“We own it.”
Written by Marc Brown, Board Member
Edited by Brion Oliver, Board Treasurer
“We own it,” is a favorite statement at People’s. It is a simple sentence, a noun (we) a verb (own) and an object (it). But that simple sentence goes to the heart of cooperative corporations like People’s. The sentence begins with “we.” That pronoun, in itself, is foundational for the cooperative movement. It means a collection of individuals with a shared vision or interest. The coming together of individuals to have more power as a collective unit rather than as individuals. The next word is “own.” Webster’s online dictionary defines that term to mean, “to have or hold as property: possess.” And then the last word, “it.” For those of you who recall 8th grade grammar, that is the direct object of the sentence. What do we own? We own “it.” Of course, that is vague. “It” is a pronoun and can be anything without context. But in the context of People’s, the term “it” refers to the cooperative corporation known as People’s Food Cooperative, a cooperative corporation first registered with the Oregon Secretary of State in 2000, registry number 090904-16 (a bit of People’s trivia: “People’s Food Store,” the predecessor to “People’s Food Cooperative'' was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation on September 29, 1970 and reincorporated as a cooperative corporation on November 1, 2000). So, when we say, “we own it,” we are saying that each of us is an owner of the cooperative corporation known as People’s Food Cooperative. In other words, “we” have pooled our resources and invested in a small grocery store. That small grocery store is ours. It is not owned by a multinational corporation with the sole interest of making as much money as possible. It is not owned by an online behemoth seeking to control every aspect of commerce. You, me, and approximately 5,000 other individuals are the owners.
Cooperatives have a long history. In fact, since the days of the hunter-gatherer, humans have been cooperating in one form or another. In a way, cooperation is the foundation to any society. However, for our purposes, there are, broadly speaking, three categories of cooperative corporations: worker cooperatives, producer cooperatives, and consumer cooperatives. A worker cooperative is a corporation that is owned by its workers. These cooperatives are often referred to as “employee-owned businesses.” A producer cooperative is a cooperative corporation owned by producers. Producer cooperatives are generally associated with agriculture. For example, several wheat farmers may get together and form a cooperative to build, operate, and maintain buildings to store grain (grain silos).
People’s is a consumer cooperative; a cooperative corporation owned by the consumers, you and me. Consumer cooperatives trace their history back to the Rochdale Pioneers in the north of England. The industrial revolution impoverished many skilled tradespersons by forcing former independent producers to work for large companies. Often, the workers were housed in a company town and were paid in company scrip that could only be used in the company store. This allowed the companies to exploit workers both as producers and consumers. In 1844, twenty-eight men formed the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers. In doing so, each pledged to pay £1 towards a fund to open a store. They envisioned a store in which they, the consumers, could control the price of food and other supplies. Within four months, they raised £10 to rent a building. On December 21, 1844, the Rochdale Pioneers opened their store with a small selection of butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal, and a few candles to light the space. Within three months, they added tea and tobacco and were soon known for selling high quality, unadulterated goods. By the end of their first year, the Rochdale Pioneers had 80 members and £182 in capital.
One hundred twenty six years later, People’s opened its doors as part of the “New Wave” cooperative movement. Although coming from a different place, the new wave cooperatives, primarily food cooperatives, shared an important foundation with Rochdale, the desire to take back control from large corporations bent on making as much money as possible. Like many of the new wave food cooperatives, People’s began as a “food conspiracy” (“SE Food Conspiracy”). The goal was to conspire (“to act in harmony toward a common end”) to subvert the food industry. Although a cooperative in name, People’s was actually a non-profit. While People’s had a membership fee, it did not have owners. Not until November 1, 2000, did People’s become a true cooperative by changing its corporate status from non-profit to cooperative. Which brings us back to “we own it.” Since the date of reincorporation, People’s has owners, us. Each owner holds one share. No more and no less. As such, People’s is a democratic operation. Each owner has one vote. That vote entitles them to vote for directors to serve on the board of directors (or to run for a seat on the board of directors) and to vote for any bylaw change. That share in People’s allows each of us to have a say in how our store operates but no owner has a greater say than any other owner.
When you are shopping at People’s next time, look around for signs that say “We Own It,” and think about what that means in this time of growing corporate dominance in the food industry. It means that this is our store, yours and mine and the thousands of other owners. Be proud of the fact that you are an owner of a cooperative corporation that is following the vision of impoverished weavers in a small northern English town in 1844. Like us, they decided to pool their resources and create a store that was theirs. We own it.
