The Oklahoma Food Cooperative offers FREE home delivery service to members who are disabled or ill, in Oklahoma City (inside the city limits only), Edmond, Moore, Norman, and Tulsa.

How to Join | Why join? | Oklahoma Food FAQs

Join the Co-op
Click here to join so you can purchase from the cooperative. Completing this form constitutes your agreement to abide by our Terms of Service.. Your membership is not complete until we receive payment for your membership share of $51.75. We are an all-volunteer organization without paid staff, and membership activations are thus done by volunteers. Therefore, please allow 8 days for activation if you mail a check, and 2 days for activation if you pay via PayPal. If you are low income, you can apply for a membership paid for by donations by sending an email to prez@oklahomafood.coop and explaining your circumstances.

• To download our Membership Brochure (PDF) -- Right-click to save to your computer or click to open:
  • Printable brochure (485K)

Procedure for applying to become a producer
of the Oklahoma Food cooperative

1. Join the cooperative. Producer applications are only accepted from coop members.

2. There are separate procedures and application forms depending on whether you intend to sell FOOD or NON-FOOD items. If you intend to sell both food and non-food items, you must complete both applications.

11. Existing food producers of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative who wish to add non-food products must complete the non-food producer application. Existing non-food producers of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative who wish to add food products must complete the food producer application. The Standards Committee will then review the application for conformity to our standards and accept or deny the application. If denied, the producer may appeal to the Board or the coop's Arbitration process.

Download more information about becoming a producer (pdf files): For rural producers | For urban residents



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Acting as the agent of producer members, the Oklahoma Food Cooperative posts and publicizes the products the producers have for sale, receive orders, provides a way for products to be delivered to other members of the cooperative, collects from the customers and forwards the payments to the producers.

Acting as the agent for customer members, we provide them a catalog of available local food products that includes information about how and where the product was grown or processed. We receive their orders and notify the appropriate producers, arrange for the food to be delivered, receive and process their payments. For both producer and customer members, we provide a basic screening of products and producers based on our published parameters, and education and training regarding the use and the advantages of local foods.

For some of our producer members, we are agents that facilitate farm gate sales of their products. For other producer members, we facilitate off-farm sales or sales of processed products.

The essential business of the cooperative is to provide a marketplace where willing buyers and sellers can meet. At no time does the cooperative ever have title to any of the products. We have no inventory. The products that go through our distribution system are owned either by the producer, or by the customer who purchases "title" to the product from the producer. All complaints should first be brought to the attention of the producer, unless it is a situation where the cooperative itself is at fault (such as broken eggs due to poor packing). If a successful resolution can not be found by the affected producer and customer members, the cooperative's arbitration procedure can be invoked.

Why join the Oklahoma Food Cooperative Order Delivery Service?

These products are 100% Oklahoma grown or processed.

There is no food so good as that which is grown in your area by farmers who know their customers.
Such food is healthy, wholesome, traditional, natural, smart, and very tasty. It's where the trend in food is going these days. People are tired of factory foods and mystery meats drenched in pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, and growth hormones. They are ready for food that is authentic, local, and produced in ways that don't degrade the natural environment or endanger human health. And did we mention that it is very tasty?

Oklahoma Food is a marketing network of farmers and their customers that can bring this kind of food -- with all of its delicious tastes and unique food experiences -- to your front door.
Each month, customer members order from a list of foods grown right here in Oklahoma by the cooperative's producer members. With one call, one payment, and one pickup or delivery, you could order food from many different Oklahoma producers. One week after you order, you pick up your food at one of several locations.

We have healthy foods and you can find out exactly what the production practices were with that crop.
Our producers offer a wide variety of all natural meats -- farm raised venison, lamb, pastured chicken, grass finished beef, custom-fed pork. We also feature Oklahoma wheat and flour, peanuts, and a selection of processed foods like cheese, salsas, and jellies made right here in Oklahoma. And yes, we will have eggs from free ranging chickens. These are the same delicious and local foods found in your grandmother's traditional kitchen, once again available to the public direct from Oklahoma farmers.

These days you ought to know the farmers who produce your food.
Our customer handbook introduces you to the family producing that particular product. You'll also get recipes and suggestions for use of seasonal products. Ideas for holidays and unique gifts? You bet. Order online and pay with your credit card or e-check? Of course. All this and fun events for members with lots of good local food. But wait, there is more! Buying food directly from farmers and ranchers puts your money to work at the grass roots of our local and state economy, where it does the most economic good for the most people. Oklahoma needs that right now.

If you want to give your family the best food there is, join Oklahoma Food.
A not for profit Oklahoma organization, Oklahoma Food is owned by farmers, ranchers, and their customers. It is the right thing to do.

Ordering
Each month the order starts on the first day of the month at 8 AM. It closes the second Thursday at 12 midnight. Delivery Day is always the third Thursday. Terms of Service.

Producer members of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative

Products and prices are available here.

Frequently Asked Questions about Oklahoma Food

1. When will this service start?
We are in business right now. We started a monthly order/delivery cycle in November 2003. As of June 2008, we have 1900 members.

