Co-op 101
Cooperative Principles #7:
Concern for the Community
Principle #7 covers all the education, outreach, donations, and community support that the Davis Food Co-op gives or helps with. The Davis Food Co-op is hard at work, assisting local organizations battle food insecurity in our community. We regularly donate food to...
Cooperative Principle #6:
Cooperation among Cooperatives
All Co-ops have a collaborative goal to help all co-ops succeed. Co-op owners knew from early on that the most effective way to strengthen the cooperative movement is by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures. There are many...
Cooperative Principle #5:
Education, Training, and Information
Co-operative Principle #5 is Education, Training, and Information. This means very simply that the Davis Food Co-op is responsible for educating, training, and informing our owners, shoppers, and staff on related matters inside and outside the store. We educate...
Cooperative Principle #4:
Autonomy & Independence
The fourth cooperative principle continues speaking to the impact of Ownership and Democratic control that are inherit in co-ops. Co-ops are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their Owners/Members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations,...
Cooperative Principle #3:
Member Economic Participation
As we know already, Members/Owners contribute equitably to, and therefore democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. The third cooperative principle explores the ways in which that capital can benefit Owners as investors in the business. Unlike large...
Cooperative Principle #2:
Democratic Member Control
The second cooperative principle dives deeper into a very important aspect of what is presented in the first principle. A cooperatively owned business is truly owned by its members and therefore, it is governed by a democratic decision making process. Owners actively...
Cooperative Principle #1:
Voluntary & Open Membership
For many co-ops, a recurring issue that they face is public awareness of what the cooperative model actually entails. We decided to use Co-op Month (October) to dive deeper into the guiding principles that shape all co-ops as well as provide insight into how the Davis...