You may be one of the people helping to complete your co-op’s Food Co-op Impact Survey — HR has an important role to play! You may also have questions. We certainly did, and we put them to NCG’s Sustainability Specialist Cole Hawthorne. Cole is passionate about the survey and has plenty of insights to offer. Read on for our Q&A and then share it with others at your co-op who might help complete the survey!
How can food co-ops avoid the “greenwashing” label when it comes to environmental and social sustainability? By incorporating NCG’s sustainability database into your co-op’s business planning and operations and communicating performance data with transparency.
The Food Co-op Impact Survey is a questionnaire that asks all NCG co-ops the same 23 questions about different aspects of their social and environmental impact. Read on for answers to your most common questions about completing this annual survey.
The United Nations declared 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives. Now is the time to lift up the people-centered businesses at the heart of our communities and economies! Share these co-op facts and ways to support co-ops with your owners and shoppers.
Our donation is in response to fundraising efforts by long-time food co-op brand partner Equal Exchange that began after they learned that their U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) grant funds would not be available to support their ongoing work with farmer cooperatives.
Providing thoughtful and/or direct responses when transgender, nonbinary or gender-expansive individuals are misgendered or deadnamed is crucial for fostering an inclusive and affirming environment. Driven by a fervent desire to provide support to frontline workers at co-ops, this article shares examples drawn from convenings of LGBTQIA+ cooperators attending affinity groups offered during NCG conferences in 2023.
NCG food co-ops broke a record for best participation ever in the Food Co-op Impact Survey for 2024! In this article, we review year-over-year survey results for the past three years compared to the social and environmental goals we have set for our community of co-ops as a whole.
NCG tracks the federal Farm Bill process closely and works with allies to advocate for policies that reflect food co-ops’ priorities.
NCG partners with ReSeed, a credible, socially responsible carbon solution provider that helps companies like NCG offset their carbon footprints. ReSeed: Small Farms, Massive Impact ReSeed has a certified, socially responsible business model in an industry where regulation is not guaranteed. The company pays and incentivizes smallholder (family) farmers in Brazil to maintain the climate-friendly,
Brattleboro is taking a unique and proactive approach to building community connections to serve unhoused individuals in their area. The co-op provides food at no cost for anyone who asks and also provides space in the store for community partners to meet with individuals and help connect them with support services.
