Press release from the Cooperative Agriculture Network:

With funding from the Resource Legacy Fund’s Land-Sea Connection Program the Cooperative Agriculture Network (CAN) is launching a multi-month investigation into the ways that cooperatives can reduce barriers for participation in the regulated market. The Land-Sea Connection grant works to advance the long-term health and resilience of California watersheds by promoting more effective local and state policies and conservation programs. The project starts with a survey that seeks insights from the farmers themselves. The survey is available on the CAN website at cancoop.org.

CAN’s investigation will continue with a second survey targeted at regulators, think tank sessions involving key stakeholders, a workshop informed by the priorities identified through the think tank, and educational materials available to both the public and participants in future CAN programs.

The Cooperative Agriculture Network is a worker-owned cooperative that supports cooperative business development among craft cannabis farmers in the Emerald Triangle. Since 2020, CAN has run a yearly Cooperative Academy, hosted multiple cooperative speakers and facilitated a think tank for stakeholder brainstorming on the challenges and emerging solutions for the cannabis sector and the larger agriculture industry.

CAN website at cancoop.org includes links to access the academic research guided and supported by CAN in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Cannabis and Social Policy and others, as well as links to access the recordings from previous guests on the CAN Speaker Series, including George Siemon, founder of Organic Valley.