volume dd, number 6 march 12, 2009 on coop diversity ......israel’s recent incursions into the...

Attendees at the ParkSlope Food Coop’s Feb-ruary 24 General Meet-

ing, chaired by RobinCampbell, learned that theCoop now boasts the largestnumber of members ever—15,231. As always, there wasan Open Forum, Coordina-tors’ Reports and a discussionof agenda items. There weretwo items on February’s agen-da: the results of the diversityand equality survey and a pre-sentation about the value offorming an audit committee.

OPEN FORUM TOPICSBoycotting Israeli Products

At the January GM, a mem-ber had asked whether theCoop was considering a banon Israeli products to protestIsrael’s recent incursions intothe Gaza Strip. Although thismember was advised that shecould follow up her sugges-tion by placing it on the agen-da for a future meeting, shedid not do this. Nonetheless,there was a bit of a buzz in thelocal media, as well as in TheJewish Daily Forward, about hersuggestion, and the rabbi ofCongregation Beth Elohim,Andy Bachman, himself aCoop member, came to the

GM and spoke at the OpenForum. In keeping with theJewish tradition of fosteringdiverse opinions, RabbiBachman said that he would“welcome a debate,” addingthat he would be opposed tosuch a ban. There was somediscussion about this itemfollowing the rabbi’s remarks.

Overcrowding at the CoopSeveral members present-

ed their ideas about ways to

alleviate the overcrowding onthe Coop’s shopping floor:

Could a shopper go direct-ly to the cashier counter withfive or six items [as opposedto the current policy of a max-imum of three items]?

Could the Coop open at7:00 a.m. on weekdays?

Should the number ofmembers in the Coop becapped?

Next General Meeting on March 31The General Meeting of the Park Slope Food Coop is held on thelast Tuesday of each month.* The next General Meeting will beon Tuesday, March 31, at 7:00 p.m. at the Congregation BethElohim Temple House (Garfield Temple), 274 Garfield Place.

The agenda is in this Gazette and available as a flyer in theentryway of the Coop. For more information about the GM andabout Coop governance, please see the center of this issue.

* Exceptions for November and December will be posted.

IN THIS ISSUEGM Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Will Work for Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4How Does Your School’s Garden Grow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Puzzle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Founder of Microcredit Summit Campaign to Speak. . . . . . . . . 7Biofuels for a Green Brooklyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Workslot Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–11Community Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Board of Directors Candidate Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Classified Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15–16

This is being written at this time because of the possibilitythat a group of members will be proposing a boycott ofproducts from Israel that will eventually come to the

floor of a General Meeting for discussion and perhaps at a latermeeting as a proposal.

When there is a crisis or problem in our society or in a certainindustry or in a certain company or in a foreign country, theCoop is not expected to take a position. The media do not callto find out our collective position on the topic of US relationswith Cuba. Members do not expect the Coop to weigh in onwhether or not Social Security should be privatized or what todo about the war inAfghanistan. TheCoop in its usualoperative modedoes not take a posi-tion. We do notmeasure members on their adherence to any political position.There is no litmus test here for members other than whetherthe member is cooperating by fulfilling their membershipresponsibilities. We are open and welcoming to all who practicecooperation.

But we are a democracy. And part of being a democracy is thatwe do not ignore questions posed to us by our members. If thestore that the Coop members own and operate were insteadindividually owned, the shoppers would most likely not knowthat in the 1970s the owners were asked by the United FarmWorkers to stop buying California iceberg lettuce. But this storeis and was owned by the members-owners and all it took was forat least one of our members to pose the lettuce boycott ques-tion to the Coop. The question was not and could not have been

G E N E R A L M E E T I N G R E P O R T

Diversity Report, Israel “Boycott” Buzz

C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 6

C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 2

Volume DD, Number 6 March 12, 2009

O F F I C I A L N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E P A R K S L O P E F O O D C O O P

Established1973

Robin Campbell, chairing the February General Meeting.

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On Coop BOYCOTTS

CoopEventHighlights

Thu, Mar 19 • Brooklyn Food Conference Orientation 7:00 p.m.

Fri, Mar 20 • The Good Coffeehouse: An Evening of Jazz, Tapand Song 8:00 p.m.

Thu, Mar 26 • Blood Drive 3:00–8:00 p.m.Fri, Mar 27 • Blood Drive 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.Sat, Mar 28 • Blood Drive 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.Thu, Apr 2 • Food Class: Dessert 7:30 p.m.Fri, Apr 3 • Film Night: Silent Choices 7:00 p.m.

Look for additional information about these and other events in this issue.

By Anita Aboulafia

By Joe Holtz, General Coordinator

COORDINATORS’ CORNER

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General Coordinator AllenZimmerman said that the sug-gestion of capping member-ship has already beenproposed and will be on theagenda at a future GM.

Other Open Forum Topics“Why are we still doing two

shifts when we miss one shift

[given the fact that there aretoo many workers at theCoop]?” asked Kamilah Dug-gins.

Since we are a “member-

owned” entity, Keith Getterthought there were “apparentcontradictions to our corevalues by allowing paid work-ers and their families to shopat the Coop without having towork shifts” and thought thatthe Coop “was setting up anonworking class with a ben-efits class.” A member

responded by saying thatemployees are entitled tobenefits too, implying thatone of those benefits was nothaving to work shifts.

Coordinators’ ReportsMike Eakin said that the

year-end statement was notyet ready. The auditor willdeliver it at the June annualmeeting. However, a prelimi-nary statement for fiscal year2009 will be available at theMarch 31 GM.

Statistics were available

on cumulative net sales fromJuly 5, 1977 through February1, 2009. A chart showing year-ly net sales since 1977 waspresented. The almost$36,000,000 in sales last yearbrought the cumulative totalsince incorporation to$284,391,615.

General Coordinator JoeHoltz said that CharlotteCorini, who was hired in thespring of last year as a gener-al coordinator, resigned earli-er in the month. Holtz saidthat the general coordinatorsand the Personnel Commit-tee would meet to discussfilling the position.

In addition to discussingsome of the wonderful pro-duce that is currently avail-able at the Coop, AllenZimmerman announced thatLucky Dog, a farm northwestof the Catskills, is collectingmoney that would enable itto lease additional land inthe area as a means to pre-serve farmland. The Coop hastwo collection boxes set upon the shopping floor andApplewood, a local restau-rant, recently hosted a fund-raiser for Lucky Dog, raising$11,000.

Agenda Item #1—Diversity and EqualitySurvey

There has been concernabout incidents of bias takingplace at the Coop, and toaddress these concerns theDiversity and Equality Com-

mittee (DEC) receivedapproval at the February 2008GM to conduct a quantitativesurvey of members. The sur-vey was created, and fromlate May through September2008 members had theopportunity to complete thesurvey either online or by fill-ing out a paper version,

which was available at theCoop. George Perlov andLouise Daniel, two DECmembers, presented a com-prehensive PowerPointdemonstration outlining thesurvey’s methodology,respondents’ demographics,survey results and recom-mendations.

The survey’s objectives:empirically document theextent, range, type and fre-quency of bias and discrimi-nation in the Coop, measurethe impact on members andthe Coop as an institutionand identify potential mecha-nisms for addressing andpreventing bias in the Coop.Nearly 9.5% of Coop mem-bers (1,320 individuals)responded to the survey, withthe vast number of respon-dents (1,242) completing thesurvey online.

Perlov pointed out thatdespite the constraints of thecommittee’s limited budget,the survey’s methodologywas strong, response ratevery high and, committeemembers agreed, the resultsare reflective of actual Coopexperience. Over 300 peoplewrote in their thoughts aboutracial bias at the Coop, inaddition to filling out themultiple-choice and open-ended survey questions, andthese responses were ana-lyzed as well. However, thiswas not a random sample ofrespondents; respondentsmay have been prompted to

respond because the issue ofdiversity and bias is more rel-evant to them. In addition,there are two drawbacks toonline surveys: there is a pos-sibility (however unlikely)that a person respondedmore than once and a possi-bility of input error whenprinted surveys were

uploaded to the online sys-tem for data analysis.

