who we are

As we enter our 50th year, Friends of the Earth Melbourne has been reflecting on  the remarkable history of community activism. Our Food Co-op and Cafe has been operating as a flourishing social enterprise in the inner north since the 1970's. The Food Co-op is one of the oldest organic bulk shops in Naarm (Melbourne) and still going strong today. We are not for profit and powered by volunteers!

The Food Co-op began in the 1970s joining the FoE campaigns office in a terrace house in Carlton. The Co-op started as a volunteer-run organic bulk food buying group and recycling campaign making it a vital part of the beginnings of the alternative food movement. 

The message from the beginning was to reduce, reuse and recycle, ‘Say No To Plastic Bags’ and campaign against the dominance of industrial agriculture. This was a radical model in contrast to the rise of the use of pesticides in farming, plastic packaging, lack of recycling and the growth of big supermarkets. 

The cafe began in the 1990’s as a solution to food waste in the co-op. Food that would otherwise go to waste was used to make tempeh sandwiches and lunch bowls for volunteers out of the tiny FoE kitchen, bulk shoppers started asking about what was cooking, and joined for lunch and before we knew it the cafe had started.

30 years later we’re still supplying bulk foods/products and serving our delicious, organic and gluten free lunch bowls, sandwiches and pizzas. Our healthy daily mixed bowl changes each day to incorporate the fresh organic produce we have available. It is always organic, vegan and gluten free. 

Our long time volunteer run composting program has diverted tonnes of methane and carbon dioxide from our atmosphere every year, transforming cafe food waste into valuable food and nutrients for local chickens and urban fruit and vegetable gardens.

The Friends of the Earth Co-op & kitchen is an active community space where cooks, coordinators, volunteers and customers share skills and stories about food while inspiring our local community to support ethical food production and choose waste reducing alternatives.

click to find out more about our bulk food coop, organic cafe, membership programmes, and our ethical buying practices !!