Your Co-op Bulletin: September 8th, 2025 Owner Updates

Dear Owners,

Welcome to a new week at the co-op! Read on for updates and ideas on how you can show up for your co-op this week:

 

Upcoming Events: Mark Your Calendars

• Wednesday, September 10th – Work in Progress Wednesday @5pm IV Patio

• • Sunday, September 14th – Engagement Team Meeting @6:30pm on Zoom
  • Wednesday, September 17th – Board Meeting @6:30pm on Zoom

• Thursday, September 18th – Ambassador Program Info Meeting 6pm @IV Patio

• • Wednesday, September 24th – Work in Progress Wednesday @5pm IV Patio

• Saturday, September 27th – 4th Saturday Community Gathering, 2pm @ Downtown Market

Subscribe to our NEW shared calendar (board events only).

 

Help IVFC Shape What’s Next!

Whether you’re a regular shopper or haven’t been by in a while, your perspective as an owner makes a difference.

So far, owners have asked for better deli pricing and simpler grab-and-go meals, more bulk and local products, improved hours, and creative ways to connect to their community. What’s working for you as a shopper or owner?
What’s not?
What would inspire you to shop, support, or engage more?

 Click here to take the Input Survey.
You’re invited to respond to any or all of the topics:

• Product Selection & Pricing
• Deli & Prepared Foods
• Marketing & Promotions
• What Would Help the Co-op Thrive?
• Owner Engagement

Feedback like yours helps the co-op grow towards being a community market that is truly for all. Let’s build the future of our co-op, together.

Tiger Team Updates: What’s New This Week?

Here’s what’s happening across our Tiger Teams:

• Customer Satisfaction Team

• • • Director Bill has provided the following update:
    • The Customer S. Team met on thurs,. Here are some announcements:
    • We are going to work with the Produce Departments at each store to help highlight the local farmers who supply the coop with produce, and to make the signage more attractive. 
    • Martha is traveling to Davis, Ca. this weekend and she is going to scope out that city’s coop, a coop that helped make the Whole Foods Market that opened there so unprofitable that it closed in 2017. Imagine that here. 
    • Bill will continue working improving the looks of the tiny landscape outside the DT store. 
    • Janet is keeping the landscape outside the IV store look the best I have ever seen it look.
    • Bill will continue staining the wood in the patio and elsewhere until store opening times change at the IV store.

• Fundraising Team

• • • An email was sent to reconnect with team members this week. If you would like to join this team, please contact the Board.

• Owner Engagement Team

• • • Director Megan is holding meetings biweekly on Sunday but with a new time of 6:30pm! The next meeting is this Sunday, September 14th at 6:30pm. Review the proposed agenda and past meeting minutes here.

• Store Improvements and Fixes Team

• • Director Eric has provided the following status update: The lights in the produce cooler at the downtown store are working.Other projects are in process but have been delayed due to time availability issues. Please send ideas to the Isla Vista Food Co-op Treasurer Email, treasurer@islavistafood.coop.

Bill’s Compost Corner: Week 5

Before I get started on microbes feeding plants, I have to describe how plants feed microbes. Photosynthesis is the source of nature’s abundance that uses the energy from sunlight to combine CO₂ with water to produce sugar (a carbohydrate). Plants make their own food, their building blocks, and their stored energy source from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. Approximately 40 to 50% of the sugar produced by plant photosynthesis is exuded from the root surfaces into the soil. This sugar feeds the microbes that collect, grow and reproduce on the surface of the roots. This is where “nutrient cycling on the root” occurs. These microbes are bacteria and some of the fungi. These colonies of bacteria and fungi strands on the root are prey for microbial animals; protozoa and nematodes. These tiny animals ingest, digest and excrete waste products from digestion. The waste products from the protozoa and nematodes are plant available nutrients, released right next to the surface of the root for easy absorption into the root. That this process, with no added nutrients or fertilizer, produced healthy plants that made viable seeds was first shared in a peer reviewed paper published in 1985 authored by Elaine Ingham, her husband Russ and 2 other researchers.

Owner Info Series: Consumer Co-operatives & IVFC

What type of organization is the Isla Vista Food Cooperative? Some owners in passing have mentioned that their conception of the cooperative is that we are a non-profit (501c3). While we embody some of the values that many non-profits have in terms of the 8 Cooperative Principles and our IVFC Strategic Priorities, we are NOT a non-profit. A cooperative is member owned and member governed; made possible by the pooling of resources to provide food, housing, healthcare, and other community needs.

