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Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC) has published a guide for co-ops wishing to intentionally direct their purchasing power to other co-ops.

To achieve this goal – which supports the movement’s principle 6, co-operation among co-ops – CMC advises co-ops to develop “a clear and encouraging purchasing policy”, featuring directives and guidance about their goals; identifying who can purchase what; outlining weighting criteria, and defining financial thresholds.

Has Seattle’s office worker traffic peaked?

That’s one potential takeaway from the surprise closure of PCC Community Markets’ downtown grocery store and reports of a stalling return-to-office trend.

The store, in the heart of downtown Seattle at 1320 4th Ave., opened just last year following pandemic-related delays. It will close Jan. 31.

The USFWC powers movements for racial justice and economic democracy. We recognize the intersectionality of this work and the pursuit of liberation and justice for all oppressed people. We believe that a different world is possible, and that justice, dignity, solidarity, and the sanctity of human life should be central to our society, democracies, and economies.

For 12 years, a bustling food cart has drawn a crowd to a Raymond Road parking lot several evenings a week. Its name, on paper, was Brothers Hot Dogs.

But its biggest fans have long known the cart as El Chisme — Spanish for “The Gossip.” They bring their own folding chairs to hang out in the parking lot, make small talk in line and order the weekly special before they even ask what it is. 

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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is investing more than $1.2 billion in loans and grants to spur economic development, catalyze rural prosperity and advance equity through rural cooperatives in 36 states and Puerto Rico.

As the term suggests, the idea behind big bet philanthropy is to pour large amounts of resources into a small number of groups, with the goal of shifting practice throughout society. This is the possible “big gain” of the big bet.  

In the midst of the horrific Israel-Hamas war, it's olive harvest time in the West Bank where PARC olive oil is produced. Palestinian olive farmers are currently picking their olives with challenges and threats because there have been many Israeli settler attacks against them. Farmers can only harvest from the olive trees close to them since their lives would be at risk if they picked olives in the hills far from their homes. The olive mills started operating in mid-October, but have not run at full capacity given the Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.

Back in 2018 the Kendeda Fund, a philanthropic foundation based in Atlanta, decided to make a series of big bets in areas that were both critical and timely. One of those areas was employee ownership and the investment made by Kendeda was historic. Over 5 years a total of $24 million dollars was provided to 4 employee owner support organizations. Those organizations include The Evergreen Cooperatives Fund for Employee Ownership, ICA Group, Nexus Community Partners, and Project Equity.

But for Calandra and his colleagues, the enormous fuss kicked up by all this turned out to be something of a blessing in disguise. They had previously pondered setting up an independent publication—only sensible given that Gamurs was a company that some months ago fired 40 percent of its staff, and then put up a job posting for an AI editor, paid between $40,000 and 55,000, who would copyedit 200 to 250 AI-produced articles per week.