Consumer Coop Manager’s Association (food co-op) Conference – Reckoning and Renewal

CCMA 2021: Reckoning and Renewal

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the flaws that have long existed in our society. Crises have a way of revealing truths and focusing attention on systemic problems. The basics – access to healthy food, healthcare, living wage jobs, freedom from fear of oppression and racism – are not basic but essential.

Crisis also creates opportunity – the opportunity to reinvent, innovate, and adapt. As we have seen across the country, the way that cooperatives do business has been upended. From supply chains to shopping habits, from board meetings to member engagement strategies, everything has changed. Change is painful, yet hopeful. How do we as cooperators capture and apply these lessons to ensure we strengthen our communities rather than reverting to previous norms. Normal wasn’t working for far too many people in our society. The challenging work of the reckoning provides a canvas for opportunity and renewal. This year’s CCMA will focus on how food cooperatives are recalibrating and developing innovative solutions that will ultimately strengthen and enhance our social, economic, and environmental wellbeing as we move through and past these difficult times.