Consumer Cooperatives

Reflections on the documentary film FOOD COOP, and the discussion panel that GEO held to talk about the film and the food co-op world.

A conversation about the film FOOD COOP with the filmmaker, Tom Boothe, and a panel of food co-op experts.

GEO is hosting a 3 day on-line screening of the documentary FOOD COOP, as well as a panel discussion of the film.

Ella Baker is well-regarded as a giant in the Civil Rights Movement, known for her unique participatory grassroots organizing style and also for her ability to galvanize young people to bring a militancy in the struggle to end segregation. But Baker is less known for her innovative organizing prowess before the 1960s – forming a network of self-help cooperatives to bring economic relief to black people during the Depression.Ella Baker is well-regarded as a giant in the Civil Rights Movement, known for her unique participatory grassroots organizing style and also for her ability to galvanize young people to bring a militancy in the struggle to end segregation. But Baker is less known for her innovative organizing prowess before the 1960s – forming a network of self-help cooperatives to bring economic relief to black people during the Depression.

The African Heritage Food Co-op (AHFC)  was formed so that Black communities in Western New York State, including Niagara Falls and Buffalo, can take ownership of their food system, create jobs and use resources to improve the health and well-being of residents.

The Co-op Wars traces the history of the food cooperative movement in the mid to late 1970s in Minnesota's Twin Cities. The rapid development of the food co-op network in the area prompted a split between anarchist "hippies" and Bolsheviks who styled themselves as the “Cooperative Organization” and set about taking over the People's Warehouse by force.

Margaret Bau of USDA Rural Development makes a presentation on the steps to start a cooperative.

A new report by the Democracy Collaborative has found that community utilities — those that are publicly or cooperatively owned — are better suited for a green transition than their for-profit corporate counterparts.

Degrowth, as a form of resource reloca(aliza)tion through social action, should also be considered as not only an answer to climate change but a form of intrinsic social practice that is present in humankind.

Grocery co-ops have grown during the pandemic, with overall sales increasing 10% during 2020, a year full of supply and social disruptions.