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Cooperative Principles

Celebrating Co-op Month!

 

This October, the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op joins over 65,000 cooperatives across the country in celebrating Co-op Month. This year’s theme, The Future is Cooperative, emphasizes how co-ops across nearly every industry – from housing and insurance to food and agriculture – are shaping stronger, more inclusive communities through shared ownership and values.

The cooperative model stands apart from other business structures because it is owned by the people it serves, ensuring that our priorities reflect the needs of our community, not the demands of outside investors. While traditional businesses are focused on maximizing profits for shareholders, co-ops operate with values that emphasize community involvement, member participation, and collective responsibility, ensuring our operations benefit both our members and society as a whole. Most co-ops, including MNFC, voluntarily adopt seven core international principles to guide their mission and operations.

Bags of fresh produce (subsidized in part by donations from MNFC) from Farmacy, a program that provides free CSAs to limited-income Vermonters prescribed produce by their doctors.

Food co-ops in particular play a vital role in local economies. According to the 2023 Food Co-op Impact Report by National Co+op Grocers (NCG), co-ops across the country generate $2.5 billion in annual sales, with 38% coming from organic products. Vermont food co-ops alone sold over $43 million in local products last year. At MNFC, local products made up 33% of our sales in 2023, down from 38% the previous year, largely due to late summer flooding that destroyed thousands of acres of local crops. MNFC honored all existing contracts with producers by purchasing as much as they could provide, even if it differed from the previously agreed-upon volume. In some cases, we paid higher costs to ensure that our local farmers received the support they needed during these difficult times.

Environmental stewardship is another area where food co-ops are committed to making a difference. Simply purchasing food from local suppliers makes a huge impact, cutting down on fossil fuel consumption and pollution from long-distance food transport. At chain supermarkets, most food travels over 1,500 miles, consuming massive amounts of fuel and energy for shipping, refrigeration, and packaging. Fewer “food miles” mean fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less harm to the environment.

Spoilage is always a challenge in the food industry, and reducing food waste is of paramount importance to reducing our carbon footprint. MNFC is proud to have donated over $89,000 worth of food to local food shelves HOPE and CVOEO in FY23. This food is completely good, but may be approaching a sell-by date or have minor blemishes that disqualify it from being sold. Food unfit for human consumption is not sent to the landfill – instead it’s picked up by local farmers to feed their animals. Whatever is left—like coffee grounds and meat scraps—is collected by Casella Waste Management to be composted. These efforts not only help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food waste in landfills but also ensure that the energy used to produce this food doesn’t go to waste. Individual departments are always thinking of new ways to improve as well, and this year our bulk department introduced the Bring a Jar, Leave a Jar program, which encourages customers to donate unwanted clean glass jars to be sanitized by our staff for re-use by other customers. Jars are free to take, and so far the program has been a very popular success!

MNFC’s Bring a Jar, Leave a Jar program encourages customers to donate clean glass jars for re-use by other customers. 

The cooperative model traces its roots to the labor struggles of the industrial revolution and has long been a tool for creating economic opportunity for marginalized communities. From Civil Rights activists to local farmers, people across industries have used co-ops to build fairer and stronger systems. Shared ownership strengthens the bond between co-ops and their communities, ensuring that decisions reflect core values like openness, social responsibility, and concern for others.

As we celebrate Co-op Month, it’s clear that the cooperative model is more than a business structure—it’s a blueprint for a more equitable and sustainable future. Whether it’s food, housing, finance, or energy, co-ops across the board are leading the way through collective ownership, social responsibility, and a commitment to sustainability, building a better tomorrow for everyone.

 

Throughout the month, we’ll be promoting some of our favorite Co-op-made products that are actively growing a more inclusive economy. Check out our Weekly Sale and Member Deals displays October 17-23 for deals from co-op owned companies, and be sure to clip the $3 off any co-op owned product coupon in the October 17th Addison Independent.

 

To find co-op-made products throughout the store, look for the “Co-op Trade” signs (like the blue circle above) on the shelves. You might be surprised to learn how many co-op owned companies there are! Cabot Creamery Co-op and Organic Valley, Fair Trade coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, and avocados from Equal Exchange, La Riojana wines, orange juice from Florida’s Natural, body care products from Alaffia, naturally fermented vegetables from Real Pickles – they’re all co-ops!

 

Co-op Made Products that are also part of our Co-op Basics Program

Thanks to the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA), when you join our Co-op anytime throughout the month of October, you’ll become eligible to win a two-night farm stay at Cabot Farm and Inn, or one of three Cabot ultimate gift boxes. New and existing members can enter to win this Co-op Month giveaway by clicking here. 

For a deep dive into the relevance of co-operatives to the economic and social challenges we face and their contributions to a more just, equitable, and sustainable world, check out this webinar from NFCA director Erbin Crowell:

 

Celebrating Co-op Month!

