Chester’s grocery co-op featured in documentary

A volunteer brings food into Chester’s Community Grocery Co-Op. 

The operation is the focus of a new documentary that will premier 

in Philadelphia Tuesday.

Members of the Chester’s Community Grocery Co-op address health and food access issues in Chester—a city with no supermarket and limited access to fresh food—and how residents can make change for their community through organization and action.


The Chester’s Community Grocery Co-op received a grant to produce a video which will premiere on Tuesday.  The title of the film is:  Stepping Into It!  Chester's Co-op Addresses Community Food Access Dilemma.  


The main characters in the film are Tina Johnson, Christine Lussier, Rev. LarRaine Branch, Louis & Lucille Gyant and Joyce Rasin.  The co-op members past and present who were involved in the production are:  Joan Broadfield, Desire Grover, Emily Coplan, Carole Burnett, Rich Schiffer, Joyce Rasin and Janet Kirk. 


Philadelphia, PA – On Tuesday August 31 at 7pm, Scribe Video Center will premiere four documentaries, co-produced with community groups across Philadelphia and Camden.  The premiere includes videos by Chester’s Community Grocery Co-op, Every Mother is a Working Mother Network, Bridgeway Inc., and the Youth Art and Self-empowerment Project.  As part of Scribe Video Center’s Community Visions program, all of the featured works were planned, taped and edited by members of the participating community groups, who were trained and assisted by local filmmakers.

Tuesday’s premiere marks the close of the 2009-2010 Community Visions program, which is a part of Scribe’s mission to explore, develop and advance the use of video, film, audio and interactive technology as artistic tools for progressive social change. 

“Too often in modern media-making, those who have the greatest stake in the stories presented are left out of their production,” says Community Visions coordinator, Corey Chao. “Community Visions aims to confront that trend.  Groups not only author powerful videos, but they complete the program with hard skills in production.”

The videos range from 13-26 minutes, and a brief discussion with the filmmakers will follow the screening.

The premiere is free and open to the public.
Click HERE for more