Volunteer  for the greatest CO-OPATOPIA on earth!

CO-OPatopia celebrates cooperative businesses and all they contribute to our communities and the local economy.

Now in its fourth year, CO-OPatopia is the only free regional event specifically to promote cooperatives, their products and services to consumers, and to other co-ops. Co-opatopia invites co-op members to volunteer for this event! Contact Maija at the Northwest Cooperative Development Center for more information and to participate.

The purpose of CO-OPatopia is to

• Celebrate the community of co-ops
• Help current co-op members identify other co-ops in the area
• Educate non co-op users about the benefits of co-ops and how they can get involved.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

2 pm – 7 pm
“Co-op Street” – 5th & Adams – The Pet Works Parking Lot – in Olympia

Part of spring ArtsWalk

This weekend, April 16th & 17th, the eastside Olympia Food Co-op will be working on a mural painting project based on paintings by imprisoned Native American activist and artist, Leonard Peltier. This new mural joins the already completed Leonard Peltier mural at our westside location.

This project is in itself an action to raise awareness to Leonard’s innocence and his case for freedom, while also helping build momentum for a reawakened movement to pressure President Obama to grant Peltier executive clemency in this last year of his presidency.

Sign the petition to request his clemency here.

Our new quarterly newsletter, Table, has arrived in the store! Come pick up a copy and read articles and recipes by working members and staff!

Quarterly News Page

Even when the sun doesn’t shine, this deep yellow plant brightens up our plates and palates!

Turmeric is a favorite winter crop and we are happy to announce it has arrived at both our stores!

 It is an honor to host Leonard Peltier’s powerful paintings in both of our stores through November. We welcome you to visit these beautiful works, and visit www.whoisleonardpeltier.info and www.freeleonard.org to learn more.

Come try some delicious samples from our wonderful vendor Exquisite N Traditional  

From 11 – noon at the eastside on Saturday November 14th, and 11 – noon at the westside on Sunday Nov. 15th!

They will also be giving out Exquisite N Traditional shopping bags if you purchase two or more of their products during their demo. Oh…the joy in every bite!

Economics for Everyone: Building a Cooperative Movement

The World Health Organization recently released a statement regarding processed meats, saying, “reducing consumption of these products can reduce the risk of cancer”. We want to take this opportunity to remind our community that the Olympia Food Co-op has buying policies that shape our purchasing practices.

Our meat department works directly with local growers and suppliers who are committed to these same values, as well as the highest animal welfare standards and environmental stewardship practices. We do not carry any meats that have added nitrites/nitrates, meats treated with growth hormones, or preventative antibiotics. We never have and we never will. We value working with small farms, companies, and brands that take these values as seriously as we do, and bypass carrying products that may qualify under our guidelines if we feel we can get a superior product from “lesser known” brands/companies, in order to provide you with the highest quality product possible.

In short, we are proud to sell the meat in our stores, and welcome you to browse our awesome selection of sliced meats, salamis, sausages and bacon in health and safety!

Board of Directors Elections 2015
election held October 15 – November 15

Click here for Ballot PDF

Four candidates for the 2015 Board elections were received by the Sept 10 deadline. We realize that having one candidate per position is less than ideal. We strive to always having contested elections although we don’t have that this year, we are committed to running the election as prescribed by the bylaws article 3 section 4 which states “elections shall be held annually.”

The Board is researching and gathering feedback on reasons for the current low interest in running for the Co-op Board, and we welcome your opinion.

Candidates were asked to answer the following questions:

1. Why do you want to be on the Co-op Board of Directors?
2. What general abilities and skills would you bring to the Board?
3. What vision do you have for the Co-op?
4. What else would you like to share?

Eric Mapes

1. Why do you want to be on the Co-op Board of Directors?
The Co-op plays an important role in the Olympia community, making good food more accessible, providing living-wage jobs, and promoting social justice. The Co-op’s growth and prosperity over the last four decades demonstrates that a business model driven more by values than profit can succeed. I feel fortunate to have the Co-op in my neighborhood and want to do my part to keep it both economically viable and true to the Mission Statement.

2. What general abilities and skills would you bring to the Board?
I am committed to our consensus-based process, and have the skills to participate effectively in it. Having served as an elected member of the Co-op Board from 2009 to 2012, and as an appointed member since February of this year, I have experience with the Board’s process and understand the issues the Co-op currently faces. With a B.A. from the Evergreen State College and a J.D. from the University of Washington law school, I have developed strong written and oral communication skills. I am a licensed attorney and spent more than two years doing legal research and writing at the state Court of Appeals, so I have a good understanding of Washington law. I also spent about five years living and teaching in Japan, an experience that helped me appreciate the difficulties visible minorities face here.

