International Day of Cooperatives 2009

By Stephanie Guico

Each year, the first Saturday of July marks the International Day of Cooperatives. First celebrated in 1995, the date was picked in commemoration of the International Cooperative Alliance’s (ICA) establishment, a century prior. The 2009 Day, taking place on July 4th, promises to be a significant one as its timely theme, ‘Driving Global Recovery Through Cooperatives’, resonates of the year passed.

The theme is an ambitious assertion to be sure, but as the ICA pointed out in its 22 October 2008 Open Letter to the Governments of the G8, “The people of the world have watched with shock and disbelief as some global financial structures have dissolved in panic, and bastions of the investment and banking industry have collapsed and disappeared. (…)At the same time, those same world’s citizens know that there is an alternative secure, stable and sustainable model of business owned and controlled by 800 million people worldwide. It is true to its global values and principles of self-help, sustainability, community ownership and control, democratic participation, fairness and transparency. It is a model of business that is not at the mercy of stock markets because it relies instead on member funds for its value; and is not subject to executive manipulation and greed because it is controlled by local people for local people. It is a business where the profits are not just distributed to its shareholders, but are returned to those who trade with the business, thus keeping the wealth generated by local businesses in the local community for the good of the local environment and families.”

While international in scope, the theme is not entirely foreign to NDG. Along with the rest of the world, NDG was not spared during the final months of 2008. Now the ICA invites all cooperatives to acknowledge their role in promoting a model of economic growth that embraces ethical values and social responsibility, and the fact that they are “enterprises that can effectively contribute to global economic recovery”, within the framework of the values and principles which guide their operations.

Cooperatives are, as the main groups involved with the day highlight on their respective websites, “not tools to address crisis, but a sustainable form of enterprise that outlives crisis and drives recovery.”

As a solidarity coop, La Maison verte is owned by its user, worker and support members.  The act of voluntary collective ownership granted by membership can be exercised in a number of levels: governing power through votes, contribution to financial and social results through purchases, investment and activities, and innovation of the cooperative.  The idea, born out of the 1998 ice storm, to help people develop a more self-sufficient & sustainable lifestyle in the neighborhood is now 7500+ community members strong and has, as the ICA had predicted, outlived the global economic crisis. The coop has become a true testament to collective action: each individual act may seem benign in isolation, but when multiplied by the power of 7500+, truly great things can take place.

Our members were certainly at the forefront of this survival. While we were not spared, we did witness a level of loyalty to our House and the staple home and pantry products it provides. The Coop is well rooted in the hearts of the NDG community, and strives to meet the economic & social needs of our membership. How did the Coop play a part in easing the belt-tightening of the economic crisis? How can we be part of the recovery, in our homes and our communities? Let us know! Share your thoughts at http://www.cooplamaisonverte.com/en/node/3 or by filling out a comments form at our store.


For the full version of the Open Letter to the Governments of the G8, see http://www.ica.coop/publications/pressreleases/2008-g8.pdf .

For more information on the International Day, visit http://www.ica.coop/activities/idc.html , and for a more detailed listing of the cooperative values & principles alluded to above, check out http://www.ica.coop/coop/principles.html .