The Isla Vista Food Cooperative is organized as a consumer cooperative, which is inherently a low-profit model as any profit we do make is either reinvested back into the cooperative, donated, or given back to owners in patronage dividends. The definition of a consumer cooperative is a cooperative that is owned by the people who shop there. “Consumer members exercise their ownership by investing in co-op shares, patronizing the store, and electing a board of directors to hire, guide, and evaluate the general manager who runs day-to-day operations.(NCG)” Other examples of consumer cooperatives include the popular outdoor retail store REI and credit unions like Kinetica.

 

IVFC Ambassador Program: Sept 18th Informational Meeting

Owners and community members alike have been clamoring for a low barrier to entry to get involved with the co-op while not serving on the Board or a more involved committee. If that sounds like you, save the date for our informational meeting Thursday, September 18th at 6pm on the Isla Vista Patio. You’ll be able to speak with your Board Members to learn more about your involvement.

Learn more and sign up here: https://islavistafood.coop/ambassador-program/ 

 

Save the Date: September Community Gathering

Save the date for Saturday, September 27th at 2pm, we are hosting a casual potluck gathering at the Downtown Market with some board provided snacks. Board Directors will be in attendance to discuss your questions about the co-op, but hope that you come to socialize as a community member. Bring a dish to share or just yourself. We’ll be happy to have you.

 

Our August gathering allowed us to share a meal, conversation, and allowed the workshopping of ideas for the cooperative. In summation, it was absolutely lovely to meet with cooperators and rejoice in the restorative energy of the community.

🌻 Keep Building Momentum:

Every action helps to stabilize the cooperative and move us forward. Here’s how you can support the Co-op’s recovery and growth:

 Shop the Co-op – Every purchase makes a difference. Each location is accessible by bike, bus, and car. Bring a friend to shop and help us widen the cooperative circle!

 Make a Donation – The amount of your daily coffee can guide us towards stabilization.Donate via GoFundMe.

 Give a Tax-Deductible Gift of $500+ – For larger contributions, please contact board@islavistafood.coop for details on giving to the IVFC through a Donor Advised Fund contribution through our charitable partner Isla Vista Community Development Corporation.

 Connect Us with Like-Minded Businesses – Help us grow partnerships that strengthen the local economy and community.

 Join a Tiger Team – Lend your skills and energy to a focused, collaborative project team.

Notes from the Ground

 

Storefront Updates:

• Blue customer feedback boxes have been installed and are available at both stores for your input & suggestions. We encourage all owners to use this dedicated channel to contact management and the Board.
• Special Orders now redirected to: volume@islavistafood.coop

 

 Board Updates:

• The next Board of Directors meeting is Wednesday, September 17th at 6:30pm on Zoom.
• The Board has implemented two new policies that affect both customers and employees:

Isla Vista Food Cooperative: Store Behavior Policy

The following applies to all customers and employees of Isla Vista Food Co-op.

Isla Vista Food Co-op is committed to providing a friendly and welcoming environment for its customers and employees, and a safe and comfortable workplace for its employees. As such, the following behaviors are not accepted and will not be tolerated on Isla Vista Food Co-op’s premises:

 

• Aggressive behavior: Engaging in loud or boisterous speech (yelling in the store, cursing, or profane language in the presence of customers). Engaging in unwanted physical touching or contact with staff or customers will also be treated as violent behavior.
• Disruptive Behavior: Behavior is classified as disruptive if it interferes with normal business operations, making it difficult for staff to deliver, or customers to benefit from, the services that the Isla Vista Food Co-op provides. Examples of disruptive behavior would include individuals who are loud or argumentative or who make harassing, derogatory, or otherwise inappropriate comments to other customers or to staff.
• Violation of IVFC Policies: Individuals who ignore or disobey the reasonable rules or guidelines that have been established to ensure effective and efficient operations at the Isla Vista Food Co-op are also guilty of disruptive behavior.
• Consequences: Store management shall, depending on the severity of the behavior, either instruct individuals demonstrating these behaviors to discontinue doing so; or to leave the premises. If individuals do not comply with management instructions, law enforcement officers may be contacted to escort the individuals off the property.

 

Isla Vista Food Cooperative: Safe Space Policy

• To maintain a safe working environment, we ask that our customers refrain from making advances towards or commenting on the physical appearance of our employees.

 

Update Your Contact Info:
Help IVFC stay in contact! If you’ve moved, changed your phone, or want to update your owner information, you can do so by stopping into either store or emailing the Board.

 

 Share Your Story:
We’re gathering owner testimonials to feature on our website, social media, donation platforms and our business plan. Your voice helps show the real impact this Co-op has in our community.

 

Thank you for showing up. Your continued engagement makes the Co-op possible.

In cooperation,
Your Board of Directors