3. What vision do you have for the Co-op?
I see the Co-op not only as a welcoming place for all people to access good food, but as a force for positive change in Olympia and the world. In terms of specific goals for the near future, I see the Co-op developing a workable, financially sound plan to expand our retail and warehouse space, investing in alternative energy systems to power our operations, and implementing a system to foster increased member input and involvement. I would also like the Co-op to revisit the issue of selling locally-produced beer and wine: I believe we can meet member demand for these products, strengthen our business, and support local producers in a way that both respects the needs of people suffering from alcohol addiction and preserves our working-member cashier system.

4. What else would you like to share?
After I moved to Olympia in 1994, I worked as a cheese packager at the Westside store for many years. The Co-op both nourished me and inspired me to imagine a better world- the working member discount allowed me to enjoy a quality of life I could not otherwise have afforded, and seeing the Co-op function inspired me to think critically about the injustice in our economic system. I will always be grateful. I humbly thank you for allowing me to serve as a director of this amazing organization, and would be honored to have your vote again.

Marc Hartung

1. Why do you want to be on the Co-op Board of Directors?
I want to be on the Co-op Board of Directors so that I may contribute to sustainable, and accessible, healthy food in my community. I am passionate about food and believe that it is the cornerstone of health. I am also passionate about social justice, open communication and collaborative processes. I would like to help the Co-op continue to move forward as a leader in the community in providing healthy affordable food, and applying anti oppressive practices in an open and inclusive manner.

2. What general abilities and skills would you bring to the Board?
I am familiar with consensus decision making and non-violent communication and I am committed to continuing to examine my place in our community through an anti oppression model. I do not shy away from struggle or discomfort. I believe these qualities will serve my position on the board by allowing me to facilitate moving forward in addressing difficult issues with both self and community awareness. I have experience working in logistics and I am skilled at seeing things from many different perspectives, asking a lot of questions, and working towards efficient solutions where necessary. I am insatiably curious and always eager to learn and contribute.

3. What vision do you have for the Co-op?
I envision the Co-op growing and evolving with the needs of the community as it pertains to maintaining or increasing access to food as well as increasing awareness within our community of discrimination and oppression that continue to permeate our culture. I believe that the Board of Directors exists to ensure that the Co-op remains a safe place that exists primarily to serve the whole community as well as its employees.

4. What else would you like to share?
I graduated from The Evergreen State College with a BS emphasizing pre-medical studies, medical sociology and ethics. I have two children and I love getting out into the wilderness with them to foster their love and stewardship of our earth. I currently work part time as a care-taker, and volunteer at the Olympia Free Clinic while pursuing a career in healthcare.

Sam Green

1. Why do you want to be on the Co-op Board of Directors?
I want to serve on the Co-op’s Board of Directors to ensure that the cooperative continues to effectively serve its members, empower its workers, and reach out to the greater Olympia community. The Co-op is not only a great resource for food and groceries, but living proof that people can use the cooperative model in an empowering and relevant way. I fully understand that our Co-op’s success is only possible because of the hard work of its volunteer members, staff collective, and Board of Directors. With this recognition, I am offering my time and my hard work to ensure that this great project we call the Oly Food Co-op continues to thrive.

2. What general abilities and skills would you bring to the Board?
I will bring years of experience in non-profit management, industry knowledge in cooperative development, and a solid understanding of community organizing to my work on the Board of Directors and for the overall cooperative. As a union organizer, I learned the importance of bringing people together, addressing the needs of our economic lives, and looking to our principles for guidance. Later, as a chief administrative officer for a labor union, I learned the skills of financial stewardship, accountable communication, membership engagement, strategic planning, and project management. These experiences will play directly into my ability to serve on the Board as a resource and as a cooperator. Most recently, I oversee the finances for a small local building company, and work part time as a cooperative development specialist with a non-profit, here in Olympia. These experiences have offered me the ability to hone my financial management skills and dig deeper into how cooperatives succeed and flourish.

3. What vision do you have for the Co-op?
I envision the Olympia Food Cooperative as an engine for not only meeting our community’s need of food, but for providing great jobs and connecting us with great farmers. Further, I want to see the cooperative as a resource for new cooperative endeavors and small-scale, added-value food projects. I want our Co-op to be a model of how consumer cooperatives may financially succeed while sticking to their principles and fulfilling their mission.

