THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9409300434
SECTION: HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By Diane Tennant, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
JUST LIKE the Little Engine That Could, the delivery truck crosses the mountains every month and comes to Brenda Hardison, bringing good things for her children to eat. It also brings food to the other 20-odd families who belong to the Norfolk Neighbors buying club.
``Everybody drops off orders at my house on a given date every month. Two weeks later, the truck comes,'' Hardison explained.
``We buy anything and everything: bulk goods, cheese, beans, grains - anything.''
Food buying clubs are cooperative organizations formed on a grass-roots level to buy wholesale from warehouses. Hardison coordinates food orders for the members of Norfolk Neighbors and places that order with the warehouse. When the delivery truck comes, once a month, every member household must send someone to help unload and distribute the food.
Because it receives bulk orders from a warehouse, the club often has to provide a scale for weighing, bags to measure into, knives for cutting cheese blocks, etc.
Food buying clubs should not be confused with warehouse clubs like Sam's.
Norfolk Neighbors buys organic and health foods from the Federation of Ohio River Cooperatives in Columbus, Ohio. The large order and local delivery means members can buy cheaper than they could at retail health food stores, Hardison said.
``We're not in the club in order to save money overall,'' she said. ``We are in it to save money as far as the health food stores go. We know we can't afford to shop regularly at the health food stores. So we buy directly from the co-op warehouse.''
Clubs can be formed to buy virtually anything, if enough people are interested and a supplier is found.
Co-ops became fashionable during the 1960s, when hippies touted collective labor and tofu. They declined in later years but have gained in popularity lately as the warehouses that distribute the food reorganized and became more businesslike, according to the National Cooperative Business Association in Washington.
Some clubs divide tasks among the members, but Norfolk Neighbors has found it easier to have Hardison coordinate everything. After receiving orders from club members, she forms them into one large order and informs the warehouse. The warehouse, for a modest fee, provides individual invoices showing how much each family bought and the amounts owed.
When the delivery truck comes, members divide the food according to invoices. Blocks of cheese may have to be weighed and cut, or fresh produce divided into plastic bags. It takes effort, but the savings add up.
``We're trying to get as much savings as we can for ourselves,'' Hardison said. ``A lot of people don't understand that it's not a matter of getting our food cheaply, but cheaper than what we would if we hadn't formed this buying club.''
Hardison said that, to be successful, buying clubs must have someone familiar with the business to keeps things running smoothly, no matter how many tasks are delegated. A second consideration is a delivery location. Truck drivers prefer a location not too far from an interstate and usually don't like to deliver to a residence, she said.
Worker burnout can sometimes be a problem, other clubs report, especially when one member tries to take on too much work.
Some clubs function as social gatherings, but Norfolk Neighbors keeps the chitchat to a minimum in favor of conducting business. The group has members on the Peninsula, including some willing to make a two-hour round trip to pick up food.
Hardison is helping one of the members to form a new buying club in the Toano area of the Peninsula.
- MEMO: For those interested in forming their own clubs, the National
Cooperative Business Association has a video, book and fliers on how to
organize. Call (800) 636-6222. by CNB