Happy first week of unofficial summer. We are pleased to report that much progress was made this spring to get us closer to opening a food cooperative in the form of a grocery store in McHenry county.  

In case you haven’t heard, after a long and thoughtful process, we recently changed our name from the McHenry County Food Cooperative to, drum roll please . . . . . 

Food Shed Co-op

Why did we pick this?

Food Shed \füd ‘shed\ - an area that includes where a food is produced, where it is transported, and where it is consumed, including: the land it grows on, the routes it travels, the markets it goes through and the tables it ends up gracing.

Cooperative \koh-op-er-uh-tiv\- a jointly owned enterprise engaging in the production or distribution of goods or the supplying of services, operated by its members (owners) for their mutual benefit, typically organized by consumers.

To match our snazzy new name, we have a snazzy new website which can be found at www.foodshed.coop. Notice the suffix of the website URL is .coop and not .com. The new website is much more capable than the old site. On the new site you can view our calendar of events, find out more about us and our mission, update your profile and register to become a founding owner of the Food Shed Co-op. In addition we are now incorporated in the state of Illinois under a special designation especially for co-ops. This means we can sell shares in the co-op so members of the community, like you, can become an owner and have a voice in what happens before and after we open the doors of the Food Shed Co-op grocery store.


Become a Founding Owner!

Why become a founding owner?

At this point in our journey to open a food co-op grocery store we are well organized with good management structure and a talented streering team that is working hard. We have started engaging with farmers in McHenry county who will supply the Food Shed with fresh fruits and vegetables. We are now moving out of the organizing stage and are continuing our journey moving into the planning stage. One of the next steps is to gain commitment from the community by selling shares of ownership in the Food Shed Co-op. To reach our goals and get the doors open, we expect that we will need 500 to 1000 owners. Already approximately 50 households have become founding owners in the few short weeks since the Food Shed Co-op was incorporated.

By becoming a Founding Owner, you are making an investment in our community and showing your commitment to help make this idea happen.  You are also making a statement that local food, healthy food, fair compensation of workers and taking care of the environment are values you support. In addition, as a founding owner, your name will forever appear on a plaque in the Food Shed Co-op store in recognition of the  important role you played in bringing the Food Shed Co-op to our community.  To learn more about becoming a founding owner, click here. 

To learn more about the Food Shed Co-op, attend an informational Webinar. Click here to attend our next Webinar on Monday, June 2, 2014 8:00 PM - 8:30 PM CDT

Another way you can help is to forward this email to your friends, family and neighbors who may like to shop at the Food Shed Co-op too.  

Thank you for your continued support!