Newsletters: September-October 2009
Innovative Co-op Communities
Natural Times September/October 2009
By Maria Cobian and Jennifer Hall, Board Directors
In mid-June, we had the great opportunity, along with General Manager Larrane Hartridge and Front End Manager Adriane Whiteman, to attend the 53rd Annual Consumer Cooperative Management Association (CCMA) Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Having once been famous for its steel and grime, Pittsburgh is now considered the tenth cleanest city in the world! During the Co-op Neighbors Tour offered at the beginning of the conference, we visited several innovative social and environmental projects ranging from the renewal of struggling neighborhoods into garden/urban farms built on vacant lots, to a huge warehouse used to resell thousands of salvage pieces from deconstructed buildings. In this same building, a volunteer-driven co-operative runs a Recycle a Bike program. Finally, we experienced the radical transformation of an old Catholic church into a microbrewery, exemplifying Pittsburgh’s vibrant entrepreneurial spirit.
The theme of the conference was “Thriving in Trying Times.” Keynote speaker, Mr. Harold Lloyd, spoke of four new trends in his talk titled Riding the Wave of Change: protecting the planet; and women controlling 75 percent of the world’s wealth; a focus on personal health and wellness; and moving from a transactional mentality to a more relational connection. In other words, customers aren’t just looking to buy stuff, but they have a need to connect on a more meaningful level. All of these changes are clearly in sync with the cooperative-food movement. We see evidence of this in our food co-op: the increase in new owners this year (671) and New Leaf Market’s positive sales growth reflect and reaffirm these waves of change. Why do owners and customers invest energy and capital in our co-op? Our owners are aware of NLM’s commitment to create healthy communities of people living in a sustainable and clean environment—they trust our mission.
The conference offered a unique blend of practical information, creative ideas, shared cooperative experiences, and outstanding food and fellowship! As we both serve on the Board community outreach committee, we came back reflecting on the need to educate our young adults about the principles and merits of the cooperative movement, so that together we can continue improving the quality of life for our families, community, nation and planet.
