Waterfront Market is like that. I go there for smoothies, for lunch, for groceries. But I want don't want less than that. I want more.
As a single young man on Key West island, I have to have places to go on the Island other than bars or restaurants. I need a place I can go and see neighbors while supporting ideals that are important to me. For instance, when I order a cup of coffee or tea, I want to know that it is fair-trade. I want the beverages served in cups that are ecologically friendly, and if I order food, I want the plates and forks and napkins to be the same. I want to know that whoever or wherever I am buying these goods that the trash my order produces is low-impact and that it is being recycled!
When I shop, I want to buy locally baked bread, local seafood, regional produce. Organics should be an option, not a luxury or a specialty. If I eat meat, can I get free-range? Can the meat for sale be produced with the minimal amount of torture or cruelty? (I am a vegetarian myself.)
How about the people who serve me? I want to know they are well-paid for their work and that they are satisfied with their job. And I saw Sicko; I want to know they have health insurance.
I want to belong to this place, to have a say - a vote! - in its operation and functioning.
And having and knowing all this, I want all this knowing available for visitors to our Island, as well. When guests say, "You live in Paradise," I want this to be even more true than they realize.
This is why I pursue the cause of keeping Waterfront Market open, and its employees employed (and having Buco Pantelis continuing to be involved), and our neighborhoods and locals and visitors and guests supplied and fed.
What were they thinking, the people who had been empowered and employed to be managing this Island - by us! - when they imagined "best use" was to be without Waterfront Market?
In any case, there has been a meeting. It was a success, in that a movement has begun. The newspapers are calling now. This is good. Even better, I hear people talking co-op talk now.
We are a community, Key West. We are a city, but first and foremost we are an Island and a community. The city exists to provide for the community on the Island. That's simple. And now is a difficult time where we must stand together and come together and rise together to insure that the next ten and twenty and thirty years together are as good as - or better than - the ten and twenty and thirty years prior. And that's a large ticket to fill.
Remember Key West thirty years ago? And we want better than that?
Yes.
We want better for ourselves, our neighbors, our children, and our guests. And it starts here, with a co-op.
~
What's to know about Co-ops
“Cooperatives are not about individual gain."
"They are about working together for the good of the whole.”
"Being a member of a co-op empowers one both as a conscious consumer and as an owner-member of a highly principled business."
According to Wikipedia, "A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) is defined by the International Co-operative Alliance's Statement on the Co-operative Identity as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise[1]."October is National Co-op Month.
From the National Cooperative Business Association...
The Florida Keys Electric Co-op started in 1940. Membership was the same as it is today - $5.A cooperative is a business. Co-ops range in size from small store-fronts to large Fortune 500 companies. In many ways, they're like any other business; but in several important ways they're unique and different.
Cooperatives—
- Are owned and democratically controlled by their members-the people who use the co-op's services or buy its goods-not by outside investors; Co-op members elect their board of director from within the membership.
- Return surplus revenues (income over expenses and investment) to members proportionate to their use of the cooperative, not proportionate to their "investment" or ownership share.
- Are motivated not by profit, but by service-to meet their members' needs for affordable and high quality goods or services;
- Exist solely to serve their members.
- Pay taxes on income kept within the co-op for investment and reserves. Surplus revenues from the co-op are returned to individual members who pay taxes on that income.
Types of Cooperatives
Consumer Cooperatives—Consumer cooperatives are owned by the people who buy the goods or use the services of the cooperative. They sell consumer goods such as food and outdoors equipment. They provide housing, electricity and telecommunications. And they offer financial (credit unions), healthcare, childcare and funeral services. Almost any consumer needs can be met by a cooperative.
Producer Cooperatives—Producer cooperatives are owned by people who produce similar types of products-by farmers who grow crops, raise cattle, milk cows, or by craftsmen and artisans. By banding together, they leverage greater bargaining power with buyers. They also combine resources to more effectively market and brand their products, improving the incomes of their members.
Worker Cooperatives—Worker cooperatives are owned and governed by the employees of the business. They operate in all sectors of the economy and provide workers with both employment and ownership opportunities. Examples include employee-owned food stores, processing companies, restaurants, taxicab companies, sewing companies, timber processors and light and heavy industry.
Purchasing/Shared Services Cooperatives—Purchasing and shared services cooperatives are owned and governed by independent business owners, small municipalities and, in some cases, state governments that band together to enhance their purchasing power, lowering their costs and improving their competitiveness and ability to provide quality services. They operate in all sectors of the economy.
Cooperative Principles
Cooperatives follow seven internationally recognized principles:
- Voluntary and Open Membership
- Democratic Member Control
- Member Economic Participation
- Autonomy and Independence
- Education, Training and Information
- Cooperation Among Cooperatives
- Concern for Community
Why Co-ops Form
Co-ops are formed by their members when the marketplace fails to provide needed goods or services at affordable prices and acceptable quality. Cooperatives empower people to improve their quality of life and enhance their economic opportunities through self-help. Throughout the world, cooperatives are providing co-op members with financial services, utilities, consumer goods, affordable housing, and other services that would otherwise not be available to them.
Serving Many Needs...
Cooperatives may be organized to provide just about any good or service such as:
- Business services, such as personnel and benefits management and group purchasing of goods and services
- Childcare
- Credit and personal financial services
- Employment
- Equipment, hardware and farm supplies
- Electricity, telephone, Internet and satellite and cable T.V. services
- Food and food services
- Funeral and memorial service planning
- Health care
- Health Insurance
- Housing
- Insurance
- Legal and professional services
- Marketing of agricultural and other products
For Everyone...
U.S. cooperatives serve some 120 million members, or 4 in 10 Americans. Worldwide, some 750,000 cooperatives serve 730 million members.
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