grocery Giants A&P — The First of the Giants Other Giants Emerge Self-Service Regulating the Rise of Big Business Expanding the War on Chain Grocers Enter the Supermarket [2] Retailer Market Power Taming the Chains The Giants Break Loose The Accelerating of Supermarket Dominance Regulating Market Power Today The Generational Effect and Self-Reinforcing Apathy[3] Food Prices and the People Who Grow Our Food The Farm Crisis of the 1980s The "Farm Share" and "Marketing Share" of Our Food Dollars Squeezing Food Dollars Through Bottlenecks Farm Value vs. Retail Price Eaters Pay the Price for Concentrated Markets Mergers Decrease Prices Paid to Farmers The Most Extreme Expression of the Farm Income Crisis[4] Grocery Stores — The Food System's Control CenterShaping Food — Literally Losses in Flavor Cosmetic Requirements and Food Safety Genetic Diversity Food Standards as Buyer Leverage Standards and Food Waste Marching Orders for Suppliers Suppliers Finance Their Own Servitude Category Management Pay to Play, Pay to Stay Is It Bribery? Private Labels (Deliberately Anonymous) Barriers to Entry Setting Food Policy Eaters at the ControlsINTERLUDEWelcome to What's Possible, North America Welcome to Resisterville (Nelson, British Columbia) Grocery Giants in Nelson The Regional Food Movement Viroqua, Wisconsin[5] Enter the Co-opWhat Is a Co-op? Mission-Driven and Transparent Resilience History of the Cooperative Movement The First Consumer Co-ops in Canada and the United StatesThe Empowered Consumer [6] The Food Co-op WavesThe Consumer Wave The New Wave The New Wave Grows Up The Newest Wave Beyond Natural Foods — Co-ops for Low-Income Communities[7] Consumer Food Co-ops TodayThere's Nothing Cookie-Cutter About Food Co-ops Food Co-ops as Community Centers Education Kitchen Skills Training Children's Programming Co-ops in Schools Food Access Inexpensive Meals for Community Building Community Giving Nonprofit Arms Positive Workplace Working Members Cooperation with Local Businesses The Co-op Footprint Community-Owned Good Food Media College Town Co-ops Governance and Ownership Profiles of Board Directors at Food Co-ops Engaging Members in Their Co-op Diversity Social Cohesion Activism On Prices Unleashing Potential[8] Co-ops as Food Desert Remediation Greensboro, North Carolina Cincinnati, Ohio Other Stories of "What's Possible"Starting a Co-op Isn't a Shoo-In for Success[9] Food Co-ops and the Local Economy Easier Access to EatersTrue Local The Language of "Economic Development"Food Co-ops as Economic Development Local Food System Stimulation Anchors for Main Street Retention and Rearing of Community Leaders A Different Kind of Profit[10] Local Foodmakers — The People Behind the Products Co-ops as Small Business Incubators The People Behind the Products Where Does Your Food Dollar Go? Planning the Co-op Shelves with Local Producers[11] Threats to Food Co-opsFierce Competition The Co-opting of "Local"The "Whole Foods Effect"The Demise of Co-op Atlantic Closed Relevance Ideology Institutional Isomorphism Member Engagement[12] Growing Food Co-ops, Growing the MovementStart-ups Financing Food Co-ops Co-ops Supporting Co-opsEpilogue: Where Do We Go from Here? Acknowledgments Grocery Story's Supporters Endnotes Index About the Author A Note about the Publisher