[act-ma] Sat, 07-07. Mass Bay Co-op Faire, 10 - 2, Harvest Co-op, Central Sq, Cambridge

Thu Jul 5 11:11:07 PDT 2012

Co-operators, Radicals, Socialists, Anarchists, Communists, Left-wing
Republicans, and Progressive Democrats,

You are a diverse lot; rarely agreeing on much.  But, one thing we all agree
upon is that life improves for all when the people take control of their
destiny themselves.  One tactic that most of us agree upon is that
co-operatives - people working together to provide for ourselves the goods
and services that we want - should be the economic system of the future.
Well, this weekend you will have an opportunity to see the future today!

The Mass Bay Co-op Faire will be held on Saturday, July 7th, 2012, at 10 AM
to 2 PM, in the Essex St. parking lot adjacent to Harvest Co-op Market in
Central Square, Cambridge, MA.  This event is FREE and open to the public!

This is an opportunity to see what co-ops are doing now to improve the
well-being of their members and the common wealth of their community.  If
you think go-ops will be great in the future, wait till you see what they do
in today's world.

Some of the co-ops expected to be present are Harvest, Equal Exchange, Co-op
Power, Seedpod Co-op, Cambridge Co-op, Millstone Co-op, Corvid College,
Cabot Creamery, Boston Area Solidarity Economy Network (BASEN), Red Sun
Press, Operation Co-operation, @ Hand Apps worker co-op, DotRox Garden
Center Co-op. Brown Association for Cooperative Housing (BACH), Vida Verde
Brazilian Women's Co-op, and others.

Other co-ops who may join us are Boston Building Resources, Co-op Fund of
New England, Dorchester Community Food Co-op, Road 2 Development, Lucy Stone
Co-op, and others.  You should be able to discover more than 30 co-ops
total.

To find out about these and the other co-ops, attend the Faire!  Details
below:

  _____  

Mass. Bay Co-op Faire to Celebrate

International Day for Cooperatives

In the UN International Year of Co-operatives

Saturday, July 7, 2012, 10:00-2:00

Harvest Co-op Market, Essex Street parking lot, Cambridge, MA

FREE and Open to the Public!

Local cooperative businesses will showcase their business model on Saturday,
July 7, for the second time in the current decade, joining an international
celebration of co-ops around the world.

The Mass. Bay Co-op Faire, set for Saturday, July 7, 2012, 10:00 a.m. to
2:00 p.m., is sponsored by Harvest Co-op Markets and held in conjunction
with the International Day for Cooperatives, co-sponsored annually by the
International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) in Geneva and the United Nations.
The event will be held in the parking lot adjacent to Harvest Co-op Market
in Cambridge, on Essex Street. This is our second year that a celebration of
the International Day for Co-operatives is being held in the Boston area.
In 2011, we had nearly 20 co-ops representing many different types of co-ops
and in 2012, we are hoping even more co-ops will participate.

2012 is also the UN and Congress Declared International Year of the
Co-operative.  Quoting from the UN Declaration,

"Governments, heads of international organizations and representatives of
cooperative organizations will meet . at United Nations headquarters to
launch the International Year of Cooperatives (2012) under the theme
"Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World".  Programmes during the Year
seek to encourage individuals, communities and governments to recognize the
agency of cooperatives in contributing to sustainable socio-economic
development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Cooperatives are business enterprises owned and controlled by the members
that they serve.  Their member-driven nature differentiates them other forms
of business into taking decisions balanced by the pursuit of profit with the
needs and interests of members and their communities."

History shows that the periods of greatest growth for co-ops come when the
economy is emerging from recession. As people get back on their feet, they
work to organize different ways of building economic organizations that will
not replicate previous mistakes. Among the cooperative businesses sponsoring
the Faire are the Boston-Area Solidarity Economy Network, the Cooperative
Fund of New England, BRANCHES housing co-ops, Equal Exchange, Beacon Hill
Friends House, Cabot Creamery Co-op, and at least a dozen others.

In addition to learning about co-ops of all types (consumer, worker,
agricultural, housing, etc.), participants can enjoy conversations with
others interested in cooperative economics, sample food, and possibly attend
a screening of the film At Home in Utopia about housing co-ops in New York
in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. 

For background on the International Day for Cooperatives from www.ica.coop

For background on the UN International Year of Cooperatives from
http://social.un.org/coopsyear/

Online map of Co-op Faire at

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=harvest+co-op+market+cambridge
<http://maps.google.com/maps?q=harvest+co-op+market+cambridge&hl=en&ll=42.36
4989,-71.102743&spn=0.004201,0.008229&fb=1&gl=us&z=17>
&hl=en&ll=42.364989,-71.102743&spn=0.004201,0.008229&fb=1&gl=us&z=17

For more information contact:

R. Wayne Clark

617-467-4113

rwayneclark at igc.org

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