The Middlebury Natural Foods Cooperative is a democratic, member-owned cooperative committed to providing healthy, competitively priced foods; encouraging ecologically sound and healthful patterns of production and consumption; and responding to members' needs accordingly. MNFC began in the early 1970s as a pre-order buying club. Its purpose was to provide members with wholesome, natural foods that were not available elsewhere. To maximize savings, members bought in bulk and packaged the food themselves.