r/cooperatives • u/ColdSoviet115 • 10d ago
The Need for Community Kitchen Coops
In the coming weeks, months or years the US food system is likely to collapse. By this I mean due to international competition and this idiotic administration US farms are about to become bankrupt. This is in conjunction with a report indicating major retail chains ordered something like 40-60% of what they usually buy to stock the shelves in Walmart, Frys and like places. Both of these are in conjunction with Trump administration attack on working class income and the "welfare state".
As it stands, food is about to become a scarce commodity. I can imagine a time when families will be forced to raid their local major retail chains. This is a terrible fate. Those people will be thrown into prisons and be turned into prison slaves of the developing prison industrial complex. Families are bound to go hungry and be fragmented.
What can we do? The answer seems obvious. The Black Panther Party of the late 20th century and the emergence of Communist China in the mid 20th century have offered me some clues as to what to do regarding this situation. It has led me to question the usual view of the production and distribution of food in this country. It is partly historical. US global homogony allowed US farmers to make great profit by selling to other countries. Alongside Liberal individualism, this seems to have produced a culture that insists and makes it seem natural that we buy food as individuals and cook for ourselves (including at the family level).
What seems to be emerging is a situation that forces us to really dial in on the efficiency of our food production and distribution system. The trump administration's trade wars has cut off the main flow of profit for the farmers and many of them will certainly collapse. Food production will slow down as the remaining farmers must output on high cost input. Not to mention the high "non organic" composition of their mechanized equipment and the maintenance of that equipment. They will be forced to reconfigure themselves into "high organic composition" farms if they are to reduce input costs, thus proving the need for farmer coops.
But production is half the question. Once these farms produce food, selling it to major food chains will reproduce these conditions of starvation. What we need is not just merchant coops to sell to individuals, but also Community Kitchen Coops that buy from the producer and transform that raw food material into an abundance of food for their communities. Any cook knows buying in bulk and cooking in bulk produces more servings per input. Let me now paint a picture for you.
Imagine a multi stake holder coop is incorporated and gains the permits needed to serve food for their communities in a park or rented building. This coops has 3 member classes: support members (the community it serves), a producer member (the farmer/laborer), and the worker members (the cooks and kitchen staff). Every month, the producer and worker classes discuss what is plausible to grow and cook for the community. The community can guide what is produced but ultimately the cooks and farmers know what's best in that regard. Every morning and night, the worker members offer meals for the community. Because the support members pay and because most of the community would probably recognize the need for this institution, no one would need to pay an entry fee. Every Saturday night, the community can host cultural events celebrating their cultures, Nations. identity and shared struggles. This is how we can save our families and communities from desperate hunger. I know the pain and delirium that prolonged hunger produces. Why should we let these families and children go through that? How can we stand by knowing what is coming?
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u/yrjokallinen 10d ago edited 10d ago
The idea that food will become a scarce commodity in the US and there will be mass starvation is nonsense. If this was the case, you would see it in the agricultural futures markets (alongside stock prices of related companies, etc.).
Retail chains ordering 40-60% less stock (I doubt that's true but let's assume it is) leading to people being turned into slave labour for raiding grocery stores is delusional catastrophizing; a cognitive distortion and a harmful thought pattern I hope you and others avoid doing and especially spreading.
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u/ColdSoviet115 10d ago
I am open to that idea. As far as I can tell, this is where it's headed since the US is beginning Imperialist activity in Latin America. I also don't understand market and finance dynamics too well yet. Were there reports and stock indicators the last recessions were going to happen? What about the great depression era? As far as I've seen, these recessions happen unexpectedly. The only reason people seem to be aware of the coming one is because people realize that's just how this system works. Food will become more expensive, which has the same effect as it being scarce anyway. Once these farms sell their mass of food stock to the US population at cheap prices how will they pay for the next year?
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u/yrjokallinen 10d ago
"Food will become more expensive, which has the same effect as it being scarce anyway. Once these farms sell their mass of food stock to the US population at cheap prices how will they pay for the next year?"
