Public Policy Implications
Clearly, the emergence of non-traditional cooperative models takes the definition of the
cooperative as a user owned and controlled organization to the limit. The ownership rights
approach to analyzing boundaries of the firm and control – residual claim trade offs can also be
used to inform public policy debates regarding the degree and role of producers not only as users
but also investors in the global food chain. Most analysts agree that the uncertainties associated
with globalization, food chain consolidation and vertical coordination, environmental constraints,
genetic modification and food safety have created an environment in which the public interest
must be clearly defined and communicated. A basic public policy issue is to what degree and
what role should producers be allowed to participate in this new institutional environment. If the
public objective is to facilitate the continuance of the countervailing power and rural
development benefits produced by an institutional arrangement that in the past was beneficial to
both the American food consumer and the producer then modifications to our current state and
national legislation and regulation should be contemplated.