Revolution is in the Air
added 05/11/09
General Manager’s Report
by Terry Appleby
Co-op General Manager
Revolution is in the air. A recent Time magazine issue was devoted to ideas changing the world right now. Yes magazine’s spring issue is devoted to the revolution in local food. Peter Senge’s 2008 book, The Necessary Revolution, addresses the need for creating a sustainable world. Our country just made an historic decision on leadership, and one result has been to plant a vegetable garden at the White House. The revolution that I understand is peaceful, progressive, and has roots in ecology, sustainability, and new thinking on the roles of individuals, corporations, and organizations in developing the world future generations will inherit. And cooperatives are right in the middle of the discussion.
Last year Hanover and several other neighboring cooperatives participated in a survey intended to begin to quantify what our impact is on our regional economy. What we found was, as a group, we have significant sales volume (over $161 million in 2007), purchase a lot of local products (over $33 million during the same year), and have a big impact on our regional economy (keeping more than $100 million dollars in our local economies). Since then our numbers and local economic influence has only grown. Oh, one other thing that has happened since our study was done is the collapse of the world economy.
Interestingly, as the American financial system collapsed, the cooperative financial system and the system of small local banks kept moving along, providing capital to keep the economy going.
Overwhelmingly, the assets of local credit unions were not tied up in toxic assets, but in the homes and businesses of their members.
Dan Ariely, a professor at Duke University, recently suggested on the News Hour on PBS that he would strengthen the credit union system as an alternative to the system that was so culpable in the current economic crisis. He is endorsing a member-owned-and-controlled system based on values and principles for one based on maximizing profit and apparently fairly devoid of ethics.
The economic catastrophe we are experiencing has been painful. Millions have lost homes, jobs, and life savings. At the same time, the deepening recession has led to heightened understanding of our combined capabilities and of collaborative possibilities. The revolution that is happening now is in the ability to envision a future that is not dependent on the existence of Citibank or General Motors but that can include ideas like the development of alternative sources of energy, working for the common good, and cooperating for positive change. This revolution will not be about sweeping away a capitalist model and eliminating corporations, but rather about changing expectations regarding corporate behavior and encouraging cooperation in its many forms.
The new revolution that is in the making has more to do with basic and useful things, with sharing and consuming less. It is about supporting a local food system, taking responsibility, and saving. This is a values-based revolution. And your local co-op, in all sizes and forms, is there to help. It was all on display at our Annual Meeting on April 4th. If you missed it this year, come on out next year and see what’s happening!
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