About the Author
Works by Anne Meis Knupfer
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1951
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Education
- University of Iowa (BA | 1975)
University of Iowa (MFA | 1983)
University of Iowa (PhD | 1992) - Organizations
- American Educational Research Association
American Educational Studies Association
American Historical Association
History of Education Society
Organization of American Historians
Social Science History Association (show all 8)
Midwest History of Education Society
John Dewey Society
Members
Reviews
Statistics
- Works
- 4
- Members
- 31
- Popularity
- #440,253
- Rating
- 2.5
- Reviews
- 1
- ISBNs
- 14
This book is organized rather self-evidently. There is a quick history of the early years of American co-operatives. Early co-operatives began as loose associations of local workers pooling together their resources in order to help each member out. These co-operatives tended to be established along ethnic lines or professions. It is interesting to note that before communism became so negatively defined during the McCarthy years, cooperatives gained widespread support among the public in the early 1900s. They were even using food labels years before the FDA stepped in.
Knupfer then focuses attention on individual co-operatives or areas of co-operatives to show how they shaped the political, social, and nutritional landscape of their cities. Because co-operatives were inherently a forum where each member was entitled to their own voice and vote, members of co-operatives were naturally more inclined to involve themselves in local and national politics.
While food co-ops are markedly different from CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) groups, they fall under the same general principle. Grouped resources help to decrease the burden faced by any one member of the group (this principle also works for insurance companies, but no matter). Knupfer’s discussion of American food co-operatives is by no means lively but is still interesting nonetheless. Her history provides insight into their past organization and how the both the politics of the past and the food culture of the present will shape our food-buying structures of the future.… (more)