Educational Media Reviews Online

In an effort to stimulate interest in cooperatives, Food for Change begins by tracing the US history of these specialized community-based stores and farms. The co-op movement began in the Great Depression, during which independently run businesses and farms priced and shared good and crops on a subsistence basis. American cooperatives became larger, more numerous, and more complex, growing to an industrial level. Some co-ops even manufactured farm equipment and drilled for and refined their own oil. These cooperatives eventually began mounting a challenge to corporate control until World War II spiked demand for arms production. There was an uptick in interest in co-ops during the civil rights movement, with an appeal to urban communities looking for consistent prices for consumer goods. A focus on social change became the hallmark of cooperatives.

In recent times, social awareness and environmental consciousness have sparked a renewed interest in co-ops, although consolidation in retail and production continues to repress the movement. Nevertheless, the film offers community-centric success stories of stores reaching new regions of the United States. It discusses daily operations, pricing, and consistency in labor in a co-op. Further, the film makers (co-op members themselves) describe outreach programs and urban renewal projects.

In defending cooperatives, this film takes frequent shots at the free market economy, deregulation, and globalization. Despite this, this is a motivating work, clearly detailing the financial soundness, consideration for the environment and community-centeredness imbued in cooperatives. This work clearly communicates the needs for a sea change in thinking in production and agriculture on the macro scale, and highlights the benefits to employees and consumers on the micro scale.