Eastside Food Co-op invites you to view and discuss THE CO-OP WARS, an hour-long documentary illuminating the dramatic origins of the Twin Cities food co-ops.

THE CO-OP WARS tells the story of the young activists who tried to build an alternative to corporate capitalism, the violent struggle that almost tore them apart, and their eventual success in ways they never foresaw.

In the 1970s, young people in Twin Cities radicalized by the Vietnam War created a unique counterculture economy featuring dozens of food cooperatives. Powered by idealism and camaraderie, they created stores that offered whole foods unavailable in supermarkets and acted as thriving social hubs. But a shadowy revolutionary group exploited conflicts over class and race to try to seize the movement for its own ends. The ensuing clash pitted friends and comrades in a sometimes violent struggle over who and what the co-ops were for.

Join us on Oct. 13 at Eastside Food Co-op to learn more about the film and discuss its implications for the future of the food co-op movement (see details under the Q&A tab).