Fare Share Food Cooperative: Building Infrastructure for a More Resilient Food System

Driving up the familiar road to Fare Share Food Cooperative to meet General Manager, Zizi Vlaun, still feels a little like coming home. I first worked there in 2015, during a difficult chapter when shelves were thinly stocked, distributor contracts were unstable, systems were outdated and unaffordable, and the co-op’s finances were precarious. The building itself felt dark, cold, and worn down. Alongside a deeply committed Board and staff, we worked relentlessly to turn things around… and we did. We brought Fare Share back into the black while installing heat pumps, insulating the basement, upgrading lighting, replacing coolers, implementing a new POS system, repairing leaking roofs, and making countless smaller but essential improvements. At the same time, we renegotiated distributor terms, launched new sales and discount programs, and stabilized operations. None of it would have been possible without a core group of members who believed fiercely in the co-op’s survival.

After Zizi Vlaun took over as General Manager in 2019, and after the pandemic introduced yet another period of uncertainty, Fare Share emerged stronger than ever. Zizi’s engaging leadership style has brought together a driven staff, an increasingly involved Board, and a community that shows up with pride and purpose. Approaching the co-op now makes me smile. The building is freshly painted in a vibrant green color scheme chosen by the membership. It quite literally stands taller. Inside, it’s warm and welcoming, full of energy and possibility, and it leaves me confident that Fare Share will remain a cornerstone of the Norway community for decades to come.

Fare Share began as a buying club and was incorporated in 1978. Its path since then has been bumpy, but cooperatively resilient. In 2001, as part of Norway’s early Rural Development revitalization efforts, the co-op purchased its Main Street building and became an anchor business downtown. That steady presence helped attract other locally owned businesses over time, eventually contributing to the revitalization of nearly the entire Main Street corridor. 

For many years, Fare Share was carried through difficult moments by a handful of extraordinarily dedicated individuals. Today, that commitment has evolved into something broader and more collective, honoring those early champions while building a stronger, more inclusive future. From that long arc of perseverance and belief, Fare Share’s current chapter of renovation, reinvention, and renewed vision is unfolding.

There are moments in a cooperative’s life when long-held ideas begin to align. For Fare Share, this is one of those moments.

Some changes are immediately visible. In January for instance, a new roof was completed over the back entrances of the store, improving safety and functionality for staff, shoppers, and deliveries year-round. The project was donated by Black Dog Timber Works, a co-op member known for offering pro bono work in the community. This is a great reminder that cooperatives are strengthened not just by capital, but by relationships.

From Underused Basement to Regional Food Hub

Other changes are happening (literally) below the surface. 

For more than a decade, Fare Share’s basement had been the subject of conversation and unrealized potential. During the pandemic, cracks in long, centralized food distribution systems became impossible to ignore. As supply chains faltered and community needs grew, a clearer vision emerged: the basement could become a food storage and distribution hub designed to strengthen local food resilience.

Early grant support from the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation helped move the idea from concept to action, starting with building a new staircase into the basement to allow for better access. More recently, Fare Share received a $100,000 USDA subaward from the Northeast Regional Food Business Center to renovate the 3,600 square feet of underutilized space into a climate-controlled storage and distribution hub. Once complete, the space will allow the co-op to receive, store, and process larger quantities of food, support bulk purchasing of local produce, expand value-added production, and establish forward contracts that strengthen relationships between farmers, the co-op, and shoppers.

Zizi sees the hub as foundational. It will allow Fare Share to show up more reliably for local farmers while increasing food access in the community. The project has entered a critical design phase with many partners at the table. Annie Kern, a Fare Share member and local food advocate, will help lead the effort to refine design details and activities needed to bring the vision fully to life.

Rethinking Ownership: Toward a Multi-Stakeholder Model

Alongside physical investments, Fare Share is also revisiting its ownership structure.

Like many food cooperatives, Fare Share has long navigated a familiar challenge: while consumer-owners are deeply supportive, day-to-day ownership often rests most heavily with staff. That imbalance can create distance, not just between shoppers and workers, but across the cooperative “holy trinity” of Board, membership, and management.

These conversations are not new. Discussions about multi-stakeholder ownership have surfaced periodically over the years. What is new is the level of readiness. After years of research, interviews, and scenario planning led by Thea Hart and a dedicated steering committee, Fare Share has reached a pivotal point. Staff and Board are aligned around developing a proposal to bring to the membership and are currently working with the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) to shape it. The proposal under development is exploring the potential for additional ownership classes beyond consumer-owners, such as workers and possibly producers, in order to better align governance with the people most engaged in the co-op’s operations and local food system If approved, CDI (nationally recognized for its work in cooperative development and conversions) would guide the co-op through the transition.

Early steps towards change are already visible. For instance, staff seats have been added to the Board, strengthening communication and shared responsibility. Strategic planning has also been re-initiated by a Board that is increasingly engaged and deeply supportive of the co-op’s leadership and long-term direction.

Renovation as a Community Process

Fare Share’s recent improvements extend well beyond the basement. Since COVID, renovations have been completed through a mix of grants, volunteer labor, and member engagement. Interior painting was done by volunteers. A USDA Thrive Grant administered through FAME funded new flooring, a new roof, structural improvements, automatic doors at the back of the store, and concrete work to improve entrance safety. In 2025, the building received a full exterior repaint, with the color scheme selected by a vote of the membership.That choice was intentional. At Fare Share, paint is an ownership decision. Inviting members into visible, tangible choices builds connection and trust, and it makes ownership real.

Looking ahead, plans are underway to reimagine the storefront itself. By relocating interior walls and redesigning kitchen and food prep areas, Fare Share aims to expand retail space, grow its successful discount food department, and potentially add a café offering items like a salad bar, smoothies, and coffee drinks; specifics that were requested through member surveys. The co-op’s Finance Committee is currently exploring feasibility, working with collaborators such as USDA’s free architect support to develop a phased and financially sustainable plan.

The Co-op Food Fund: Dignity, Access, and Collective Care

All of these efforts connect back to Fare Share’s commitment to food access, embodied in the Fare Share Co-op Food Fund.

Formerly known as the Food Access Fund, the program originally subsidized free or reduced-cost memberships for low-income households. Recently, it was renamed and restructured using a familiar but powerful tool: rounding up at the register. One hundred percent of those round-ups are loaded onto gift cards and placed on a community pegboard at the back of the store. Anyone who needs support can quietly take a card, no questions asked.

The response has been strong. When many people contribute just a few cents at a time, the impact adds up quickly. For Zizi, the Co-op Food Fund is inseparable from Fare Share’s long-term vision of “serving the community with healthy, organic food that they want and need.” It works in tandem with expanded retail offerings, cooperative education, resilient local supply chains, and a broader effort to model democratic values in everyday practice.

Looking Forward

What’s emerging at Fare Share is not a single project, but a coordinated effort: renovation, ownership evolution, food access, and strategic planning all reinforcing one another. With free architectural support from USDA, new grant investments, and a community willing to show up by rounding up at the register, voting on paint colors, or stepping into leadership, Fare Share is building a future that is more resilient, more democratic, and more deeply rooted in place.

Cooperatives grow when people lean in. At Fare Share, that leaning-in is already shaping the infrastructure of a stronger local food system built with cooperation, integrity, and intention.