Survey ResponsesIndicate A Tale of TwoCoopsAccording the PowerPointpresentation:• Nearly one in four respon-dents reported witnessingbias• One in seven reportedexperiencing bias towardthemselves• One in 20 reported thattheir actions were interpretedas biased by others

When probed, those whoexperienced or witnessedbias cited the following situa-tions as most prevalent:• poor behavior or disre-spectful language (62%), fol-lowed by arbitraryapplication of the rules (33%)• skin color (54%), ethnicity(37%) and class/income level(26%)

Approximately 37% of theincidents of bias occurred onthe shopping floor andapproximately 28% of theincidents of bias occurred atthe checkout counter. Sixtypercent of respondents indi-cated that in response to thebias incident, “I ignored it orlet it go.” A small number(approximately 2%) reportedthe issue to the Diversity andEquality Committee. Whenasked, “Have you everthought about leaving theCoop as a result of a bias inci-dent?” more than 80% of the

2 � March 12, 2009 Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY

Read the Gazette while you’re standing on line OR online at www.foodcoop.com


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From left to right: George Perlov, Louise Daniel, Keith Getter, Sekai Chideya and on next page, Yigal Rechtman, Kamilah Duggins.

Product Return PolicyThe Coop does not “exchange” items. You must return item and repurchasewhat you need. Returns of eligible items will be handled at the SecondFloor Service Desk within 30 days of purchase only when accompanied bythe PAID IN FULL receipt.

Please use the following guide to determine if an item is eligible for return:

Produce May not be returned with the exception of (fresh fruits & vegetables) coconuts, pineapples and watermelon. Even if

the claim is that the item is spoiled or that itwas purchased by mistake, produce cannot bereturned except for the three items listed above.

The produce buyer may be contacted onweekdays by members to discuss any otherclaims for credit.

Books May not be returned.

Juicers May not be returned.

Bulk items & bulk items May not be returned. Members may contact packaged by the Coop the bulk buyer to discuss any other claims for

credit.

Refrigerated items May not be returned unless spoiled before Frozen items the expiration date or within 30 days of pur

chase, whichever is sooner.

All Other Products A. Other products may be returned if they (not covered above) are spoiled or defective and the category

is not specified above

B. Other products may be returned if theyare unopened, undamaged and thereforecan be sold again.

C. Other products may not be returned ifthey are opened or unsellable, and werepurchased by mistake or not needed.

PARK SLOPE FOOD COOP

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Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY March 12, 2009 � 3


respondents answered no.“Cross-tabulation analysis

as well as analysis of open-ended responses show twodivergent member segmentsat the Coop: a majority ofmostly white members donot see any major issuesregarding bias and discrimi-nation in the Coop; thosewho do not find the Coop tobe welcoming have wit-nessed, experienced or heardabout bias incidents aremore likely to be people of

color or those from otherminority groups.”

Daniel shared many of theopen-ended responses to thesurvey. A common theme ofthese responses was thesense of inequality, a kind ofUpstairs, Downstairs mentalityof Coop members. Moreover,respondents clearly felt thatsome type of mediationand/or training needed to beimplemented.

More than 60% of respon-dents indicated that theDiversity and Equality Com-mittee should review theprocess for conflict resolu-tion. Other suggestionsincluded inclusion of diversi-ty information in the Coop’sorientation packet (56%),recording bias incidents(52%), disseminating infor-mation about diversity (46%)and developing training pro-grams for coordinators (44%),squad leaders (42%) or for allCoop members (36%).

Where Do We Go fromHere?

The DEC will develop rec-ommendations based onmembers’ responses to sur-vey findings. It will examinethe efficacy of developingnew policies and trainingprograms and present its rec-ommendations at a futureGM.

There was discussion fol-lowing the presentation, withmost speakers in agreementthat the survey was a goodfirst step in addressing the

problem of discriminationand bias at the Coop. Mem-ber Sekai Chideya, who con-ducts research at NYC’sDepartment of Health,shared her concern about thesurvey’s methodology. Sheasked, “What was the readinglevel of the survey? In whatlanguages was the surveyavailable?” DEC membersresponded that they hadn’tdetermined the reading levelof the survey and it was onlyavailable in English.

Agenda Item #2—Formation of an AuditCommittee

Using a PowerPoint presen-tation, Yigal Rechtman, a cer-tified public accountant,outlined the reasons the Coopshould form an audit commit-tee. He began by saying,“Good governance provides astructured transparency….Experience and research

demonstrate that the higherthe level of accountability andtransparency, the more prof-itable an organization tends tobe.” Rechtman contended thatthe current Coop governancestructure consists of the coor-dinators selecting the auditor,which creates a possible con-flict of interest. An audit com-mittee that would report tothe Board andwould consistof memberswith expertise

in the fields of auditing andaccounting, would be chargedwith the responsibility ofchoosing the auditor. Onemember of the audit commit-tee would be a coordinator.

Moreover, in addition toselecting the auditor, thecommittee would act as aliaison during the audit, rec-ommend changes as a resultof audit findings and moni-

tor the implementation ofthose changes. The commit-tee would meet four to sixtimes annually, thereby sup-porting implementation ofrecommendations year-round.

Following Rechtman’s pre-sentation, there was a shortdiscussion. Joe Holtzexplained that the Coop had

had an auditor for almost 30years. This auditor decided tocut back his hours and dropour account. A committeewas formed by the generalcoordinators consisting offour members and threestaffers, and they were given

the responsibility of recom-mending another auditor.The committee solicitedapproximately seven bidsand, based largely on howmuch it would cost the Coopto hire another auditor, anauditor was suggested to theGeneral Meeting and thenhired. There was a motion toextend discussion on this

agenda item since the allot-ted time for discussion wascoming to an end, but thatmotion was defeated.

The minutes to the JanuaryGM were approved and fol-lowing some announcements,the GM was adjourned. ■


PSFC MARCH GENERALMEETINGTuesday, March 31, 7:00 p.m.• Items will be taken up in the order given.• Times in parentheses are suggestions.• More information on each item may be available at the

entrance table at the meeting. We ask members to pleaseread the materials available between 7:00 & 7:15 p.m.

• Meeting Location: Congregation Beth Elohim SocialHall (Garfield Temple), 274 Garfield Pl. at 8th Ave.

AGENDA:Item #1: Annual Disciplinary Committee Election(35 minutes)Election: The committee will present four members to bere-elected submitted by the Disciplinary Committee

Item #2: Board of Directors Candidates’ Presentation(45 minutes)Discussion: “Presentation by candidates for the Board ofDirectors followed by questions for the candidates”

Future Agenda Information:For information on how to place an item on the

Agenda, please see the center pages of the Linewaiters'Gazette.

The Agenda Committee minutes and the status ofpending agenda items are available in the office and at

all GMs.

Demographics of DEC Survey RespondentsGender:70% female29% male1% other

Age:31% under 34 years of

age47% 35-54 years of age22% 55+ years of age

Race:72% white9% African American6% mixed4% Asian

3% Latino6% other

Income Levels:21% under $40K33% $40-$75K31% $75-$150K14% $150K+

Education Levels:90% college grad or

higher

Sexual Preferences:79% straight11% gay5% bisexual4% other

Years as aCoop Member:44% 5+ years39% 1-5 years17% less than one year

Health/Medical Status:11% indicated that they had adisability or long-lasting medicalcondition

09-03-12 p 01-16 3/11/09 8:20 PM

By Gayle Forman

O n April 1, the publicradio station WBAIwill run a half-hour

documentary on the workingsof the Park Slope Food Coop.Coop member Ursula Rue-denberg, an affiliates coordi-nator for Pacifica Radio,hatched the idea for “WillWork for Food” to air as partof Sprouts Radio from the Grass-roots, weekly programs featur-ing content produced atcommunity radio stationsacross the country that air onPacifica affiliates. But Rue-denberg, who’s been a Coopmember since 1986, didn’tpitch the idea because shethought the Coop neededpublicity or more members. Ifanything, she thought itneeded imitators, especially

after she noticed a disturbingtrend: “A number of commu-nities sent in stories aboutfailing food coops,” she says.“These coops were not ourmodel. They were models inwhich you didn’t have towork, in which you boughtmembership, and there wasconsiderable distress aboutthem disappearing. I thoughtwe should do a story about asuccessful coop, an alterna-tive that worked.”

