Preface 
This report covers the development, growth, and présent status of fruit 
and vegetable cooperatives that market, process, and bargain. [It summa- 
rizes information on number, size, and type of associations; number of mem- 
ber-patrons; commodities handled; marketing functions and other services 
performed; and operating methods. 
The data upon which this report is based came from a study of fruit and 
vegetable cooperatives made by Farmer Cooperative Service (FCS) in 
1965, supplemented by information in the files of the Cooperative Ap- 
praisal Division of FCS. 
The National Commission on Food Marketing contracted with FCS in 1965 to 
prepare a comprehensive report on cooperative phases of the fruit and vege- 
table study. Much of the information submitted by FCS was subsequently in- 
corporated in Chapters 5, 10, and 11 of technical study No. 4, Organization 
and Competition in the Fruit and Vegetable Industry, published in June 1966. 
These chapters covered, respectively, The Role of Cooperatives in Marketing 
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Products, The Role of Cooperatives in Processing 
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, and Fruit and Vegetable Bargaining Cooperatives 
in the United States. The Food Commission granted permission for use of ex- 
cerpts directly from these chapters. This report represents a less detailed 
portrayal of the role of cooperatives in marketing fruits and vegetables 
than that presented by the National Commission on Food Marketing. 
