As I finish my first year on the Outpost board, and with an eye to encouraging others to run, I thought it was a good time to reflect on my experience as a board member. In doing so, I hope to illustrate the role of a board and the importance of having members that come from diverse backgrounds. 

As an owner and board member, it has been powerful to see first hand how Outpost strengthens our commitment to provide local, healthy and organic food to the community. 

On Sunday, October 26, Outpost hosted the movie “Fed Up” at the Times Cinema. It was free and open to the community, and it packed a wallop. The turnout was excellent, and the movie even better.

As a college teacher in Early Childhood Education, my basic goal is to build better brains for babies. As a mom, grandmother, and teacher of young children, I often sing: “Sweet Stuff, You’ve Got Enough…You Don’t Need Any Sugar, Sugar!” I’ve been inspired by the movie FED UP.

Early in September, I had the pleasure of presenting the closing keynote at the National Association of Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs conference that took place at the Hilton City Center Hotel in Milwaukee. The morning keynote was given by Young Kim, the executive director of Fondy Food Center and Outpost Owner of the year in 2013.

Lots of people these days are pouring buckets of ice over their heads in support of the ALS Association. It’s kind of awesome when you think about it – just look at how a few fun videos have inspired people around the nation to stand up and commit to supporting a great cause.

But, ALS isn’t the only cause you can take steps to support.

When you are new in town or you simply want to know how you can get involved in the community when it comes to the local food scene, how do you navigate a path?

What does growth have to do with Concern for Community, one of the cooperative principles? Aside from the bare legal structure, what really distinguishes cooperatives is that they operate based on a set of principles – seven of them. Some principles, like Democratic Member Control (involvement), become more of a challenge as the co-op grows. But growth can also facilitate other principles, like the seventh - Concern for Community. And it is this last one that helps me understand how a simple neighborhood business lawyer can be so passionate about one of the largest consumer food cooperatives in the country.

I’m a strong believer in the concept of community owned and operated food markets. Why? One big reason is because a co-op like Outpost Natural Foods places value not only on healthy food, but locally owned, independent vendors. I embrace our mission statement: “Outpost Natural Foods exists so that our owners have a healthy, diverse and sustainable community. This will be accomplished while maintaining the long-term strength of the cooperative.” 

Cooperatives are different from other forms of business, and participation by owners is a significant benefit of the cooperative model. Two of the seven cooperative principles — democratic member control and member economic participation — allude to the importance of participation in the cooperative form of enterprise. 

Earlier this month, we opened our fourth store in Mequon. It was a really exciting day for the Outpost community and for the many Outpost owners in Mequon, many of whom had been travelling all the way down to Capitol Drive to shop.

The newest Outpost Coop location will open in Mequon on Monday, May 12.

For over 600 owners in the Ozaukee County area, who previously made trips to one or more of our urban Milwaukee locations for groceries and supplements, the new location provides easier access to local, sustainable food. And we expect ownership to grow by 500+ owners in the first week of business. That’s over 1,000 people with access to great, healthy food!

So, I got together my gumption and attended the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) organic farming conference February 27 and March 1 in LaCrosse.  I heard tell that some Outpost staffers were there, but in the crush of 3,000 plus attendees, who could tell?

Recently, we did some much needed household cleaning. It wasn’t the dirt or grime that we were after; we do pretty well in that category. It was the seemingly endless presence of household clutter that made our lives a mess!

If you attended the Annual Meeting of Outpost Owners on February 16th you would have heard guest speaker Venice Williams, Executive Director of Alice’s Garden speak about creating a community table for all come to and share a meal. Venice shared many stories of growing up and gathering in the kitchen to share a meal of good food. There was something she said that struck me from her stories and that was we have our “Eyes wide shut.” I understood this to mean we are all a part of a larger community in which we need to make sure everyone has access to good and affordable food. This got me thinking, what am I doing? What is Milwaukee doing? What other cities are facing food accessibility issues?

I remember when I first was made aware that I could run for the Outpost Board in Winter 2012. It was advertised on one of the winter mailings and since the deadline to apply was in June, a whole five or six months away, I filed it away and promptly forgot about it. Every couple of weeks, I would be griped with the anxiety that I had missed the deadline, only to see that the deadline was still a couple of months away. 

Most monthly meetings of the Outpost Board of Directors include an opening session “Envisioning the Future,” in which a board member or guest speaker presents a topic that, ideally, both informs and inspires directors to think creatively about Outpost's future and role in the community. I think we all look forward to these sessions, because they really do expand our horizons, and they're (almost) as much fun as poring over financial reports.

As board members, we have a fiduciary responsibility to every owner of Outpost Natural Foods. In other words, the nine of us have been elected with trust and confidence to help manage and protect the co-op’s interest. We do this through sound decision making and representation.

As we move forward into a brand new year, it’s a great time to take stock of the good that cooperatives like Outpost do.

One of the big things on my list? Education.