 

This October, your Co-op is joining over 65,000 co-operatives and credit unions across the United States in celebrating Co-op Month, observed nationally since 1964. This year’s theme, “Owning Our Identity,” was chosen by the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA CLUSA) as an opportunity to engage co-op members, customers, employees, and the general public about the co-operative difference.

“The International Cooperative Alliance approved the Statement on the Cooperative Identity in 1995,” said Erbin Crowell, executive director of the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) and a member of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) Cooperative Identity Advisory Group. “And Co-op Month is a unique opportunity for co-ops to communicate the values that guide us and the principles that make them real in how we conduct business.

”The Statement defines a co-operative as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.” This means that co-ops are governed by their members, everyday people like you who use the business, as opposed to investors or shareholders. These members may be consumers, workers, producers, or independent business owners who govern the co-op on a democratic basis. This unique relationship is recognized in international law as well as by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which affirms that co-ops are “user-owned businesses that are controlled by — and operate for the benefit of — their members, rather than outside investors.”

Next, the Statement notes that co-ops “are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity.” These values set the co-operative movement apart from other business models in that their purpose is not simply to generate profit, but to enable people to work together to build a better future for everyone. Further, co-ops and their members “believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.” Co-ops and their members set a high standard for themselves and are working constantly to live up to their ideals.

Finally, the Co-operative Identity includes a list of principles, or “guidelines by which co-operatives put their values into practice.” These are the operational characteristics of co-operative enterprises – or what makes a co-op a co-op – and include:

  • Voluntary and Open Membership (all are welcome and no one is forced to join)
  • Democratic Member Control (co-ops are controlled by the people who use the business for shared benefit)
  • Member Economic Participation (members participate in the business and contribute capital to support growth and success)
  • Autonomy and Independence (co-ops are controlled by their members, rather than outside organizations, governments, or investors)
  • Education, Training, and Information (co-ops educate and empower their members, policymakers, and the public)
  • Cooperation among Cooperatives (by working together, co-ops are more successful and can have more impact)
  • Concern for Community (co-ops are member-focused — but also work for a more democratic, sustainable, and inclusive economy for everyone).

Across the Northeast, people have used food co-ops to improve access to healthy, local, affordable food, and build stronger, more inclusive communities. For example, a survey by the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) found that grocery co-ops across New England and New York play a key role in supporting our regional economy, selling more than $112 million in local products annually — or an amazing 25% of total sales. Here at your Co-op, we’re proud to note that we’re well above the curve with a whopping 38% of our total annual sales attributed to local products, representing over $8.5 million in sales to Vermont farmers and food producers!

 

During our September Eat Local Challenge, we track our sales to local farmers and food producers on the “Big Corn” in front of the store, aiming to provide $600,000 in payments to local farmers and food producers during this month-long focus on supporting Vermont products.

 

Taken together, these co-ops across New England and New York are locally owned by 173,000 members and provide employment for over 2,465 people, more than 60% of whom are also members, sharing in the ownership of their local grocery store. Your Co-op is owned by more than 6,000 member-owner households in Addison County and beyond! 

From farmer co-ops to worker co-ops, credit unions to mutual insurance, and housing co-ops to energy co-ops, co-operative businesses thrive across the U.S. economy, where one in three people are co-op members. Around the world, around 1 billion people are members of about 3 million co-operatives, and 10% of the world’s population, or around 280 million people, are employed by co-ops. And because they are member-owned, co-operatives are rooted in their communities and governed by the people who use them to meet their needs.

 

Our Co-op is celebrating this special month in a number of ways. Throughout the month, we’ll be promoting some of our favorite Co-op-made products so that you can vote with your food dollars for businesses that are actively growing a more inclusive economy. Check out our Weekly Sale and Member Deals displays all month long to find great deals on co-op-made products by Equal Exchange, Frontier, Blue Diamond, La Riojana, and more. You’ll also find that many of these products are part of our Co-op Basics program at very affordable prices. Be sure to check out the Addison Independent each week for coupons that will offer even deeper discounts on these great Co-op-made products!

 

To find co-op-made products throughout the store, look for the “Co-op Trade” signs (like the blue circle above) on the shelves. You may be surprised by what you find, including dairy products from Cabot Creamery Co-op and Organic Valley, fairly traded coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, and avocados from Equal Exchange, La Riojana wines, orange juice from Flordia’s Natural, body care products from Alaffia, naturally fermented vegetables from Real Pickles — and many others!!

 

Co-op Made Products that are also part of our Co-op Basics Program

Thanks to NFCA, when you join our Co-op anytime throughout the month of October, you’ll be entered to win one of 10 exciting prize packages of Co-op-made products from partners like REI, Cabot, and Mad River Glen! Already a Co-op member? You can also enter to win this Co-op Month giveaway by clicking here. 

 

For a deep dive into the relevance of co-operatives to the economic and social challenges we face and their contributions to a more just, equitable, and sustainable world, check out this webinar from NFCA director Erbin Crowell: