Lisa lives and works in Ypsilanti, where she is involved with all things sustainable. She is a co-founder of Transition Town Ypsilanti, co-leads a local singing group, is a beekeeper and marketing coordinator for the
Ypsi Food Co-op, and runs the
Local Honey Project. Her home includes a root cellar, raised beds and edible landscaping, water collection systems, permaculture-inspired urban agriculture, top-bar beehives, and much more. She is a founding member of the newly-formed Ypsilanti Growers Cooperative, and grows at three sites in Ypsilanti: her home, her nearby community garden, and a collectively-owned urban farm.
2012: The International Year of Cooperatives
Did you know that the United Nations declared 2012 the "International Year of Cooperatives?"
I often think that the entire concept of a cooperative venture is a mystery to American audiences. To many, the features that distinguish, say, Sam's Club or Costco from Whole Foods from a food co-op are vague. Hey, they all sell bulk food, right?
This is especially surprising, now that I know how widespread cooperatives once were on the American landscape. I recently watched a film from 1942, entitled
Here Is Tomorrow, and the range of co-ops that were once familiar to Americans was truly awe-inspiring: grain co-ops, energy co-ops, growers co-ops, co-op stores, insurance co-ops, co-op shippers, co-op banks, co-op packagers, and so much more! These were the boom times for cooperatives in the USA, but little did the film producers realize that tomorrow would bring them perilously near to an end to co-ops. With the rise of the Red Scare after WWII, the concept touted in the film of "a whole lot of people with one idea: cooperation," started to sound suspiciously like Communism. In the post-war era, the military-industrial complex certainly did not discourage this misunderstanding as it sought to control new markets.
Co-op grocery stores like the Ypsilanti Food Co-op grew up in the 1970s, due to a resurgence of interest in local control and democracy in the wake of the turbulent sixties. Today we'd probably call it a DIY sensibility.
So what does distinguish a cooperative? Co-ops operate on seven internationally accepted
Cooperative Principles, which guide all their business practices. Co-ops are actually owned by their customers through the principle of "Voluntary and Open Membership", and any profit generated by the business is funneled back into its infrastructure. Another of those principles is "Economic Participation", but it's more than just a membership fee at a buying club. Your cash investment in your co-op remains yours and will be returned to you if your membership ever ends. Often, your "fair share" investment earns you special discounts and other benefits of membership.
Other important foundational principles include, "One Member, One Vote." The members in a co-op help to set its direction, influence business decisions, and usually elect the board of directors which guides the organization. Thus, a co-op will never decide to move its production (and our jobs) to a third-world country -- we seek no profits and members would put the kibosh on any such plan right away.
"Cooperation among Cooperatives" means that most grocery co-ops belong to a larger association, such as the National Cooperative Grocery Association or the National Cooperative Business Association, or both. Joining together with other co-ops gives us more buying power (for example), which means lower prices. But it also gives us leverage in other ways, such as having a greater impact on justice issues through Fair Trade, for example. One little grocery store or credit union might not have much influence, but (as we like to say) Co-ops are Stronger Together.
But co-ops also treasure the principle of "Autonomy and Independence." We're not chains or franchises. You'll often find that an individual co-op can have quite a unique feel that is distinct from other co-ops, while all sharing the same principles.
That uniqueness is especially expressed through the final two principles, "Education & Training," and "Care for Community." Grocery co-ops have played an important role in creating markets for local farmers and organic food. But co-ops really shine when it comes to providing information to the customer. Your average clerk in a chain grocery can point you to the produce aisle, but probably can't help you decide between local, pesticide-free, certified naturally grown, or USDA organic lettuce -- a co-op employee CAN. It's part of our ethic of educating both customer and employee on the complex issues that impact our economy.
And how each co-op expresses caring for its community can vary in interesting ways. At the
Ypsi Food Co-op, we have a commitment to becoming the most sustainable business we can. That means making many "green" choices as we've expanded our thriving co-op, from choosing super-efficient fluorescents and in-line hot water, to powering our store and bakery with solar panels. And then we've carried that passion for renewable energy back to the community through
Solar Ypsi. Our co-op wants to make fresh food as accessible as possible, so we provide card-reader services for every vendor at our local farmers markets, making it possible for customers to use their EBT or credit cards to buy direct from farmers. And we care about the pollinators that make agriculture fruitful, so at YFC we host the Local Honey Project, which trains volunteers in organic beekeeping for healthier honeybees, more local pollination, and we hope, a healthier food system.
New co-ops are being born in this International Year of the Cooperatives, like the new
Ypsilanti Growers Co-op. If you want to start a new self-help cooperative venture, contact your friendly local co-op. We believe in cooperation Among co-ops -- we'll help you out!