International Year of Cooperatives

The United Nations designated 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives to recognize and celebrate cooperatives' vital role in sustainable development. The initiative's theme “Cooperatives Build a Better World” underscores cooperatives' enduring global impact, highlighting their contributions to sustainable development across social, economic, and environmental dimensions. The theme also emphasizes the unique ability of cooperatives to foster inclusive growth and strengthen community resilience.

Here in Vernon County, WI, the Viroqua Food Co+op plays an essential role in sustainability and resilience. We are a consumer-owned cooperative owned by those who shop at our store. Our mission is to provide local and organic food and exceptional customer service to our community. Over the past thirty years, the growth of the Viroqua Food Co+op in ownership and sales has strengthened small family farms and diverse food businesses and contributed to a lively local food economy in rural Wisconsin. In our small town, this is what inclusive growth and community resilience look like.

We achieve our co-op’s mission guided by the Cooperative Principles (next page) and adhere to the Cooperative Values. This means that, like all co-ops, Viroqua Food Co+op balances profit with the needs and interests of our owners and community. We are democratically controlled by our owners, with every owner getting equal say or one vote in co-op elections. We are united in the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. And we believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. It is through these values that all co-ops are created. In an age where corporations focus on maximizing profits and influence for a few, co-ops that provide equal representation for all are more crucial than ever to create a more just and sustainable world.

This October, we celebrate thirty years of cooperation. All Co-op owners are invited to join us on October 16th at our Annual Owners Meeting to share cake, camaraderie and the cooperative spirit that sustains us all. Happy Co-op Month!

International Cooperative Principles

1. democratic member control

2. members' economic participation

3. autonomy and independence

4. education, training and information

5. cooperation among cooperatives

6. concern for community

7. diversity, equity and inclusion*voluntary and open membership