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Global Co-ops Conference
The 2025 International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) was officially launched at the ICA Global Cooperative Conference and General Assembly, in New Delhi, India — and your Neighboring Food Co-ops were there!
The gathering, organized by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and hosted by IFFCO, attracted delegates from over 100 countries under the theme, “Co-ops Build Prosperity for All,” and focusing on four conference pillars: Reaffirming the Co-operative Identity, Enabling Supportive Policies, Developing Strong Leadership, and Building a Sustainable Future. The dialog included more than 100 speakers, including representatives from the United Nations, government officials, scholars and activists, and co-operators from around the world as the co-operative movement celebrated the launch of the second International Year of Co-ops in 2025.
Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) Executive Director Erbin Crowell was in attendance, representing our member co-ops as well partners including the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA CLUSA), DotCooperation, and the New England Farmers Union. Crowell also serves on the Co-operative Identity Advisory Group (CIAG), which submitted its recommendations to the ICA General Assembly on “Articulating, Living, Communicating, and Protecting” the Identity after a multiyear, international consultation with the movement. At the Assembly, delegates approved the resolution and called for a Congress to be convened to continue the dialog.
In the context of the conference goal of enabling supportive policies for co-operative development, Crowell was also invited to serve on a panel on “Living our Co-operative Identity,” where he made the case for protecting Co-operative Principles in law. Specifically, he pointed to the importance of ensuring that membership in co-ops continues to be reserved for users of the business — consumers, workers, and producers — as opposed to investors or external organizations, as described in the Identity and international law.
“Organizations live according to the rules and regulations that they are provided, and one of the challenges that we have is the degree to which the Identity is visible and enacted within law,” said Crowell. If co-operative businesses “are not doing what we say we do, if we’re not living by our values, we may squander the trust we have built up over generations.”
The dialog on the importance of protecting the Co-operative Identity in government policy was continued at a meeting of the ICA Co-operative Law Committee, where legal scholars from around the world discussed current legal issues such as the Uniform Limited Cooperative Association Act. Thanks to the work of the ICA, Co-operative Principles are recognized in international law and documents such as the UN International Labor Organization (ILO) Recommendation 193 on the Promotion of Co-operatives.
A high point of the conference was a keynote address by India’s Prime Minister, H.E. Narendra Modi, attended by 3,000 participants from around the world, in which he highlighted the important role co-ops play in his country.
“For India, co-ops are a way of life,” he said. “For the whole world, co-operatives are a business model, but at the same time, co-operation is the basis of our culture. It is a lifestyle.” The Prime Minister described how the partnership between the Government of India and co-ops was key to sustainable growth, and how this growth “should be seen in a human-centric way.”
Prime Minister Modi also thanked the UN for declaring 2025 as the International Year of Co-ops. “In this Year of Co-operatives we will empower this co-operative spirit. We will move forward with this co-operative spirit and we will be empowered, we will be prosperous,” he concluded.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the conference via video message: “Co-operatives like the ones you represent demonstrate the importance of standing together to forge solutions to global challenges,” he said. He also spoke about the crucial role of co-operatives in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, especially in light of the upcoming Second World Summit on Social Development.
Also at the conference, DotCooperation launched its “Cooperative World Map” as part of the effort to increase awareness of the global co-operative movement in the coming year. The map will give co-ops unprecedented visibility on a global scale, showcasing our collective impact and reach, and supporting advocacy and collaboration among co-operatives.
The NFCA’s historic focus on the Co-operative Identity – living, communicating, and protecting our Values and Principles – is particularly relevant to this moment, and we’re looking forward to 2025 and the opportunity presented by the second International Year of Co-ops to continue to work together for a more just, sustainable, and inclusive future.
For more information on the United Nations International Year of Co-ops, please visit: https://nfca.coop/IYC.
Share this story on social media or your e-news and add information about what your co-op has planned for Co-op Month!
180 Years of Co-operation
December 21, 2024, marks 180 years since the founding of Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers. The co-op’s operating rules became the blueprint for the Principles adopted by the International Co-operative Alliance, opening the way for the growth of our movement around the world.
On December 21, 1844, the lighting of a candle in the window of a small community grocery store would influence the world in surprising ways. The offerings on the shelves including basic items such as butter, sugar, flour, and oatmeal. While seemingly modest, these products were significant at the time because they were difficult for working people to obtain and were often impure when purchased from other stores. From its beginnings, the co-operative movement had food security and economic inclusion at its heart, empowering communities to work together to meet their shared needs and aspirations.
