New England Farmers Union was one of many presenters to be part of the Neighboring Food Co-operative Association’s (NFCA’s) track on “Co-operatives in the Food System” at the 41st annual NOFA Summer Conference, held at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in August.
Roughly 50 people attended workshops in the track, which is in its second year. New England Farmers Union President Roger Noonan and NFCA Executive Director Erbin Crowell presented the workshop Farmer Co-ops For Efficient Production. Workshop attendees across the track included representatives from Berkshire Co-op, Monadnock Food Co-op, Fiddleheads Food Co-op, Cooperative Fund of New England, Organic Valley, and Valley Alliance of Worker Co-ops.
For more information on farmer co-ops, please see New England Farmers Union’s manual, co-authored by Crowell, Growing a Food System for the Future: A Manual for Co-operative Enterprise Development.