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Welcome to our archive of stories going back to 1985. Use the Search field to find what you're looking for. Limit your search to specific topic areas, or publication date, or author, by using the drop-down lists at right. To sort chronologically, click on the Issue column header. Clicking on an author's byline will bring you to a brief bio about many of the authors, and a list of all stories authored by them.

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Title	Post date	Issue
Who’s Watching Member Labor in Retail Food Cooperatives? by Thane Joyal When many retail food cooperatives were formed in the 1970s, the distinctions among worker cooperatives, consumer cooperatives and not-for-profit corporations were not considered to be barriers to...	18 Jan 2012	158 January 2012
Food Justice in Its Simplest Form by Leika Suzumura Food has an amazing way of bringing people together. We all relate to the fact that we need to eat, every day. This is why I chose to become a dietitian; I knew that I could connect to anyone...	18 Jan 2012	158 January 2012
Marquette Co-op: Building Local Food by Matt Gougeon In a small, rural community in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan, a vibrant cooperative grocery store is proving to be a growing local economic player. Marquette Food Co-op (MFC) boasts...	18 Jan 2012	158 January 2012
Accounting Best Practices: Nurturing Your Income Statement by Bruce Mayer Peg Nolan Steve Wolfe Summary: our previous article was on the balance sheet, and after our review below of the income statement, a subsequent installment will cover internal controls and cash management. Our...	18 Jan 2012	158 January 2012
Kitsap=Community by Kristina Kruzan One of the issues that faces startup co-ops is how best to use their oftentimes limited resources to get the most impact in equity, publicity, and community support. The Kitsap Community Food Co-...	18 Jan 2012	158 January 2012
Makin’ Groceries with New Orleans Food Co-op by Lori Burge Elizabeth Underwood While most New Orleanians wouldn’t call themselves foodies, they are known for their love of food. "Makin’ groceries" is a traditional term used for food shopping in New Orleans. "Makin’ groceries...	18 Jan 2012	158 January 2012
IYC on Camera by Kelly Smith Happy International Year of Cooperatives! We’ve been thinking about International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) for long enough that making the mental shift from 2011 to 2012 was a snap....	18 Jan 2012	158 January 2012
Looking to the UN’s International Year of Cooperatives by David Thompson When the president of the United Nations General Assembly invited Dame Pauline Green to come to the iconic green marble podium, a billion proud cooperators walked with her. As she spoke in her...	18 Jan 2012	158 January 2012
International Year of Cooperatives Launched— Get Your Story Out There by Dave Gutknecht Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World." The International Year of Cooperatives is underway, after being officially launched in late October at the United Nations. Earlier, a unanimous...	18 Jan 2012	158 January 2012
Reviving Democracy, Spreading Cooperatives by Dave Gutknecht The Occupy movement in the U.S. (there also are international manifestations) is one of the more encouraging recent developments in the present political environment. Most of the Occupy sites have...	18 Jan 2012	158 January 2012
America Beyond Capitalism In a recent article in "Dollars and Sense," Gar Alperovitz presents cooperative enterprise, especially worker-owned co-ops, along with other methods of democratizing capital -- an essential...	09 Jan 2012	• Endcap Articles
IYC Message from Pauline Green Pauline Green, president of the International Cooperative Alliance, in early January released a message about the International Year of Cooperatives. It was published through the "Guardian/UK"...	08 Jan 2012	• Endcap Articles
Accounting Best Practices: The Balance Sheet by Bruce Mayer Peg Nolan Steve Wolfe Can you tell me in 10 minutes what the best practices for finance are that I can use at my co-op?" This question has been repeatedly asked of us in our respective work with co-op finance managers...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
PDF of November 2011 issue by Dan Nordley It seems the printer for Cooperative Grocer experienced some unusual difficulty in binding the November issue, and there are a number of copies out there with 3-6 and 31-34 taking the place of 7-...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
Learning from Co-op Startups by Patricia Cumbie In the years since 2005, when the Food Co-op 500 pilot project began to challenge the sector to have 500 food co-ops by 2015, a lot has been accomplished in an attempt to achieve this goal. As a...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
Cooperative Strategic Leadership by Art Sherwood There has been much discussion, debate and downright argument about the role of the board in the strategic process of our co-ops. "Isn't that getting into operations? Aren't our hands tied by our...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
Sign-Making Solutions: A Review by Lisa Smith Have you ever tried to sell a product without a sign? If you have, you know how important signage is to grocery sales. With upwards of 70 percent of all purchases being unplanned, good signage on...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
Restorative Practices by Jennifer Crain Before the Olympia Food Co-op became a two-store operation with over 80 staff members, resolving internal conflicts was a direct but mostly informal process. If a conflict arose, such as an...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
Healthy Foods, Cooperative Communities by Micha Josephy The national conversation around healthy food access has recently gained significant momentum and attention. While co-ops have pioneered many food system innovations, including...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
Co-ops and Public Figures Look to 2012 by Dave Gutknecht Spreading inspiring co-op stories. Developing more co-ops to serve more people. Building more collaboration among different co-op sectors: credit unions, food co-ops, worker co-ops, housing co-ops...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
Planning for the International Year of Cooperatives by Dave Gutknecht Cooperators in the U.S. and around the world continue to prepare broad, multi-faceted campaigns for 2012, declared by the United Nations General Assembly to be the International Year of...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
The view from the other side of the White River by Kye Cochran When the Hanover Co-op approached us with the idea of opening a branch store right across the river from us, we were in the final negotiation process to buy our own building. In fact...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
One Town, Two Co-ops by Terry Appleby White River Junction is a small town at the confluence of the White and Connecticut Rivers in central Vermont. For the past 35 years, it has been the home of the Upper Valley Food Co-op. The town...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
NCGA Development Cooperative Addresses Growing Demand by C.E. Pugh	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
Reaching the Next Generation by Paul Hazen [Below: excerpts from a column in Cooperative Business Journal (Sept./Oct. 2011) by Paul Hazen, who is president and CEO of the National Cooperative Business Association. ...	17 Nov 2011	157 November 2011
Just Label It – We Have a Right to Know by Dave Gutknecht The campaign to require labeling of foods produced with genetic engineering is more powerful than ever. In early October a broad coalition of organizations (...	10 Oct 2011	• Endcap Articles
The Right Fit by Debbie Suassuna There are a number of characteristics that can add to or detract from a natural food co-op store’s opportunity for success. We’ve covered location and site characteristics to be considered in...	10 Oct 2011	156 October 2011
Updating Trends in General Manager Compensation by Carolee Colter Note: There are additional charts in the pdf version of the story. Several years ago in this magazine, Mark Goehring and I proposed a new process for management compensation (CG...	05 Oct 2011	156 October 2011
Logo Basics by Lisa Smith John McWade, founder and creative director of Before & After magazine says "design looks easier than it is, and it’s more important than it looks." This is especially true for your...	05 Oct 2011	156 October 2011
Bag It! by Carol Spurling Jesica DeHart There are always lots of reasons not to take a risk—even when it’s the right thing to do. The Moscow Food Co-op (Moscow, Ida.) recently took one when we launched a month-long campaign...	05 Oct 2011	156 October 2011