Celebrate Co-op Month!

Every October, your Neighboring Food Co-ops join with the more than 65,000 co-operatives and credit unions across the United States in celebrating Co-op Month, a celebration of this unique business model and its contribution to communities across our country.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture first proclaimed National Co-op Month in October of 1964, reflecting the importance of co-operatives to America’s rural communities.  Since 1971, the National Co-operative Business Association has continued this tradition, promoting co-ops as a trusted, proven way to do business and build resilient, inclusive communities.

Under the theme “Built for This Moment,” this year’s Co-op Month is a reminder that formal co-operatives were first organized to address the social and economic challenges of the Industrial Revolutions of the 1800s.  Successive waves of co-op development have often responded to the market failures of their times, enabling people from all walks of life to work together to meet their needs. From electric co-operatives powering rural America when investor-owned corporations saw it as unprofitable to farmer co-ops supporting small family farmers locked out by corporate monopolies, worker co-ops securing livelihoods in unstable job markets to credit unions enabling working people and immigrants to meet their financial needs, housing co-ops retaining affordable shelter amid rampant speculation to food co-ops building community food security, co-ops are a proven response to uncertain times.

Stop in at your local food co-op during Co-op Month to learn more about what makes co-operatives different.  And while you’re there, look for the “Go Co-op” and “Co-op Trade” signs that identify products made by co-operatives. You may be surprised by what you find, including dairy products from Cabot Creamery Co-op and Organic Valley, produce from Deep Root Organic Co-op and Pioneer Valley Growers Association, fairly traded products from Equal Exchange and Dean’s Beans, organic wines from La Riojana and Moncaro, gardening supplies from FEDCO, naturally fermented vegetables from Real Pickles — and many others! 

We also invite you to pick up a copy of the fall issue of your local edition of Edible Magazine, where you’ll find our special Co-op Month ad in collaboration with Cabot Creamery Co-op and these co-operatives and credit unions from your community and across the Northeast. Check out the links below to learn more about how Co-ops Build a Better World!

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Co-op Month Partners

Thanks to all these co-ops and credit unions that are working in the spirit of mutual self-help and solidarity to spread the word about the co-operative difference!