The Business Model That's Transforming Capitalism Around the World
Cooperative capitalism, and a new type of economy
Greed does not have to be the status quo. Businesses CAN be good for people, good for the planet, and good for communities. We’ve gotten used to the idea that companies only care about profit – we even expect it. But there is another way. Join us for our conversation with Ann Herpel of the Park Slope Food Coop, a massively successful COOPERATIVE business in New York City that puts people and the environment first and profit second. Ann tells us the story of the Park Slope Food Coop and how it's become a global model for other cooperative businesses in cities like Paris and Berlin. We dig into cooperative corporations – something they won’t teach you about in business school. Cooperative businesses can be wildly successful and are often built by communities who agree on a shared set of values which benefit owners, shoppers, and locals all at once. Tune in for a fascinating NEW look at business and what it could be and do in the world.
What you can do today
Search online for your local food co-op, and consider joining
Check out the Park Slope Food Coop website if you’re curious about how it works
Consider organizing a screening of Food Coop, a documentary film about the Park Slope Food Coop, and the work it has done to sponsor a Paris sister co-op, Le Louve
Check out the resources below to learn more about how co-ops operate, what their values are, how they impact local and global economies, and more
Resources
International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) homepage - think tank, NGO, and sponsoring cooperative organization based on Switzerland
Global co-op facts and figures from the ICA
National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) homepage - great resource for information about co-ops, as well as building and developing new co-ops
North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) homepage - resource for students who are curious about building or participating in a co-op
Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive (COFED) homepage - organization focused on empowering young people of color to build food-focused co-ops around the United States
Environmental Working Group’s “dirty dozen” - foods to buy organic when possible
Environmental Working Group’s “clean fifteen” - foods that are grown with minimal chemical pesticides, and are typically safe to buy non-organic
Website of Once Again, an employee-owned cooperative food business based in New York state
Collective Courage, by Jessica Gordon Nembhard - a non-fiction book describing the history of cooperative organizations built and run by black Americans throughout the 20th century
Si Se Puede, a women’s cleaning service co-op in New York City
Good Big Business: Park Slope Food Coop
Our conversation with Ann Herpel, general coordinator of the Park Slope Food Coop