She turned to ChristineBlack, a young producer with apassion for environmentalissues, who was not a Coopmember but who had beeninvolved with other coops inthe past. “In my experience,food coops have been moreexpensive than regular stores,so they’re a good concept forpeople who can afford thembut not necessarily for every-one else.” In stark contrast tothis, Black opens the docu-mentary about the PSFC,which she describes as “a suc-cessful business that makesno profit,” with testimonyfrom working mom and mem-ber Cynthia McKnight: “Ohman, I couldn’t afford eatinghealthy food if I wasn’t a mem-ber of the Coop,” McKnightsays. “The Coop is modestwhen they say you save 30%. Isee it more as 50% to 70%. Ithink even if I was rich I’d stillbe a member.” Soon after,Black makes the importantpoint that it is the memberlabor that keeps costs low.

Member labor. If the Coophas a bogeyman, somethingthat freaks out nonmembersand possibly prevents othercoops from adopting ourmodel, it’s the mandatorywork policy. But the membersthat Black and her assistantCourtney Smith interviewedmanage to humorouslyhumanize and demystify thework issue. As member DinClarke puts it: “It’s two andthree-quarter hours every fourweeks. It’s not breaking rockson the side of the highway inninety-degree weather.”

General Coordinator JoeHoltz points out that mem-ber labor doesn’t just keepthe prices down, it also pro-vides “the social glue” thatkeeps the Coop working, thatmakes possible the kinds ofconnections that Blackrecounts in the piece, such asone story of the Hasidic Jewand the Rastafarian tradingrecipes. If the documentary isshort on negative views ofthe Coop, it’s not that Blackedited them out; she just

didn’t get many. There wererealistic complaints, but gen-erally people were positiveon everything from workerinitiative—“Every so oftenyou get a worker who’s alemon, but working hard andcaring about what you doseems to be fairly conta-gious,” said a food process-ing squad leader namedJim—to the frustrations oflong lines to the occasionalfed-up-ness that one gets,and gets over, with the Coop.But most people just wantedto show Black their favoritethings in the store. “It waslike show and tell,” she sayswith a smile.

For most members, “WillWork for Food” tells us allthe good stuff we alreadyknow. And that’s the point.It’s not meant for us so muchas for all the millions ofAmericans who don’t have aPark Slope Food Coop. (Andso far, the program has airedon more than 50 Pacificaaffiliate stations.) But Blackalso uncovers some interest-ing nuggets that might edu-cate even longtime PSFCmembers, delving into boththe history of coops in theUnited States—apparentlyBen Franklin started the firstcoop in the US—as well asinto the Coop’s own back-ground. Holtz explains howthe PSFC founders werelooking for alternatives insociety—against the prevail-ing politics, against racism,sexism and the crappy foodthat was available.

Interestingly, Ruedenbergpoints out parallels betweenthe genesis of the Park SlopeFood Coop and PacificaRadio, which itself was

founded in 1948 by a group ofwar resisters (pacifists, hencethe name Pacifica) whothought the airwaves hadbeen taken over by commer-cial interests. Similarly, WBAIcomes from that tradition,says its public affairs director,Kathy Davis: “WBAI radio wascreated to serve community.Like the Coop, we were creat-ed as part of socially con-scious movements of the 60sand 70s and continue tobroadcast about the realitiesof ordinary people.”

Other serendipitous his-torical highlights that Blackuncovers include GeneralCoordinator Mike Eakin’sdecision to leave the busi-ness world in the 1960s andtake his Harvard MBA-edu-cated self to the Coop, wherehe helped guide the growingPSFC through many of itsexpansions. Another inter-esting point that perhapsonly an observant nonmem-ber would notice has to dowith pronouns. Black noteshow over the paging system,when members are asking ifthe Coop has a certain item,the request is always: “Do wehave any of this?” Soingrained is the sense ofmembership and ownershipof the Coop that whenmembers talk about it, weinstinctively talk about ourCoop (much as this reporteris doing right now).

A buzzword that repeatsthroughout the documen-tary is “sustainability”: hav-ing sustainable foodsources, sustainable envi-ronmental and economicpractices—and also for theCoop itself to be sustain-able. “People are living a

lifestyle that’s not sustain-able. Until recently this wasconsidered a progressivetheory, now with the stockmarket crash, it’s become amatter of fact,” Ruedenbergnotes in the documentary.“People are looking foralternatives…. The Cooppresents an alternative.”

While that may be true,the Coop itself is also anexample of a model thatcan only be sustained with-in certain l imits, and asChristine Black discovered,one of Joe Holtz’s motiva-tions in participating in thisdocumentary—and in help-ing any fledgling coop thatcomes seeking his advice—is in spreading the goodword. “The Park Slope FoodCoop is such an anomaly,and having that successand being integral to it, Ithink Joe would like to seemore coops adopt themodel,” says Black, whonow counts herself as acoop convert if not a mem-ber. “I think people need tobe thinking, with the implo-sion in our economy, whatare other ways we can getour needs met. The Coopcontains a wealth of exam-ples of how you can dosomething differently andsucceed. The fact that somany models existed andclosed down, and yet thePark Slope Food Coop is assuccessful as it is, peopleshould be shouting thisfrom the rooftops.”

“Will Work for Food” will airon WBAI at 99.5 FM on April 1at 11 a.m. You can also listenonline after the air date at thearchive show sect ion atwww.wbai.org. ■

In praise of coops: Ursula Ruedenberg (L) of Pacifica Radio and Christine Black (R), reporter/producer.

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“Will Work for Food” and Copycat Coops4 � March 12, 2009 Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY


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SURVEYHelp the Coop gather valuable

information on yourshopping experienceand payment choiceby taking our surveyin conjunction withthe Federal Reserve

Bank of Boston. Your responses willhelp the Coop serve

you better!

Take the survey now on

www.foodcoop.comor pick up an

information cardfrom the

entrance desk.

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By Larissa Phillips

The National SchoolLunch Program isunder fire for a multi-

tude of sins. Charges includefood that is high-fat, low-grade, processed and con-sisting of industrial leftoversbought on the cheap. Inmany schools, meals arriveprewrapped and ready to bemicrowaved, or, as oneBrooklyn school nutritionistblithely put it, “just like Burg-er King.”

According to Susan Rubinof the parent advocacy groupBetter School Food, we areliving in an era in which one-quarter of American childrenbetween the ages of five andten show early warning signsfor heart disease; obesityrates have doubled in chil-dren and tripled in adoles-cents in the last 20 years.With more than 30 millionchildren getting school lunchevery school day, and 10 mil-lion getting school breakfast,the stakes are high.

Later this year the ChildNutrition Act, which has beenoverseeing school food since1966, will be reauthorized.Federal guidelines and bud-gets for all school food pro-grams will be reexaminedand, critics hope, improved.

But in the meantime,changes are already happen-ing on the local level. Allacross the country, parentcommittees dedicated tonutrition, wellness or foodawareness have been takingadvantage of local programsor simply following a person-al vision to change the waykids in their schools experi-ence food. Here are just a fewexamples of Brooklyn schoolsthat are making changes, onestep at a time.

Building a GardenLast year at PS 124 on

Fourth Avenue in Park Slope,a parent named Mirem Vil-lamil started thinking about aschool garden. Ignoring whatshe remembers as a generalfeeling of skepticism fromteachers and parents, sheapplied for a Lowe’s Toolboxfor Education grant, eventhough she had only a skele-ton of an idea.

When spring arrived andthe grant hadn’t comethrough, Villamil went lookingfor other contributions. “I hitthe banks and asked formoney. Astoria Federal gave$500. Kamco contributed

lumber. I called corporateheadquarters for Miracle-Gro,and they sent over a pallet oforganic soil. It was amazing.”When the grant arrived with$5,000, the skeptics perked upand came on board. “It wasthe most money the schoolhad ever raised in one year,”says Villamil.

Although Villamil hassince switched schools, thegarden has become a firmlyestablished part of theschool. “We have the best gar-den,” Parent CoordinatorDonna Maxil enthused.

For parents interested inseeing their own visions tofruition, Villamil recom-mends, “Just get started andpeople will jump on board.”At the beginning, she says, “Icouldn’t get the scienceteacher interested. I was like,‘All I want is to put a tray ofseeds into your classroom.’ ”The teacher was too busy totake on another project, andhis classroom was too crowd-ed, but Villamil kept pushing.“Sure enough, the seedssprouted, and then his classwent outside and plantedthem.” Now, she says, theteacher is one of the biggestsupporters of the garden.

