By Leila Darabi
The May General Meeting kicked off on May 28 at the Prospect Park Picnic House with a charged open forum focused not only on members’ differing views on the Israel-Hamas War, but on how those views are communicated. The chair committee reminded members throughout the evening that singling out other members in their statements would not be tolerated and repeatedly asked members to refrain from shouting out comments from the audience.
Members also discussed a proposal to bring back the print edition of the Linewaiters’ Gazette and a proposal to create a new committee to reduce the Coop’s plastic use.
Open Forum
During the open forum, several speakers called on fellow members to embrace civility. (Note: Coop members are not required to share their full names during the open forum.)
Seth Pollack shared that he felt some materials being circulated ahead of the Park Slope Food Coop Board of Directors elections reflected the division among members and stated “the very, very least that I feel we can do is answer the call of civil society groups and join the BDS movement” referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.
One Member reported that labels of Israeli pearled couscous have been defaced on the Coop shelves and called the behavior “petty and uncooperative.”
Jonathan T. claimed that another Coop member had been called a Nazi by another member and that “hate has no place here and neither does BDS.”
Amos reported that labels of Israeli pearled couscous have been defaced on the Coop shelves and called the behavior “petty and uncooperative.”
Several members addressed the ongoing debate around whether the Coop would need to change its bylaws to permit virtual or hybrid meetings and voting by proxy.
Dena Beard stated that she works for the Tow Center for Performing Arts at Brooklyn College, a potential venue to host a GM that included a BDS discussion or vote, and that she felt threatened after receiving a voicemail from a member warning her that hosting such a meeting would incite violence. Tensions peaked when Beard said that one voicemail had come from a member whom she mentioned by name.
MJ reported that Professor Michael Haber had, pro bono, drafted a legal memo after reviewing the Coop’s bylaws and that in his opinion the Coop would not need to change bylaws to legally host hybrid or virtual meetings.
Alex also commented on the benefits of virtual meetings, noting that virtual meetings and votes worked well throughout the pandemic.
In response to the open forum, General Coordinators offered some clarifications:
Joe Holtz shared that the Coop’s lawyer had reached the opposite conclusion and thought the bylaws would indeed first need to change before a virtual or hybrid meeting could be considered. He noted that the Board had received both decisions.
General Coordinator Elinor Astrinsky reported that there has been an uptick in non-members entering the store and cautioned shoppers and workers to keep their valuables close at all times.
Ann Herpel also clarified that Brooklyn College had offered to host a GM where a BDS vote could take place but that, before signing a contract, the General Coordinators asked the agenda committee to contact the four members who had previously submitted items related to a vote on the boycott of products from Israel to confirm that these items could be brought to the May GM. Herpel shared that:
“All four members declined the May 28th date and instead requested to postpone their items until after another pending agenda item about changing the 75% supermajority currently needed to approve a boycott was discussed and voted on,” and closed stating: “Though it took more years than many would have liked, the [General Coordinators] did fulfill our commitment to secure a location.”
Treasurer’s Report
Holtz also reviewed the 12-week financial statement shared ahead of the meeting covering the period from April 21 through May 28, 2024. He shared that there has been a 7.65% increase in average weekly sales compared to the previous year, but that he expected this average to fall to around 5% by the end of the year.
Holtz also took questions, clarifying that the Coop currently marks products up 24% over wholesale, a 1% decrease from the previous year, which impacts profits.
Coordinator’s Reports
General Coordinator Elinor Astrinsky shared what she called a “nuts and bolts” report with updates across a range of topics. Among these, she reported that there has been an uptick in non-members entering the store and cautioned shoppers and workers to keep their valuables close at all times. She also stressed than anyone working a shift should wear close-toed shoes.
Alex Godin shared that “the Coop feels more and more like a Whole Foods and less like a community,” lamenting the loss of free childcare and the store bulletin board.
Herpel read a statement from the General Coordinators taking issue with how their views were characterized during the April GM during a vote on the Coop’s HR policies.
Committee Report
Bart DeCoursy of the International Trade Education Squad gave the lone committee report sharing awareness that hearings are ongoing to settle Mexico’s ongoing dispute with the U.S. over corn. Mexico refuses to import genetically modified corn, which accounts for most corn grown in the U.S.
Nostalgia for a Print Edition of the Linewaiters’ Gazette
For the first of two agenda items for discussion, Alex Godin shared that “the Coop feels more and more like a Whole Foods and less like a community,” lamenting that the loss of free childcare and the store bulletin board during the pandemic also contributed to this feeling. The proposal: reinstate a print version of the Coop’s newsletter, the Linewaiters’ Gazette.
Eric Lewis, a former co-coordinating editor of the Gazette voiced enthusiastic support and suggested investigating ad sales as a way to cover costs and testing out a new print version for a year to see what worked. The Gazette, he said, “is a place for budding journalists… and deepens and strengthens the sense of community [at the Coop]”
Coop member Morgan also shared, in support of the proposal, “print ephemera is an amazing way to create an embodied sense of community.”
Coop member Kian asked what the cost would be to reinstate a print edition. In response, Herpel shared that in the last 30 days, the online Gazette has received 31,000 views of articles and 10,000 visitors. She also said that to revive the print edition, the Coop would need to replace several computers, resubscribe to Adobe software and cover the cost of printing.
Staff member Jana Cunningham shared that the Coop is working on adding classified ads to the digital Gazette.
Coop member Yasmine also voiced support, noting that digital news can be changed but that “in print, the work of journalists is set in stone.”
Tracy Fitz proposed the creation of a Coop Climate Crisis Committee and collected emails from members who would be interested to join.
In response to a question about the kind of paper used to print the Gazette, Herpel clarified that the prior Gazette was printed on post-consumer newsprint by a union print shop.
The second and final agenda item, introduced by Tracy Fitz, proposed the creation of a Coop Climate Crisis Committee (4Cs) and collected emails from members who would be interested to join.
“In 2019, the Coop went through 49,000 plastic produce bags a week. We now use 57% of that, 28,200 produce bags a week because we have clamshells instead!” In a lively presentation, Fitz pulled sample bags and plastic clamshells out of a bag and waved them around, inspiring laughter across a room that an hour earlier had felt quite tense. “We’re all addicted, [to plastic]!” she cried. A suggestion to wrap General Coordinators in plastic as an artistic action drew applause.
During the discussion that followed, no one disagreed, but members shared additional thoughts on ways to reduce plastic.
Zoe added that compostable bags also include fossil fuel and aren’t necessarily a safe alternative.
Sunny shared that she had a similar idea to create a committee and asked interested members to email plasticfreefoodcoop@gmail.com to join, noting that she was open to joining forces and creating a single Coop Climate Crisis Committee.
Lois Wilken urged people to read her recent Gazette submission “Love Letter from a Mermaid: On Plastics and Your Health.”
For historical context, Holtz shared that the Coop had in the past banned plastic produce bags, then brought them back. “There’s a lot of education to do,” Holtz said. “We also sell something in aisle four to wash and reuse plastic bags.”
Closing
Board member Brandon West called a vote to close the meeting during which the board voted to accept the minutes from the April GM.