What Is a Food Co-op and Is It Worth Joining?

Brian Martucci wrote an article about the "costs, benefits, & drawbacks" of shopping at food co-ops that has drawn 11.2k views at the Money Crashers website.  After weighing in on what he sees as the pros and cons of co-op membership, he writes: 

"My wife and I were thrilled to find a member-owned food cooperative so close to our new home. But before we shelled out $100 and became members, we carefully evaluated the pros and cons of joining. Would we shop there consistently? Could we even afford to do most of our shopping there, given that prices were generally higher than at the supermarket? Would we take advantage of other benefits of membership, such as voting in board elections and joining advisory groups?

"In the end, we decided to join because we wanted to feel invested in our new neighborhood and appreciated the close-knit nature of the co-op community. (We also ended up joining the cooperative brewery across the street – that decision wasn’t quite as hard to make.)"

Take a look at his peice and evaluate it it in relation to your own cooperative or co-op experience.