Our Mission
A brand for a better food system. COSAP Co-op creates ethically sourced, gender neutral apparel products that are educational and positively impactful through a commitment to giving back to partner organizations working on advancing a better food system. What does a better food system look like? We believe our food system should prioritize environmental stewardship, human stewardship, health + taste, and fair + just distribution. Therefore we are committed to donating a portion of our profits to organizations that are advancing those values. As a multi-stakeholder cooperative, our power is distributed amongst those that work in the co-op, those that partner with the co-op, and those that shop with the co-op, like you! Learn more about the co-op here.
Our Values
Environmental Stewardship
Call it organic, regenerative, low to no-till, sustainable, local. These are the practices that care for the land we grow and raise food on.
Human Stewardship
Call it worker rights, labor ethics, fair wages and hours, working conditions, land access. These are the practices that care for our agricultural and food workers.
Health + Taste
Call it healthy, nutrient dense, tasty, culturally significant, flavorful. These are the practices that care for and prioritize creating healthy and tasty food; the reason we eat in the first place.
Fair + Just Distribution
Call it food sovereignty, food access, food security, food justice, good food equity. These are the practices that ensure food checking all other three boxes is available to everyone.
Food that meets these values is a human right. If anyone is excluded then we haven’t finished creating the best food system we can create.
Giving Back
Community Supported Apparel Cooperative is founded with the mission to educate and connect and the commitment to give back. We are proud Sponsors of the American Farmland Trust and Not Our Farm, these organizations are helping to create a better food system that fit within our values. AFT is working to save the land that sustains us by protecting farmland, promoting sound farming practices, and keeping farmers on the land. Not Our Farm amplifies the farm journeys of workers and engages in dialogue to increase visibility around the challenges and abuses that happen on farms, regardless of the size, location, or reputation.
Get to Know the Team
Meet Alex
Alex has a masters in Gastronomy from the University of Gastronomic Sciences and over 6 years of experience working with local and international food activists. In addition to managing partnerships and chairing the Board at COSAP he coordinates the Global Bean Project to advance the production and consumption of legumes.
"Over the past 6 years, I've spent a lot of time listening to food system workers, reading, and cultivating an understanding of what goes into getting food to our tables. While on this journey I've realized that the vast majority of foods available to us don't meet my core ethical values. Values like not exploiting humans or irreparably damaging the environment. This led me to learn about and volunteer with a lot of great organizations and people that are trying to improve the food system and create fundamental shifts in how our food is grown and distributed. I want to continue supporting them and help make it widely understood that we have some work to do in remaking a food system for everyone that isn't systemically rotten at its core. I love connecting people and I want to see a future where exchange is ethical and we can eat in peace knowing that what we're eating is good for us, the environment and the people who grew it."
Meet Emily
Emily studied Fashion Business Management at the Fashion Institute of Technology and has 9 years of experience in the fashion industry working in both corporate and start up environments.
"I started my career in the fashion industry in NYC and quickly realized it wouldn’t be easy to find a company with values that aligned with my own. Two years ago I left my corporate job and moved to Hawaii to work on an organic farm, learn something new, reset and re-prioritize. Since then I’ve been freelancing and working in the Farm-to-Table space. This has expanded my love for fresh, locally sourced food, connecting with people over food, and building community.
I’m excited to take a fresh approach on creating product and doing business in a way that I can feel good about while combining my new passion for farming and food systems.”