CONTACT:
Erik Esse
info@cooperativesociety.info
206-739-2720
CoopWars.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WALKER COMMUNITY UMC TO SPONSOR AN SCREENING OF DOCUMENTARY THE CO-OP WARS
Event to take place on the 46th anniversary of a pivotal event in the film’s story that took place at the activist church
Minneapolis, MN (November 11, 2021)– In the midst of an era of social tumult in the Twin Cities, a new film tells the little-known story of an earlier moment of political conflict, when young radicals went to war with each other over issues of class, race, and food. THE CO-OP WARS documents the tumultuous early years of the Twin Cities’ natural food co-op movement, when young people radicalized by the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War built a thriving alternative economy, only to see it jeopardized by conflicting visions of social change.
THE CO-OP WARS will be screened at Walker Community United Methodist Church on Friday, December 3 at 7:00 PM. A Q&A and discussion featuring director Deacon Warner and participants in the Co-op Wars will follow. A $10 donation is suggested and RSVPs are required at bit.ly/CoopWars
The hour-long film was directed by Deacon Warner, produced by Erik Esse and narrated by renowned actor Peter Coyote, known for his work on Ken Burns documentaries such as The Vietnam War.
“We are so excited to be screening this film at such a key location in the story of the Co-op Wars,” states director Deacon Warner, “We look forward to discussing the implications of these events with people who were there and young activists who are seeking to learn from the mistakes and victories of the past.”
The Twin Cities’ food co-op sector boasts seventeen locations, tens of thousands of member-owners and hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. But this success story had a rocky beginning: Soon after an initial period of explosive growth, the “Co-op Wars” erupted in 1975-76, a heated and sometimes violent conflict initiated by a secretive Marxist group calling itself the Co-op Organization or C.O. The C.O. was able to exploit real divisions in the counterculture community over issues like racial and class inclusion, healthy vs. cheap food, and strategies of social change to attempt to subvert the new and imperfect democratic practices of the co-ops.
Several key debates of the Co-op Wars took place at Walker Church, including the “United Front Against Opportunism” meeting put on by the C.O. on Dec. 3, 1975, in the wake of their failure to forcibly take over the Black-led Bryant-Central Co-op (see attached article from the food co-op newspaper the Scoop).
THE CO-OP WARS tells this story through interviews with an array of participants on all sides of the struggle, delving into the ideological and emotional stakes for these young people determined to change the world by selling food. It also links this story to the more recent controversy around race and gentrification surrounding Seward Co-op’s efforts to open a second store in the Bryant-Central area. Although unique to its time and place, the story’s conflicts are sure to have resonance for any activist who has sought to make radical change in diverse coalitions.
Producer Erik Esse and Director Deacon Warner were inspired to make THE CO-OP WARS out of their shared love of co-ops, history and documentary filmmaking. Esse is a long-time cooperator who has worked at food co-ops in Minneapolis and Seattle and as an organizer of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Warner has made many short films that have screened at festivals around the world, including Peaceful Warriors: On the Road with Vets for Peace. He is a film educator and founder of the youth program at FilmNorth in Minneapolis. Find more information at CoopWars.com.
In addition to appearing in films such as Erin Brockovich and narrating eight documentaries by Ken Burns, Narrator Peter Coyote was also a leader of the 1960s counterculture that birthed the natural foods co-ops. He was one of the founders of The Diggers, an anarchic San Francisco collective known for their street actions involving free food and performance, which helped inspire the Twin Cities hippies who started the first co-ops. He most recently portrayed former FBI Director Robert Mueller in the Showtime miniseries The Comey Rule.
For more information, please contact Erik Esse at info@cooperativesociety.org or 206-739-2720.