4. What else would you like to share?
I am really excited to see how our Co-op grows and changes in the coming few years. Being born and raised in greater Oly, I have always admired the way the Food Co-op overcame challenges to emerge stronger. It is my hope that whoever is elected to the Board will embrace these exciting times, navigate the unforeseen challenges, and keep our cooperative committed to its mission.

David Coppley

1. Why do you want to be on the Co-op Board of Directors?
Co-ops changed my life. Growing up a jaded, cynical kid, exposure to the cooperative model in my young adult years provided me with an opportunity to try to do something better than the status-quo for which I held such contempt. Some twenty or so years later, I have had the good fortune to work in a number of cooperative organizations—from national retails chains, to tiny non-hierarchical collectives. Throughout my career, which has included a variety of positions in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, I have always strived to champion the values and ethics we built in the co-ops. While my current employment in as a bike-promoting, youth engaging, all around do-gooder is very rewarding, I miss co-ops. So just toss me a vote, why don’t you, and together we can keep making this community of ours even better.

2. What general abilities and skills would you bring to the Board?
Well over a decade of retail experience, including approximately 7 years in cooperatives. I have worked in a variety of capacities in food cooperatives, doing everything from writing the paychecks to scraping the raisins off the floor. Extensive professional program management experience (about 10 years), with a focus of cooperative, volunteer-based workforces. I know how to keep a group productive and inclusive while having a good time. Public engagement – I am a confident, engaging speaker and active listener. Experience leading/supporting effective and inclusive meetings. I am a big idea person. I love to creatively envision, and have enough knowledge and experience to produce ideas that are achievable and relevant. My tofu salad is pretty bad-ass. Just sayin’.

3. What vision do you have for the Co-op?
I think the Olympia Food Co-op is doing pretty damn well as it is. My vision will come after I have had the opportunity to hear the interests and concerns of staff, volunteers, and patrons which make up our happy little community.

4. What else would you like to share?
Edward Abbey once said, “Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.” If you are reading this, you obviously give a damn. So do I. Let’s keep making things better . . . together. I promise I am not as pretentious as my verbiage may imply. I am a pragmatist at heart and will get things done!

Saturday October 17
11am – 2pm

Olympia Community Center
222 Columbia St NW
Olympia, WA 98501

Live music by Erev Rav
Co-op Business News
Panel speakers from Cecosesola
Delicious food catered by Ninevah and Arepa
Drinks from Magic Kombucha and Kefir Soda
Desserts from Cobb’s and Peace, Love & Raw
Jusby the Clown to entertain the kids

The Annual Meeting for the Olympia Food Cooperative will be held this year on October 17 at the Olympia Community Center, 222 Columbia, in downtown Olympia, from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

A lunch buffet will be catered by two wonderful local food truck restaurants: Arepa, offering delicious Latin cuisine from Venezuela, and Nineveh with its unique Assyrian fare.

In addition to annual committee reports from the Board of Directors, we will also be graced with a panel of folks from the Cecosesola Cooperative who will just have arrived in Olympia from Venezuela. They will be getting a warm welcome from our members and at the same time will be accepting questions from the audience about their own excellent cooperative organization.

With the Board Elections moving into full swing, all members who have applied to run for a position on the Olympia Food Co-op Board of Directors will have the opportunity to take the mic and introduce themselves to all of those in attendance.

Children are welcome and will have a space to gather and play during the meeting and we may even have a clown join us!

This meeting is a good chance for members of the Olympia Food Co-op to get the latest news on Co-op business, meet up with old friends, share some scrumptious food, meet Board candidates, ask questions of the current Board, and learn about how the folks in Venezuela manage to run such a huge, successful cooperative business in their country.

Please put this date on your calendar. This is your Co-op. Your participation is what helps to invigorate and enliven it!

The elections will be held
October 15 – November 15, 2015

Current Olympia Food Co-op bylaws allow only for member notification of the annual meeting and Board of Director elections through mailings via the U.S. Post Office. With the use of so much paper, and over 15,000 members to notify, these mailings are costly for both the environment and the Co-op. Electronic notification would greatly reduce these costs and allow the Co-op to become more paperless. However, this change in how Olympia Food Co-op sends out these notifications requires a change in our bylaws.

