Syracuse Southside Initiative

Community Development Law Clinic in association with the Center on Property, Citizenship, and Social Entrepreneurism

We are initiating a food cooperative/grocery store that will be developed, owned, and managed by south side residents.  The food cooperative will provide south side residents with access to quality food and household products at prices below that of food and products currently available on the south side.  The types of food, produce, and products will be determined by the residents with ownership interests in the cooperative.  The space which will house the food cooperative/grocery store would include community space.

Food cooperatives can have different ownership structures and the residents will decide how ownership is created.  It can be organized as a worker cooperative with the people who work at the cooperative owning shares in a cooperative corporation.  Or, it can be organized as a consumer cooperative with residents becoming members of the cooperative and owning and controlling the cooperative corporation through their membership.  If the residents decide to create a consumer cooperative, there are several choices for structuring the cooperative including a traditional cooperative, a member discount cooperative, or a direct charge cooperative.  After processing information on each structure choice, the residents can decide which fits best for their endeavor.  

The vision for this project is a broad-based collaborative effort between the South Side Coalition of residents and several University departments.   The College of Law is spearheading the University collaboration and has brought many resources to the collective effort.  These resources include the Whitman School of Management, Department of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises. Already active in the neighborhood through its Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship, the Department lends its invaluable expertise and experience to the project, including conducting a feasibility study in fall 2006.

We also have enlisted as collaborators faculty and students from Human Services & Health Professions, the Department of Nutrition, Maxwell, SUNY/ESF, and Information Studies as well as the Gifford Foundation, SUNY/Morrisville and the Real Food Cooperative.  The project could be expanded to include the development of a community education program to address nutrition and wellness issues, a community garden to supply produce to the food coop and local restaurant owners, and an outreach effort to home-based businesses needing a venue for sale of products.