Building on the many experiments in economic democracy that had come before them, the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers had spent the previous year saving their capital, drafting a set of co-operative business practices, and planning for the future. They rented a small shop on Toad Lane in Rochdale in the North of England which, despite much opposition, prospered. Their goal, however, was not just to establish a single grocery store for their community. Rather, it was only the first step in a plan to leverage the purchasing power of working people to create a co-operative economy. This vision included production, housing, farming, and education, among other endeavors.
The practices put in place by the Pioneers were later adopted by the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) and translated into a set of principles that came to serve as a model for global movement for economic democracy that today includes more than a billion people around the world. Early advocates of the “Rochdale Model” in the United States of America included the Grange (founded 1867), the National Farmers Union (1902), the Cooperative League of the USA (1916, now NCBA CLUSA), the Negro Cooperative Guild (1918), and the American Farm Bureau (1919). In 1995, the ICA approved an updated Statement on the Co-operative Identity, which supplemented the Principles with a Definition and a set of Values including equality, equity, and solidarity.
As part of our commitment to education, the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) has produced a video series to help our food co-op engage their members, employees, board members and community members about the co-operative movement. You can learn more about the contribution of the Rochdale Pioneers and why they are still relevant today in the webinar, “Rochdale & The Early Co-operative Movement.”
To view this video and other resources for education and engagement, please visit our Co-operative Education Webinar Series.
Go Co-op for the Holidays
Celebrate the Season with Co-operation
- Make your own gift basket filled with Locally Made items or Personalized Themes for everyone on your list! Make it easy by attending an event like Monadnock Food Co-op’s Holiday Fest on December 19th with sampling and crafts or check out Cabot Creamery Co-op’s Gift Basket Making Guide. Going with a local theme? Check out Rutland Area Food Co-op’s list of local vendors or see if your co-op has cool gifts like the awesome offerings at Old Creamery Co-op.
- Special Holiday Foods and Beverages and all of the ingredients you need for holiday celebrations, like artisan and regional special cheeses for creating the perfect cheese platter or cheese ball or pairing with La Riojana Co-op Wines available exclusively at food co-ops.
- Food as gifts, learn to make special foods to give as gifts or for shared meals. Check out your co-op’s cooking classes like Co-op Food Stores offerings or try something new like City Market’s livestream cooking and baking sessions or with the kids in Brattleboro Food Co-op’s Ginger Bread House making session or Monadnock Food Co-op’s series of classes.
- Share the Co-op Love. Can’t decide what to get your loved ones? Need gifts for co-workers? Consider gift cards and some, like River Valley Co-op has special deals for multiple purchases and see if your co-op like Portland Food Co-op, will send it directly to your recipient. Give the gift of co-operation with a membership in your local food co-op like Assabet Co-op Market or start-ups like Caledonia Food Co-op, VT and Androscoggin Food Co-op, NH. Also great for mailing!
- Purchasing a Tree? Check out how our food co-ops are offering local and organic trees like Belfast Community Co-op and check out Brattleboro Food Co-op, donating to Groundworks Collaborative for every tree sold.
Co-op Education Gifts
Consider one of the many opportunities that our co-operative community has created that help leaders of all ages to access the training and information they need to be effective co-op members, board members and staff, including:
- The Cooperative Education Fund offers grants for the training and education of food co-op staff, managers, and board members. You can make a special charitable donation in honor of recipients of the NFCA’s “Neighboring Co-operator” award. Most recent honorees include Alice Rubin, former General Manager at Willimantic Food Co-op, Glenn Lower, former General Manager at Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op and JQ Hannah, Assistant Director at Food Co-op Initiative (FCI).
- The Co-operative Management Education program at Saint Mary’s University offers and online Master of Management program and in-person opportunities for co-operative professionals. You can support scholarship resources by giving online.
- The FCI Cooperative Futures Fund to support development of new co-ops. Make a donation in honor of a loved one contributing to effective learning, communicating and resource building to create new co-operatives.
However you choose to celebrate this season, you can find all of the ingredients you need for to bring joy to friends and family, whether near or far — and a more inclusive and sustainable community — at the co-op!