It is therefore proposed that the Olympia Food Co-op bylaws be amended to read, with additions underlined:

An annual meeting of the membership shall be held each year. The place, day, and hour of the meeting shall be mailed to all active members, or sent by electronic mail to those active members who have consented to receive the notice electronically, at least 10, but not more than 50 days, prior to the meeting.

To receive notice of the annual meeting electronically, members must submit a request in writing, either electronically or on a paper form available from the Cooperative, indicating their consent and designating the electronic mail address at which they wish to receive such notice. In addition, notice of the meeting shall be posted at the Cooperative at least 10 days prior to the annual meeting. The purpose of the annual meeting is to provide an opportunity for the Board and members to discuss the activities of the Cooperative. The Board shall establish the agenda for the annual meeting in a manner that allows for members to propose agenda. (Article II Section 6 of the Olympia Food Co-op Bylaws)

Request to go paperless will also be included on the Olympia Food Co-op Membership form.

PDF of handbill

Board of Directors Application PDF

applications due September 10
election held October 15 – November 15

BOARD OF DIRECTORS INFORMATION
The Olympia Food Co-op Board of Directors is the elected body that represents the membership by establishing policies, overseeing the operating and capital budgets, approving plans and recommendations, and setting general guidelines for staff and working members. The Board holds ultimate legal responsibility for the operations and actions of the Co-op. Serving on the Board is a great opportunity to be an active participant in your Co-op’s future and in the future of our community!

The Mission Statement for the Co-op (from Section I.2. of The Bylaws) is:
The purpose of the Cooperative is to contribute to the health and well-being of people by providing wholesome foods and other goods and services, accessible to all, through a locally-oriented, collectively managed, not-for-profit cooperative organization that relies on consensus decision making.  We strive to make human effects on the earth and its inhabitants positive and renewing and to encourage economic and social justice.

Our goals are to:

A. Provide information about food

B. Make good food accessible to more people;

C. Support efforts to increase democratic process;

D. Support efforts to foster a socially and economically egalitarian society;

E. Provide information about collective process and consensus decision making;

F. Support local production;

G. See to the long term health of the business;

H. Assist in the development of local community resources.

Board Responsibilities (as outlined in Section III.12. of The Bylaws) are:
13. BOARD DUTIES

Except as to matters reserved to membership by law or by these bylaws, the business and affairs of the Cooperative shall be directed by the Board of Directors.

The major duties of the Board are to:

A. Employ Staff, approve the make-up of the hiring committee, approve job descriptions, and approve a hiring policy;

B. Select officers, and fill Board vacancies as needed;

C. Approve an operating budget annually;

D. Monitor the financial health of the Cooperative;

E. Appoint standing and special committees as needed;

F. Authorize appropriate agents to sign contracts, leases, or other obligations on behalf of  the Cooperative;

G. Adopt, review, and revise Cooperative plans;

H. Approve major capital projects;

I. Adopt major policy changes;

J. Adopt policies to foster member involvement;

K. Authorize major debt obligations of the Cooperative;

L. Ensure compliance with all corporate obligations, including the keeping of corporate records and filing all necessary documents;

M. Ensure adequate audits of Cooperative finances;

N. Maintain free-flowing communication between the Board, Staff, committees, and the membership;

O. Adopt policies which promote achievement of the mission statement and goals of the Cooperative;

P. Resolve organizational conflicts after all other avenues of resolution have been exhausted;

Q. Establish and review the Cooperative’s goals and objectives.

R. Provide an annual report to the members to include a financial report, committee reports, and a summary of other significant events held and actions taken by the Cooperative during the year.

Board members receive working member credit for their time spent in Board and committee meetings.  The monthly hour commitment ranges between 10 to 20 hours.  The Board meets once a month. Each Board member is required to join 2-3 committees which also meet 1-2 times per month (though this will vary from committee to committee.)  These committees establish plans and policies that are then passed on to the Board or membership for approval.  The standing committees include Finance, Expansion, Co-op Development, Ecological Planning, Standing Hiring, Local Products, and Member Relations. Temporary committees may be formed to deal with specific short-term projects (International Year of the Co-op, Discount Task force, etc.)

Eligibility & Election Information
To be eligible to run for the Board you must be a member of the Co-op with a current address on file, and you must be willing to make a 3 year commitment.  Board members can serve a maximum of two three-year terms. This year the Board has four positions to fill.  Newly elected Board members will receive in-depth trainings on consensus decision-making and anti-oppression, as well as the Co-op’s finances, policies, general procedures, and history.