“One of the most amazingthings” about the garden, Vil-lamil says, “was being outthere with the kids and see-ing how they reacted whenthey got to pick a leaf andtaste it. It’s an amazing expe-rience that is sort of recom-pense in itself. One of thekids at 124 said he’d neverseen a vegetable growing.”

Active CommitteesOnce a group can build its

numbers, the options foraction are seemingly endless.At PS 321 in Park Slope, theGo Green Committee hasorganized countless initia-tives related to food. Because321 has a small cafeteria,older children are allowed togo out for lunch. Recently,several parents went alongSeventh Avenue and askednearby restaurants to offermore healthful lunch optionsand specials that didn’tinclude soda. Parent volun-teers also come to the cafete-ria and help the childrenmake smart choices at lunch.

At PS 29 in Cobble Hill, theFood and Farming Commit-tee has found success byworking with the Office ofSchool Foods and the cafete-ria. “Last year we had a meet-

ing with the school food peo-ple,” says Jessica Delaney, aparent and committee leader.“The big guys came—DavidBerkowitz and Bill Dougherty.In the meeting we asked for asalad bar. They said yes. Thenwe asked for School FoodPlus, and they said yes. It wasas easy as asking.”

With School Food Plus, PS29 gets an enhanced menuwith a focus on NYS produce,more training for cafeteriastaff and a nutrition curricu-lum for parents and children.

The school also started agarden in the playground,and last fall was able to par-ticipate in a pilot programcalled SchoolFood—Gardento Cafeteria. Created by thecity’s Department of Educa-tion, a nonprofit calledSchoolFood and the NYSDepartment of Agriculture &Markets, the program wasintended as a daylong eventsurrounding a lunch thatincluded produce or greensthat had been grown by theschool’s children. At PS 29, thecafeteria served pesto madewith basil the kids had grown.

In a departure from theusual critiques of the Officeof School Foods, Delaneysays her school has forged apositive relationship withwhat she nevertheless imag-ines as a “behemoth, red-tape kind of a place.”

The school has also bene-fited from working positivelywith the cafeteria. “We foundthat once we befriended thecafeteria, things definitelygot better,” she says. “Whenwe first started getting intothe cafeteria, there was a bigsign that said ‘No ParentsBeyond this Point.’ After acouple months that wasgone.” Now parents partici-pate in many aspects of thecafeteria, including helpingout at the salad bar, interact-ing with and serving the kids.

Delaney recommendsaccepting that “baby stepsare sometimes the only wayto go” and “to try to get asmuch out of school food asthey will give you.” Make thatcall to the Office of SchoolFoods, she says.

Garden to CafeteriaFor the last five years, PS

146 in Carroll Gardens (alsoknown as the Brooklyn NewSchool or BNS) has takenadvantage of a program atAdded Value, a nonprofit sus-tainability group in Red Hook

that runs a 2.5-acre farm.Each spring BNS first graderstake part in an eight-week“Seed to Salad” workshop. “Atthe end,” says one first-gradeteacher, “many are willing toeat salad for the first time.”

Because of this connec-tion, BNS was able to partici-pate in the same Garden toCafeteria project as PS 29.With no garden on schoolgrounds, the school’s secondgraders went back to the farmat Added Value where they’dgrown greens the previousspring. There they performeda “symbolic harvest” (eachharvesting a few leaves),which were delivered to theschool’s cafeteria.

On the day of the project,the entire school took part ina daylong harvest celebration.The cafeteria was decoratedwith garden-related art andscience projects; harvestsongs were performed; andfifth graders operated tastingtables, encouraging youngerkids to taste herbs and greens.At lunchtime, parents (includ-ing this reporter) and cafeteriaworkers raced to serve freshsalad greens to all children.

“It brought a level of excite-ment into our school’s cafete-ria the likes of which I havenever witnessed in ten yearsworking in the New York pub-lic schools,” said Matt Shee-han, a former DOE teacher,now a volunteer teacher ofenvironmental stewardship atBNS. “A familiar refrain heardfrom the children was, ‘I love

salad! Why don’t we eat likethis everyday?’”

Building a CoalitionRecently, a more expan-

sive version of the parentcommittee was born, made

up of parents from severalschools in Brooklyn andManhattan, each bringingtheir own school’s trials andtriumphs to the table. “Wewant to build a coalition, asthere is power in numbers,”says Sheehan of BNS, one ofthe group’s initiators.

After coming up with moreor less the same list of food-related problems that mostschool food and/or wellnessgroups have been coming upwith for at least the last fewyears, the group narrowed itdown. “We decided we wouldfocus on trying to tackle onefood-related issue,” saidSheehan. The group’s firstorder of business became apetition to ban milk contain-ing artificial hormones. MaryLenz, a parent at PS 41 inManhattan, wrote up the peti-tion, which can be signed atwww.healthyschoolnyc.com.Information about upcomingmeetings and other ways toget involved in school foodcan also be found here.

Food reformer Kate Adam-ick of scoolfood.org oncesaid, “It’s going to take a mil-lion moms and dads march-ing on city hall, with lunchtrays in hand” to changeschool food. Maybe that timehas come. ■

How Does Your School’s Garden Grow?

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ignored and could not beanswered in private. If wewant to maintain our democ-racy, which is an intrinsicprinciple of being a coopera-tive, we must today, as wehave always done, answersuch questions in the openand democratically.

The gray area is how webalance our usual way of nottaking political positions withanswering questions thatwhichever way we answer willbe seen as taking a politicalposition. When a politicalposition is taken there is therisk of alienating memberswho do not share it. Part ofour mission is to welcome all

our members. Diversity,according to our MissionStatement, is something weare committed to. How hasthe Coop taken positions onboycotts without becomingknown for alienating mem-bers who do not agree withthe Coop’s decisions andwithout narrowing the diver-sity of those who feel com-fortable here?

The answer is that theCoop has never really taken aposition on a boycott on any-thing considered really con-troversial by more than a veryfew members. The 1973-to-the-present history of ourboycotts of lettuce, grapes,products of Chile, products ofSouth Africa, products of Col-orado, Tropicana products,Nestle, Coca-Cola, and otherboycotts I am not remember-ing, has not been particularly

controversial, and have beenenthusiastically supportedand/or at least found tolera-ble by a vast majority ofmembers.

My view is that unless wecan agree on a boycott in vastmajority numbers, we will dodamage to our cooperativespirit, and our mission. Inrecognition of the difficulty ofthese types of decisions, theApril 1987 GM tried to leave aframework for future discus-sions by adopting BoycottGuidelines, so that individualmembers doing the decidingat future GMs would have thebenefit of their experience.Here it is:

“The Coop will apply thefollowing guidelines to deter-mine whether the Coop willjoin a boycott:1. Is there either…a. an effective local organiz-

ing effort in support of theboycott?b. an effective national cam-paign in support of the boy-cott?2. Is this an item that wouldupset a significant number ofCoop members if stocked?3. The boycott proposalmust be published in theGazette in the month before itis discussed at the GeneralMeeting.”

Please note the 1987 meet-ing’s use of words that are leftopen to interpretation, suchas “effective” in number 1and, most important, “signifi-cant” in number 2. In addi-tion, the word “guidelines”itself is open to interpreta-tion. Also, I think that had wethought of it in 1987 wewould have written a corol-lary to guideline number 2: Isthis an item that would upset

a significant numbers ofmembers if boycotted?

One of the ways the Cooppractices transparency anddemocracy is by having abasic policy of printing virtu-ally all letters to the editor.An alternative to the Coop’staking a stand on a boycott isfor members to write lettersurging fellow members to buyor avoid products they feelstrongly about.

In my capacity as one of thestewards of the Coop, I hopeto see the Coop both surviveand thrive. If and when anyboycott comes to the floor ofthe GM, I will be consideringfirst and foremost the things Ihave written about here, evenmore than the actual specificproposal on the floor. I hopemany others will join me inthinking as stewards of theCoop’s future. ■


C O O R D I N A T O R S ’ C O R N E R

HELP US GET STARTED ANDMAKE YOUR OWN WORK SHIFT!PSFC members will receive FTOP credit in exchange for theirhelp. To receive credit, you should be a PSFC member forat least one year and have an excellent attendance record.

CREATIVE? WRITER? TALKATIVE? LAWYER? SOCIAL-BUTTERFLY? WEB-DEVELOPER?

