By Elizabeth Archerd, Member Services Director at our sister co-op Wedge Community Co-op in Minneapolis, Minnesota

      Twenty years ago, membership at natural food cooperatives meant time spent organizing or running the store, in exchange for discounts. At some co-ops that is still the case, but as cooperatives have grown and changed, memberships have also changed. Natural food shoppers who didn't have time to work started to outnumber the people who did.

      To increase the number of co-op members, natural food cooperatives went back to the origins of the movement to see how things were done, and looked at "old wave" grocery co-ops still in operation (stores started in the 1920s and 30s). Each co-op devised a solution, which included a member share purchase to capitalize the business, and some combination of rebates, specials and discount days or coupons to attract new members.

      Some member-labor programs died from non-participation or following a Department of Labor ruling calling member-labor an unfair labor practice. A few were put to rest by worker's compensation insurance premiums. Some programs continue, but non-working members often greatly outnumber working ones.

     Co-ops solved the immediate problem of attracting members who didn't work in the store, but at the same time gave themselves a new problem: what does it mean to be a co-op member today? When people shop at co-ops, how does that differ from shopping at the privately-owned stores that offer "frequent-shopper" programs or from joining the "wholesale clubs" that have sprung up? The business "community" is savvy at borrowing the look and feel of co-ops without offering the substance of our way of doing business.

     There are three major ways that cooperatives differ from private sector stores, and belonging to a co-op is a commitment in and of itself. First, the decision-making process in co-ops is not driven by the desire to increase the wealth of individual shareholders, or even by what's profitable. Secondly, co-ops handle money in a very different way from private stores. They invest in consumer and staff education, about organic farming and cruelty-free or environmentally sound products made by businesses committed to making life better. Finally, co-ops are a model for social change because they conduct business in a democratic way, with community service as the core value guiding decisions.

     What drives a co-op is service to the community that founded it, sustains it, and needs what it has to offer. While profit-driven businesses thrive by selling us the image of ourselves as islands of unique, separate needs, co-ops emphasize the connections between growers and buyers, country and city, animal welfare and food quality, farming practices and environmental/health concerns, co-op and members. By joining a co-op, members commit themselves to a business that serves and reinvests in the community, and exists for no other reason.

     Now, owning a business requires investment money and equipment, and in many cases, land and buildings. These are called capital, the essential things needed to build and sustain the business activity that generates revenues to cover the costs of doing business and, with skill and some luck, accumulate profit.

      Social commentators have recently begun to speak of "social capital" -- referring to the rich networks of relationships that develop in neighborhoods, schools, churches, and other voluntary associations. This form of capital is essential to build and sustain social institutions that are successful in raising the next generation, caring for the sick and lonely, solving environmental and social problems, and responding to the challenges of living together.

      There is another kind of social capital. It is capital as described in the earlier paragraph -- the essential things needed to run a business -- with a difference: it is defined as capital that is owned by all and should be utilized for the benefit of all. This kind of capital is distinct from private capital (that which is owned by a few and used for the benefit of the few), and is a philosophical foundation of the cooperative ideal.

     Such capital is a kind of ultimate realization of the cooperative effort, which unfortunately goes unrecognized by many food cooperatives in actual practice. (How else can we explain the resistance, and even hostility in some camps, to the idea that co-ops need to accumulate money and property to fulfill the mission of providing goods and services to the member-owners?) The very heart of the cooperative model is owning things in common, together, for the common good.

     The cooperative dream depends on people who can resist the dominant social theme of "Get mine, get it now and get as much as possible, for as little as possible." Unfortunately, this attitude is marketed with great regularity and great success. Even in cooperatives we find members who view co-ops as vehicles for immediate gain, rather than a long-term community resources which require investment and cultivation.

      There are people who assume co-ops exist to give them low prices, discounts or other privileges, but rarely stop to think of the labor and investment that is required to make a co-op worth having. They see cooperatives as a form of private capital, a means for individual gain. There are food cooperatives whose members even insist on getting discounts as their stores are losing money! This is comparable to a farmer not caring that the topsoil is blowing away due to poor land management.

     None of us exists separate from society, its history and its institutions. What we do today and how we do it is a result of the decisions and actions taken by the generations that preceded us. Likewise our cooperatives today are the result of efforts of the founders. Their vision and labor helped them to accumulate the good will, money, buildings and equipment we have today. We are building on their work and will pass the co-ops on to another generation of member-owners. With each passing generation, if it's done correctly, co-ops should become stronger, providing more people opportunity to participate in the cooperative economy.

     By joining a cooperative, purchasing your shares, shopping there for every thing it provides, and electing boards that make wise stewardship decisions about money and resources, we are building social capital -- both kinds. We are creating businesses that are owned by all and serve us all. We are part of a rich network of relationships that makes us feel less alone. This is a deeper, bigger, and ultimately more satisfying venture than trying to save a few bucks on groceries.