The election will be held from October 15 to November 15

New Board members will be asked to attend the November and December Board meetings to begin their training and meet current Board members, and will officially begin their term in January.

If you are interested in running for the Board, you must fill out the application and submit it and a current digital photo of yourself to boardapplication@olympiafood.coop by 9pm on September 10th.

For more information, contact Fern at boardapplication@olympiafood.coop

This year’s Coopatopia event will be held as a “Co-op Alley” of booths in the Northwest Cooperative Development Center’s parking lot on 4th and Adams, right in the heart of Artswalk activities. A live Artswalk band & space for food and beverages will be onsite. Coopatopia is looking for artists who would like to display some of their work at a shared booth with a co-op, and talk with visitors about how much they love being a co-op member! Contact Cooptopia for more info on this event.

How is the Olympia Food Co-op involved with Cooptopia?
The Development Committee of the Board is working to create a network of mutually supportive co-ops and collectives in the Puget Sound. An exchange with CECOSESOLA in Venezuela is part of strength-building for this network. Supporting each other operationally, and helping new co-ops grow is part of our goal, too.

Visit our page on the Co-op Movement

The Co-op is upgrading the way that we maintain our membership database and how we apply 10% discounts. Members who are used to just telling the cashier “Pink, Purple, Blue, or Yellow Card” will need to take a couple more steps than that to ensure that your membership is current and that you receive your discount, if you get one.

We know how hard it can be to change old habits, and some of our members have proudly carried their tattered pink cards for several decades. We hope to make the transition as smooth and easy as possible. Every member will need to get a new membership card at the cash register.

Why are we causing such a ruckus at the register?  Our membership records have grown tremendously over the last 10 years and we need new software to help us keep up.  By linking our membership information into the register system, we will have more accurate ways to track dues payments and membership renewals than our current system allows.  There will be other benefits as well, such as automatic applying of discounts and easier ways to resolve returns and overcharges.

Thank you for your patience and for being a member!  The Co-op Staff and Board are grateful to our large and active membership and all the support you show the Co-op year after year.

For more info about becoming a member

Guess who’s turning 2?
Come celebrate the New Moon, Olympia’s Cooperative Cafe, with a drinks & a silent auction. Proceeds benefit an exchange between area co-ops & collectives with co-op workers from CECOSESOLA in Barquisimeto, Venezuela!

History of our exchange with CECOSESOLA 
In 2012, to celebrate the United Nations’ International Year of the Cooperative, the Olympia Food Co-op partnered with The Evergreen State College for a historic exchange with CECOSESOLA, an integrated cooperative of over 50 member organizations in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. This exchange began a rich relationship between our two organizations that continues today. Below is a short film with footage and interviews from our visit in 2012. For more writing and photos, visit the blog, CECOSESOLA: A Co-operative Exchange. To learn more about CECOSESOLA (in Spanish), visit their website at  www.cecosesola.org.

Passionate about getting involved with your Co-op?
Join the Member Relations Committee!

This Committee of the Board is a group of members-at-large, Board, and staff members meets monthly and is tasked to facilitate communication between the membership and the organization. You will receive working member credits for your time (and get a discount on your grocery) plus work in a fun and collaborative team!

Deadline for submission is September 15, 2015

For application PDF to print, click here

Submit application by email at memberrelations@olympiafood.coop or drop it off at either store location with attention to Member Relations.

For more info, contact memberrelations@olympiafood.coop

Harvest Party & Zuke Fest
Sunday, September 20
Westside Olympia Food Co-op

Interested in a food party that celebrates the incredible bounty of our local harvest and businesses? Then join the fun at the Olympia Food Co-op’s eleventh annual Harvest Party Potluck, Sunday, September 20 from 1 to 5pm.

Don’t forget to participate in our Zuke Fest – contest and prizes for biggest home grown zucchini, baked good, or derby contestant.

Fun and music and games and food for all!

Celebrate Local!

The Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) met on Saturday, May 9, 8:30 AM in the community room of MiXX 96, located at State and Washington, for interviews, deliberations, and the subsequent awarding of grants to nine (9) worthy recipients. The CSF did not have sufficient resources to fund all project proponets at their requested level. However, following interviews for nearly three hours, and after an additional hour of discussion, the CSF Leadership Team was able to provide partial endowments in support of each one of the proposals.

