Mesa Noa is a cooperative founded in Cagliari in 2019 by a community of people who practice responsible consumption and opened Sardinia’s first self-managed emporium in the city. The cooperative has more than 400 members and associates and is the only referent in Sardinia of Confcooperative’s Community Cooperatives.
Mesa Noa’s members and associates cover all the organizational and sales phases necessary to run the emporium free of charge; the savings thus generated make it possible to have quality products available at competitive prices and to pay fair compensation to producers.
The emporium’s suppliers are mainly farmers and artisans who share with Mesa Noa respect for the land and seasonal cycles, the dignity of labor, and the health of those who work and those who consume. The range of products is then expanded through wholesalers from organic, ethical and fair trade supply chains. As the headquarters of the emporium, Mesa Noa chose a suburban and working-class neighborhood of Cagliari, where it was deemed most essential to experiment with a solidarity community project and where it is proposed as a space for meeting, exchange of knowledge and mutual aid. Since its establishment, Mesa Noa has been promoting popular events in the area on the themes of circular economy and small local economies, with the aim of building networks with groups and people who share the same horizon of values in a broader framework of innovation and social transformation.
1. The organization
Cooperative Society
Is the organization already part of the Azione Terrae coalition?
Via Crespellani 48 Cagliari 09121
Tiziana Diana (cooperative president)
mesanoa.org
2. General information
Start date
2019-03-21
End date
Project title (if the practice is part of a specific project)
Mesa Noa Food Coop
Mesa Noa Food Coop
Country(s) of implementation of the practice
The Food Coop model was born in 1973 in Brooklyn, NY, only recently spreading to Europe and Italy. Here the first food coop was Camilla, in Bologna. This was followed by Mesa Noa in Cagliari, then Oltrefood coop in Parma, Stadera in Ravenna, Le Vie dell’Orto in Grosseto, Edera in Trento, l’Alveare in Conegliano, and in June there will be the opening of Eufemia, in Milan. The most important ones in Europe are La Louve in Paris.
Main country
If we consider as main the experience that represents the model that has inspired all other food co-ops around the world, we are surely talking about the United States. The New York experience, which began in 73 in Brooklyn, has about 17,000 active members, and makes local and organic food available to its members, with a collaborative and socially inclusive model that sees all kinds of ethnicities and social classes coexisting perfectly. It is a highly innovative and now widely proven social experiment. The model has since been replicated essentially identically in Europe as well. Mesa Noa has also replicated the same model, while adapting it to the specifics of its own economic and social context.
Region and city
Sardinia, Cagliari
Dimensions of agroecology involved in practice
Environmental, Social, Economical
Main strategic theme
Servizi
Priorities for each of the strategic themes
Land: priority
Alta
Seeds: priority
Alta
Market: priority
Alta
Services: priority
Alta
Women: priority
Media
Youth: priority
Alta
Does the Practice have any certification?
Si
3. Context
Previous agroecology experience in the identified area, considering the chosen category and the areas of intervention/pillar
Specify agroecological dimensions
Environmental, Social, Economical
Identified needs, referring to the context and categories
4. Details
In this section we intend to deepen the Practice in relation to the document AT paper and SDG 4.7.
Objectives of good practice
to contribute to the construction of an economic and social model, alternative to the current one oriented solely to profit, that respects the environment, supports small local productions and practices solidarity-based and inclusive forms of sociability; – to strengthen the large community of Mesa Noa, expanding both its social base, which now numbers more than 400 members and associates, and its network of small local agricultural and artisanal businesses; – promote the creation of solidarity and participatory networks; Mesa Noa has so far promoted the establishment of a neighborhood network among associations, committees, groups and individuals, the goal is to extend the practice to the other neighborhoods that make up the city, targeting the younger generation, envisioning actions with schools of all levels.
What kind of challenge was faced?
