Our PURCHASING POLICY
Purpose of the purchasing policy
The Portland Food Co-op Purchasing Policy serves to provide Co-op staff with guidelines for purchasing food and other goods for sale in the store. It also informs our Member-Owners, vendors, customers, and community about the products we carry.
Our mission
The Portland Food Co-op is a thriving, member-owned marketplace that strengthens the local food economy while building and nourishing the community.
OUR VISION
We bring local producers and consumers together in a member-owned marketplace to grow a healthier community and a more sustainable food system. We model cooperative values, operate with transparency, and foster trusting relationships with our customers, employees, and suppliers.
Our guidelines
We are dedicated to supporting local farmers and producers and actively seek out new sources for local foods and goods. Contributing to a vibrant, just, and sustainable local system is one of our primary goals. We emphasize natural foods: products free of artificial preservatives, sweeteners, coloring, and flavorings. We look for whole foods, those with a minimum of processing and refining; organic foods, those raised without chemical fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, or antibiotics; and best value, quality items at the best price.
The Co-op strives to increase the affordability and variety of basic healthful foods to as broad an array of community members as possible.
We prefer foods and other goods that are:
Produced by local or regional growers and craftspeople
Produced and/or distributed by cooperatives, especially emerging cooperatives, as well as BIPOC, Indigenous, and immigrant-led businesses.
Produced with the least environmental harm
Presented in packaging that is minimal and environmentally sound
A better alternative to purely conventional products
We also carry many products that do not meet these preferences.
We recognize that food choices are highly personal, depending on many things such as affordability, quality, cultural appropriateness, and so much more. We urge customers to read ingredient labels on all products to see how well they correspond to their individual preferences. We have a diverse community, with varying access to financial resources, and try to meet the needs of as many of them as possible. To that end, we expect that our Member-Owners and customers will find many products on our shelves that they want to purchase as well as some that they choose not to.