Kevin Edberg Executive Director Cooperative Development Services St. Paul, MN

Cooperative Development Services Annual Meeting of Harvest Moon Cooperative September 21, 2014

The Powerful Contributions of Food Cooperatives

What is a Co-op?  A co-op is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their economic and social needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.

The Family of Food Co-ops  About 400 food co-ops in the US today  About 80 new start-ups in the last 5 years  Another 100 communities with active steering committees trying to create a food co-op in their town  Mostly natural foods co-ops, but not all

National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA)  An association of 142 co-ops in 38 states  With over $1.6 billion in combined sales  And over 1.4 million owner-members  NCGA leverages the 6 th Principle of Cooperation by negotiating best pricing with food distributors for local co-ops

Twin Cities Food Co-ops  15 co-ops clustered in the Twin Cities operating 18 (soon 20) stores  In 2013 generated $189 million in sales  For 91,000 owner-members and an estimated additional 50,000 shoppers

Regional Support Organizations  Cooperative Development Services: A non- profit that supports start-up and on-going development of co-ops in several sectors  Food Co-op Initiative: A non-profit that supports start-ups of new co-ops  Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund: a cooperatively owned loan fund  Others

What is a Co-op?  A co-op is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their economic and social needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.

Impacting Local Food Economies  CDS studied the Twin Cities food co-ops and their impact on local foods purchasing  $189 million in 2013, growing 10%/year  30% of sales are for local products, or  $54 million in retail sales, equal to $31 million in farm gate income  UNFI and Co-op Partners Warehouse

Your Co-op Makes a Difference!!  Through your work together, consumer- owners obtain the foods they want at best possible pricing  Your food co-op purchases directly strengthen local farmers and businesses  Food co-ops are the friendliest buyers for local farmers  You make an alternative food system possible

Co-ops Exist All Over the World  You purchase from co-ops around the world

You Create Cooperative Economies on a Global Basis! Coffee, tea, dairy, cocoa/chocolate, nuts, spices

Organic Cashews- One Story  Nuts are harvested, sorted, roasted

Cashews-continued  Nuts are cracked by hand, then bagged

Cashews-continued  Bagged and ready for export

Your Co-op Makes a Difference!!  Organic and Fair Trade premiums support small landowners  The co-ops directly improve the lives of their owner-members and communities through - Increased income - Education - Clean water - Electricity

And Impacts in Other Ways Too  When you purchase from Harvest Moon, you meet your own needs, and support food systems and cooperative economies in the US and beyond.  But the work of cooperation itself impacts our communities as well.

 A co-op is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their economic and social needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. What is a Co-op?

Co-ops as Businesses  Cooperative enterprises and cooperative economies are capitalistic in origin: - Co-ops are private businesses - They require member investment and use - They need to generate surplus in order to be sustainable over time

Creating a Generative Economy  Co-ops are mission-driven  They link ownership, use and benefit  By aggregating market power and returning benefits to owners based on patronage, they keep control and assets “local”  This creates “generative” economies instead of “extractive” economies

Reclaiming Our Democracy  One Member- One Vote  Distribution of Surplus based on Patronage  Re-learning “Governance” vs. “Politics”  All of this creates the potential for us to learn and practice better ways of sharing and protecting the things we hold in common

Your Work Today Matters  You gather at Owners and Members to steward an asset you hold in common  You will elect leaders on a One Member-One Vote basis  Your work completes a circle of accountability between “owners”, “governors” and “managers”

Three Things I Ask of You  Participate in your co-op - Use the co-op and its services - Ask for products that you need and want - Be knowledgeable of its needs - Create shared vision and leadership - Invite others to join as member-owners - Celebrate what this community can achieve through cooperation

Three Things I Ask of You  Grow the cooperative economy - Look for cooperatively produced products - Join a credit union - Look for other community needs that can be met through cooperative action - Direct a portion of your charitable giving to support non-profits in the co-op sector

Three Things I Ask of You  Grow your personal knowledge of co-ops - Read a book for your book club “Owning Our Future” by Marjorie Kelly - Participate in cross-sector events: movie nights, book signings, speaker events

Thank You for Your Kind Attention!