Opening the first self-managed emporium in Sardinia entailed considerable initial difficulties both in the empowerment journey for the members and associates, and in fitting into a market dominated by large-scale retail and in a neighborhood reluctant to new things. The members learned to make their own values dialogue with the logistical and administrative needs of the cooperative, working out an inclusive and mutualistic way of working even with suppliers, marked by mutual recognition, overcoming cultural stereotypes, and care in conflict management. The strong cohesion of the community has made it possible to gradually smooth out some of the most stringent problems, including having had to face, and overcome, the pandemic crisis, which began a few months after the project began.
Explain your choices
– the decision to open a self-managed emporium inspired by the experience of food co-ops was made to overcome the limitations of GAS (solidarity purchasing groups), which are almost never provided with a space available to members to give continuity to their purposes and also do social and relational activities;
– the food sector was chosen because the poor quality of the average food offered in normal supermarkets and the marginality assigned to local products are increasingly evident. Evident and considered unfair is the treatment of small-scale production by the large-scale retail sector, which does not adequately remunerate labor in production chains. – the choice of the suburban neighborhood was made believing that it could propose activities and services capable of revitalizing it.
How practice meets the 5 Ps of the 2030 Agenda
People: Founded as a community project that puts people at the center, encourages ethical and inclusive communication, exchange and mutual aid.
Planet: Supports small businesses and local communities that preserve the environment, biodiversity and laculture of the area.
Prosperity: the emporium creates value for members, its suppliers and society.
Peace: Practices mediation and peaceful resolution of conflicts internally. It is part of the Warfree Network, enterprises for a war-free economy. Partnerships: Terre colte, an association for the reuse of uncultivated land; In Our Garden Sardinia, a permaculture company; School of the Earth, workshops and summer camps for ecological culture; Neighborhood Network; Confcooperative; Italian Network of Self-Managed Consumer Cooperatives.
5. Changes
In which areas has the Practice brought about the most changes?
In which Strategic Theme has the Practice made the most changes?
Explain in qualitative and quantitative terms
– popularization of new forms of critical and responsible consumption, measurable by the constant increase in the range of products, sales at the emporium and the number of members – implementation of a mode of cooperation with suppliers based on a direct relationship of mutual trust and shared values, measurable with the increased number of suppliers and with the fact that we often succeed in getting them to accommodate requests that go towards the circular economy (such as the reuse of the containers with which they deliver some products to us) – aggregation of groups and associations in the neighborhood, measurable with the creation of Vivi Mulinu Becciu (a network of existing sports, cultural, educational and associative realities) and with the many events proposed in and for the neighborhood; collaborations with the MuBe (neighborhood center)-promotion of the culture of recycling with the creation of a tailoring workshop that reuses discarded fabrics and proposes objects that go towards the circular economy (such as shopping bags and bags to store and buy bulk products sold in the emporium).
Describe actions to replicate the practice
The strength of a sustainable project lies in the cohesion of the community that promotes it and the participation of the area that welcomes it. Community building around a vision and shared values stems from an intense season of meetings, parties and debates. Members and associates were formed in a journey of self-management, assumption of responsibility, and exchange of knowledge. A mode of cooperation based on a direct relationship of mutual trust was realized with suppliers. Communicating the experience with events and promotion on social media is essential. Mesa Noa has also chosen to do so through a documentary that tells the story of the project from its conception to the opening of the emporium. Another action is the support of existing food co-ops to new projects.
Indicate how the Practice is sustainable
Economic sustainability is achieved by trying to broaden the membership base as much as possible. The number of memberships must steadily grow to a minimum level that can guarantee the necessary turnover of volunteer members who give their time for free on shifts in the emporium and in other functional activities in the life of the cooperative. This ensures a significant reduction in personnel costs and allows us to keep prices low for quality, local and environmentally friendly products. The more of us who buy from our emporium, the more we can lower the mark-up the cooperative makes on the price recognized to the supplier and, therefore, the sale price for the benefit of members. The other challenge is to constantly motivate volunteer members.
