The History of E
By: Ellen Bell Did you know that October is National Co-op Month? It has been over 165 years since our cooperative founders have successfully established a way of doing business. In honor of this month-long holiday, I wanted to dive deep into the History of Our Co-op and give you a behind the scenes look at what our guiding principles are here at Ever’man. Before I began working at Ever’man, I had heard about our store, but I honestly had no idea what a Co-op/Cooperative was or where it started. Little did I know that Co-op’s have been around for generations and would change my outlook on grocery stores forever. The Rochdale Pioneers founded the very first Co-op in 1844 as a way to pool their resources to access essential goods at a lower price. They were set up as a way to protect the interests of the less powerful members of society and started with only four items for sale: flour, oatmeal, sugar, and butter. The Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society is now viewed as the prototype for modern co-ops. Today Co-ops define themselves as independent grocery stores that do not have a CEO or stockholders; instead, they are run by a board of directors that make decisions for the business. A co-op is also very involved in the community as well as promoting environmentallyfriendly ideas through outreach and encouraging a healthier 12 | THE HEALTHY ALTERNATIVE
lifestyle by providing NON-GMO and organic items. In 1973, a Transcendental Meditation group in Gulf Breeze had been meeting for some time, when they realized that a whole foods diet worked into their desire for total well-being. Similar to the 28 artisans of the Rochdale Pioneers, they sought to pool their resources to obtain natural foods at a discounted price, and thus Ever’man was born. The very first Ever’man store resided in a little log cabin no bigger than 500 sq. Ft located in Gulf Breeze, intending to help individuals in the community have access to wholesome, nutritious food, and within three years, became legally incorporated as a not-forprofit corporation in the state of Florida. After experiencing a decrease in foot traffic, the Ever’man group decided that if they were to survive, it was time for a change, and it would be best to move the store to Pensacola, FL, where they would be able to gain more recognition. After sometime Ever’man Natural Foods Cooperative, Inc. moved to a small storefront located on 12th avenue in Pensacola, where they remained for the next 18 years. At first, this move proved to be more than the group had initially intended, and it was during this time that the group ran into problems they had never experienced before. When the group decided to make the move to Pensacola, they had no
