Cooperatives: An Alternative Model We Can Get Behind
With January just around the corner, how many of you were aware that the United Nations has designated 2012 as the International Year of the Co-operative?
At Equal Exchange, we’ve been shouting the merits of co-operatives ever since we were founded. As a 100% Fair Trade organization, buying all of our products from democratically-run cooperatives and associations of small farmers, doesn’t it make sense that we would extend our firm belief in the cooperative’s form of ownership and governance to our own workplace? In today’s world of expanded corporate power and the ensuing results that are causing so much economic disparity and injustice, isn’t it well-beyond time to actively promote cooperatives as a viable alternative economic model?
Check out this really fun 2-minute video explaining the co-op difference produced by a member of the National Coop Business Association (NCBA), CCA Global Partners. Thanks to Becca Koganer at Equal Exchange and Melanie Madden of the Davis Food Co-op for sharing it with us!
