Call for Papers – Special Joint Session on Cooperatives and Alternative Food and Agriculture – CAFS and CASC at Congress 2013
Posted in Co-ops on December 13, 2012

Posted in Co-ops on December 13, 2012

Posted in Co-ops, Research Updates on November 27, 2012
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences” – Lorde, 1986
I recently had the pleasure of giving a talk at Oregon State University in Nancy Rosenberger’s anthropology of food class and at Washington State University in Jahi Chappell’s graduate agroecology class about a paper I’m in the process of working up about co-operatives, alternative food networks and social justice. I am arguing that co-operatives are too focused on the ‘self’ and often reflect the inequalities that exist in society, especially in agriculture and food systems.
Posted in Co-ops on November 12, 2012

“do co-operatives promote inclusivity, democracy, sovereignty and transformation?”
Using an interactive world café format, we (more…)
Posted in Research Updates on January 29, 2012
We’ve published a new paper about how farm households adapted to the BSE (mad cow) crisis in Canada. Click here to visit the outcomes section of our website to download the research brief or the full paper which is also available at:
Anderson, C.R., McLachlan, S.M., 2012. Exiting, enduring and innovating: Farm household adaptation to global zoonotic disease. Global Environmental Change 22, 82-93.
From April 19th – April 22nd 2010, five delegates from the Harvest Moon Local Food Initiative (HMLFI) and one from the Farmers Market Association of Manitoba went to Oklahoma City to learn about the operations of the Oklahoma Food Co-op (OFC). The delegates had the opportunity to: 1) Tour, and collect video documentation of the operations centre 2) Participate in the OFC’s drop-off and delivery days on Wednesday April 20th and Thursday April 21st 3) Meet and talk to producers and volunteers on drop-off and delivery day 4) Meet and talk with several key members of the OFC including the Co-op’s founder, Bob Waldrop, the general operation manager, Kara Joy McKee, the volunteer coordinator, Megan Dosher and one of the financial administrators, Lori Lyon 5) Record interviews with Bob Waldrop, Kara Joy McKee, Lori Lyon, and producers and volunteers on delivery day. Most importantly the group of delegates had the opportunity to see, in the context of the OFC, how important a multi-stakeholder approach, and inclusionary principles are in creating a successful local food distribution system. The key message from OFC organizers was the importance of communication, policy and governance structure including multiple stakeholders (e.g. producers, volunteers, eaters etc.) and an ability to adapt and change when necessary.