Urban Greens is a cooperative health food buying club with headquarters on Providence's west side. Our mission is to provide simple, direct access to affordable, local, organic products and to offer a community-based alternative to corporate supermarkets.

Urban Greens began as a bulk buying group in the West End of Providence in 2000 by a group of West End business people and artists. We were originally based out of the old White Electric space on Broadway, but since then have moved to the West Broadway Neighborhood Association at 1560 Broadway.

Urban Greens provides the opportunity for Providence community members to come together and share in the process of acquiring grocery items. We purchase from Associated Buyers, which is a health food wholesale distributor based in New Hampshire. Associated, with their 6,000 item catologue, offers the option to buy large amounts at bulk good at decreased prices, plus the flexibility to order smaller quantities.

Through Urban Greens, members can pool smaller orders to order the full pack sizes that Associated offers. You can see when members have purchased smaller quantities, then add your order so a full pack is ordered--then everybody saves. Urban Greens is run collectively and operated by member volunteers to keep overhead down. By shopping with Urban Greens you can get wholesale prices without the grocery store markup. Members that volunteer pay the wholesale price, no markup. Non-volunteering members are charged a 7% processing fee on each order.

Urban Greens also offers local goods that members can pick up when they pick up their Associated order. Right now, we are offering local milk and eggs from the Rhody Fresh dairy cooperative, tortillas from Piaxtla tortillas, locally roasted coffee from New Harvest coffee roasters, apples and cider from Allen Hill Orchards, a changing assortment of locally grown produce, plus new items all the time. If you know anyone that wants to sell locally grown foods, email us at urbangreens@gmail.com.

We currently have two orders a month, which must be in on a Thursday and arrive the the following Wednesday. In the middle of the month is the full order, in which we distribute good from the full Associated Buyers catalogue and also local items. At the beginning of each month there is a local items only order.

To start shopping with Urban Greens, just place an order. First sign up on the website.You can order from the Associated Buyers catalogue by going to the catalogue, or you can order local items by going to the local items page. For more detailed instructions on how to order, make sure you read the Frequently Asked Questions/Instructions page

So join, volunteer, order, and eat.