To find a food co-op near you and more co-op resources, please visit: https://nfca.coop/members
J. Tom Webb to be Inducted into Co-op Hall of Fame
The Neighboring Food Co-op Association was proud to work with our partners at the International Centre for Co-operative Management at Saint Mary’s University to nominate J. Tom Webb, founder of Master of Management, Co-operatives and Credit Unions Program, to the Co-operative Hall of Fame
J. Tom Webb’s career has spanned co-operative industries and sectors in the United States and Canada, ranging from grocery to IT, multistakeholder co-ops to credit unions, and beyond. Arguably, his most impactful contributions are to education, one of the key pillars of the Co-operative Identity. As Director for the Extension Department at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Webb led a team of people providing education about co-ops and community development. This experience led him to identify the need for a formal management degree program specifically for co-ops, and he began to seek out a university that would provide accreditation. After much persistence, creativity, and collaboration, he established the Master of Management: Co-operatives, and Credit Unions (MMCCU) Program at Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia, Canada, now the most internationally renowned, English-language master’s level university programs in the field of co-operative business, offered fully online to co-operators around the world.
The early success of the program would have been impossible without Webb’s tireless networking and the support and leaders from the U.S., Canadian, and UK co-operative movements. From this foundation, the International Centre for Co-operative Management (ICCM) has grown to offer a variety of programs from degrees to certificates, executive education to learning tours, all centered on the cooperative model of business. The ICCM is also a major player in applied academic research, partnering with and convening research associations, organizing conferences and symposia, and issuing publications at the international level. An expression of the 6th Principle of Co-operation among Co-ops, the ICCM has from its beginnings been overseen by an international multistakeholder co-op, the Co-operative Management Education Co-operative (CMEC), which now includes 80 member co-ops, credit unions, associations, educational institutions and individuals in 10 countries. Recognizing the need for both financial and non-financial performance analysis specific to the co-operative business model, Webb also founded the Centre of Excellence in Accounting and Reporting for Co-operatives (CEARC) at Saint Mary’s University, which develops Statements of Recommended Practice (SORPs) for co-ops, Sustainable Development Goals reporting for cooperatives, and other projects.
Webb continues to be involved in the work of ICCM, and for 15 years has led annual study tours for the Centre, introducing co-operators, researchers, educators from around the world to the successful co-operative complexes in the Basque region of Spain, and Emilia-Romagna in Italy. His mentorship has left its mark on hundreds of students and participants in the Centre’s programs, which boasts ~500 co-op and credit union leaders as alumni, many now in leadership roles in the cooperative movements not just in the U.S. and Canada, but around the world.
Though technically retired, Webb continues to contribute to the movement through his service on co-op and credit union Boards, the work of his consultancy, Global Cooperation, and countless articles. His book, From Corporate Globalization to Global Cooperation: We Owe It to Our Grandchildren, brings together the insights of a lifetime of researching, organizing, teaching, and practicing co-operation.
Webb’s servant leadership and commitment to the Co-operative Identity – and particularly the Principle of Education, Training and Information – has left an indelible mark on our movement, and we’re looking forward to celebrating his induction into the Co-op Hall of Fame!
To learn more about this year’s Co-op Hall of Fame inductees and to make a donation in J. Tom Webb’s honor, please visit https://www.heroes.coop/post/j-tom-webb.
CoBank: Cooperative. Connected. Committed.
CoBank is a national co-operative bank and one of the largest private providers of credit to the U.S. Rural Economy.
As an integral member of the Farm Credit System, CoBank’s mission is to serve as a relevant and dependable provider of credit and other value added financial services and support to agriculture, rural infrastructure and other similar business for the benefit of rural America.
While CoBank was formed in 1989, their roots extend back over a century to the establishment of the Farm Credit System (FCS) in 1916 when Congress established twelve Federal Land Banks and later Federal Land Bank Associations to lend to farmers across the nation. As the FCS evolved, the Farm Credit Act of 1987 provided flexibility that led to the 1989 creation of CoBank from the merger of 11 of the Banks for Cooperatives with $12 billion in assets, $9 billion in outstanding loans and $807 million in capital.
Today, CoBank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 78,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and maintains an international representative office in Singapore.
CoBank is well-positioned to meet the financial needs of our customers and to continue to fulfill our mission from Congress of delivering capital to rural America. As we see those needs evolve and grow, we are ready to meet the challenge.
CoBank also is committed to the Co-operative Principle of Concern for Community and invests ~1% of revenues in corporate citizenship and charitable giving. Our signature program is Sharing Success through which we match customer contributions up to $10,000 per year. That program has helped deliver more than $86 million dollars to worthy recipients in the communities where our customers live and work.
CoBank also works with partners across the country to support the development and success of local food co-ops in rural communities, especially those that have lost or are at risk of losing their local grocery stores. Access to fresh, healthy food is a vital resource for every community. Local food cooperatives increase access, create economic growth and support the infrastructure of our communities.
