Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Ciganovich.
Hi Christine, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The story of the Davis Food Co-op has never been the story of one person. By definition a cooperative is a group of people working together to achieve a goal or solve a common problem. That is how the Co-op started more than 50 years ago—as a buying club of ten households meeting in living rooms and splitting up orders in each other’s garages.
It started in 1972, when students at UC Davis’ housing co-ops began ordering cheese, produce, and bulk goods directly from farms and distributors. Together, they had enough buying power and people power to purchase food at wholesale prices and distribute it amongst themselves. The effort wasn’t just for better prices. The buying club members uncovered a deep disconnect in the food system. The grocery chains in Davis, a community surrounded by richly productive agricultural land, seemingly only sold produce trucked in from other states and countries. And the produce was bad: flavorless and lacking in variety, character and nutrients.
Some of the students in the buying club were studying agriculture and organic farming. There was no guidebook on becoming an organic small family farmer, but they knew they needed access to local markets and corporate groceries stores weren’t interested in opening up to them. Thankfully, the buying club proved the people of Davis cared more about where their food came from and the quality of it. Even more, were willing to work together to make that food accessible.
As cooperation swept across the country, the buying club in Davis became more popular, placing larger orders each week than the week before. Eventually, the club outgrew members’ living rooms and the Davis Food Co-op set up shop at its first store front in 1976 at 415 L Street. And we did it with only $4,000! The store was 600 sq. ft. and ran on member volunteer labor, the standard practice for food co-ops at the time and for decades after.
In the same year, founders of the Co-op, not satisfied with founding Davis’ first and only community-owned grocery store, started the Davis Farmers Market. With assurances that the Co-op would purchase leftover produce, local farmers agreed, strengthening the local food system and increasing access for community members.
The Co-op continued to grow through the 70s. More people bought shares in the business ($10 for a lifetime membership!) becoming members, cooperators, and the workers keeping the Co-op afloat. We moved to 1403 Fifth Street. At 2,160 sq. ft. it tripled our floor space and we hired our first paid staff, a much needed bookkeeper, in 1978. This is the same year the Co-op sold its first “junk food” item, Mystic Mint Cookies. Today, the Co-op is a “hybrid” grocery store offering both natural and organic options alongside conventional ones. That’s because Co-op members have pretty consistently wanted both options or at least have wanted to have impassioned discussions about both options. We’ve heard from folks who love their conventional products and they want to be able to purchase them from the community-owned grocery store where they know more money stays in the community.
In 1984, the Board proposed a move to 620 G St, the old Safeway building, noting that the roof leaked, but the move would allow us to continue to grow and serve Davis. The members approved the move and we’ve been there ever since. And in 2023, we fixed that leak in the roof! Today, more than 8,000 local households own shares of the Co-op and make up our membership. Co-op Members believe in a strong local food system, democracy, and being a good neighbor. The store runs on 100% renewable energy, supports more than 80 staff members, and more than 400 local farms and brands. Unlike the corporate grocery stores in town, the co-op is owned, operated, and managed by the people you see working and shopping at the Co-op every day. We aren’t allowed to hoard profits or cut big bonus checks to our CEO (we don’t have a CEO). Instead, we reinvest the money we make back in the store, our local community, and to the members in the form of a patronage refund.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Imagine what it would be like having 8,000 owners of a businesses. That’s what it’s like! Just kidding. Thankfully, our store leadership team and Board of Directors do a great job driving a car with 8,000 backseat drivers. Really though, this is one of the most beautiful things about the Co-op in my opinion: that 8,000 people feel like the grocery store they shop at is truly theirs and that they not only have a say there, but have power in their community because of it. That does not happen at other stores! What we eat and how we nourish ourselves is so personal. I want to feel that connection at the grocery store to my food. A lot of folks around here want that too.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am the Co-op’s Marketing Specialist officially, and unofficially I am the Co-op’s tomato mascot, party planner, and resident cooking class instructor. I love food and I love community even more.
I joined the Co-op as a member in 2018 when we introduced Kombucha on tap. I was entering my zer0-waste era and the Co-op gave me so many opportunities to purchase food and household goods without any packaging waste. Grind your own peanut butter and paper-wrapped toiler paper rolls was revolutionary to me!
I started working at the Co-op during the pandemic and led my first zoom cooking class two days after I started, welcoming one virtual student all the way from Russia! Eventually classes went back to in-person formats in the Co-op’s Teaching Kitchen, my favorite place in Davis other than my house. The Co-op purchased the building now known as the Teaching Kitchen in 2000 as auxiliary office space and a community kitchen for meetings and classes. After years of teaching as a staff member, I started my own business teaching classes. Now I serve the Co-op in two ways: by day as Marketing Specialist and by evening as a Cooking Class Instructor!
The Teaching Kitchen is where the people come to eat at our table. We learn together and laugh a lot. It fills up my soul like nothing else can and on my darkest days, twelve strangers in the Teaching Kitchen will always pull me back to the light. It’s a gift I am grateful for every day and every chance I get to reflect on it.
Classes are paused for some renovations currently. I’m really looking forward to teaching again and taking classes with the other instructors when we’re back up and running.
As a community-owned store, we often host the community for parties, tastings, and holidays. I’m very lucky to work on the team planning community events. Twice a year, we throw a huge Block Party and invite everyone! We always have a live band, or two, local vendors, and tons of free and fun activities. I like to say that coming to a Block Party is the antidote to doomscrolling. It’s a chance for neighbors to get out of the house (and off their phones) and have fun together. It’s community happening in real time!
On Christmas Eve, we host the Holiday Meal, a free dinner for anyone who wants to share the table with us. Together with about 20 volunteers and donations from local businesses, we prepare and serve dinner to about 500 people. There’s live music if I have anything to do with it, and free winter clothes, and about 50 community members who volunteer to make the desserts. It’s a great honor and joy to spend each Christmas Eve cooking for the community and I’m grateful for Co-op staff who have kept this tradition alive for more than 40 years!
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Become a cooperator! If you live in Davis, become a member of the Davis Food Co-op. Join at any register. It’s $15 for your first year and $20/year after that. If you don’t live in Davis, find your local food co-op – they exist in most states!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://davisfood.coop/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davisfoodcoop/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davisfoodcoop/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@davisfoodcoop
