Most of the food offerings on Temple University‘s campus aren’t very healthy–so a group of students decided to change that by creating their own co-op, The Rad Dish Co-Op, on Temple University’s campus.

“The idea to create the co-op [was] initially created because Temple had a space on campus that they wanted students to use to bring positive change to campus,” said Rachael Voluck, co-founder of Rad Dish and head of  the Finance Committee.

“A group of sustainable-minded students was compiled to work with the space, and the students decided that a food co-op would be a great addition to campus because of the need for fresh, sustainable food on campus, and because the cooperative movement empowers all students to have a voice in deciding where their food comes from,” she added.

The co-op will operate as a cafe in the Ritter Hall Annex, just off of  Cecil B. Moore Avenue, on Temple’s campus. Rad Dish will have three different types of members (all of whom have the right to vote at meetings or run for the Board of Directors):

• worker-members that volunteer time to work at the cafe
• equity-members that pay $25 in equity to the co-op
• other members that devote at least six hours of time per month to co-op related tasks.

The co-op also plans to be integrated with Temple curriculum as an independent study course.

“We will source all food locally, organically, or ethically (fair-trade).  We will also be completely transparent about our sourcing to our customers,” Voluck said. The food will be served in compostable containers, and compost bins will be available on-site.

Voluck said The Office of Sustainability, especially the Director of Sustainability Kathleen Grady, has been crucial in helping get the project off the ground.

“Kathleen has been involved since the start with the initial space, and continues to help us communicate with Temple administration to make our vision a reality,” Voluck added.”The office also helped us design our zero-waste supply chain and incorporate sustainability into every dimension of our business model.”

All members of the community will be welcome to use and join the co-op, not just Temple students.

“Incorporating non-Temple community members to the co-op has always been a huge part of our vision,” Voluck said, adding that members don’t have to be students. “We want our members to come from diverse backgrounds to share an assortment of ideas at our meetings.”

The co-op is aiming to launch during October, and is currently running an Indiegogo campaign to raise funding for the project. Learn more about the co-op here: www.facebook.com/raddishfoodcoop

Image via Rad Dish Co-op

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