Storefront Revolution: Food Co-ops and the Counterculture (Perspectives on the Sixties series) [Hardcover]

Craig Cox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1994 | Series: Perspectives on the Sixties series

In the 1960s, the cooperative networks of food stores, restaurants, bakeries, bookstores, and housing alternatives were part counterculture, part social experiment, part economic utopia, and part revolutionary political statement. The co-ops gave activists a place where they could both express themselves and accomplish at least some small-scale changes. By the mid-1970s, dozens of food co-ops and other consumer- and worker-owned enterprises were operating throughout the Twin Cities, and an alternative economic network--with a Peoples' Warehouse at its hub--was beginning to transform the economic landscape of the metropolitan Minneapolis-St. Paul area. However, these co-op activists could not always agree among themselves on their goals. Craig Cox, a journalist who was active in the co-op movement, here provides the first book to look at food co-ops during the 1960s and 1970s. He presents a dramatic story of hope and conflict within the Minneapolis network, one of the largest co-op structures in the country. His "view from the front" of the Co-op War" that ensued between those who wanted personal liberation through the movement and those who wanted a working-class revolution challenges us to re-think possibilities for social and political change. Cox provides not a cynical portrait of sixties idealism, but a moving insight into an era when anything seemed possible. Craig Cox is editor of Business Ethics, a national bimonthly magazine that covers socially responsible business. He has written for a variety of local, regional, and national publications.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 170 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813521017
• ISBN-13: 978-0813521015
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,702,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not only a good story of co-ops, but also a good view of Minneapolis, January 16, 2007

By 

M. Hogan (Midwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Storefront Revolution: Food Co-ops and the Counterculture (Perspectives on the Sixties series) (Hardcover)

If you've ever lived or visited Minneapolis, you might have never been to a food cooperative (or even know they exist all around the city). Or maybe, you consider them a staple of your household and your neighborhood. Storefront Revolution is an excellent story of how the co-op movement gained momentum during the 1960s, but the story of food co-ops is almost a sidenote.

What I found extremely interesting is its view of Minneapolis and the rich (and tumultuous) countercultures that existed there. If you're a resident in the Twin Cities, you'll probably run into names every few pages that you'll recognize; former city councilmen and civic leaders. Like the rest of the country, the 1970s led to a huge dissolution of idealism in the Twin Cities. When some of the city's oldest co-ops started up, many of them were very unorganized and practically lived on hope alone. As they grew in distribution and reciepts, so did the trouble. 1975 was the year of the "Co-op Wars," a struggle between those who wanted to provide cheap food to impoverished and working class neighbors, and those who wanted to provide healthy organic food.

It may sound like a ridiculous cause to go to battle for, but Cox certainly lays the idealogical and political framework in context for the city, the state and the country at that time. If you're a Minneapolitan or St. Pauler (or whatever they're called) and are interested in a road less traveled in local history, this book is well worth the money. Of course, if you're a true believer in the co-op communal ethic, you can get it at the library.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A look at the co-op movement of the 1970's, May 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Storefront Revolution: Food Co-ops and the Counterculture (Perspectives on the Sixties) (Paperback)

This book gives a history of the food co-ops in Minneapolis in the 1970's. I found this book very interesting, mainly because I am a resident of Mpls and learned the history of the co-ops I shop at today. I found the tales of the co-op wars, in which the anarchists and communists battled for control of the co-ops, to be most interesting. I learned about what worked and what didn't work in such a large coaliton of people working towards the same goal. For readers who don't live in the Twin Cities, it is still an interesting study of co-ops and the anti-capitalist movement.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A look at the co-op movement of the 1970's, May 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Storefront Revolution: Food Co-ops and the Counterculture (Perspectives on the Sixties series) (Hardcover)

This book gives a history of the food co-ops in Minneapolis in the 1970's. I found this book very interesting, mainly because I am a resident of Mpls and learned the history of the co-ops I shop at today. I found the tales of the co-op wars, in which the anarchists and communists battled for control of the co-ops, to be most interesting. I learned what worked and what didn't work in such a large coaliton of people working for the same goal. For readers who don't live in the Twin Cities, it is still an interesting study of co-ops and the anti-capitalist movement.