Co-ops

Today EB, EG, and I went to the food co-op to do our bi-weekly grocery shopping. We were (almost) the only people there and the kids impressed the managers with their history and art knowledge (they impress me too as they know way more than I do!). We biked there, EB on his bike, EG in the trailer with the groceries.

When I got home I had a bit of semi-stressful stuff to take care of for the committee I am on at my housing co-op. Sometimes belonging to co-ops feels like a lot of work especially since I always seem to be overly busy. But belonging to co-ops helps me to feel a sense of community to a degree that I don't feel in very many places. There are lots of stores, coffee shops, library branches, etc that I visit frequently and feel a sense of community about (to varying degrees) but with the co-ops I feel a real sense of belonging. With the housing, food, and learning co-ops I belong to, I am actually an integral part of their functioning. I helped with the grant that bought the food co-op's new freezers, for example, and  I organize kid's activities at my housing co-op. Sometimes, co-ops can feel like a lot of extra meetings and work but they had so much depth and richness to my life (not to mention the ways in which the co-op movement more broadly helps to make the world a better place). I am lucky to have the opportunity to participate in so many co-ops and am excited to add community-supported agriculture program to the list of ways in which I live in community.