October is National Co-Op Month!

This October, the Purple Carrot Market is joining over 40,000 co-operatives and credit unions across the United States in celebrating Co-op Month observed nationally since 1964.  This year’s theme, “Co-ops: By the Community, For the Community,” was chosen by the National Cooperative Business Association to promote how co-operative enterprises enable people to work together to meet their needs and build stronger communities.
Across our nation, people have used food co-ops to improve access to healthy, local, affordable food, and build stronger communities. "By working together, food co-ops in our region are supporting our local farmers and co-op producers,” said Suzette Snow-Cobb, sourcing coordinator for the Neighboring Food Co-op Association.  “What better way to build more vibrant, sustainable communities than to invest in our regional food system and support producers who also value fair, sustainable, and inclusive practices?”
Food co-ops are not alone in their contribution to more resilient local communities.  From farmer co-ops to worker co-ops, credit unions to mutual insurance, and housing co-ops to energy co-ops, co-operative businesses thrive across the U.S. economy, where 350 million people are co-op members.  Nationwide, co-operatives generate $514 billion in revenue and more than $25 billion in wages, according to a study conducted by the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives.  And because they are member-owned, co-ops are rooted in their communities and governed by the people who use them to meet their needs, rather than outside investors.

Check out the Purple Carrot Market and learn more about the Co-op difference.