Co-ops Bring Hope to Stuttering Economies

There’s something in the air that smells like hope. 

A timber corporation pulls out of a small town in British Columbia. A community forest co-op buys out the license. The forest and the right to cut it is now jointly owned by the municipal council, community members, the local First Nation and the union, who have a vested interest in keeping the harvest sustainable. 

Funerals are becoming more than just a moment of mourning and grief—the huge bill from the funeral industry creates added stress. Maritime co-operators are starting funeral co-ops to take control of these rising costs. 

In Ontario, distribution and market outlets have failed for small to medium producers and enterprises. But a new co-op form—the co-operative produce auction—is taking up the slack both in the U.S. and right here in Elmira, Ontario. And Toronto’s West End was home to a standing room only crowd at the historic Gladstone Hotel, looking to invest in a community owned grocery store to bring local food closer to home.

For farmers, eaters, workers and community agencies, the failures of the economy are nothing new; they have responded for years with innovations and stubborn determination. Co-operatives are a bright spot in struggling economies—they survive longer and more often than conventional businesses—they combine social and environmental goals with financial viability—they give democratic power over a business to the people who care about it, including the clients, workers, practitioners and suppliers. It is no coincidence that co-ops are once again attracting renewed attention. The people at Mondragon, the co-op empire in Spain, have partnered with the United Steelworkers to develop worker owned enterprises because they know it is a strategy whose time—once again—has come.

Why start a co-op now? Because they are more likely to create a viable economic structure in hard times (or any times). Because you will have a say in how it is run. Because it will mean the goods and services remain in your community. Because what we have now is not working and it’s time to fix it.  To find out more about how to start a co-op, check out OnCo-op or call one of your local co-ops—transparency and co-operation with other co-ops are some of the principles that all co-ops follow.