Chico Natural Foods Cooperative, Inc. (CNF), is a cooperative grocery store and has been providing healthy eating alternatives to Chicoans since 1975. In its aisles, you will find natural and organic staples, frozen dinners, beverages, a wide variety of bulk organic spices, free trade food stuffs, and environment safe cleaning supplies. Furthermore, at 10am every Friday a fresh shipment of organic bread is received from a local bakery. Many other food items also come from local suppliers. Finally, the CNF kitchen makes daily fresh sandwiches and other healthy meals and often posts a special each day.

Anyone can become a member at CNF by simply filling out a form and buying a share. Membership fees are normally $25 per year, but around June it drops to $20 ($10 administration, $10 investment) for new members. The rewards of membership includes saving significantly on generously selected items and free admission to various events such as weekend Farm Sanctuary tours.

History

2006

Between August 15th and August 30th, 2006, CNF held a membership ballot on whether meat should be stocked. During that period, trips were organized to selected ranches so that members could see first-hand how they operate and treat animals. Furthermore, the issue gained high visibility in local papers such as Chico News & Review and on a few local radio stations. Opponents of the measure said that no matter how well livestock are treated on the ranch, they're still often the victims of inhumane transportation, handling, and slaughter. Proponents, however, noted that with intense competition in Chico from stores that have premium meat such as Trader Joe's, omnivorous shoppers were more likely to not shop at CNF, thereby causing great financial strain. Out of 1757 eligible members, only 615 voted — just 35%. Of those, 69.5% voted Yes while 30.5% voted No.

On October 9, 2006 at 5:30pm, the CNF Board of Directors met to review the vote's outcome and announce a decision in the KZFR radio station's conference room. It is located at 341 Broadway Suite 411

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Comments

2008-07-18 08:38:14   Is it just me or is meat creeping its way throughout the store with the vegan options gradually in decline. For shame. —132.241.246.118

2008-08-17 17:27:56   It's just you —67.117.26.110

2008-10-16 11:29:38   The members democratically elected to stock meat in the store. Vegan options are just as plentiful as always! Great local emphasis! —69.104.54.220

2008-10-16 15:01:12   Plenty of vegan options, but I'm all for a little meat selection - it's good quality stuff, and there's plenty of us who aren't vegetarian or vegan, simply like good food. —24.19.208.226