Celebrate Co-op Month!

This October, GreenStar is joining over 65,000 co-operatives and credit unions across the United States in celebrating Co-op Month, observed nationally since 1964. From farmer co-ops to worker co-ops, credit unions to mutual insurance, and housing co-ops to energy co-ops, co-operative businesses thrive across the U.S. economy, where 1 in three people are co-op members.  Around the world, about 1 billion people are members of about 3 million co-operatives, and 10% of the world’s population, or around 280 million people, are employed by co-ops.  And because they are member-owned, co-operatives are rooted in their communities and governed by the people who use them to meet their needs.

Across the country, people have used food co-ops to improve access to healthy, local, affordable food, and build stronger, more inclusive communities. GreenStar’s humble beginnings mirror those of most co-ops that got their start during times of social and economic change, enabling people to access healthy food, support local producers, and provide good jobs. Throughout its 50 years, GreenStar has adapted and evolved to continue to meet its members’ changing needs and priorities.

The expansion of the Co-op Basics product line and the introduction of unemployment benefits as a qualifier for FLOWER, our healthy food access program, provide pathways for more members of our community to buy the nutritious groceries and healthy products they need. Our support of local, sustainability-oriented farmers and producers provides them with greater economic growth and security, enabling us to help build a strong, resilient local economy. GreenStar’s commitment to providing good jobs is evidenced by the fact that the local living wage is the lowest wage that any of our employees earn.

While our co-op commits to strengthening our community, as owners of the Co-op, each of us has the responsibility to make an individual commitment to our co-op. Shopping at GreenStar is the most obvious, impactful contribution we can make. But a truly strong co-op is also one in which owners engage in the voting process to ensure a good democratic process and representation in decision-making. A strong voter turnout by a wide diversity of our owners ensures that we will better meet the needs of a larger majority of our membership base.

In celebration of Co-op Month 2021, will you commit to shopping the co-op, and participating in Council elections?