Simon Berge

Cooperative economics looks at market failures as areas for development. The cooperative development process, however, requires member engagement or cohesion in the process according to the Cooperative Management Equilibrium Theory. This cohesion requires an awareness and understanding by the cooperative members of the market failure to develop the capacity to address the failure. This article looks at the effects of government agricultural programs on economic, environmental and social sustainability. The questions we ask is how does a focus on economic development push against social and environmental sustainability within the agricultural sector in Togo? Does member cohesion within a cooperative represent a form of Polanyian double movement through social and environmental cohesion? The current development models utilize what Sen refers to as an austere mode of development which forgoes social or environmental considering them luxuries. Does the focus of economic development buil...

CO-OPERAIVES AS AN ALTNERATIVE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR LOCAL FOOD AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Simon Thomas Berge Advisor: University of Guelph, 2015 Professor W. Caldwell Consolidation within the food system places the needs of the system itself over the needs of communities (Brenner, Peck and Theodore, 2010; Patel, 2010; Gross, 2011; Holt-Gimenez and Shattuck, 2011; Marsden and Franklin, 2013). To ensure the system’s needs are met the current food system curtails information flows creating an asymmetry of information between consumers and retailers (Jaffe and Gertler, 2006; Nestle’, 2007). This lack of information leads to decreased community participation within the food system as seen by the distancing of consumers from food preparation (Jaffe and Gertler, 2006). This research examined how Ontario food co-operatives developed to address a community’s ability to participate within the food system. Three questions were asked within this research project to determine the role of food ...

Business is one of the fastest growing areas in post-secondary education, but there is little understanding of Indigenous business practices. This article looks at three Arctic communities in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, and their associated co-operative businesses. I examine how these businesses express cultural values, as well as the business skill needs within these communities. Key informant interviews were conducted in each of the three Arctic communities, and three conclusions were made: (a) Co-operatives act as links between communities and their economic activities, (b) Business skills within communities need to be developed, and (c) Business skills need to include cultural components, as co-ops represent cultural economic expressions.