The following is an account of funded projects by the CSF in tis spring 2015 cycle:

Arbutus Folk School        $600
TEDx                                  $450
Bee Hives                         $150
Vets for Peace                 $400
US Social Forum              $200
Kiwanis                              $400
Pizza Klatch                      $500
African Diaspora              $200
Power Parenting              $200
________________________________
Total                                 $3100

As evident from the above list, financial support was awarded for a range of very different proposals. It is always heartening to listen to the project advocates and to have them describe with great passion their ideas and the need for grassroots sponsorship. The Community Sustaining Fund appreciates the support the community provides by “rounding-up” purchases at the Olympia Food Co-op and through direct donations. These have allowed the CSF to continue into its 26th year, in support of over 220 projects totaling $90,000.

As printed in Works In Progress, June 2015

On a sunny weekend in June, the Olympia Food Co-op’s Local Committee hosted our third annual Local Eats event. Twenty local vendors offered samples of food and products at our stores and provided an opportunity for shoppers to learn about their businesses and farms. This year’s event was a terrific success with a wide variety of locally crafted products such as spreads, pastries, dairy products, fermented foods, fresh produce, mushroom supplements, salsas, sweet confections, baking mixes, granola, and beverages.

Participating businesses included: Exquisite & Traditional, Smiling Mo’s Bakery, Cobb’s Treats, OlyKraut, Calliope Farm, Sweet Niche Bakery, Pigman’s Organic Produce Patch, 8 Arms Bakery, Tastes Happy, Terrabucha, Mountain Muesli, Tamale Fusion, Jalisco, Flying Cow Creamery, Rawk Star Creations, Host Defense, Tierra Bonita, Peace Love & Raw, Purely From Scratch, and Oly Cultures. Our next event will be at the Co-op’s annual Harvest Party in September.

Congratulations Duncan!

R.W. Knudson, maker of Recharge sports drink, generously donated a nifty folding bike to raffle away to our membership. On June 16th, the drawing was held at the eastside Co-op, and Duncan is the winner! Congratulations! And thanks to all who participated!

Join us for a fancy dinner with The New Moon Collective to help support local cooperatives in an international exchange with CECOSESOLA! The dinner will be held at The New Moon this Friday, June 12th. Thank you for your support!

The Olympia Intercity Transit Program’s annual Bicycle Commuter Contest calls to the community and empowers folks to use alternative transportation. In Olympia and Thurston county, the month of May is full of bicycle commuters. Folks are seen zipping around through the sunny plum blossomed adorned streets. Throughout the month of May, members who ride to the Co-op receive a treat and a Ride Card. Five rides to the Co-op gets your Ride Card entered into the grand prize drawing held June 1st. Come Join the tradition and the sweet Bicycle Commuter Contest!

In 2014 The Bicycle Community Contest made a huge impact!!! The Thurston County Inner City Transit came up with these numbers below. With your participation, we can do even better in 2015!

Registrations 1,437
Mileage logs returned 1,001
Travel days reported 13,093
New participants 498
Teams 69
Average miles per rider 107
CO2 emissions prevented 55 tons
Miles traveled by bike in May 110,859
Sponsors 50

This week, staff of the Olympia Food Co-op signed a letter of support for our friends at CECOSESOLA, a cooperative of cooperatives with over 20,000 associates in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. CECOSESOLA operates as a network of worker collectives that makes decisions by consensus, and offers a variety of services–three large food co-ops, a funeral home, and a hospital, among others–in low-income neighborhoods of Venezuela’s 5th largest city. In 2012, our two co-ops participated in an exchange of workers, in which two staff members from the Olympia Food Co-op had the opportunity to live and work with colleagues at CECOSESOLA, and four staff from CECOSESOLA came to Olympia to work and share experiences with the Olympia Food Co-op and other area organizations.

Now, in the midst of a deepening economic crisis in Venezuela prompted by the drop in international oil prices among other factors, the Venezuelan has made change to its business tax structure that disproportionally impact co-ops, threatening their ability to survive in an increasingly difficult market. Here is a worksheet that shows the impact of the proposed changes (scroll below to see the Translated Correspondence document). Says Ricardo Workers at CECOSESOLA are asking their international partners to write and urge the Venezuelan government to revoke these changes to tax law. Here’s a copy of the letter signed by Olympia Food Co-op staff, which will be translated into Spanish and sent to government officials (scroll below).

Our thoughts and hearts are with our fellow members of the co-operative movement in Venezuela and elsewhere during these economically challenging times!

