BOOK JON STEINMAN FOR A VIRTUAL OR IN-PERSON EVENT

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JON STEINMAN

Jon Steinman is a food systems thinker, author, and educator with a 25-year career shaping how communities engage with food. From the soil to shelf — from community farms to co-operative groceries — his work revolves around a single question: what if our food supply chains put people, health, and communities first?

As the author of Grocery Story: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants, Jon’s work continues to strengthen and amplify the importance of community stewardship of independent grocery stores.

A former board director and president of the Kootenay Co-op — Canada's largest natural foods co-op — Jon now leads Grocery Story Press, publisher of This Could Be Ours, the Food Co-op Finder app, and a growing suite of webinars and resources for retail grocery co-ops across the U.S. and Canada.

Jon regularly works with food co-op staff, boards, and leadership teams as an educator and facilitator, helping strengthen how co-ops communicate their unique purpose, history, and role in community life. As an Accredited Professional Dialogue Practitioner through the Academy of Professional Dialogue, he also introduces food co-ops to an approach he calls Cooperative Dialogue.

Jon is also known as the voice behind Deconstructing Dinner — once Canada's most-listened-to food podcast and radio program, and later an award-winning television series.

From grain co-ops to cohousing communities, to food documentary film festivals, Jon's many projects share one common ingredient: a belief that food can bring communities together.

INTRODUCE FOOD CO-OPS TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Grocery stores have never mattered more. But not all grocery stores are built the same. Across North America, a different model of grocery ownership has been quietly thriving for more than a century — one designed to serve people, not profit.

These are food co-ops: community-owned grocery stores that put health, local economies, and social responsibility at the heart of every decision. Today, more than 260 food co-ops operate over 330 locations across the United States, owned by 1.6 million member-owners, with another 80 new co-ops in development. In Canada, there is an extensive network of hundreds of these community-owned grocers.

Author Jon Steinman will introduce this powerful model of grocery store ownership — exploring why food co-ops emerge in challenging times, how they operate today, and why they're more important than ever to the future of food.

KEYNOTES

Jon Steinman’s extensive background in food systems, journalism, communication, and community-led change, is a great recipe to motivate your audience at conferences and events. His keynotes are inspiring, heart-warming, and expand the frontiers of our thinking.