was considered for deletion and requires cleanup according to the discussion . please improve this article if you can ; the deletion discussion may suggest necessary improvements . march 2011 ypsilanti food co op type food cooperative industry retail grocery founded 1975 1975 headquarters ypsilanti michigan products natural and organic food sustainable household and gardening products members 1000 number of employees 40 website ypsifoodcoop.org the ypsilanti food co op is a food cooperative located in ypsilanti michigan . located in historic depot town it is michigan s only solar powered grocery store . 1 also owned by the co op is the river street bakery which features the only wood fired brick oven in commercial use in washtenaw county . the ypsilanti food co op in turn is owned by its membership and governed by its board of directors . the shared building also is home to two beehives that are part of the local honey project managed by members and they live in the adjacent called honeybee alley . the co op is a member of the national cooperative grocers association . it is ypsilanti s primary host of events concerning sustainability ecology and food related issues ; in addition it is a sponsor of and promotes external activities such as ypsilanti s farmers markets and other local food initiatives . the co op provides card reader services for both ypsilanti farmers markets allowing all vendors to accept payment by credit card as well as ebt snap cards . contents 1 history 2 structure and governance 2.1 food cooperative 2.2 ownership 2.3 board of directors 2.4 staff 3 references 4 external links history edit the ypsilanti food co op was founded in 1975 on sheridan st between elm and oakwood and is now located at 312 n. river street in ypsilanti s depot town neighborhood . the mill works building in which the co op resides was originally a foundry that made wheels for grinding flour . the mill works building in the 19th century the food coop became michigan s only solar powered grocery store when a volunteer group called solar ypsi installed solar panels in 2005 . 1 structure and governance edit food cooperative edit as a cooperative the ypsilanti food co op follows the 7 cooperative principles and offers natural foods with an emphasis on organic and locally grown and made produce and groceries . unlike a common corporation decisions about how to run the ypsilanti food co op are not made by outside shareholders and it is therefore able to manifest a higher degree of social responsibility than its corporate analogues . 2 much of the revenue made by the co op is returned to its local economy . ownership edit the co op is owned by its members of which there are approximately 1000 ; it is directed by its general manager who is in turn overseen by the co op s board of directors . co op members receive a discount on retail items purchased in the store ; an additional discount may be earned by members who choose to volunteer labor in or on behalf of the store . board of directors edit the board of directors has seven members elected to two year terms by co op members . the ypsilanti food co op s board meets at least monthly and is charged with the oversight of co op policy governance and overall vision . staff edit a paid staff of approximately forty is employed by the co op with assistance from numerous member volunteers . references edit a b concentrate media article on ypsilanti food co op s solar power food cooperatives . guardian.co.uk . 8 dec. 2005 . external links edit ypsilanti food co op website national cooperative grocers association website solar ypsi project coordinates 40 43 39.36 n 73 59 32.59 w 40.7276000 n 73.9923861 w 40.7276000 ; 73.9923861 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ypsilanti food co op & oldid 725831131 categories 1975 establishments in michiganorganic foodfood cooperatives in the united statescompanies established in 1975ypsilanti michiganhidden categories articles needing cleanup from march 2011all pages needing cleanupcoordinates not on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 18 june 2016 at 04 40 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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