In 2024, the Neighboring Food Co-op Association partnered with the New England Farmers Union and CoBank to launch a Policy Advocacy Initiative to educate, engage, and empower our members to be more effective advocates for food system and co-operative policy. CoBank is proud to be a long-time sponsor of the Neighboring Food Co-op Association.
As part of our effort to encourage more people to “Go Co-op”, the Neighboring Food Co-op Association partners with organizations like CoBank to build greater awareness of co-ops and credit unions and how they help to build stronger communities and a more just, inclusive and sustainable economy. To learn more about CoBank, visit https://www.cobank.coop.
New GM at Plainfield Food Co-op
The Neighboring Food Co-op Association extends a warm welcome to Jeannine De Wald, the General Manager for Plainfield Food Co-op in Plainfield, Vermont
The Plainfield Food Co-op board of directors is pleased to announce that Jeannine De Wald has been hired as the new General Manager, beginning December 1, 2024.
The co-op purchased Plainfield Hardware in August and is merging the two businesses at the hardware store location on Route 2.
“We are delighted to welcome Jeannine back to the co-op,” said board president Rose Paul. “She brings a wealth of relevant expertise and a strong commitment to co-operative values.”
Jeannine was a long-time co-op staff member and part of the management collective, prior to her departure in 2018. Since then, she completed a degree in accounting and has worked for a variety of businesses with a focus on organizational development, finance, and customer service.
Jeanne is commitment to the Plainfield Co-op: its history, future, and long-term success. “I am thrilled to be returning to the co-op to serve as General Manager,” she says. “And I’m grateful to the board, staff, and membership who have worked so hard to guide the co-op through this momentous transition! The purchase of Plainfield Hardware offers a unique opportunity to expand our membership and service to the community, while preserving local ownership of two essential businesses.”
Jeannine lives in East Montpelier – just a few miles from the store – and enjoys working in her garden, hiking, paddling, reading, riding her bike, and sharing meals with family and friends. “I am committed to working with everyone to build a co-op that serves our entire community, and I am excited to be moving forward together.”
Please join us in welcoming Jeanine and look forward to meeting her at future NFCA gatherings!
Co-op Month Winners
In celebration of National Co-op Month in October, your Neighboring Food Co-ops partnered with Cabot Creamery Co-op to offer people an extra incentive to become a member of their local co-op!
This year, thanks to our collaboration with Cabot Creamery Co-op, local food co-ops offered people a special thank-you for being a member: the opportunity to win a weekend “Staycation” with a farmer-member of Cabot. Three first-place prizes went to Shelby H. from Old Creamery Co-op (MA), Jeanne & Virgil D. from Littleton Food Co-op (NH), and Susie C. from Brattleboro Food Co-op (VT). There were also three runner-up prizes: an Ultimate Cheese Gift Box from Cabot! Winning names were drawn from Assabet Food Co-op (MA), Urban Greens Co-op (RI), and Franklin Community Co-op (MA).
We asked them, “Why did you join your Neighboring Food Co-op?”
“We love Littleton as a community, so friendly and welcoming over many years and had planned to retire there but circumstances changed and yet we still love visiting,” says Jeanne from Littleton Co-op, NH. “Joining the co-op makes us feel a connection to the town and a reason for visiting often. We really believe in the power of co-ops as a community resource toward stabilizing food security and bringing a community together. We had a small co-op that didn’t survive in our tiny town in Connecticut,” she adds. “So joining Littleton is one way to support the growth of Food Co-ops in the Northeast.”
“I have been planning to join the creamery for a while as I have been a regular there for many years,” says Shelby H. from Old Creamery Co-op, MA. “I finally decided to officially join because I have been interested in becoming more involved as it’s such a great institution and I would like to help it stay vibrant.”
“I’ve been coming to Brattleboro for years to visit family and when I finally moved here, I was thrilled to be able to join the co-op. Becoming a member is a fantastic way to meet new neighbors and support healthy and sustainable food systems by investing in local growers and producers,” says Susie C. from Brattleboro Food Co-op. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a vibrant community and look forward to deepening my participation in the coming years!”
“More accurately, why didn’t I join sooner? I didn’t join sooner because I moved so much and have been transient for a long time. I couldn’t determine if I’d be around but the Food For All program made joining easier,” responded Daniel from Franklin Community Co-op. “I like the local produce and the diversity of high-quality vegetables, especially the seasonal ones. For example, the carrots are the best around, and the local garlic is fantastic. I also like that the store is neither too big nor filled with junk I don’t need.”
