Growing a Food System for the Future: a manual for co-operative enterprise development

July 14, 2014

This is an exciting time for the co-operative movement, and particularly for New England’s agricultural, fishery and food co-ops, some of which are profiled in this manual. In the wake of the financial meltdown of 2008 and the resulting global recession, co-ops have been recognized for their resilience, preserving jobs, economic infrastructure and rural communities. Across our region, people are working to rebuild local and regional food systems, and co-ops have a unique role to play.

The co-operative business model has received renewed attention thanks in large part to the United Nations (UN) declaration of 2012 as the International Year of Co-ops, which promoted the contribution of co-operative enterprise to human development, poverty reduction and food security. In 2013, the International Co-operative Alliance released its “Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade,” which envisions co-ops becoming the fastest growing model of business by 2020. And now, in 2014, the UN’s International Year of Family Farming emphasizes the role of co-ops in enabling the world’s small producers to achieve scale and efficiency, competing with global corporations without sacrificing local ownership and control.

 


Tags: building resilient food systems, cooperatives

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