It was an old dream of Córdoba mutualism, which took shape a little less than two years ago and unfortunately, ceased to be a reality and returned to its dreamlike stage. The large-scale mutual supplier, the size and characteristics of a supermarket, that the La Mediterránea Mutual Association had installed at 2000 Caraffa Avenue, in the capital of Córdoba, closed its doors.
It was a true milestone of the social and solidarity economy, where you could purchase food, drinks, meats, cold cuts, bakery products, cleaning products, etc., the entire menu of consumer options available in any large private store, although in In this case, the present stock had a profile especially oriented to promoting local and associative production, particularly that of cooperative and mutual origin.
The result of a social and economic construction of several months, the commercial initiative had enjoyed the enthusiastic support of the organizations that make up the Table of Associativism and Social Economy (Mayes), both the one in Córdoba and other tables in nearby cities, spaces promoted by the National Institute of Associativism and Social Economy (Inaes) throughout the country, which aim to create “organized communities” of intermediate entities that, around the principles of solidarity, mutual aid, cooperation and reciprocity, collaborate with each other to seek more local jobs, more goods and services for their associated neighborhood populations and their families.
Since its opening, the mutual supplier has taken a path towards strengthening the service, promoting agreements with associative organizations, linking with cooperative producers, and adding benefits to the members from the interrelationship with other mutuals. He actively articulated with cooperative and social producer organizations, even providing his space for meetings between entities of the social and solidarity economy. He organized sales by bags at differentiated prices for other institutions, which he articulated with unions and neighborhood organizations.
In November of last year it had received recognition from the provincial Legislature, through a commemorative plaque for the first anniversary.
The difficulties of the situation, with inflation, a drop in consumer purchasing power, and the rules imposed by the market, put local businesses and of course the entities that provide this food provision service at risk, forcing the Mutual Association to close its supply store.
Today, the commercial facilities located in the Villa Cabrera neighborhood, on Caraffa Avenue at 2000, a nerve center of the city due to its quick access roads and communication with the central and northern areas of the city, are empty and are awaiting some commercial initiative of the type . With a functional design and ample amenities, similar to that of large commercial stores in the for-profit private sector, the mutual supply store had first-class infrastructure, including warehouses for the collection of food and beverages, cold chambers, administrative offices, and sanitary facilities. and large parking lot. The building has a land area of more than 5,500 m2, with 700 m2 of commercial space.
With the closure of La Mediterránea, the social and solidarity economy, not only of Córdoba but of the country, loses a reference point of fair prices for both producers and consumers, at a time when the consumer price index continues at levels of 50% to 60% annually.
The warehouses and warehouse of La Mediterránea also offered the possibility of having a central point to establish an extensive transport corridor for socially produced food, for example between northern Argentina and Patagonia, where what is produced in a region , passes through a local supply line and takes merchandise to other social supplies at another end of the territory. A dream today cut short by the closure of the Córdoba sales outlet.
