What Can $1 a Month Accomplish?

One hundred fifty-eight years ago in the tiny town of Rochdale, England, twenty-seven men and one woman invested £1 each to found the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers, the first successful modern-day cooperative. Within its first year, the Rochdale Pioneers had grown to 74 member households, raised £181 in capital, recorded sales of £710, and managed to record a profit of £22, despite being open only two nights a week from 8:00 - 10:00 p.m.

The history of the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers is all the more impressive given that at the time, the mere act of founding a cooperative was considered so revolutionary that the local gas company refused to supply them with fuel oil for their lights.

Originally stocking nothing more than sugar, butter, flour, oatmeal, and tallow candles, the Rochdale Pioneers eventually moved into a four - story department store to accommodate the growing number and variety of products. By 1860, the Rochdale Pioneers boasted 3,450 members and sales had increased ten-fold since 1850.

It was the original Rochdale Principles of Cooperation upon which modern cooperative principles are based. The Rochdale Pioneers mandated 1) open, voluntary membership, 2) democratic control, 3) limited return, if any, on equity capital, 4) net surplus belonging to user-owners, 5) education for members, and 6) cooperation among cooperatives.

Today, the cooperative principles under which the Wedge and other co-ops are managed also dictate voluntary and open membership, democratic control by members, membership involvement in economic participation, autonomous and independent operation, education, training and information for members, cooperation among cooperatives, and concern for the community.

As a member or friend of The Wedge, chances are good that you've shared in the financial success of our co-op through patronage refunds, coupons, member specials and generous giving throughout our community.

Despite our own financial success, the cooperative movement as a whole is notoriously and woefully undercapitalized. While there's no shortage of ideas for cooperative development projects, there's simply no money with which to implement them. To date, virtually all of the cooperative movement's development capital has been raised either from dues levied on stores or donations from the National Co-op Bank Development Corporation and the National Co-op Business Association.

Earlier this year, Dan Foley, General Manager of the Wedge Co-op, attended a meeting in Seattle to discuss long term strategic planning for the cooperative food sector. One idea that emerged was to develop a coordinated, national strategy for raising development capital to fund cooperative development projects. While it's difficult at this stage to say how such a plan would be funded, three things are clear: First, that such a plan could raise substantial amounts of money. Second, that there are innumerable projects worth funding. And finally, that, if implemented, this could dramatically improve the natural foods co-op movement on a national level.

It's easy to see how the money could add up. At an average of $12 per year, contributions by The Wedge's 9,178 members alone would top $110,000 a year. Add the 290,000 members of other natural foods co-ops from around the country, and it's conceivable that such an undertaking could generate $3,000,000 or more each year to fund cooperative development projects.

For the cooperative movement to compete effectively against the big food conglomerates (after all, Wal-Mart is the largest retailer of organic foods in the United States), we need to work together to fund projects such as improved technological capacity, standardized accounting formats, best practices for store operating systems, a cooperative branding strategy, and consolidated purchasing for products and services such as medical insurance.

In May, your Board voted to authorize Dan Foley to proceed with the development of a plan to raise cooperative development capital. Such a program would enable The Wedge to maintain its leadership position within the natural foods cooperative movement and to strengthen cooperatives' ability to compete in a rapidly changing retail environment.

In the coming months, you'll be hearing more about the Wedge's plans to work with our sister co-ops to raise funds for cooperative development projects nationwide. This is an exciting time for the Wedge and for the cooperative movement as a whole!

One hundred fifty-eight years ago, twenty-eight weavers single-handedly launched the modern cooperative movement. The Rochdale Pioneers started their revolution with £28. Imagine the revolution we would start if 300,000 natural foods co-op members each contributed to fund the growth of the cooperative movement nationwide!