Hotline: 7784732230
…Local to Our Core
…Local to Our Core
Hotline: 7784732230
As a co-op, the values of interdependence, responsibility, democracy, equality and mutual support are important. We also believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, caring for others and fairness in treatment in all matters.
These principles of a co-op, developed over 150 years ago are still a guiding force today.
1. VOLUNTARY AND OPEN MEMBERSHIP. Co-operatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.
2. DEMOCRATIC MEMBER CONTROL. Co-operatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions on the principle of one member one vote. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership.
3. MEMBER ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION. Members contribute to and democratically control the capital of their co-operative. In our case, all of that capital is the common property of the co-operative. The MCC surplus is directed to activities approved by the membership and board.
4. AUTONOMY AND INDEPENDENCE. Co-operatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their co-operative autonomy.
5. EDUCATION, TRAINING AND INFORMATION. Co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of the co-operative. They inform the general public – particularly young people and opinion leaders – about the nature and benefits of co-operation.
6. CO-OPERATION AMONG CO-OPERATIVES. Co-operatives serve their members and strengthen the co-operative movement by working in solidarity with other co-ops and national, regional, and international co-operative organizations.
7. CONCERN FOR COMMUNITY. Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.
At the Monashee Community Co-op (MCC), we strive to cultivate strong community spirit by interacting with each other with caring, respect and sensitivity, encouraging the sharing of ideas and supporting each other in endeavours that further the causes of co-ops generally and the MCC in particular.
This values-based, triple-bottom-line approach is one that many companies are starting to integrate into their business models, as part of their corporate social responsibility and sustainability efforts. However, these principles have been at the core of all co-operatives since their inception, positioning co-ops at the forefront of today’s new economy.
The co-operative model’s wide lens on business has enabled co-ops to make major contribution to the development and stability of communities in British Columbia and across Canada.
Monashee Community Co-op is a proud member of the BC Co-op Association. The Co-op is staffed by caring and dedicated staff and volunteers who work to ensure the products are ethically and environmentally responsible, and as local when possible. We are a small store but we are competitive with big business grocery stores elsewhere because our markup is considerably lower and our awesome Purchaser hunts out all the deals possible. Our loyal members share our vision and values with their support of a local economy and help us all reduce our carbon footprint by buying in Lumby instead of driving to the city.
The Rochdale Pioneers
The rise of the co-operative movement was a profound response to the injustices which arose out of the factory system in the U.K. during the Industrial Revolution. Inventions such as steam engines and harvesters resulted in millionaires being created and millions being impoverished. With the concentration of wealth and centralization of work, the quality of life for farmers and craftsmen and other autonomous rural workers dramatically plummeted. Making decisions about when one worked, what materials were used, how products were made, priced and sold – these were all swept away into the hands of the powerful few. Multitudes were forced to the cities, which were ill-equipped to deal with the demands of such an influx. Once they got there, no health care system, pensions or employment insurance replaced the community web of care that had been destroyed. There were no laws about child labour, minimum wage or safe working conditions. It took tragedy, a sense of justice and compassion to galvanize people and lawmakers to revolutionize the social structure of the time.
In Rochdale in 1844, England, a group of 30 weavers, tailors, shoemakers, carpenters and other skilled tradesmen formed the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers. The pioneers were tired of paying high prices for poor quality food at shops run by factory owners. They pooled their savings to buy food supplies and sold these staples back to society members at fair market prices. As they created a surplus, they invested that back into the co-op, buying more goods and then issuing rebates to members. Within 10 years there were 1,000 co-ops in England alone.
This spectacular success built on previous attempts. They created the Rochdale Principles which became the basis of the co-op movement worldwide.
In Canada, farming communities spearheaded co-operative efforts. Particularly with the building of the railway across Canada, the vast distances made it imperative that people work together. By 1900, there were over 1,200 creameries alone scattered across Canada. The foundation of credit unions was also laid, imperative for financing of new business ventures when banks would not consider them. Prairie grain farmers took co-operative action to a whole other scale of operation. It is no co-incidence that Tommy Douglas, one of the greatest Canadians of all time, was raised in Winnipeg and spent a good part of his life in Saskatchewan, in the heart of the Prairie co-operative tradition and was instrumental in the establishment of health care, pensions and employment insurance and more.
Today in Lumby, we have the Monashee Community Co-op, dedicated to providing the community with locally made wholesome foods, personal care products and crafts. It is directed by a board and informed by its membership. It promotes food security. MCC is staffed by caring and dedicated volunteers and staff. It supports local vendors who strive for environmentally responsible and ethically-sourced products; it nourishes all who enter by providing healthy, organic, local food. The Monashee Community Co-op also nourishes by generating community and caring and by educating and learning from each other. The members are proud to be following the path of the Rochdale pioneers.