Nagkaisa Connect. On Coops, Scarcity & Pinakbet
MANILA: Today, I do not bring you to the factory: The factory comes to you! And this is a new story of the famous Ilocano Pinakbet, which surprisingly many people don’t know how to cook, including restaurants you know. And, if you think you know how the factory works, and you know how to cook Pinakbet, this may double-surprise you. Behind a pickup, this cow-pulled travelling store of woven baskets, probably from Mangaldan, Pangasinan, stopping to rest in my hometown of Asingan in the same province, is an excellent metaphor to show what a Coop can do for the people, especially the poor near or far. A travelling store of baskets like this eliminates the middleman; you are buying at factory price. All coops must eliminate the middleman to bring down prices of goods and services to the level of the poor: affordable. We have just established Nagkaisa , a multipurpose cooperative in my hometown (see also my "A Coop Is Born. Will Nagkaisa wake Asingan up?" 23 October 2012, Nagka