Filed under: Meet your board
Please join the Board of Directors in offering our condolences to Gloria Kraegel, whose father passed away this afternoon.
Our focus on eating local foods and supporting our farmers is one step towards reducing our oil dependence. Progress! This article details the grassroots Transition Albany project, which aims to make SF more sustainable. What ideas can we take as inspiration?
Filed under: Expansion project
Board member Vanessa Marquez passes along this article on bulk water. We’ll have bulk water in our new store, too!
WENA voted to support the coop in its pursuit of a zoning variance for our new location. Thanks, WENA! We also found out that Bread and Roses Collective has started a big ol’ garden in the yard of a house they purchased on Westcott St, the one that is dreamsicle- and pink-colored. Congrats, B&R!
Filed under: Sustainability
If you missed today’s New York Times article, there quite a bit of food for thought there: Quit waving signs. Drive less. And might I add: use cleaning products that do not contain petroleum and reduce the use of plastic.
One of the joys of hotel stays is the free copy of USA Today (“NO. 1 IN THE USA”… probably because they give it away free in bajillions of hotels!). I like how Laurie Anderson calls it “the happy paper.” But I digress. One of Friday’s cover stories is Diversity grows as majority dwindles. Everyone should read this, please.
What does this have to do with our coop? Well, take a look around; who do you see? Are the faces you see reflective of our community? Fortunately, our new location will give us the opportunity to serve (and employ) the community as it actually is.
Wow! What an information-filled day! It’s so great to see cooperators from around the country. Did you know that there are now around 300 food coops here in the US?
I went to several sessions and have a lot to report. Because it’s 11 pm and I gotta get up early, it’ll have to wait! But I’ll leave you with a great idea I learned: now that the desire for organic and local foods has become more mainstream, we can expect Wal-Mart to soon begin to carry local, organic produce. What do our coops have to offer that can compete with that? Community and authenticity. What are some of your suggestions around building our capacity for these character traits?
Filed under: Meet your board
We’re at the annual Consumer Cooperative Management Association meeting, hosted by Bloomingfoods Market and Deli. Yesterday, we toured its three locations, and walked around lovely Bloomington. There’s a lot of limestone in this part of Indiana and there are some lovely buildings here.
Congratulations to Travis, who was elected to the board of the Cooperative Grocers Information Network!
Filed under: Expansion project
Tonite, the Eastside TNT voted to support the coop in its application for a zoning variance for the new location! Thanks, TNT!
Filed under: Meet your board
Our long term board president, Gloria Kraegal, had to step down due to family issues, so the board elected Georgette Nicolaides in her place.
Q. How do you pronounce that?
A. It rhymes with bronchitis.
Q. What are your experiences with food coops?
A. I’ve been a member of one coop or another since I joined my first in College Station, Texas, in 1985. I like participating in this type of mutual aid society.
Q. TEXAS???
A. I never voted for Dubya, Ann Richards is my patron saint, the Big Boys are my soundtrack, and “new country” sucks.
Q. Okay, then. Can you tell me a little bit about your background?
A. I grew up in DC. I earned a BA in American cultural and intellectual history (post-Civil War) in ‘88, which made me utterly unmarketable during that particular recession. However, I got a job at Half Price Books, possibly the coolest new and used bookstore in the world – cooler than Powell’s, no lie – and after a year, I became a manager. The company expresses in action its values of fair wages, recycling, education, and community service.
Q. What’s this I hear about an MBA? And why on God’s green earth would an ex-punk rocker who’s been recycling since 1982 want to study The Man?
A. During my half-hour commute from the bookstore to home, I listened to American Public Radio’s Marketplace. I learned that business is fascinating! I wanted to learn more. It’s good to know how the world works.
Q. How is it that you so quickly became the board prez?
A. Remember that scene in The Godfather when Michael is at his nephew’s baptism? Kidding! Actually, they say I have leadership mojo. And I have plenty of leadership experience. Plus, I love the coop!
Q. What is your vision for the coop?
A. I’m super excited about the expansion! I can’t wait to have a cup of coffee with you in the new store! Also, we are starting a board candidate training program so that we can get some new faces involved in leadership. I’m hoping to start a committee around groups of coop owners doing community service. Wouldn’t it be great to organize a team of us to build a house for Habitat?
Q. What do you want to be called?
A. Big Mama or El Jefe. It’s up to you.