To read more about CECOSESOLA, and read letters sent by national and international partners, click here cecosesola.org.

Letter signed by staff of The Olympia Food Co-op

Re: Changes in Cooperative Law
Date: 12 March 2015

Dear representatives Jaua, Tariba, Castro, Cabello, Osorio, y Prato,

As a cooperative organization run by a staff collective of 84 members in Olympia, Washington, United States, we are writing to share our experience with CECOSESOLA, an integrated organization of Cooperatives in Lara State, Venezuela. Specifically, we would like to advocate that CECOSESOLA and other qualifying cooperatives be exempted from changes La Ley Organica Technologia e Innovacion, Las leyes del Impuesto Sobre La Renta y del Impuesto al Valor Agregado, which now place an undue tax burden upon cooperatives.

In 2012, the Olympia Food Co-op, a cooperative that aims to make good food accessible to more people by selling local and organic foods at affordable prices, was lucky enough to undergo an exchange of workers with CECOSESOLA. During this exchange, two of our staff members worked with CECOSESOLA for a month, while four compañeros from CECOSESOLA came to Olympia to work with our co-op and other community organizations for six weeks. What we experienced in our exchange with CECOSESOLA was an organization truly committed to cooperative practice, in which all workers bore equal responsibility for running the business and received equal compensation for their work. With their food stores, funeral parlor, hospital, and other projects in low-income areas of Barquisimeto, CECOSESOLA listens to members of the community to find out their needs, and then offers products and services to community members at prices they can afford, prices far below those set by capitalist businesses. CECOSESOLA also employs thousands of workers who work upwards of 60 hours each week to assure that the cooperative continues to provide needed services and goods in their own communities.

The Olympia Food Co-op is a non-profit cooperative that seeks worker empowerment, social justice, and economic equity in our community and throughout the world. As an organization in the United States, we have seen how unbridled capitalism and corporate power, often arising within our own country, has created suffering in our communities and around the globe. We wish to do business in a just, community-centered way, and we have been greatly inspired by our relationship with CECOSESOLA and their strong commitment both to the international cooperative movement, and to the health and well-being of people in their region. Members of CECOSESOLA have traveled Chiapas, Mexico, to Egypt, Germany, France, and the United States, among others, to help support communities in creating true cooperatives—means of production that empower workers while creating greater social and economic justice in their communities. CECOSESOLA regularly welcomes visitors from all over the world who wish to learn and share experiences, and who often leave committed to creating and supporting cooperative in their own countries. In short, CECOSESOLA is a world leader. It would be a great tragedy to see successful, thriving, true cooperatives like CECOSESOLA harmed or even run out of business due to the levying of new taxes they cannot afford.

During difficult economic times, cooperatives have the unique ability to offer solidarity pricing and to be responsible to their communities in ways many profit-driven businesses cannot or will not. We believe true cooperatives are more resilient during economic crises than many other businesses and hope you will continue to support cooperatives in practice and law.

In cooperation,
The Olympia Food Co-op Staff Collective

Translated Correspondence from CECOSESOLA

We are writing to inform you of the great harm that is being caused by a set of laws against cooperatives deeply committed to social change. As a consequence of these laws, far from receiving the protection from the National Government guaranteed by the Bolivarian Constitution (articles 118 & 308) the worker-run cooperatives that are revolutionizing economic practice have not only been abandoned, but treated worse than any traditional capitalist business. In Appendix 1 we’ve shared the experience of CECOSESOLA as an example of this type of cooperative.

We are sure that these measures have been taken, unaware of their grave consequences, since they will bring to an end processes of social transformation that have supported the creation of non-capitalist means of production.

How can we justify that capitalist businesses have priority over these cooperatives whose practices you find outlined in the objectives and priorities of the National Plan?

It is true that many cooperatives have deviated from practices outlined in the cooperative act. Some disregard the stipulation in the Special Law of Cooperative Associations that mandates that all workers be members, and that all profits be reinvested in the cooperative. These cooperatives function like capitalist businesses, using the cooperative guise to evade the Labor Law and benefit from the measures stipulated by the Bolivarian Constitution that obligates the State to support and promote cooperativism.

Perhaps due to the bad example set by these false cooperatives, and a lack of awareness, they have progressively eliminated the laws that, based in the Constitution, allowed the support of true cooperatives. In the Organic Law of Technological Sciences and Innovation (LOCTI) as well as the recent modifications made to the laws governing Income Tax (ISR) and the Added Value Tax (IVA), they treat all cooperatives as if they were capitalist businesses. On top of this, the Cooperative Law requires us to put aside a substantial amount of funds aimed at social ends. True cooperatives find ourselves at a disadvantage compared to capitalist companies and we see ourselves being forced to disappear.

