Co-op Stories

A great way to wrap your head around the concept of co-ops is to explore some real world examples. Check out stories and profiles from a range of featured co-ops.

Cabot Creamery

It goes without saying that the company that makes one of the world's best naturally aged cheddars would have undergone some aging of its own.

Kind of Co-op: food brand, producer

Community Food Co-op

As part of Community Food Co-op's commitment to its shoppers, suppliers and the environment, in 2000 the co-op began dedicating a portion of its donation budget to a newly formed farm fund.

Kind of Co-op: consumer, food retail

East River Power Electric Cooperative/Basin Electric Cooperative

Basin Electric Power Cooperative members spoke loud and clear in late 2005 when they voted unanimously to adopt a resolution calling for at least 10 percent of the power it provides to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2010.

Kind of Co-op: consumer, utilities

Equal Exchange

Worker-owners of Equal Exchange travel to Chiapas, Mexico, to visit one of its coffee trading partners.

Kind of Co-op: food brand, worker

French House

Will Stovall, a senior at The University of Texas, returned from studying in Mexico determined to go to law school. In service of this goal, he resolved to work harder, which meant he would have little chance to see old friends or to acquire new ones.

Kind of Co-op: consumer, housing

Frontier Natural Products Co-op

Frontier Natural Products Co-op has a special relationship with its member-owners, which manifests itself in the co-op's commitment to meeting their needs and reflecting their values, rather than maximizing its profits.

Kind of Co-op: consumer, food brand

Green Worker Cooperatives: Greening the Bronx

Omar Freilla evolves the notion of materials reuse with the nation's first worker-owned cooperative for used and surplus building materials.

Kind of Co-op: other, worker

Green Worker Cooperatives: ReBuilders Source

"Omar's flyer was the turning point," exclaimed Gloria Walker, recalling the 2004 flyer posted by Omar Freilla, the executive director of Green Worker Cooperatives.

Kind of Co-op: other, worker

Green Worker Cooperatives: The Green Urbanist

One man's trash is another's treasure — a timely adage for reuse advocate Omar Freilla, executive director of Green Worker Cooperatives in the South Bronx.

Kind of Co-op: other, worker

Group Health Cooperative

In 1947, consumer-governed, prepaid group medical coverage was a radical idea. When Group Health began, there was a major gap in health care that left most middle-class people without coverage.

Kind of Co-op: consumer, health care