Korean Agricultural cooperatives as a model for development of the Lane County
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Date
2008-06
Authors
Lee, Kwangsoo
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Planning, Public Policy & Management, University of Oregon
Abstract
Agriculture remains an important part of the Oregon stateâ s economy, first in
terms of volume and second only to high tech in terms of export value and the
state of Oregon grows diverse of production and most of the production is
exported and 40% leaves the country.1
Many scholars insist that cooperatives can contribute to the community
development. Newly established cooperatives make new jobs in the community
and pay taxes to the rural government. They also bring about the construction of
infrastructure. In addition, cooperatives play an important role in retaining the
money in the community which buyers spent. Especially, agricultural
1 Can the way we eat change Metropolitan agriculture?, Martha Works and Thomas Harvey,
www.terrain.org/articles/17/works_harvey.htm
2
cooperatives can contribute to not only the increase of farmersâ income but also
providing consumers with fresh and safe food which is grown, distributed,
shipped and handled locally.
This paper will use Lane County as an example to illustrate role of agricultural
cooperatives in rural development. Because historically Lane County's economy
has been based on agriculture, Lane County can be a good example of how
agricultural cooperatives can help regional development.
Most farms in Lane County are family farms, and agricultural cooperatives can be
useful tools for the family farms. In addition, in there is a situation where Oregon
suffers from high unemployment, agricultural cooperatives can give new jobs to
Lane county.
Description
Examining committee: Michael Hibbard, chair, Edward Weeks
Keywords
Agriculture, Rural development, Lane County (Or.), Agricultural cooperatives