MOREINFO

[email protected] | 718-208-4778

On CoopBOYCOTTSC O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1

Puzzle Corner

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March Madness1. The clues below are grouped into 7 sets. The answers within each set are all anagrams of one another. For

example, the answer to the first clue in the first set (Harvests) is R-E-A-P-S. These letters can be rearranged toform the answer to the second clue, Oblong Fruits: P-E-A-R-S.

2. After solving each set of anagrams, the answers can be filled in the listed grid positions. However, the order ofthe clues does not match the order of the grid positions. For example, the first answer (REAPS) goes in 35A, not3A. The second answer (PEARS) goes in 3D, not 34A. For some sets there are multiple ways to fit the answersinto the grid.

For answers, see page 16. This issue’s puzzle author: Stuart Marquis

3A, 34A, 35A, 38A, 3D, 29D, 34DHarvests, Oblong fruits, Analyze, Lance, After (Fr.),Peels, Extra

5A, 10A, 16A, 1D, 7D, 11D, 28DA-students, ___ Bleu!, Green ___, Criminal surveyor?,Hurries, Worries, Frighten

8A, 13A, 25A, 32A, 2D, 26DMinimum, Stories, Unoriginal, Blues, Pilfer, Blackboard,

14A, 22A, 27A, 6D, 15DEven Worse, Greek Wine, Eyeballs, Keeps, Spill again17A, 20A, 24A, 30A, 9D, 18D, 19DSurvivor, Warnings, One adding seasoning, Add moreseasoning, Heathers star, Older, Changes

36A, 4D, 12D, 30D, 31DSpring holiday, Diners, Puzzle, Reelect, Usher

37A, 17D, 21D, 23D, 33DFlower, Changed Chairs, Rips, Fees, Ogle

The Ecokvetch is now on Facebook,

representing the Park Slope Food Coop’s Environmental

Committee.

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By Michael Winks

“Food prices are skyrocketing,mono-crops and agribusiness havedamaged the environment, farmerscannot afford the food they grow,most farmers and farm workers livein poverty, and an irrational sys-tem of food production and distrib-ution based on short-termcorporate profits has created a messfor us to clean up and change.”

—From Park Slope Food Coop’s website

link to the Brooklyn Food Conference

“So i t ’s a cr ime againsthumanity—it’s a crime againsthumanity to convert agriculturalproductive soil into soil…whichwill be burned into biofuel,” [UNexpert Jean] Ziegler told a newsconference. “What has to bestopped is…the growing catastro-phe of the massacre (by) hunger inthe world.”

—Associated Press October 27, 2007

So what the heck are twoPark Slope Food Coopmembers doing start-

ing a biofuels coop? Are theycriminals or something? Andhow in God’s name couldthey be partners at theBrooklyn Food Conference?

Here’s our reason: sustain-able permaculture ethanol fitsright in with the principles of

this conference. It stands forhealing the soil, cleaning theair, declaring independencefrom corporate agriculture aswell as fossil fuels, and itstands for more food for morepeople around the world.

You heard right. More food.Oh, yeah, and reversing

global warming.Now that you’ve picked

yourself up off the floor, I’llcontinue.

The Park Slope EthanolCoop is not a gimmick. It’s thebeginning of a movement.Taking control of our energyfuture is a big part of it. Feel-ing better about what we putin the air, the choice we maketo not sit tight and let multi-national corporations makedecisions for us. We are partof the green energy future andwe aim to be a model for oth-ers in urban areas. We wantthe money that investors putinto the Coop to stay local.

The permaculture systemof design, as outlined in thispaper’s pages in recent weeks,allows for higher yields offood and other crops in small-er spaces. Our teacher, farmerDavid Blume, expert in alco-hol fuels for 30 years, designscrops for food and fuel. On

page 44 of his book Alcohol CanBe a Gas!, he designs a perma-culture production systemthat integrates food and fuelproduction on one acre that“financially outperforms 2,000acres of corn.” Gotta check outthe book, folks.

As Ed Levy has reported inthese pages, Blume points outa vast amount of acreage,

swamps and sloped landunsuited to regular farming,even rivers and ponds that theUSDA doesn’t count as crop-land or farmland are suitablefor growing specialized energycrops. High-yield cropsinclude fodder beets andsorghum, grown as far northas Canada. Stale bread frombakeries (donuts anyone?).Filter human manure throughcattails and produce 10 timesmore fuel than corn per acre.

Use desert crops such asmesquite pods, pimelon andBuffalo gourd in the aridSouthwest—they need no fer-tilizer or fossil fuel inputs.

This is game changing,world changing stuff. And soilfertility will increase. Soil sci-entist Larry Korn, the authorof The One Straw Revolution,said if farmers were to useBlume’s model, soil fertilitywould increase worldwidewhile energy productionwould become not only sus-tainable but democratic.

Much of what we are toldabout ethanol is untrue. It’sbeen said of medical studiesthat they have to past musterwith pharmaceutical compa-nies before being publishedin major journals. It takesvery little money on the partof oil companies to fundstudies from various universi-ties that will provide themwith results they want. Cyni-cal? Look at the historybooks. Read the 1982 classic(it’s at the Brooklyn PublicLibrary) Forbidden Fuel: PowerAlcohol in the 20th Century.

The best thing we can dois prove to ourselves what weare doing works, that wereduce emissions substan-tially, that more food resultsbecause the byproducts canhelp us grow mushroomsand farm fish; mushrooms,as many foodies know(Google Paul Stamets) couldfeed the world several timesif feeding people were a pri-ority on the planet.

It is not about puttingethanol in SUVs so we cancontinue to lead wastefullifestyles. Remember, if bio-fuels went away right now,we would still have corpo-rate exploitation, rainforestdestruction, monocultureand farmer subsidies andpetrochemicals…you getthe picture.

Oh, the global warmingreversal part? You’ll justhave to come to one of ourpresentations of the DVDAlcohol Can Be a Gas! in themeeting room on SaturdayMarch 28 or Tuesday May 26at 7:30 p.m. Keep an openmind and ask questions. ■

Biofuels for a Green Brooklyn

By Rachel Casparain

Since the beginning ofhis administration,President Obama has

encouraged the revival of ser-vice by all Americans. But formany of us this call to actionis an overwhelming proposi-tion. While we are presentedwith endless opportunities to“do good,” choosing a focusfor our time, energy andmoney can be a dauntingtask. “Should I sponsor achild in Africa?” “Would I domore good volunteering at alocal food pantry?” “Can Iafford a charitable donationthis year and if so, whereshould it go?”

While I believe there are nowrong choices when it comesto where to focus one’s service,I happen to think I’ve found aparticularly effective andempowering organization to

lend my own time and voice to.RESULTS is a nonprofit

grassroots advocacy organiza-tion committed to creating thepolitical will to end hungerand the worst aspects ofpoverty. Ending global povertyalso positively impacts educa-tion, healthcare, violence anddisease—all issues I mightchoose to focus on individual-ly. But since becoming in-volved in RESULTS I havediscovered how great myimpact on all these issues canbe, simply by leveraging myown personal and politicalpower—by lobbying electedofficials for effective solutionsand key policies that affecthunger and poverty.

I’d like to extend an invita-tion to Coop members tohear directly from RESULTSfounder and the founder anddirector of the Microcredit

Summit Campaign, SamDaley-Harris, about how andwhy RESULTS got started by aregular citizen moving fromhopelessness to action. Thisis a unique opportunity tolearn more about this incredi-ble organization that hasalready helped pull over 100million people out of poverty.RESULTS gives hope, not onlyto those it serves, but also tothose of us who championthe end of global poverty.

Please join RESULTS NYCin welcoming Sam Daley-Har-ris to lead a “Workshop toEnd Global Poverty” onThursday, March 19th from7:00-9:45 p.m. at The Neigh-borhood Church of Green-wich Village (269 BleeckerStreet). For more information,please visit nyc results.org,email [email protected] orcall 617-331-2533. ■

Member ContributionsFounder of Microcredit

Summit Campaign to Speak in NYC

Thursday,April 27:30 p.m.at the Coop

AttentionDessert Lovers!

Join us fora night of sweet treats.