Like we show in Appendix 2, based on the new laws, cooperatives must dedicate 37% of their Total Sales (Gross Revenue) to taxes and social funds, leaving only 63% for operational costs. Capitalist enterprises are only required to set aside 15.5%. A cooperative that conforms to the Cooperative Law, where all workers are members and all profits are reinvested in social programs, is obligated to divert more than double what a capitalist business is required.

In order to avoid bringing about the end of a cooperative movement committed to social transformation, we propose that the State look for a way in which cooperatives have, at least, the same economic conditions as capitalist businesses. This means exempting these cooperatives from paying the above-mentioned taxes. Of course, for this to happen, the National Superintendent of Cooperatives will need to testify that they comply with the required social stipulations outlined in Article 90 of the Special Law of Cooperative Associations.

We thank you in advance for any effort on your part that could help this situation.

APPENDIX 2:

*This amount of IVA is an approximation.

**As required by the cooperative law all workers are members and don’t receive salaries or wages, but instead take advance payments from profits.

As a result: cooperatives must dedicate 37% of their Total Sales (Gross Revenue) to taxes and social funds, leaving only 63% for operational costs. Capitalist enterprises are only required to set aside 15.5%.

A cooperative that follows the Cooperative Law, where all workers are members and all profits are reinvested in social programs, is obligated to divert more than double what a capitalist business is required.

As the garden supply areas for both Co-op stores begin to fill with all of the great spring offerings for local gardeners, it is important to recognize the folks who bring those wonderful organic starts of herbs and veggies to us.

Chris Robinson and Melissa Southwick have been supplying the Co-op with starts for over 10 years. Farmers for the past 30 years, they have been farming their fertile Spring Creek Farm near Rochester for the past 16 and offering their bounty at the Farmer’s Market for around 30 years. In the summer, gardening becomes a family affair when Chris’ two older daughters come home to help with the busy farming season.

Early in their work tilling the soil at Spring Creek Farm, Chris and Melissa decided that they wanted to grow plants that worked with the environment. Because lavender doesn’t have to be irrigated, and deer leave it alone, they decided to grow it on 3 acres of their open, at one time cattle pasture land. At that time they were growing and selling around 60 varieties of lavender and also making body and essential oils to sell. Now they farm about 1 1/2 acres filled with 5,000 lavender plants of about 30 varieties, plus 250 varieties of herbs and veggies. From this bounty, they sell bulk lavender, and fresh and dry cut bouquets at the Farmer’s Market, and to the Co-op they bring perennial and annual herb and veggie starts.

Although they are not certified, they work hard to grow organically. “All our materials are listed by the Organic Material Review Institute,” Chis told me. “We make our own soil out of the compost that comes from the Olympia curbside waste and gets composted in Silver Springs. It is certified organic through Washington State. We add other things, all from that list of organic materials, but that is the main ingredient.” He appreciates the fact that this creates a closed loop effect from household to compost to farm and back to household.

Chris pointed out that their watering system is basically sustainable. “We have 3 wells,” he said. “One is gravity-fed and the other two are pump wells.” I learned that during part of the year Chris and Melissa are able to water from the gravity-fed well, transferring to the other pump wells as the season turns dryer. He is proud of the fact that much of the watering on the farm is done off-the-grid.  “Watering the veggie starts is done by a solar pump set-up we have on one of the wells,” he proudly stresses. He also adds that they have been quite frugal. “We recycle as many pots as we can. I just recently bought 3,000 pots from a grower who is going out of business. We haven’t bought new one-gallon pots in 15 years,” he told me. It is obviously important to him to be running an operation that walks as lightly as possible on the earth, while at the same time producing good, healthy, products. “The emphasis of the farm,” he told me, “is to be as low-impact and sustainable as possible, while at the same time providing a quality product.”

So as you begin to prepare your garden for the coming growing season, know that you can find just about every wonderful organic start you are looking for at both Co-op stores, Eastside and Westside. Come and be greeted with a large variety of starts from Spring Creek Farm: herbs, peas, onions, leeks, lettuce, kale, spinach, beets, corn and beans. They are also expanding this year to offer blueberries, strawberries, hops and figs, so look for these too. And…Happy Gardening!