As we enter the holiday season, what does the art of giving or giving thanks mean and are they different? The golden rule has always been that it is better to give than receive and that we should always give thanks for what we have. 

Authors Karen Zimbelman and Marilyn Scholl wrote an article for food cooperative board directors titled: The Ownership Toolbox. They tried to define members of cooperatives by level of involvement. At Outpost, we refer to our members as owners. We hope that all shoppers someday choose to expand their involvement and become owners.  They can do this by purchasing a share of the cooperative. At the same time, we hope that all owners continue to expand their participation while enjoying their ownership. How would you define yourself as an owner? Do any of these definitions of participation come close?

As a political junkie and policy nerd, I love cooperative principle #2: democratic control. It’s so elegant in its simplicity and so ultimately truthful that it stands as the fundamental electoral principle of our country and the goal of developing democracies throughout the world: one member, one vote.

One of the really cool parts of my day job at Feeding America is that I get to travel around the country to join, start, simplify, complicate, explicate, and otherwise advance some of the big conversations surrounding food, food access, hunger, and food systems. It’s really one of the favorite parts of my job.

Dear Outpost Owners,

After having a few days to digest our annual meeting, we wanted to take a moment to  recognize your level of commitment to our cooperative.  Some of us shop, use re-usable bags and cups, donate time or money to Outpost organized community events, submit comments, fill out our surveys, read our website, follow and respond to our blogs, and attend owner events. We vote. And we celebrate our cooperative’s ongoing commitment to help our community.  We even recruit friends and family to attend the annual meeting to support our values.

An e-mail recently appeared in my inbox that really got me thinking about the sustainability of current conventional farming practices. The e-mail contained a link to a report by the Center for Food Safety as part of its Save Our Seeds (SOS) initiative (http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/campaign/save-our-seeds/). The report, Seed Giants vs. U.S. Farmers, highlights the ongoing practice of seed companies suing farmers for patent infringement when their fields are discovered to contain genetically engineered (GE or trangenic) crops, even though the farmers hadn't purchased GE seeds from the companies. The seed companies allege that farmers are knowingly saving seeds from prior year GE crops, or are obtaining GE seeds from “seed cleaners,” who specialize in the practice of processing seeds from prior years to use for subsequent plantings. According to the seed companies, these practices are expressly prohibited by the technology agreements signed by farmers who use GE seeds.

Outpost board members engage in a vast number of activities related to the mission and values of Outpost Natural Foods. One great example happens to be the work of board director Suzanne Garr, whose involvement with the children of St. Mary Kevin, a school and orphanage in Uganda, Africa.

Last June, I had the good fortune to attend the Consumer Cooperative Management Association (CCMA) annual meeting in Philadelphia. It may sound like a big yawn, but it isn’t. One of the more interesting events was the screening of the completed part of a film by Steve Alves entitled Food for Change: The Twin Cities Story. Steve is a member of the Franklin Community Co-op in Greenfield, MA, and decided to research and produce this film which highlights a colorful history of the cooperative movement in the US.

A recent study released by the National Cooperative Grocer’s Association (NCGA) should make you feel pretty good about shopping at Outpost.

Why?

Well, because the report underscores the many ways that coops surpass the competition when it comes to creating economic and social impact on their communities.

Despite the rain, sleet, and snow on Dec. 9, forty-two local Milwaukee neighbor businesses and organizations got together as well as 940 attendees, for the 4th Annual “Buy Local Gift Fair” held at Lakefront Brewery. This 4th annual, amazing holiday shopping event was sponsored by Local First Milwaukee, Lakefront Brewery, and Outpost Natural Foods.

As a cooperative business, our owners choose the team of individuals (Board of Directors) who will determine the business goals (Ends) and oversee general management’s strategy (Means) for accomplishing those goals.  Ideally, each Director will represent at least one aspect of the diversity of our ownership population. 

In other words:  You have an opportunity to select YOUR ambassador in the leadership of your Outpost.

On Saturday, October 6, I had the pleasure of attending Harvest Day at Walnut Way, on 17th and North Avenue.  The entire 2200 block of N. 17th Street was blocked off for the celebration, with a large sound truck on the north end, providing a stage and sound system for talk and music.

I am an ardent Outpost owner for many reasons, but near the top is the collection of environmental policies put into place by the Outpost management and staff.  In fact, the WE Energies Summer 2012 newsletter “Energy for Tomorrow” highlighted Outpost as a visionary organization in the field of energy conservation.

Looking back through history, we see various “ages,” such as Iron, Bronze, Enlightenment, and the depressingly and aptly named, Dark. How will history look back at our present age? One answer may be the Age of Plastic. Looking around us, and how our way of life has changed in the past 100 years, it would be difficult to argue that this isn’t the Age of Plastic. If you still need convincing, walk around your house, your neighborhood, or your grocery store. Envision this walk without any plastic. Going even further, image life after this walk without all this plastic, and think what life would be like.