Join Emi Do, YA’s Co-op Coordinator, for a hands-on look at how collaboration fits into your farm
Are you feeling intimidated about the prospect of tackling your farming enterprise on your own? This session is a great place to get your collaborative juices flowing. Explore the myths, challenges, and opportunities of the cooperative model. Hear from farmers that are actively in co-ops about how they’re using collaboration to tackle the barriers to farming in our current food landscape – and make their farms, lives, and communities work.
Date: Tuesday, November 28, 2023 | 7-8:30 PM PST
Location: Online on Indigenous territories across what is today known as B.C. Join us from the comfort of your couch, office, tractor, compost heap – wherever you find yourself able to tune in!
REGISTER: Please RSVP on Eventbrite by clicking the button below. There’s a myth that farming is a solitary enterprise. In reality, farmers are no different than most small businesses that are dependent on their local economy in order to function. Is there a potential for collective action in tackling some of the resource constraints experienced by farmers?
Co-operatives are a proven solution, and emerge when individuals share a common need. What is involved in starting a co-op? Are co-ops the only way to collaborate on shared solutions? How can the model help you in your farming endeavors?
Join Emi Do, YA’s co-op coordinator, for a workshop exploring the ins and outs of cooperation for the farming context, followed by a panel with farmers who are utilizing the co-op model to achieve their farming vision will follow the workshop.
Speaker Bio
Emi Do came to cooperatives as a small-scale urban farmer trying to find a viable alternative to the dominant food distribution chain. Though her interest in agricultural cooperatives led to a PhD and an assistant professorship at Tokyo University of Agriculture, the empowerment, mutuality and solidarity underlying cooperatives sparked an interest in the co-ops as a means to democratize and transform relationships across different workplaces and contexts. She has also been an active member of the Community Working Group Operations Team at social.coop for over two years, helping to navigate the challenging waters of online moderation cooperatively. She recently co-authored a book on the transformative potential of cooperatives entitled Cooperatives at Work. Emi is excited to work with YA supporting farmers to help find opportunities for collaboration and fostering cooperation to solve gaps in the food system in B.C.
2023 Online Land Access Events
We are offering a series of online land access workshops this winter, covering everything from business planning to land sharing and leases to co-operatives. Make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter so you don’t miss future workshops!
- Nov 21, 2023: ONLINE – Business Planning for Your Future Farm with Melanie Buffel – 7-8:30 PST
- January 2023 – Indigenous Food Sovereignty, dates TBD
- February 2023 – Land Leasing 101, Negotiation, Panel: Land Sharing Success Stories, dates TBD
Questions about this event, or about the B.C. Land Matching Program? Reach out to our BCLMP Coordinator, Kat, at bclmp@youngagrarians.org.
SHARE: Planning on joining us? Invite your friends and share the Facebook Event!
Stay in Touch
- Find more co-op resources for farmers.
- Not able to join this event? Visit our Events Page for other events in your community and online!
- Join one of our regional Facebook groups to stay up to date with all events in the region.
- Sign up for our e-newsletter to get events and opportunities for your region delivered straight to your inbox.
- We welcome cancellations at any time – you can do so through Eventbrite, through the link in your registration confirmation email, or by contacting bclmp@youngagrarians.org. Please let us know if you aren’t able to attend.
If you are interested in hosting an event at your farm and bringing together the farming community in your area, please reach out to bclmp@youngagrarians.org with your idea!
GOT LAND? WANT LAND?
Through the B.C. Land Matching Program, Young Agrarians offers support to farmers looking for land for their farm business, and landholders looking for farmers to farm their land. We’ve made more than 288 matches on over 11,400 acres to date!
Are you on the Young Agrarians UMAP? List your land or future farm dream today! You just might find a farmer who can turn your vacant field into a productive farm, or a landholder who has the ideal piece of land for you!
For more info about our land access resources, visit the YA Land page!
The B.C. Land Matching Program is funded by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative, with additional support from Columbia Basin Trust, Bullitt Foundation, Cowichan Valley Regional District, and the Real Estate Foundation of BC.
YA’s Co-op Coordinator is funded by the British Columbia Co-operative Association, in partnership with the Alliance for Co-operative Development.