GEO vol. II, #4: Land, Food, Childcare, Laundry, and a Book
The big news of the season is the framework agreement between the United Steelworkers and MONDRAGON to collaborate in establishing MONDRAGON cooperatives in the manufacturing sector within the United States and Canada - we've initiated a special page tracking ongoing news and opinion on this historic development - please read and contribute!
In this issue:
From Maine, we cover the land purchase by the JED Collective, and an incisive take on the impact of food co-ops on local food systems; from Philadelphia, a report on how the worker-owned Childspace Development Center is thriving after 21 years; from Cleveland, the creation of the worker-owned Evergreen Laundry; and from western Massachusetts, a regional alliance of worker co-ops initiates an important new book project.
- A Joyfully Eventful Day: Celebrating the Justice, Ecology and Democracy Collective's Land Purchase! by the Justice, Ecology and Democracy (JED) Collective
- Co-opted: The Fall Of The Natural Foods Cooperative And What We Can Do About It by Bob St.Peter, Executive Director of The Good Life Center at Forest Farm in Harborside, Maine
- Storytelling for Childcare Advocacy: Childspace Alive and Well After 21 Years! by Christina A. Clamp, Director, Center for Cooperatives and Community Economic Development, and Professor, School of Community Economic Development, Southern New Hampshire University
- Evergreen: Can "Anchor Institutions" Help Revitalize Declining Neighborhoods by Buying from Local Cooperatives?
by Jacquelyn Yates, Ohio Employee Ownership Center, Kent State University - Regional Alliance of Worker Co-ops to Publish a Movement Book by Michael Johnson, GEO Collective
Get involved with GEO! If you have articles, pictures, or graphics on worker cooperatives and solidarity economics that you'd like to contribute, we want to hear from you.
In Memory of Frank Lindenfeld
Frank Lindenfeld, co-founder of GEO, dear friend, husband and father, scholar, visionary advocate for democracy, and tireless worker for social and economic justice, passed away on June 8, 2008.
Frank's wisdom, kindness, dedication and gentle manner touched the lives of many people and his spirit will live on in the work that we do together to build a better world.
We have created a Forum on this website through which people can post reflections, memories and celebrations of Frank's life and his contributions to our lives and to the world. Please share your thoughts here.
With love and solidarity,
The GEO Collective
GLEANINGS
Sowing Seeds of Farm Co-op In Detroit
by John Gallagher for Common Dreams
The Mo' Green Town proposal by New York City activist Majora Carter just might hit the sweet spot in Detroit urban agriculture.
Carter visited Detroit recently to talk up her plan to create a worker-owned urban agriculture cooperative venture. By pooling the efforts of numerous small growers in Detroit, it would attempt to grow big enough to generate real profits and a return for investors. But it would be run by local community growers themselves.
Austin: A New Cooperative Development Center
Third Coast Workers Cooperative (TCWC) is an new cooperative development center in Austin that works with low-income communities to help them produce their own environmentally friendly, worker-owned businesses.
Equal Exchange creating capital for new co-ops
The Case for Worker Co-ops
Lessons from the Asian Solidarity Economy Forum
Festival of Grassroots Economics: A Report
The Economic Revolution is Already Here
Michael Moore: 15 Things Every American Can Do Now
Workers Consider Elder-Care Co-op in Wisconsin
Kropotkin on Evolution & Cooperation
