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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Co-operators, Radicals, Socialists, Anarchists, Communists, Left-wing Republicans, and Progressive Democrats,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Mass Bay Co-op Faire will be held on Saturday, July 7<sup>th</sup>, 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 <b><u>FREE</u></b> and open to the public!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>To find out about these and the other co-ops, attend the Faire! Details below:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><hr size=3 width="100%" align=center></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#7030A0'>Mass. Bay Co-op Faire to Celebrate<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#7030A0'>International Day for Cooperatives<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#7030A0'>In the UN International Year of Co-operatives<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><u><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:red'>Saturday, July 7, 2012, 10:00–2:00<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><u><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:red'>Harvest Co-op Market, Essex Street parking lot, Cambridge, MA<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><u><span style='font-size:36.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#0070C0'>FREE and Open to the Public!<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>2012 is also the UN and Congress Declared International Year of the Co-operative. Quoting from the UN Declaration,</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“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.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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 <i><u>At Home in Utopia</u></i> about housing co-ops in New York in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>For background on the International Day for Cooperatives from <a href="http://www.ica.coop">www.ica.coop</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>For background on the UN International Year of Cooperatives from <a href="http://social.un.org/coopsyear/">http://social.un.org/coopsyear/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Online map of Co-op Faire at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=harvest+co-op+market+cambridge&hl=en&ll=42.364989,-71.102743&spn=0.004201,0.008229&fb=1&gl=us&z=17">http://maps.google.com/maps?q=harvest+co-op+market+cambridge&hl=en&ll=42.364989,-71.102743&spn=0.004201,0.008229&fb=1&gl=us&z=17</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><u>For more information contact:<o:p></o:p></u></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#7030A0'>R. Wayne Clark<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#C00000'>617-467-4113<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:rwayneclark@igc.org">rwayneclark@igc.org</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>