Co-ops are a powerful tool for change – in the U.S. Northeast, and around the world

Neighboring Food Co-op Association was on hand at McCusker's Market in Shelburne Falls, Mass. for National Voter Registration Day last week. [photo courtesy NFCA]In an article for Green Energy Times, Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) Executive Director Erbin Crowell says cooperatives are one of the "most time-tested tools that everyday people have to create change."

That's why elected leaders from 193 national governments at the UN declared 2025 the Year of Cooperatives-its second such declaration. Member states have long saw co-ops as partners in progress to end poverty, fight inequality and protect the planet.

In the U.S. Northeast, NFCA was a champion of the first Year of Cooperatives in 2012, and continues to advance a thriving cooperative economy rooted in regional food systems, sustainability and shared prosperity.

While co-ops are locally-led, Crowell puts their impact in a global context. With an estimated 1 billion cooperators worldwide, the co-op business model is uniquely equipped to build a better world from the ground up.

"With so many urgent challenges before us, cooperative enterprise offers a powerful, democratic path toward a fair and sustainable future," Crowell writes.

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"With so many urgent challenges before us, cooperative enterprise offers a powerful, democratic path toward a fair and sustainable future." - Erbin Crowell