Food co-ops: Where democracy, community & sustainability come together
There has been a resurgence in food co-ops the past several years. People have different reasons for pursuing quality, nutritious, locally sourced food. The recent unstable economy has driven some families to be more selective about what they eat and some share a collective interest in sustaining their own control over their neighborhood businesses. Local co-ops have been enjoying expansions: Weavers Way Co-op, founded [...]
Wheatsville – Austin iLab
Our series on innovative co-operative organizations in Austin had to cover what is probably the largest and longest-running co-op in central Texas. The Wheatsville Food Co-op began operations in 1976 and has been one of the outstanding features of Austin’s food community ever since. We met with Rose Marie Klee, President of the Board of Directors, to learn more about the history of Wheatsville [...]
Imagination Matters
Brett Fairbairn, Fellow in Cooperative Thought & Ideas [bio] Centre for the Study of Cooperatives at University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, SK, Canada "Change is the new normal", says Professor Fairbairn. And it's up to us and our imaginations to stay on top of all this change. By considering cooperative ventures as both enterprises and associations, we can think about adapting nimbly to both [...]