2025 is the International Year of Co•operatives

It’s Annual Meeting Time! // NFCA News February 2025


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It’s Annual Meeting time!

Providing a space for collaboration, innovation, and mutual support for Food Co-op leaders is central to the work of the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA), a co-operative of retail grocery co-ops across the Northeast.

The NFCA’s 14th Annual Meeting and Member Gathering will take place Saturday, 15 March 2024, at Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, MA, bringing together representatives from Member Co-ops, partners, and guests under the theme, “Build a Better World, Together.”  

With the launch of the second International Year of Co-operatives in 2025, the meeting will include opportunities for networking, presentations, and workshops as we consider the unique role of co-ops in advancing the UN’s “Agenda for Sustainable Development,” which concludes in 2030.  A plan of action for “people, planet and prosperity,” the agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), many of which are directly relevant to our co-ops, including economic inclusion, addressing climate change, and contributing to food security. 

Member co-ops are invited to send 3-4 representatives from among their management and board of directors for a day celebration, peer dialogs, and workshops.  In addition to an exploration of the next International Year of Co-ops, we will engage in a range of peer dialogs, celebrate our Neighboring Co-operator, and announce the results of board election.  Workshops will focus on several relevant topics including policy advocacy in a new environment, learning from international movements, and collaboration with funders supporting the growth of our co-ops.  Registration information will be sent directly to our Member Co-ops.  We’re looking forward to celebrating together as we work to build a better world! 

For resources from past NFCA Annual Meetings, please visit https://nfca.coop/membergatherings 

Share this story on social media or your e-news and add information about what your co-op has planned for the International Year of Co-ops!


Resolution on the Year of Co•ops

The Board of Directors and Staff of the NFCA at its Spring Retreat in 2024. 
At its meeting in January, the Board of Directors of the Neighboring Food Co-op Association approved a resolution supporting 2025: The International Year of Co-operatives — and inviting co-ops across the region to engage their communities in this year-long celebration. 

Following on its 2012 resolution, the Board of Directors of the NFCA has approved a new resolution supporting the designation of 2025 as a second International Year by the General Assembly of the United Nations.  That statement further commits the NFCA to joining with partners including the International Co-operative Alliance, the National Cooperative Business Association / CLUSA International, and the Farmers Union in advancing the goals of raising public awareness, promoting growth and development, advocating for supportive policy frameworks, and inspiring co-op leadership.   

The theme of the Year, “Co-operatives Build a Better World,” underscores the enduring global impact of co-ops, positioning them as essential solutions to today’s global challenges and highlighting their contributions to sustainable development across social, economic, and environmental dimensions, showing how co-ops are key drivers in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. 

The resolution also encourages NFCA members to participate in the International Year of Co-operatives, promoting the vital role of co-ops and credit unions in the economic and social well-being of communities in our region, across the United States and around the world.  Toward this end, food co-ops are encouraged to download a template resolution from the NFCA website that they can adapt for consideration by their own board of directors. 

For more information on the International Year of Co-operatives and a template to download and adapt for your co-op, please visit https://nfca.coop/iyc.   


Thriving Together

In January, over 130 participants from around the world joined in an online education session on “Thriving Together: Strengthening Co-operative Networks,” focusing on how co-ops can work together and build connections to increase our impact and success.  

Presented by the International Centre for Co-operative Management (ICCM) at Saint Mary’s University, the free training included presentations by the ICCM’s Karen Miner, Sonja Novkovic and Júlia Martins Rodrigues, Fred Freundlich of the Lanki Institute at Mondragón University in Spain, and Erbin Crowell, Executive Director of the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA). 

“As we kick off the second International Year of Cooperatives, it was fitting to sit in on an event with such far-flung participants,” said George Touloumtzis, a member of the board of directors of Franklin Community Co-op (MA) and the NFCA.  “The informative presentation of a general framework for Complex Cooperative Networks was nicely balanced by inspirational examples that embody this approach, such as Mondragón.”  

