In 2013 TPT’s Daniel Pierce Bergin produced a companion program to Dave Kenney and Thomas Saylor’s book Minnesota in the 70s. It contained a six minute segment on the Co-op Wars, featuring some great film and photos of the co-ops in the mid-70s, including part of an interview with Annie Young (one of our interviewees). It also features a modern-day interview with Lori Zuidema (who we also interviewed), an early worker at Seward Co-op and a member of the all-female Cheese Rustlers collective.
The piece also mentions the Food Wars, price competition from new mega-groceries which would be the end of many regional grocery chains. Add to that the disappearance of mom-and-pop corner groceries, with some of their equipment bought by new co-ops, and you have the beginnings of the food retail environment we have today.
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