3c hapter - Index of

164 Locavesting
in a New Mexico credit union, where they are federally insured
and investors will earn the highest possible money market rate.
A thousand miles north, in Bellingham, Washington, the
Community Food Co- op, a popular cooperative whose two stores
pull in around $24 million in annual sales, sets aside a small
portion of its surplus revenues for its Farm Fund, which makes
grants and low- interest loans to local farmers and suppliers.
Member and shopper donations at the register contribute an
additional $2,000 to $3,000 annually to the fund. A Farm Fund
loan allowed the young owners of Osprey Hill Farm, which raises
rare breeds of chickens and turkeys that are sold at the co- op, to
install a well for irrigation. Another grant went to a group of local,
organic farms working to bring back northwestern grain varietals
that can thrive in the area’s challenging climate. The rewards of
the program are widely distributed: Local farmers get a helping
hand; co- op members get fresh, delicious food; and the community
benefi ts from increased jobs and food security. “It’s a great
natural loop,” says Jean Rogers, board and Farm Fund administrator
for the Community Food Co- op.
A Quiet Force
If you think co- ops are just dusty natural food stores that sell bulk
brown rice, think again. Cooperatives have been adopted by just
about every sector of the economy, from energy to fi nance to
housing. They can be organized and owned by workers, consumers,
or producers, as well as by small businesses that band together
for greater purchasing clout.
Today, more than 800 million people worldwide are members
of co- ops. Cooperatives employ more than 100 million
people around the world—20 percent more than multinational
enterprises. 3 Their impact is so potentially transformative that
the United Nations has declared 2012 the International Year of
Cooperatives.
In the United States, about one in every four people belongs
to a co- op of some sort. The country’s 29,000 co- ops collectively
generate $654 billion in revenue, more than 2 million jobs,