The Co-op Belongs to Everyone
Whoever you are, you are welcome here.
It is our responsibility to our diverse Owners, shoppers, staff, and community members to actively practice inclusivity. For us, that looks like ensuring our policies, staffing, management, communications, accessibility and attitudes are aligned and accommodating to everyone in our community.
Making the Co-op More Inclusive
While diversity is a measurable quality, inclusion is better understood as action. In 2021, we took steps to make the Co-op more inclusive and will continue to do so under the guidance of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce. Some of these measures include adding pronouns to staff name tags, recognizing that the Co-op occupies Indigenous land, and adding accessibility adjustments to our website. You can read more about these specific measures below.
Inclusive Trade
Our buyers actively seek out diverse brands to share with our community. We’ve compiled a list of those brands owned and operated by women, LGBTQ+ folks, and BIPOC folks (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). This list will be updated as new products hit our shelves.
Resources for Vulnerable Community Members
The Freedge
Take what you need, give what you don’t. The Freedge is a small refrigerator located on the west-facing side of the building to the left of our entrance and exit doors. Davis Food Co-op staff fill the Freedge daily with produce, dairy, bakery items, pantry and staples we are otherwise unable to sell. Anyone is welcome to take items from the Freedge at no cost.
Holiday Meal
This free and festive dinner for the entire community is a remarkable Davis tradition and has become an important part of the Holiday celebrations of local people from all walks of life. While the majority of this event will be coordinated and run by Davis Food Co-op employees, this event can only succeed because of the broad spectrum of people who support it.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Blog Posts
Orange Shirt Day: Unveiling the History of Residential Indian Boarding Schools
September 30th is both Orange Shirt Day & National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, which promotes the awareness of U.S. Indian Boarding Schools by wearing orange on this day. The day was born in Canada, when a residential school survivor told the story of wearing...
Adapting My Great-Grandmother’s Recipes for the Co-op’s Holiday Meal
Adapting my Great-Grandmother’s Recipes for the Co-op’s Holiday Meal Reflections by Marketing Specialist Christine Ciganovich Each July, at the peak of summer, the Marketing Team begins planning the Holiday Meal. The Co-op has hosted the Holiday Meal, a...
Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Staff Recipes
It’s Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrated each year from September 15th through October 15th, Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes the cultures, histories, achievements and contributions of Hispanic Americans. September 15 was chosen as the starting point for the...
Ujamaa Farmer Collective – DFC’s 2023 Apple-a-Day Recipient
Each year, the Co-op donates $0.10 for every pound of apples sold over the course of a year through our “Apple-a-Day” program. With 61,959 lbs of apples sold from July 2022 – June 2023, we were left with $6,196 to donate to a local organization. For this year’s...
Avoiding Plastic is a Privilege
In conversations about environmental sustainability, it’s common for plastic to play the part as a universal villain. Indeed, the harmful environmental impacts of plastic pollution are well-documented and significant. And while we spend the month of July...
Co-ops Keep Democracy Alive
Our society should work for everyone This should not be as lofty of a goal as it is made out to be. And yet, this simple idea must work through a web of institutional failures that we are tasked with undoing and fixing in order to become a reality. This work requires,...
The Lasting Impact of Cesar Chavez
Today is Cesar Chavez Day, a federally recognized holiday honoring a champion for social justice and advocate for the farmworkers who sustain our Nation. Cesar Estrada Chavez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was a Mexican American labor leader and civil rights...
Black Vegan Chefs and the Future of Food
Black people became the fastest growing vegan demographic in the country in 2022. It’s no wonder then that Black vegan chefs are expanding the boundaries of both Black and vegan cuisine in the US, with aims to practice a veganism that uplifts people and planet. ...
Black Food History Reads
In honor of Black History Month, we wanted to highlight 28 books on Black Americans that have had major contributions on our food system throughout history. These books matter as they address many themes, including the significant contributions of African and African...
Black History & the American Food System
The American food system has been influenced by countless Black Americans who rarely receive the credit that they deserve In honor of Black History Month in 2021, we wanted to recognize the contributions that Black Americans have had on our food system throughout...