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About the Co-op
You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients. - Julia Child US cook & cookbook author
Bringing together the best ingredients makes for good eating. A great chef knows that each component of a dish must play its part toward the creation of a delicious meal. The Nebraska Food Cooperative brings together producers and consumers who care about the land, share an enjoyment of simple food, and seek equitable relationships. It is a marketing and distribution service designed to improve market access for farmer producers and local food access for consumers. Please join us in our local food adventure. To learn more, keep reading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can be a part of the cooperative?
Farmer/producers and consumers may join the cooperative and be buyers, sellers or both. Co-op members work together to operate the co-op although there is no obligation to volunteer. Consumers and producers that are located outside the state of Nebraska but who wish to participate in the co-op will have the opportunity to do so but are not eligible to become voting members.
As a consumer, why should I join and buy my food through the Nebraska Food Cooperative?
- You will gain access to a reasonably priced, wide variety of safe, fresh, frozen, and processed food and non-food products grown and/or produced in Nebraska.
- You will be able to shop product offerings, such as meat, from multiple producers to compare prices, types, and the production practices used by each producer to find a product that meets your needs.
- You will gain access to foods free from growth hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified organisms.
- You will have access to this wonderful line-up of products without ever having to leave your home or community if you choose. Order online and have a bountiful harvest of food delivered to a drop point in your community every month.
- The secret to great cooking lies in the ingredients. You will have access to fresher, higher quality food through the cooperative than almost anywhere else.
- You will learn new ways to prepare food including many new, delicious recipes.
- You will get to know the people who produce your food. There is a story behind every product the cooperative offers.
- You will play an important role alongside farmer producers and other consumers from across the state to increase the awareness, availability, and quality of local food.
- You will be contributing to the economic and social well-being of your state, community, and neighbors by buying products grown and produced in Nebraska.
- You will have a say in the operation of the cooperative and be a voting member.
As a producer, why should I join the Nebraska Food Cooperative?
- Your farm will retain its identity. Your products, tomatoes for example, will be marketed as coming from your farm. The cooperative may offer for sale tomatoes from 12 different farmers. The consumer chooses from whom they are going to purchase their tomatoes based upon quality, price and/or customer-farmer relationship.
- You may set your own prices for all of your products.
- You will benefit from the marketing activities of the Nebraska Food Cooperative.
- The cooperative will be operating in a market area with over 1,000,000 consumers.
- You will reduce the time and cost of marketing and distributing your products to consumers.
- You will be working alongside consumers and other producers from across the state to increase the awareness, availability and quality of local food.
- You will have the opportunity to network with other producers and source other Nebraska ingredients that may be used to make additional value-added products that could be sold through the cooperative.
- A page on the cooperative website will be available for you to tell your story and detail your production practices. You can enter information and products into the website yourself. The software provides a very user-friendly way to do this; however, if you would like assistance with this, help will be available.
- You may specify inventory amounts in your product descriptions. As product is ordered the inventory declines. When all of the product is sold the customer cannot order it.
- When you join the cooperative, you will receive a user name and password which will allow access to the administrative parts of the website you will need.
- Producers should be aware of the Producer Standards of the Nebraska Food Cooperative.
What area will the co-op serve?
The co-op�s initial target service area is the eastern one-third of Nebraska. However, wherever sufficient numbers of members originate from in a geographic area, that area has the potential to be served by the co-op.
What kind of food will be sold through the Nebraska Food Cooperative?
A wide variety of food and some non-food items will be offered through the cooperative. The food will often be higher in quality and freshness and free of growth hormones, antibiotics, genetically modified organisms, herbicides and pesticides. While many products will be offered each month, the variety offered in any given month will be determined by availability and seasonality. Examples include organic vegetables, grass finished and grain fed beef and pork, pastured poultry, eggs, jams/jellies, natural personal care products, cheese, artisan breads, and many others.
How will ordering and delivery take place through the cooperative?
The cooperative will primarily use a web-based ordering system and deliver food to your home or a nearby drop point on one delivery day each month. Producers and consumer members from various geographic areas, who volunteer for delivery day, work together to bring products to the central sorting location in Lincoln where they are sorted into individual customer orders. Once sorting is complete, the producer and consumer members return to their location and transport orders for customers in their area back with them. Orders are either home delivered for an additional charge or dropped off at a convenient pick up location.
Are delivery day volunteers compensated for their work?
Delivery day volunteers who drive a route are paid mileage to and back from the sorting location.� Volunteers who help sort and facilitate on delivery day do not, at this time, receive any monetary compensation or food credits.� Volunteers are appreciated and celebrated during the year with Volunteer Appreciation Gatherings/Potlucks.
What is the membership fee for the cooperative?
There are three types of membership:
Voting Member: $100 (one share of common stock) plus a $20 annual membership fee (waived the first year)
Non-voting Member: $40 (annual non-member fee)
Visitor Member: $6 (per-order fee � no annual fee)
The annual fee will be counted from the date of the first order or delivery.
Are there any other fees for participating in the cooperative?
To cover operating costs, a sales and handling charge applies to each order. For consumers, a small charge (as a % of your order) is added to each order. For producers, a small charge (as a % of sales) is deducted from their sales invoice. For example, on a $100 order with a 10% sales and handling charge, the consumer would pay $110, the producer would receive $90, and the cooperative would receive $20. The goal of the cooperative is to provide a sustainable food marketing and distribution service for consumers and producers; thus it strives to break even on its operating costs.
How can I learn more about the Nebraska Food Cooperative?
See our Contact Us page to ask additional questions.
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