In his introduction, Crowell discussed the founding in 1895 of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), itself an expression of the 6th Principle of Co-operation among Co-ops: “Despite the fact that interco-operation was central to the success of the movement from its beginnings, ‘co-operation between co-ops’ was not included in the formal Co-operative Principles until 1966.”  The Principle was later updated in 1995 to “Co-operation among Co-operatives, “clarifying the potential of collaboration across sectors and international boundaries.”   

The ICA Guidance Notes to the Co-operative Principles, published in 2015, further elucidate the nature of Co-operation among Co-ops as a “practical expression of the Value of Solidarity,” and call on co-ops and their members to not only dedicate resources to its implementation, but also to “periodically to review the application of this 6th Principle and challenge their engagement to ensure that it is effective.” 

Karen Miner, ICCM Managing Director, then introduced a framework developed by ICCM for just this purpose.  Sonja Novkovic, Academic Director, and Júlia Martins Rodrigues further detailed the framework, which is available on ICCM’s website

Fred Freundlich, professor at the Lanki Institute at Mondragón University, offered a practical application of the framework using the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation, an integrated network of more than 80 worker and multistakeholder co-ops in the Basque region of Spain.  “Social cohesion has been central to Mondragón — building the community, relationships of mutual care, trust and co-responsibility has been central, feeling responsible for our co-members and our neighbors,” said Freundlich. “Mondragón has its share of challenges, but unemployment is much lower than other places in Spain, economic inequality is much lower, average income is higher.” Mondragón has also established key social institutions in the region, many of which later became public. 

Similarly, the NFCA was organized by food co-ops in the Northeast to support shared growth and success, contributing to stronger, more inclusive, resilient and sustainable communities.  And by working with other associations, co-operatives in other sectors, and likeminded organizations, we can increase our impact, building a better world for everyone. 

“It was quite the gathering,” said Michael Wells, board member at Putney Food Co-op and the NFCA. “It was especially inspiring to see the scope and depth of this work, and the participation of so many folks from such a variety of places around the world.” 

Whether you’re new to co-ops or an experienced co-operative professional, the ICCM’s offerings will stretch your thinking. You will gain a toolkit of practices, a new network of colleagues, and a deepened appreciation for the potential of our movement to build a better world.  

As part of its commitment to co-operative education, the NFCA works with partners such as the International Centre for Co-operative Management (ICCM) to provide opportunities for training and engagement rooted in the Co-operative Identity. For more information on ICCM and their programs, please visit https://www.smu.ca/iccm..


International Year of Co•ops Spotlight: President Carter’s Role in the National Cooperative Bank

As we celebrate the second International Year of Co-ops in 2025, we’re highlighting stories of how communities have used the co-operative business model to meet their needs and build a better world, together.  This month, we’re featuring an article on the launch of the National Cooperative Bank. 

An unlikely coalition’s multi-year successful effort in search of just one signature.  

With full ceremonial honors in view of the entire national and international communities, President James Earl Carter, Jr. was eulogized in a religious service at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC on January 9, 2025. His record as a family man, religious servant, public figure and international peace maker was recounted proudly by many speakers. He was honored not just for his public life, including being President, but for his decades of later work pursuing peace internationally and building homes nationally for ordinary working people through Habitat for Humanity. For the life he lived and what he gave, he was deserving of all those heartfelt commendations. However, the U.S. cooperative community had its own special gratitude.  

With his signature on August 20, 1978, President Carter brought into law the creation of today’s National Cooperative Bank (NCB). Two days later, the White House hastily hosted a reception for the bank’s disparate coalition of supporters. Among those represented were Republicans and Democrats, as well as a smattering of Nader’s Raiders, libertarians, consumer and agricultural co-op members, credit union leaders, CEOs of Fortune 500 cooperatives, and other co-op organizations. Many different people and entities turned up to celebrate a most unusual victory which earned them the national bank they needed. 

