Bringing a food co-op to West Chester just got one step closer to being a reality. With release of the West Chester Food Co-op‘s Pre-feasibility Assessment, the public can now take a deeper look at the nature, requirements and development process of food cooperatives. Furthermore, using information from the Food Co-op’s Community Survey, focus groups and feedback from followers, the assessment characterizes the support that the concept of a co-op has engendered in our community. Analyzing Neilsen data on population, households and opportunity gaps, the study also considers the demographic “fit” of West Chester as a home to a food co-op and examines the market size available to support a food co-op.
The assessment recognizes the many perspectives from which food cooperative development can be supported—fresh food, food access, community building, nutrition, food education, local agriculture, local business support and economic development, health, food culture, hunger relief, sustainability, care for the environment and open space preservation—and offers the public a broad perspective on the challenges and benefits of bringing a food co-op to West Chester.
The study can be viewed electronically at this link. If you would like an electronic copy mailed to you or if you would like to subscribe to the co-op’s newsletter, contact [email protected]. For up-to-date developments, follow the West Chester Food Co-op on Facebook.
