3c hapter - Index of

170 Locavesting
for everyone. You know, I believe everyone has to win a little bit,
instead of winner take all.”
The New Pioneers
Cooperatives have often been formed out of necessity—when
workers or farmers or producers needed to band together for
greater economic clout. They also rise up to fi ll unmet market
needs, such as the electric and telephone co- ops in rural areas like
Vernon County. Co- op activity is especially high in times of economic
adversity, as in the United States in the 1930s, when many
consumer co- ops, including many credit unions, electric utilities,
and food co- ops that continue today, were established.
So it’s not surprising that there has been a resurgence of
cooperatives since the economy cratered in 2008. On one hand,
the number of credit unions and agricultural co- ops has decreased
over the years as associations have merged. But their overall
impact has grown. For example, there were 22,000 credit unions
with 40 million members in 1987. Today there are 7,500 credit
unions, but membership has swelled to more than 90 million. And
a fresh growth spurt is taking place. “Once again, we are seeing
people join together to try and solve the needs of their communities,”
says Paul Hazen, CEO of the National Cooperative Business
Association. One design and urban planning site proclaimed “the
reinvention of the co-op” one of its top 10 trends for 2011. 7
Just how widespread the co- op revival is is hard to gauge—the
University of Wisconsin survey is the fi rst comprehensive attempt
to tally up the nation’s cooperatives in decades. But there are at
least 300 food co- ops under development around the country
right now, says Hazen. That represents a 60 percent increase over
the roughly 500 existing food co- ops. Renewable energy cooperatives
are popping up everywhere you look to address demand for
community- scale sustainable energy, from Piedmont Biofuels in
North Carolina to Co- op Power in Greenfi eld, Massachusetts. And
there is renewed interest in worker- owned cooperatives as a way to
combat the dehumanizing effects of unemployment, outsourcing,
and concentrated economic power.