What is memorable about the signing of the bank’s legislation is the many seemingly insurmountable barriers the bank’s supporters had to overcome on their path to victory. Most professional lobbying powers would have dropped this type of campaign before it even started. Yet, the mostly amateur backbone supporters of the bank in their first ever and perhaps only congressional campaign were oblivious to the reality of the “Hill” and knew they were there only to win. 

President Carter from Plains in Sumter County, Georgia was also reminded by neighbors in his own Georgia backyard that the bank was a worthy idea with lots of potential in his own state. Among those co-op bank supporters were Andrew Young (who Carter appointed as Ambassador to the United Nations and was a Eulogist at Carter’s funeral), John Lewis (who Carter appointed as associate director of ACTION who then later came to work for the NCB) and the indefatigable Ralph Paige, Executive Director of the Southern Federation of Cooperatives. 

For decades, Carter was impacted spiritually by Koinonia Farms, (an inter-racial cooperative community just ten miles away from Plains in nearby Americus, Sumter County). Founded by Clarence Jordan in 1942, Koinonia Farms then went on to attract Millard and Lilian Fuller to start a program of home building for the poor of Sumter County. Upon returning from missionary service doing the same in Africa, the Fullers borrowed the Koinonia Farms housing program and turned it into Habitat for Humanity. Former President Carter was mentored in cooperation and self-help by Jordan and the Fullers and became Habitat’s most well-known volunteer. 

Carter had his own examples of local cooperative self-help enterprises to turn to. The Carter family farm was a member of a peanut co-op, a rural electric co-op (his father became an early director of the Sumter Electric Membership Co-op) and a borrower from the Farm Credit System. 

When the Senate vote was taken on July 13, 1978, it was 60 in favor and 33 opposed. It was the bank’s destiny to arise during the Carter administration. As it was Carter’s destiny on August 20th, 1978, to proudly sign the National Cooperative Bank into law. President Carter, we thank you for the help you gave us. 

(This article is excerpted from a longer version posted by the National Cooperative Bank, available at this Link.) 

© David J. Thompson, 2025.  About the Author: David J. Thompson was a board member of Co-opportunity and Associated Cooperatives in the 1970s and one of the earliest supporters of the NCB. In 1975, he was appointed by NCBA to be co-chair of the California bank effort with Don Rothenberg. David has written three books on cooperatives, and over 400 articles about cooperatives. He was inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame in 2010. 


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February Cave-to-Co-op Special

This month’s special Cave to Co-op local cheese is Baby Swiss from Boggy Meadow Farm, Walpole, NH  

Along the Connecticut River, Boggy Meadow Farm has been in the same family since 1812 and has been a dairy farm for most of that time. In the mid-1800’s and the early 1900’s daily shipments of milk, butter, eggs, and produce were loaded onto the Boston & Maine railroad, destined for customers in Boston.  

Cheesemaking began in the mid 1950’s and continues today with the same 10,000 gallon cheese vat, which makes 1,000 pounds of cheese. On the days they’re not making cheese the fluid milk is sold to a local milk co-op. Boggy Meadow makes only three cheeses, Baby Swiss, Smoked Baby Swiss, and Fiddlehead Tomme. 

The New Hampshire Chronicle did a brief video about the farm a few years ago you can view here

The Boggy Meadow Baby Swiss is a moist, creamy, mild cheese that is unlike traditional Swiss in many ways.  The curd is cooked at a lower temperature and the wheels are aged for a shorter period of time. The cheese has small eye formations, as well as the sweet nutty flavor associated with Swiss-style cheeses. 

Check out this recipe featuring Baby Swiss and find more recipes from June 2023 when Baby Swiss was also featured as the Cave to Co-op cheese. 