MENU

• Chocolate Lovers’ Brownies

• Lemon Mascarpone Coconut Tartlets

• Frozen Yogurt Berry Smoothies—dairy and

non-dairy versions

• Cardamom Pistachio Ice Cream—vegan

• Fresh Berry Sauce

$4 materials feeViews expressed by the presenter do not

necessarily represent the Park Slope Food Coop.

Dina Cutrone and CarinaKuhl are owners of TALLorder in Brooklyn. TALLorder offers a unique,healthy approach to cook-ing and entertaining. Dinais a graduate of NaturalGourmet Institute forHealth and Culinary Artsand Institute for IntegrativeNutrition. Carina is a grad-uate of Institute forCulinary Education. Theyoffer dinner parties, cook-ing parties and classes andsmall-event catering. Dinahas worked as a personalchef, cooking class instruc-tor and caterer, and Carinahas worked at ButterRestaurant, Per Se andcatering companies inNYC. For more informa-tion, visit www.tallorderonline.com.

MEMBERS &NON-MEMBERSWELCOME.

Come earlyto ensure a seat.

09-03-12 p 01-16 3/12/09 1:48 PM

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The Linewaiters’ Gazette is published biweekly by thePark Slope Food Coop, Inc., 782 Union Street,Brooklyn, New York 11215.

Opinions expressed here may be solely the viewsof the writer. The Gazette will not knowingly publisharticles that are racist, sexist, or otherwisediscriminatory.

The Gazette welcomes Coop-related articles, andletters from members.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

All submissions MUST include author’s name andphone number and conform to the followingguidelines. Editors will reject letters and articlesthat are illegible or too long. Submission deadlinesappear in the Coop Calendar opposite.

Letters: Maximum 500 words. All letters will beprinted if they conform to the guidelines above.The Anonymity and Fairness policies appear onthe letters page in most issues.

Voluntary Articles: Maximum 750 words.

Submissions on Paper: Typed or very legiblyhandwritten and placed in the wallpocket labeled"Editor" on the second floor at the base of the ramp.

Submissions on Disk & by Email: We welcomedigital submissions. Drop disks in the wallpocketdescribed above. The email address forsubmissions is [email protected] of your submissions will be acknowledgedon the deadline day.

Classified & Display Ads: Ads may only be placedby and on behalf of Coop members. Classified adsare prepaid at $15 per insertion, business card ads at$30. (Ads in the “Merchandise–Non-commercial”category are free.) All ads must be written on asubmission form (available in a wallpocket on thefirst floor near the elevator). Classified ads may beup to 315 characters and spaces. Display ads mustbe camera-ready and business card size (2"x3.5").

Recipes: We welcome original recipes frommembers. Recipes must be signed by the creator.

Subscriptions: The Gazette is available free tomembers in the store. Subscriptions are available bymail at $23 per year to cover the cost of postage (atFirst Class rates because our volume is low).

Printed by: New Media Printing, Bethpage, NY.

COOP HOURS

Office Hours:Monday through Thursday

8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.Friday & Saturday

8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.Shopping Hours:

Monday–Friday8:00 a.m. to 10:00* p.m.

Saturday6:00 a.m. to 10:00* p.m.

Sunday6:00 a.m. to 7:30* p.m.

*Shoppers must be on a checkout line 15 minutes after closing time.

Childcare Hours:Monday through Sunday

8:00 a.m. to 8:45 p.m.Telephone:

718-622-0560Web address:

www.foodcoop.com

This Issue Prepared By:Coordinating Editors: Stephanie Golden

Erik Lewis

Editors (development): Dan JacobsonMichael O’Keeffe

Reporters: Gayle FormanLarissa PhillipsAnita Aboulafia

Art Director (development): Michelle Ishay

Illustrator: Paul Buckley

Photographers: Hazel HankinAnn Rosen

Traffic Manager: Monona Yin

Text Converters: Peter BentonDiana Quick

Proofreader: Margaret Benton

Thumbnails: Barbara Jungwirth

Preproduction: Sura Wagman

Photoshop: Bill Kontzias

Art Director (production): Lynn Cole-Walker

Desktop Publishing: Leonard HendersonMatthew LandfieldMidori Nakamura

Editor (production): Michal Hershkovitz

Post Production: Becky Cassidy

Final Proofreader: Nancy Rosenberg

Index: Len Neufeld

P L A S T I C S

RECY

LING

Monthly on the...Second Saturday

March 1410:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Third ThursdayMarch 19

7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.Last Sunday

March 2910:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

On the sidewalk in front of the receivingarea at the Coop.

What plastics do we accept?Until further notice:

• #1 type non-bottle shaped containers,transparent only, labels ok

• Plastic film and bubble wrap, transparentonly, no colored or opaque, no labels

• #5 plastic cups, tubs, and specificallymarked caps and lids, very clean and dry(discard any with paper labels, or cut off)

•NOTE: We are no longer accepting #2 or #4 type plastics.

PLASTIC MUST BE COMPLETELY CLEAN & DRY

We close up promptly. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the

collection end time to allow for inspection andsorting of your plastic.

FridayMar 208:00 p.m.

A monthly musical fundraising partnership of

the Park Slope Food Coop and

the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture

When she’s not busy showing people how to communicate withpower, authenticity and ease, Jezra Kaye weaves her sultry, swingingvocal magic on a mix of jazz standards, blues and sophisticated pop.This year she’s joined by Roberta Piket (piano), Dom Richards (bass),Todd Isler (drums), Robin Burdulis (percussion) and special guests.Come find out why Jezraand her great backupmusicians always pack theGood Coffeehouse.

Rhythm Tap soloistMargaret Morrison is

joined by Robin Burdulison percussion, Stefan

Bauer on vibes, Dom Richards on bass and other friends for anevening of tap dance and swinging jazz music. For over 20

years Margaret has presented her tap dance artistry across theglobe, performing as a soloist and with the acclaimed

American Tap Dance Orchestra. Reviewers have called her “aparagon of exacting control and cool theatricality” and “expres-

sive and wonderfully musical.”

An Evening of Jazz, Tap & Song

53 Prospect Park West [at 2nd Street] • $10 • 8:00 p.m. [doors open at 7:45]Performers are Park Slope Food Coop members and receive Coop workslot credit.

Booking: Bev Grant, 718-788-3741

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FTOP Plastic Recycling Drivers NeededOn-call FTOP drivers needed to transport plas-tic recycling. Must have a large capacity van,truck or mini-van with removable backseats forthe volume of recycling collected (no hatch-backs!). Flexible time—member can pick uprecycling at the Coop during Coop hours. TheRecycling Center accepts plastic 24hrs/day.Member will be reimbursed for mileage accord-ing to IRS reimbursement rates. FTOPer mustcommit to at least six months of on call service.For more information, call Cynthia Pennycookeat 718-622-0560 M-F 8 a.m.–1 p.m. or [email protected].

Creative Media Project Seeks TalentFTOP credit available if you’re a video editor,comedy writer, media writer, broadcast/motiongraphics artist, 2D or 3D animator, editorialresearcher familiar with Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw, etc.Be part of the Brooklyn Food Conference: a grass-roots event for a just, sustainable, healthy anddelicious food system.Please contact us at [email protected].

Schedule Copying Tuesday, 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.You will be copying Coop committee schedulesfrom originals provided using the Risographmachine. Familiarity with a risograph machineand the ability to troubleshoot problems withthe printer is a plus. You will be on your feet formuch of the shift and you will be working inde-pendently. Looking for members with a goodattendance record and who have been mem-bers of the Coop for six months. A six-monthcommitment to the workslot is required. Ifinterested, please contact Debbie in theMembership Office.

Our Governing Structure From our inception in 1973 to the present, the openmonthly General Meetings have been at the center of theCoop’s decision-making process. Since the Coop incor-porated in 1977, we have been legally required to have aBoard of Directors. The Coop continued the tradition ofGeneral Meetings by requiring the Board to have openmeetings and to receive the advice of the members atGeneral Meetings. The Board of Directors, which isrequired to act legally and responsibly, has approvedalmost every General Meeting decision at the end ofevery General Meeting. Board members are elected atthe Annual Meeting in June. Copies of the Coop’s bylawsare available at the Coop Community Corner and atevery General Meeting.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 31, 7:00 p.m.The General Meeting is held on the last Tuesday of eachmonth.

Location The Temple House of Congregation Beth Elohim(Garfield Temple), 274 Garfield Place.

