Announcement of formation of worker owned cooperatives. FYI.
Ross S. Heckmann
Arcadia, California
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Robert Waldrop <
bwaldrop@...>
Date: May 30, 2007 8:29 AM
Subject: [cathworker] Our latest cooperative organizing project
To:
cathworker@...
Here is our latest cooperative organizing project. This announcement is
being sent around Oklahoma cyberspace today.
Bob Waldrop, Romero House, OKC
SPIN Farming (Small Plot Intensive) originated in Saskatoon, Canada, where
some rural farmers decided to move to the city and become urban market
gardeners. They presently gross about $50,000/year on 1/2 acre of market
garden plots. They don't even have a half acre in a contiguous place, they
"rent" about 20 different plots in people's back yards under various
"rental" agreements. www.spinfarming.com is their website.
If there is one thing that I have learned in 3-1/2 years as president and
general manager of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative, it is that the market for
locally and organically grown vegetables is way bigger than the actual
production of locally and organically grown vegetables.
I am interested in helping organize one or more worker owned cooperatives
who would use the SPIN farming model to develop market gardening businesses
in Oklahoma that would grow and sell organic vegetables directly to the
public at farmers markets and through the Oklahoma Food Cooperative.
My idea is that initially, this would be a "2nd job" for the participants, a
part-time job that in time could grow to be a full-time business. As I have
often been heard to say, "We start small or we don't start at all."
As I did when I started the Oklahoma Food Cooperative, I have started a
Yahoo discussion group to facilitate that organizing process. If you are
interested in becoming an Oklahoma SPIN Farming Cooperator, please subscribe
to the discussion and let's get this going. To subscribe, go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/okspinfarmcoop/ and click the "join" button.
Please pass this news along to other Oklahoma listservs where people may be
interested.
Bob Waldrop, Oklahoma City
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
