This week, Mari Nishitani writes about Reem's California, a worker co-op serving Arab street food in San Francisco while striving to create a "solidarity restaurant ecosystem."
Then, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives lends its support (and Executive Director) to a new cooperative financial association for small farmers in the Southeast US.
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Arab Street Corner Bakery Challenges Inequality with Cooperation
by Mari Nishitani
During the pandemic, Reem’s California, like many other restaurants, was desperately scrambling for dollars. Despite multiple strategies to raise sales —stay-home family catering and meal kits or wholesale programs for local grocery stores—these efforts only allowed the restaurant to barely survive in the game of capitalism.  Even as a worker cooperative equipped with a structure to provide livable wages for its workers, the profits needed to sustain financial security for workers still relied on customers’ discretionary spending, which is highly vulnerable to precarious economic conditions.
New Co-op Financial Association for Southern Small Farmers
by Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund
This past October, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund ("the Federation") joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other partners for the announcement of the historic launch of the Southern Farmers Financial Association (SFFA). This new cooperatively-owned institution was created to increase access to capital for its member-owners to begin farming or strengthen existing small farming operations and agriculture-based businesses in high-poverty areas across the Southeast.
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Why more and more journalists are launching worker-owned outlets
Poynter — “We wanted to build this as a place that respected workers, respected the labor that they do, and allowed everyone a seat at the table and a voice in how the business is run,” said Dennis Dean, the Watchdog’s elected CEO and one of its founding members. “I think a big part of the (Long Beach Journalism Initiative’s) downfall was the consolidation of power that took place…We wanted an organization that was run democratically by the people who were doing the work.”
Born from 36 paise, a cooperative society will build townships for Kerala landslide survivors
South First — Paleri Remeshan, Chairman of the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS Ltd), traces its origin to the visionary teachings of Vagbhatananda Guru, a prominent figure of the Kerala Renaissance. In the early 20th century, Uralungal in Kozhikode faced extreme poverty, with no employment opportunities for its people. Inspired by the Guru’s discourse at the Puthalath temple in Mahe in 1917, a group of villagers invited him to their homeland. Under his leadership, a spiritual school was established in Karakkad. When unemployed youth approached him with skepticism, the Guru encouraged collective action rather than despair. He proposed forming a cooperative to organise laborers willing to work...
Hospitals Are Desperately Understaffed. Could Co-ops Be an Answer?
In These Times — The workers who join AlliedUP are not only prepared but empowered to an extent that’s highly unusual in healthcare staffing — AlliedUP is a cooperative, co-owned by its worker members who are each entitled to a share of the 80% of the firm’s profits reserved for employees, the opportunity to run for election to one of the worker slots on the company’s board of directors, as well as a vote on major firm decisions...
Registration is open for the 2025 Home Care Cooperative Conference
NCBA CLUSA — Registration is open for the 9th annual National Home Care Cooperative Conference, scheduled for March 11-14, 2025 in Dulles, Virginia. The conference is organized by the Cooperative Development Foundation and Elevate and hosted at the headquarters of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation. This year’s theme is “Cooperative Ownership: United in Purpose.” The conference will focus on cooperative ownership and the incredible power that comes from working together towards a common purpose...
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