How to Place an Item on the AgendaIf you have something you’d like discussed at a GeneralMeeting, please complete a submission form for theAgenda Committee. Forms are available in the rack nearthe Coop Community Corner bulletin board and atGeneral Meetings. Instructions and helpful informationon how to submit an item appear on the submissionform. The Agenda Committee meets on the first Tuesdayof each month to plan the agenda for the GM held on thelast Tuesday of the month. If you have a question, pleasecall Ellen Weinstat in the office.

Meeting FormatWarm Up (7:00 p.m.) • Meet the Coordinators • Enjoy some Coop snacks • Submit Open Forum items • Explore meeting literatureOpen Forum (7:15 p.m.) Open Forum is a time formembers to bring brief items to the General Meeting. Ifan item is more than brief, it can be submitted to theAgenda Committee as an item for a future GM.Reports (7:30 p.m.) • Financial Report • Coordinators’Report • Committee ReportsAgenda (8:00 p.m.)• The agenda is posted at the Coop Community Cornerand may also appear elsewhere in this issue.Wrap Up (9:30-9:45 p.m.) (unless there is a vote toextend the meeting) • Meeting evaluation • Board ofDirectors vote • Announcements, etc.

A l l A b o u t t h eG e n e r a l M e e t i n g

Attend a GMand Receive Work Credit

Since the Coop’s inception in 1973, the GeneralMeeting has been our decision-making body. At theGeneral Meeting (GM) members gather to makedecisions and set Coop policy. The General-Meeting-for-workslot-credit program was created to increaseparticipation in the Coop’s decision-making process.

Following is an outline of the program. For full details, seethe instruction sheets by the sign-up board.

• Advance Sign-up required:To be eligible for workslot credit, you must add your

name to the sign-up sheet in the elevator lobby. Some restrictions to this program do apply. Please see

below for details.

• Two GM attendance credits per year:Each member may take advantage of the GM-for-

workslot-credit program two times per calendar year.

• Certain Squads not eligible:Eligible: Shopping, Receiving/ Stocking, Food

Processing, Office, Maintenance, Inventory, Construction,and FTOP committees. (Some Committees are omittedbecause covering absent members is too difficult.)

• Attend the entire GM:In order to earn workslot credit you must be present

for the entire meeting.

• Childcare can be provided at GMs:Please notify an Office Coordinator in the Membership

Office at least one week prior to the meeting date.

• Signing in at the Meeting: 1. After the meeting the Chair will provide the

Workslot Credit Attendance Sheet.2.Please also sign in the attendance book that is

passed around during the meeting.

• Being Absent from the GM:It is possible to cancel without penalty. We do ask that

you remove your name if you know cannot attend. Pleasedo not call the Membership Office with GM cancellations.

Park Slope Food CoopMission Statement

The Park Slope Food Coop is a mem-ber-owned and operated food store—analternative to commercial profit-orientedbusiness. As members, we contribute ourlabor: working together builds trustthrough cooperation and teamwork andenables us to keep prices as low as possi-ble within the context of our values andprinciples. Only members may shop, andwe share responsibilities and benefitsequally. We strive to be a responsible andethical employer and neighbor. We are abuying agent for our members and not aselling agent for any industry. We are a partof and support the cooperative movement.We offer a diversity of products with anemphasis on organic, minimally pro-cessed and healthful foods. We seek toavoid products that depend on theexploitation of others. We support non-toxic, sustainable agriculture. We respectthe environment. We strive to reduce theimpact of our lifestyles on the world weshare with other species and future genera-tions. We prefer to buy from local, earth-friendly producers. We recycle. We try tolead by example, educating ourselves andothers about health and nutrition, coopera-tion and the environment. We are com-mitted to diversity and equality. Weoppose discrimination in any form. Westrive to make the Coop welcoming andaccessible to all and to respect the opin-ions, needs and concerns of every member.



C O O P CA L E N D A RNew Member OrientationsAttending an Orientation is the first step towardCoop membership. Pre-registration is required forall of the four weekly New Member Orientations. To pre-register, visit www.foodcoop.com or contactthe Membership Office. Visit in person or call 718-622-0560 during office hours.

Have questions about Orientation? Please visitwww.foodcoop.com and look at the “Join the Coop”page for answers to frequently asked questions.

The Coop on the Internetwww.foodcoop.com

The Coop on Cable TVInside the Park Slope Food CoopFRIDAYS 2:30 p.m. with a replay at 10:30 p.m. Channels: 56 (TimeWarner), 69 (CableVision).

General Meeting InfoTUE, MAR 31GENERAL MEETING: 7:00 p.m.

TUE, APR 7AGENDA SUBMISSIONS: 8:00 p.m. Submissions will be considered for the Apr 28General Meeting.

Gazette DeadlinesLETTERS & VOLUNTARY ARTICLES:

Mar 26 issue: 7:00 p.m., Mon, Mar 16Apr 9 issue: 7:00 p.m., Mon, Mar 30

CLASSIFIED ADS DEADLINE:Mar 26 issue: 7:00 p.m., Wed, Mar 18Apr 9 issue: 7:00 p.m., Wed, Apr 1

09-03-12 p 01-16 3/11/09 8:20 PM

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RESPONSES TOISRAELI BOYCOTT IDEA

DEAR EDITOR:I’m writing to oppose the proposed

ban on Israeli products. The MiddleEast conflict is very complex withblood on both sides. Those who areangered at the recent war in Gazashould remember that Hamas pro-voked the fighting by firing rocketsfrom civilian areas in Gaza at innocentcivilians in Siderot and Ashkelon forthe past six years. Israel tolerated theattacks using surgical strikes, but stillHamas did not stop. Even after theso-called truce, rockets are still rain-ing down into Israel.

Moreover, those who support a banshould realize that they are unitingwith Hamas: an anti-Semitic, regres-sive and illiberal organization whoseavowed goal is to kill as many Jews(not Israelis) as possible.

Finally, such a ban would be a slip-pery slope. California recently votedto ban gay marriage; however, theCoop imports fruits from California. Iwould hope to oppose anti-gay dis-crimination, Coop members wouldvote to ban products from Californiathat is unless they want to supportHamas—who is intolerant of gay peo-ple—instead of gay people.

Such a ban would target a sover-eign nation that is merely defendingits citizens. I wonder how Coop mem-bers would react if rockets were fallingon 7th and 8th avenues where theirchildren walk to school every day.

Rick Armstrong

DEAR EDITOR: In response to Hima B’s call for a

boycott of Israeli goods due to theiralleged violation of international law, Iwould like to point out the followingblatant violations of international lawby Hamas: 1) using civilians asshields; 2) firing mortars from Pales-tinian schoolyards or adjacent to UNinstallations; 3) armed confiscation ofUN aid and the selling of same; 4) inthe first half of 2008 alone, 2,378 rock-ets and mortars were launched fromGaza aimed at Israeli civilian popula-tions; 5) suicide bombers targetingcivilian gatherings; 6) Their treatmentof political rivals (Fatah)... shot in thekneecaps from behind so that theentire knee is destroyed and thenthrown from high buildings; 7) Hamas’covenant itself is in violation of theFourth Geneva convention as it is adirect and public incitement to geno-cide; 8) Hamas, not Israel bears legalresponsibility for the deaths of civil-ians when Hamas launches rocketsfrom civilian areas; and finally 8) it is awar crime to recruit children to battle.

As far as Israel violating interna-tional law, I quote British ArmyColonel Richard Kemp, a formersenior advisor on the Middle East tothe British government being inter-viewed by the BBC:

“…Israel doesn’t have any choiceother than to defend its own peo-

ple…. I don’t think there has everbeen a time in the history of warfarewhen any army has made more effortsto reduce civilian casualties anddeaths of innocent people than theIDF is doing today in Gaza... “

Thank You,Shalmon Bernstein

TO THE COOP:I find it very upsetting that there

have been letters in the Gazette accusingIsrael of apartheid policies and callingfor the Coop to boycott Israeli productsfor what is happening in Gaza. Theymake claims that the action to boycottIsrael is “not Anti-Semitic. It is aboutbeing anti-apartheid.”

It would be important to point outthat to equate Israel/Hamas conflictwith struggle against South Africanapartheid is preposterous. Apartheidpolicies were directed against a majori-ty population within South Africa. Gazais an independent entity controlled byHamas, which owes its independentstatus to the Israeli government remov-ing, at times forcibly, Israelis and turn-ing control over to Palestinians.