Dough
  • 1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar 
  • 1 Tbsp. kosher salt 
  • 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface 
  1. Mix butter, vinegar, salt, and 2 cups lukewarm water in a large bowl until well combined. Gradually add 6 cups flour, mixing with a wooden spoon or your hands until a shaggy dough forms. 
  2. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until mostly smooth and no dry spots remain, about 2 minutes. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill until cold, at least 2 hours. 
Filling and Assembly
  • 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil or unsalted butter 2 medium onions, chopped 
  • Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper 
  • 1 Tbsp. dried oregano 
  • 14 oz. uncured slow-cooked ham, coarsely chopped 1 lb. Baby Swiss, cut into 1⁄2″ pieces 
  • 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
  1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until golden and softened, 5–7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; mix in oregano. Transfer to a large bowl and chill until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. 
  2. Add ham to chilled onions and toss to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper. 
  3. Toss Baby Swiss and cornstarch in a medium bowl to coat (this will prevent the mozzarella from liquefying as the empanadas cook). 
  4. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Cover all but 1 piece with plastic wrap and keep chilled. Roll out dough to a rectangle about 15×10″ and 1/16″ thick. Using 41⁄2″ cutter, punch out 6 rounds. Roll out scraps to 1/16″ thick to punch out another round or two. 
  5. Place about 1 Tbsp. ham mixture in the center of dough circle. Top with 1 or 2 pieces of cheese, breaking cheese up if needed. Using your fingers, brush water halfway around edge of each round. Fold dry side up and over filling to create a semicircle. Pinch edges to seal; crimp with your fingers. Transfer to a parchment– lined rimmed baking sheet. Chill while you repeat with remaining dough and filling. Chill empanadas at least 20 minutes before frying. 
  6. Pour vegetable oil into a large heavy pot or Dutch oven fitted with deep-fry thermometer to a depth of 3″. 
  7. Heat over medium-high until thermometer registers 350°. Working in batches of about 5 at a time and adjusting heat to maintain oil temperature, fry empanadas, turning often, until deep golden brown, about 4 minutes total. 
  8. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool slightly before serving.

Share these recipes in your food co-op’s e-news and look for the “Cave to Co-opsign in the cheese section at your local food co-op.

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.


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Progress on Right to Repair

Image: National Farmers Union. 
The Farmers Union has been a leader in the fight for the basic right of farmers to repair and maintain their own equipment.  A lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission against John Deere is a major step in this effort. 

On January 15, 2025, the National Farmers Union (NFU) announced its support for a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the attorneys general of Minnesota and Illinois against John Deere & Co., alleging the company’s repair restrictions violate competition laws.  In 2022, NFU filed a formal complaint with the FTC and has long been at the forefront of the fight for farmers’ right to repair. 

“Farmers have enough challenges to running a successful operation,” said Roger Noonan, President of the New England Farmers Union and an organic farmer in New Hampshire. “We shouldn’t also be prevented from repairing our own equipment as we see fit.” 

NFU has long championed farmers’ rights to access the tools, information and software necessary to repair their own machinery. John Deere’s repair policies block farmers from fixing their own equipment and force them to rely on a limited number of dealers. This had led to exorbitant costs and significant operational delays during critical planting and harvesting periods. A 2023 study by the US Public Interest Research Group found that U.S. farmers could save as much as $1.2 billion a year if manufacturers like John Deere stopped imposing repair restrictions.  

“Today’s lawsuits mark a key victory in this fight for family farmers and ranchers, recognizing that monopolies should not stop farmers from being able to repair their own equipment,” said NFU President Rob Larew. “When we prevail, farmers will have the power and freedom to fix their equipment faster and at a lower cost. We commend the FTC on this decisive step to safeguard farmers’ rights.”

You can make a difference: Join the Farmers UnionShare 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.

The National Farmers Union envisions a world in which farm families and their communities are respected, valued, and enjoy economic prosperity and social justice.  The Neighboring Food Co-op Association is an affiliate member of the New England Farmers Union chapter – and invites farmers, food co-ops, and consumers to join us!  For more information, please visit www.newenglandfarmersunion.org


Upcoming Events

Join New England Farmers Union Members for our Annual Meeting as we look back on 2024, consider updates to our policy book, and plan for advocacy in 2025 — the International Year of Co-ops!  Please click HERE to register.