History of WOC: The story so far…

In the beginning, there was Grasslands

Originally Grasslands in Footscray helped us get started. They gave us a discount on organic fruit and vegetables which were picked up from there by members each Friday morning and delivered to the house where sorting was going to take place.

Pablo from Grasslands used to live with Greg and Elvira Hewson, two of the original Co-op members. Greg and Elvira were also doing volunteer work at Grasslands and Dave White, an original Co-op member, was involved in the related community garden. Through the experience of buying through Grasslands Greg and others figured out we could do it ourselves.

Grasslands began using a ‘buyer’ to purchase their goods at the wholesale market, and for some time our Co-op was having him do our buying for us. However when he went bust, we were left with few options: the supermarket, traveling to Friends of the Earth in Collingwood, or buying directly through the wholesale market. The Co-op wanted to do something sustainable and so investigated how we might go about ‘doing it ourselves’.

Incorporation

Greg Hewson and Pete Noble investigated and arranged incorporation which enabled us to directly buy from the wholesale market.

As part of incorporation the Co-op considered what model or structure the Co-op would adopt. For example, it considered a model in Brunswick where dry goods were bought bulk and stored at a local church. An article called ‘Structure without Strangling’ * informed their thinking at the time .

On one level, incorporation did not significantly change the WOC whose strength lay in connections, shared history and conversations. On other levels, it did bring change.

Incorporation changed the nature of membership. Prior to incorporation we bought as households. Incorporation means we can’t have a household as a member; it needs to be an individual. It brought an element of formality. While the WOC is run like a cooperative, it is actually an incorporated association.

Incorporation has given the WOC strength as a body. It brought independence, strength and a sense of achievement. The fact that incorporation was part of a progression helped the WOC. It was a way of taking stock and for members to say how they wanted to set the WOC up. There were several meetings to discuss the changes and these were very participatory.

Incorporation meant we started to pay an annual fee to go towards postage etc, but it also meant we had a conversation about using Dave Waterworth’s ute. It enabled a conversation to ensure costs were spread across the WOC members.

Finally, going directly to the market and developing a relationship with growers has made a huge difference to the types and quantity of fruit and veg. Early on there was not much choice. The Co-op rang Grasslands and asked Pablo what he thought was cheap. It bought whatever he suggested.

Membership

Did you know the Co-op had a household from Newport involved early on?

Memories are a bit hazy about which current households were original members. Marcus and Rachael have been around since the beginning. Piet and Em, Jon and Kim, Anthony and Anita, Sally and Darren, and Nick and Janet have all been around for ages.

From its beginnings, the Co-op quickly ballooned from 6 households, each putting in $30 a week, to a dozen then 18. In the first year membership peaked and troughed. 8 households wasn’t sustainable. Once the Co-op reached a membership of 14-15 households we got more variety in our boxes.
Originally, the households were arranged in clusters. Each week someone from each cluster would be rostered on to sort and deliver for their cluster. It broke the Co-op into smaller more manageable sections and you got to know people who lived close to you. Members connected with the rest of the Co-op by sorting with people from different clusters. The Co-op was defined by geography. This was a strength and weakness, with struggles regarding how to include members from Yarraville, Newport and Braybrook.

During the last couple of years, the WOC has had a maximum of 25 households. The WOC started as group of people who knew each other, and considering it has shifted from a group of friends to a broader community organisation, the WOC has been good at sharing values and continuing to be centred on building relationships and shared values. The WOC is not just a box of veggies. This ethos always communicated to new members. A brochure (part of which explained this) was created in 2007 to give to new members.

While we might not all have known each other when we joined, friendship is still integral to the WOC. It underpins its ethos and is how the original Co-op developed. Neighbourhood, spiritual and economic connections are some of those that bind members of the WOC together.

Dry Goods Days

Timshel Knoll, a former member worked at the organic section of the wholesale markets at one point. Timshel drove the original dry goods days. They commenced in late 2004, early 2005 and are now held around four times a year currently hosted by the amazing Kemmy and Mark.

Gatherings

In the early days of gatherings, households were divided into clusters. A particular cluster would organise each gathering. Different clusters were responsible for bringing different parts of the meal. They were seasonally focused, relaxed events involving a bit of a meeting and some discussion. They were jovial events. Gatherings encouraged members to be creative. For example, bringing food which related to the season and talking about what the season meant to them. There was lots of preparation of food and after dinner, gatherings would carry on.

These days WOC gatherings happen in the afternoon and not everyone attends. The Committee now facilitates the organisation of gatherings. This change has happened since incorporation and since many members have had kids.

* The reference for Structure Without Strangling is: Barringham, Neil (2003) Structure Without Strangling: The Story of The Community Initiatives Resource Association 1993-2003 – An experiment in doing more with less. A story lived and shared by friends and colleagues in the West End Area of Brisbane .Contact Neil through the Waiter’s Union http://www.waitersunion.org/publications.htm

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