2. How much is the membership fee? What will this money be used for?
The membership share is $51.75. It is a one time payment to provide the capital necessary to begin this service, it is not an annual fee like a Sam's Club membership. It will be used to pay the expenses involved with starting the service, including rent and deposits for our central distribution location, equipment we will need (such as freezers and a produce cooler), promotion of the service, applicable licenses, initial operating expenses, and some reserve funds. If it becomes apparent that all of that money is not needed, the membership will decide whether to refund the unused portion or apply it to expanding the network.

3. What kind of prices can we expect?
Price information is at www.oklahomafood.coop/shop/.

4. How exactly does the order/delivery system work?
When you join, you receive a user Id and password. When the order opens, you go to our website and log in. This takes you to shopping pages. You can browse the pages and click on the icons to add items to your basket. To increase the quantity, you click on the link to the shopping cart and update the product. Always hit the update button after each change. You pay for your order when you pick up your food. We take payment by check, money order, or via the Paypal internet system with an e-check or credit card.

We charge customer members 8% for buying through the cooperative.

5. How do I join?
Fill out the form above online and mail your payment to Oklahoma Food, PO BOX 5966, Norman, OK 73069, or go click on the credit card logos on this page to pay by credit card or e-check. Copy the form and paste it into an email, fill it out and send it to membership@oklahomafood.coop .

6. I have a big garden. Can I sell my excess produce through this network?
Absolutely yes. Customers can also sell produce they grow, and producers can also buy food through the network. One membership payment gets you all the membership privileges. You will receive an annual financial report, and we will have an annual meeting.

7. Will you have food for sale during the winter?
Yes we have plenty of food available in the winter, including vine ripened tomatoes and lettuce grown in Oklahoma greenhouses.

8. What kind of information will I know about these products?
We are developing four categories of food products. This is still a work in progress, but we are looking at this basic structure: (1) Oklahoma Certified Organic, (2) Oklahoma All Natural (substantially complies with organic standards, but they haven't gone through the state certification process). (3) Oklahoma Standard. No herbicides or pesticides, but the products may have had some commercial fertilizer involved in their production. (4) Oklahoma Commercial. Produced using conventional agribizness practices. None of the meat products in any of these categories may come from a Confined Animal Feeding Operation. Each producer gives us an affidavit about the Oklahoma origin and production practices of his or her products, including the exact location where they were grown or processed. For meat products, you will know what processing facility was used.

9. How will this service help me meet and get to know Oklahoma farmers?
Besides product information, each farmer, rancher, or processor will have a page in our customer handbook to introduce themselves and tell the story of their family and farming operation.

10. What about complaints or returns?
Oklahoma Food reserves the right to reject any food product consigned to us for delivery to customers that we believe is not up to standards or is delivered spoiled or contaminated, and we will certainly do this if we feel necessary. In such a case, you will receive a refund or credit to your account. Other than that basic responsibility, your purchase is direct from the producer, so any problems with your order must be taken up with the producer whose product you purchased. We are responsible for any mistakes we make with your order (such as not delivering something or delivering the wrong product), but any other questions or concerns should be directed to the producer. Information about the suppliers' policies on returns or complaints will be included with your startup packet. In the event a situation cannot be resolved to everyone's satisfaction, the issue will be referred to an arbitration committee. One member shall be appointed by the customer, one by the producer, and one by the Oklahoma Food Cooperative Organizing Committee. In the event the dispute is between the customer and our order delivery service, a similar procedure shall be used. The customer will appoint a member, the Cooperative Organizing Committee will appoint a member, and the two chosen arbitrators will then together choose a third person.

11. Are these procedures set in concrete?
No. Because this is a new service, these procedures may change from time to time and member customers are invited to make suggestions and participate in our planning process. Our board meetings are held at least monthly and anyone may attend. We want this to work for everybody, and for everybody to have a sense of ownership.

12. Why are you starting this service?
Our goal in starting this order and delivery service is to bootstrap our way into a system of Oklahoma food cooperative grocery stores. Historically, successful food cooperatives grow out of buying club activities, so this is where we are starting. We invite all who join to share this news with others and encourage them to be part of this exciting new way of exploring the rich diversity and good tastes of Oklahoma produced and processed foods.

13. What is your legal structure?
We are incorporated as a cooperative under the Oklahoma statutes.

14. Do you need volunteers? Are there tangible benefits to volunteering?
YES. We have opportunities for volunteers to help with preparing orders and delivering them. We will pay mileage (at the standard IRS rate) for delivery drivers to the pickup areas, and provide $7/hour credit towards purchases for volunteers who help with sorting and making up the orders. Drivers who make home deliveries will receive $15 of the home delivery fee. If you want to participate in these activities, contact the coop at customer@oklahomafood.coop ..

15. What else do I need to know?
See our Terms of Service and our customer handbook. Our producers and our service will comply with applicable health department rules and agriculture laws regarding the sale of food by farmers to the public. Tell a friend! Information for farmers, ranchers, and other food producers, click here.

Please feel free to copy these pages and send them to others who may be interested, either electronically or in hard copies.