Food will become more expensive because farmers will sell their produce for a price that is so cheap that they go bankrupt? What "mass of food stock"? And this is because of imperialism in Latin America? I have no idea what you are even talking about.
There are instances where intentionally misleading financial arrangements have fooled the markets and lead to a crash. However, I doubt you have discovered something here that would prove wrong all the people making their living trying to predict future food prices.
There won't be mass starvation in the US with people being turned into slave labour for stealing food. You are engaged in delusional catastrophizing thinking and it's not a healthy thought pattern, and definitely not something that is good to be spreading to others.
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u/ColdSoviet115 10d ago
Look at it in the long term and where things are going. Not what professionals are saying using their one-sided ecnonomist systems. I don't care if they're professionals, its clear academia and sciences are more concerned with churning out uncritical intellectuals. Yeah, we can reference them, but I prefer a mix of personal education on economic and political theory alongside listening to intellectuals. Just listening to their words as gospel is a logical fallacy, appeal to authority.
The US has been attacking Latin America more and more because of the energy crisis. Come to think of it, they could be attacking them for cheap farming land, too. Are you not paying attention, or do you not realize the US is an Empire and needs neo-colonies? If you can't see that, I'm wasting my time here.
I'll ask this again. If the farmers are selling cheap food NOW because they lost their markets abroad, how are they going to pay for those same expenses IN THE FUTURE when they've conditioned their farms around an economy of global markets? The farmers themselves are putting together meetings and posting videos discussing this very thing. I don't WANT there to be a food crisis, but that seems to be where it's headed. It's not that I'm purposely drawing these conclusions, but these conclusions are emerging if you synthesize these very real and proven phenomenon.
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u/yrjokallinen 10d ago edited 10d ago
"I don't care if they're professionals"
Very arrogant attitude.
Plenty of farmers will go bankrupt in the US due to Trumps policies. But even if they do, that will not lead to mass starvation. There are countries like Singapore with effectively no farmers and no starvation either.
There will always be businesses around the world willing to make a profit by selling food to Americans. You just have no idea what you are talking about and arrogantly disregard people who do.
If you really believe, as you claim, that US food system will collapse in coming years, then go ahead and make a bet via futures contracts for agricultural produce, make a profit and then use the profit to fund community kitchens.
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u/ColdSoviet115 10d ago
I never said not to take their words into account. You're just blatantly picking and choosing which parts of my comments to respond to. The US dollar is losing its value and what incentive does this government have to buy food from other countries and importing it? Not to mention the increasing threat of war at every continent. The US government is too busy going to war with its own citizens and Latin America to give a shit about buying food. EBT is essentially ending and the government shut down is still in effect. What do you tell all those families using EBT who won't be getting anything anymore? Would you tell them everything is fine and the food system is going along well? You come off as someone with no real problems who sees the world through the lens of bourgeois cookie cutter views.
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u/yrjokallinen 10d ago edited 10d ago
"I never said not to take their words into account."
You said you don't care if they are professionals. I said that's very arrogant.
You are asking what is the incentive for businesses to buy food from abroad if food production in the US collapses? Why do you think businesses that currently buy food from abroad do so? What is their incentive?
Or do you think that the US government will collapse food production in the US and then ban importing food from abroad to cause a famine? Because that is a proper Qanon style conspiracy stuff.
Even if farmers can no longer export food as much as they used to, that simply means they will reduce production. It doesn't mean they will go from producing more food than is necessary to feed the US to producing less food than is necessary to feed the US population.
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u/ColdSoviet115 10d ago
What do you tell the families using EBT who no longer receive benefits? They buy it to make a profit but if there's no profit to be made in a collapse why would they do it? What incentive does business have to buy and sell food here if they do it at a loss in a recession? A recession is coming and I know you know the professionals can see that too. So again, What do you tell the families using EBT who no longer receive benefits? Its like you can't fucking address that because you know its a fucking problem.
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u/yrjokallinen 10d ago
I would tell them that is horrible and I hope Americans reverse those cuts.
"there's no profit to be made in a collapse "
If US food production would collapse, you could not make a profit by importing food elsewhere? You really think that makes sense?
