For most of us, Franklin Community Cooperative is more than a place to buy our food; it’s a community where we feel we belong and hope to welcome others. Our cooperative represents our beliefs in the benefits of locally-grown food and in investing in our local economy. It’s a trusted source of products we can count on, and a philosophy of caring about others.
These are among the sentiments our member-owners expressed over the past 18 months as we held discussions to understand the role FCC does and should play. From these discussions, we summarized five essential distinguishing values:
You belong here as a customer, as a member-owner, as an employee.
We offer choice based on our community’s wide range of product preferences and food budgets.
You can trust the quality of your food and know its sources.
We support local farms, producers, economy, and community.
We care about human and environmental health, and about social, racial, and economic justice.
Our member-owners care deeply about these enduring values. We express these concepts in language that’s intended to appeal to a broad range of individuals, as if we were telling someone new about the special characteristics of our co-op.
The Board of Directors has led the initiative to elucidate member-owners’ values. It’s the Board’s responsibility to understand our shared values and reflect them in our decisions. (It’s in our job description: “Policy G2.1 … The Board will educate itself regarding the values held by the members and report periodically to the members …”)
We expect to use these values to guide future decisions, including the Ends we set for the organization.
Working Group members: Tammy Erickson, Franklin Community Cooperative Board President; Peter Garbus, Board Clerk; George Touloumtzis, Board member; and Bill Sweeney, Board member.