Across the Northeast, people have used food co-ops to improve access to healthy, local, affordable food, and build stronger, more inclusive communities. Last year over 11 thousand people joined their Neighboring Food Co-ops, growing our community to more than 185,000 members, working together to build a better future for everyone!
To find a food co-op near you, please visit: https://nfca.coop/members
Co-ops in the News
Co-operative Democracy: Candidates for Hunger Mountain Co-op’s Council Make Their Case for Office
the bridge
Has your co-op been in the news recently? Send your item to info@nfca.coop.
December Cave-to-Co-op Special
This month’s special cheese is Storyteller from Grafton Village Cheese, Grafton, VT
The Grafton Village Cheese Company was founded in 1892 as the Grafton Co-operative Cheese Company, to convert surplus milk from local dairy farmers into cheese. In 1912, the cheesemaking factory burned down and the community had no cheese facility until 1962, when the Windham Foundation restored the factory and brought cheesemaking back to the community. The Foundation is dedicated to promoting the rural communities of Vermont. The profits from Grafton Village Cheese go back into the Foundation to further its commitment to keep rural Vermont alive and thriving. Today, quality and taste are still the hallmarks of the company’s products.
The Grafton Cave Aged line of fine cheeses takes Grafton beyond its roots in Vermont Cheddar cheese. The cheese is carefully matured in Grafton’s own cave aging facility using raw milk that is thermalized and contains no artificial hormones. The rennet used is non-GMO microbial rennet, suitable for vegetarians.
Storyteller is a Pyrenees-style cave aged sheep’s milk cheese made with 100% unpasteurized/raw sheep’s milk sourced from the Central New York Dairy Sheep Milk Producers Co-operative. The majority of co-op’s sheep are pastured on a clover grass mix during the summer months, producing milk with abundant herbaceous flavor. The producers are part of the Amish community, farming with horse drawn machinery, and milking the sheep by hand.
Storyteller is aged in traditional basket-weave molds for at least six months in Grafton’s caves. Its creamy paste, earthy aroma, balance of nutty and grassy flavors, and a lingering/long finish, make it an ideal representation of sheep’s milk cheese.
Try Storyteller on your cheese board as it has a firm texture and pairs well with marcona almonds, Serrano ham, dried apricots, figs, dates, and red wine. It is a stellar table cheese.
Each month our Cave to Co-op partnership between Provisions International and the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) offers a delicious regional cheese featured at a great price.
Farmers Union Annual Meeting
As we give thanks for the bounty produced by our local farmers and fishers this holiday season, we need your help to grow the movement for more resilient, sustainable & inclusive food system in the Northeast.
As we welcome 2025, it is more important than ever that we work together to advocate for better food system policy. When you join or renew with the New England Farmers Union, you are helping us work with the Neighboring Food Co-op Association to…
- Support Food Security. As we work to help our communities rebuild, local producers need access to markets and families must be able to access healthy, nutritious food.
- Strengthen Rural Communities. We need reinvestment in our rural hospitals and mental health resources, improved broadband connectivity in rural areas, and repairs to the damage done to our postal service.
- Fight Consolidation of our Food System. Our regional producers and processors need more direct access to markets, greater transparency from buyers, and more stable prices for dairy and other farm commodities.
- Combat Climate Change. Farmers need the resources, technology, and information necessary adapt to climate change – and a seat at the table and a strong voice in the development of climate policies and programs.
- Grow Our Co-ops. With the International Year of Co-operatives coming up in 2025, we will work together to promote and protect co-operative business and advocate for policies that will help our co-ops grow.
These efforts are vital for the future of our regional food system and economy. But we need your help by helping us grow our membership. We hope you’ll consider joining or renewing with the Farmers Union and help us spread the word with your friends and neighbors at this critical time! and help us spread the word with your friends and neighbors at this critical time!
You can make a difference: Join the Farmers Union! Share this story in your food co-op’s social media and e-news. As an affiliate member of the New England Farmers Union, the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) invites our member food co-ops and your individual members to sign up at a special discount — and to encourage your producer partners to sign up as well. For more information, please visit www.newenglandfarmersunion.org.
December 21, 2024, marks 180 years since the founding of Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in the UK. This humble grocery co-op, established by working people in the north of England, grew into a successful federation of consumer co-ops and inspired the International Co-operative Alliance to develop the first formal Principles guiding a global co-operative movement that has empowered people around the world to Build a Better World, together. Join the celebration by using this logo and #Coop180 to tell the story in social media channels.