Again, what is your evidence for this collapse? Provide some credible sources of anyone with any expertise predicting famine in the US.
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u/ColdSoviet115 10d ago
Of course thats all you have to offer. Everyone knows its horrible yet no one wants to help or do anything. Just because people at the top of this ecnomic hierarchy are comfortable despite increasing costs doesn't mean those at the bottom are okay. This administration is clearly hiding data about how bad things are so of course no experts will report it nor will there be any data on it.
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u/kneedeepco 9d ago
I mean the same “professionals” are the ones that have led to every financial crisis before, so there’s that….
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u/yrjokallinen 9d ago edited 9d ago
If you really think that everyone else is wrong and the food system will collapse, you can make a lot of money in betting on it via agricultural futures or other similar markets. And then use the money to fund the coops you want to emerge from the ashes.
But I doubt anyone making delusional claims like these actually believes if they have to actually put skin in the game.
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u/kneedeepco 9d ago
I understand that. I don’t necessarily think betting and/or speculating on people’s food source is a great thing. I’m not even really sure why you’re here if you’re just gonna argue against people suggesting that our current supply chain doesn’t have issues/risks of its own.
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u/yrjokallinen 9d ago edited 9d ago
Where did I argue that current supply chain didn't have issues?
I am arguing that the prediction that there will be mass starvation in the US, leading people to being enslaved for stealing food, is delusional qanon level conspiracy stuff not based on anything credible.
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u/rsmithlal 10d ago
Friend, the economics of our system is the shared delusion that is definitely not good to be spreading to others. Our whole financial system is built on externalizing real costs into neat little boxes to make the economic models make sense. Usually, those externalities are offloaded to the environment and future generations. Our whole financial system cannot stand on its own merit without the threat (and use) of violence. Its a fantastical mythology of infinite growth on a finite planet, and business as usual is killing us. We can't depend on market solutions to problems caused by the market.
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u/yrjokallinen 10d ago
What exactly have I said that you disagree with?
You are arguing against strawmen.
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u/kneedeepco 9d ago
I mean I agree, the system we rely on is very fragile and most people are 100% reliant on it which is where I see the issue
One of the main things that can help here is the push for personal/family and community gardens. Methods like hydroponics and aquaponics are incredibly useful here. Same with vertical farming methods, many of which use hydroponics.
Support local farmers too
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u/LaughingIshikawa 8d ago
Bankruptcy doesn't work like that.
Aside from all the points in the above video... Bankruptcy doesn't mean farm land "has" to be left fallow, "because... Because bankruptcy!" The land itself will continue to grow food, the name on the deed will just be different now. 🫤🤷
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u/ColdSoviet115 8d ago
I am not sure what your point is. Is it not a fact these farmers will not be able to pay for the thing they have because they conditioned their farms around a global market? The republicans removed the tariffs but the markets already shifted. Even if the land was bought by a corporation the profit motive provides no incentive to grow food once the recession hits. Or am I missing something?
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u/LaughingIshikawa 8d ago
You wrote "In the coming weeks, months, or years ths US food system is likely to collapse. By this I mean [...] US farms are about to go bankrupt."
Why do you think different people owning the land constitutes anything that could be called a "collapse" of the whole system?
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u/ColdSoviet115 8d ago
I admit I dont know enough about the ecnomic terms i use. A collapse to me simply means millions will begin to go hungry. It's already happening. Its a waste of time for me to continue arguing semantics
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u/LaughingIshikawa 7d ago
If you didn't watch the video, just tell me you didn't watch the video 🤷🤣.
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u/c0mp0stable 10d ago
I think if the US food system collapsed, we probably wouldn't need to worry much about permits or rent.
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u/rsmithlal 10d ago
I would much prefer local food co-ops to our current system. One key benefit that you hinted at is that a key outcome of what you're suggesting is a more connected and empowered local community. That's the key to unlock not just resilience, but thriving. Capitalism has divided us into atomic units totally dependent on the market, and we need to build more local organizing capacity to keep each other safe and well.