The fact is that the Arab/Muslimworld and their allies have been feed-ing these lies to the world and gettingaway with it for years. These lies haveonly encouraged hate against Jews,whether they are Israeli or not. (Exam-ple: Venezuela where a synagoguewas attacked.)

Before there is a rush to judgment,let’s get the record straight:

More than a million Jews wereexpelled from Arab and Muslim coun-tries between 1948 and 1974, withoutasking for compensation or the rightto return.

As late as the 1960’s there havebeen pogroms against the Jews in theArab countries where they were mur-dered and driven out.

They had no choice but to go to theIsrael, where they were attacked fromday one by all the oppressive regimesthat surrounded them. These were thesame countries that kicked the Jewishpeople out in the first place.

These countries have been callingfor the murder of both Israelis andJews, so to say this boycott would notbe anti-Semitic is one more lie thatwe are supposed to believe.

And, if the supporters of Hamasfeel that Israel should be boycotted forwhat is happening in Gaza, maybethey and the other anti-Semites/Zion-ists should start with all the repressiveregimes in that area, such as SaudiArabia, Libya, Syria, Iran, Egypt andHamas and Islamic Jihad themselves.

The Islamics refer to The Protocolsof the Elders of Zion which has beencondemned by the world for being ananti-Semitic farce. Yet it is used by theArab/Muslim governments as a toolto oppose Israel. It’s important toknow its history and what these coun-tries do with it.

Hamas is winning the propagandawar by convincing world opinion thatIsrael is in the wrong and not Hamas.

Hamas repeated many times thatthey have no intention of recognizingthe State of Israel. Their only goal isto throw it out to sea. To paraphrase aletter to the editor of the WoodstockTimes:

“If Hamas stopped firing rocketsthere would be peace. If the Israelisstopped defending themselves therewould be genocide.”

S. Jacobson

TO THE COOP:I am sure you are getting many

messages about the proposed boy-cott of Israel. I am not happy withIsrael’s right wing government or theirSettler policy. But I do feel Israel getsunfairly targeted. Many nationsbehave far worse than Israel yet arenot boycotted. Israel’s sometimesexcessive reactions to being attackedare criticized far more than are theactions of any other nation. I do notsupport a Coop boycott of Israel andwould feel obligated to leave theCoop...which is not something I wantto do!

David Michaelson

DEAR EDITOR:To make an opinion, we need to be

well informed. For those who areinterested in information that is notusually found in the media, websitesof Jewish peace organizations, all ofwhich are working for a non-violentsolution that will ensure that bothIsraelis and Palestinians will neveragain live in fear, can be accessed:

www.ICAHD.org (Israeli committeeagainst House Demolitions)

www.JewishPeaceFellowship.orgwww.jewsagainsttheoccupation.orgbfp@brooklynpeace.org

Claudine Michaud

GENTLE EDITOR:There are letters in the last two

issues from Hima B. and ImranaSayed urging in one letter that thePSFC boycott Israeli products, and inthe other requesting that a list ofIsraeli products the PSFC carries bepublished so that members canchoose not to purchase them. Sug-gesting the PSFC boycott food pro-ducers from a specific countrybecause of their country’s actions is aslippery slope we should notdescend. Where could such a policylead? Should we boycott Turkishproducts because Turkey has invadedIraq in search of Kurds who haveattacked Turkey, or because Turkeyrefuses to consider Kurdish autono-my? Should we boycott Sri Lankanproducts because of the government’slong and violent dispute with itsTamil people, also seeking some formof autonomy?

Should we boycott products fromthe United States? After all, our coun-try’s government launched anunprecedented preemptive strike on asovereign nation.

Stating that Israel has single-hand-edly created South African-style

apartheid in Palestine isn’t a known,indisputable fact, and much propa-ganda originating from both sides ofthe dispute has proven to be untrueor greatly exaggerated. Coop mem-bers who have an opinion on the sub-ject probably extend all along thespectrum from one side of the debateto the other. Amending PSFC purchas-ing on the basis of opinions on debat-able points of nations’ policies andactions should never guide PSFC buy-ing decisions. If that were the case,our store would have very few itemsfor sale indeed.

Mark Peters

DEAR EDITOR:In response to the letters in the

February 12, 2009 issue of the Linewait-ers’ Gazette regarding a boycott ofIsraeli products, the fact that a cam-paign is being mounted in the FoodCoop regarding the above issue seemsunfair. Rather, I think a campaignshould be mounted to discreditHamas and Hezbolah for the murdersthat were committed by their rocketsinto Israel and also for the killing oftheir own people, since they insist onshooting off rockets in the midst oftheir own crowded neighborhoods inGaza, so that they can claim that Israelis responsible for this. They don’tseem to care about their families orfriends. They refuse to settle this issuepeacefully. It has also been demon-strated on TV lately that they holdback on food deliveries to their ownpeople in order to further propagan-dize this situation. They have becomemasters of propaganda, and manypeople are falling for this. But...by thesame token, many people are not.They see through these schemes.

Does the world really expect Israelnot to defend itself? Israel has triedmany times to settle peacefully,through mediators and without medi-ators, but the people heading up theHezbolah and Hamas organizationsdo not keep their word. The day afterthe last truce was up, they startedshooting rockets into Israeli towns.

I would go along with ImranaSayed’s suggestion that if this actionis contemplated in the Coop, then itshould be voted on at the next boardmeeting. If this action is, indeed,instituted then I will leave the FoodCoop and I am sure that hundreds ofpeople will follow.

Let us hope for an amicable settle-ment.

Millie Ruttner

As an American and an Israeli, Ifully support all forms of peacefulprotest, and it is certainly your right,at least in this country, to boycott anyproducts you choose. I fully deplorethe loss of life of civilians, and dis-agree with many of the tactics usedand decisions made by all parties inthis situation in Israel, in Gaza. Butwhat did you boycott when armed



09-03-12 p 01-16 3/11/09 8:20 PM

Palestinians pulled my old familyfriend Avi Boaz out of his car in Beth-lehem in 2002 and shot him dead, orwhen Palestinian terrorists came tomy neighborhood in Netanya andmassacred families who were sittingdown at a Passover dinner? Did youboycott all American-made productswhen the U.S. began the war in Iraqand killed civilians there? Why ask theFood Coop to make arbitrary black-and-white decisions in a world of var-ied grays. Peace was achieved inIreland through negotiations, howabout asking the Food Coop to sup-port the peacemakers in this process?There are many groups working onthat right now, and I’d be surprised ifmany Coop members are not alreadyinvolved in some of them.

Sincerely,Gilly Youner

PLEASE EXPLAIN!

DEAR EDITOR:Our gross margins on the 48 weeks

ending on January 4, 2009 (16.85%) donot match the one used to compareour gross income on $32,000,000sales with the one from regular coops(38%).

The article indicated a gross mar-gin of 21% while ours is 16.85%. Fur-thermore, the difference in grosssales income between other coopsand the PSFC is estimated at$11,000,000; however on the basis of16.85% for our gross margin, the dif-ference should have been around$5,390,000 instead of $11,000,000.

Please clarify our gross margin rate(16.86 or 21%) and the reason formentioning $11,000,000 (or the cor-rect amount) as unrealized grossincome on our sales. Are we compar-ing our gross income in sales to those

of other coops? And if so, why? Is it toinform the membership how muchcan we increase our sales income ifwe increase our gross margins?

In cooperation,Gus Vianna Biehler

RESPONSE TO GUSVIANNA BIEHLER’SQUERY

I apologize for the confusing fig-ures regarding our 48-week financialstatement as reported in the Gazette ofFebruary 12th.

The statement shows that we soldgoods that cost us about $27.3 mil-lion for about $32.8 million, the differ-ence of $5.5 million constituting ourgross margin of about 17% (5.5 / 32.8).At the meeting I noted that the typicalextra-large US food coop would havesold these goods for about $44 mil-lion, or about $11 million more thanwe sold them for. I explained that this$11 million represents the savingsmembers achieve through their laborand our efficient operation.

The 21% figure is the markup weemploy to achieve the 17% margin(.21 / 1.21). The typical extra-large USfood coop employs a markup ofabout 61% to achieve a margin ofabout 38% (.61 / 1.61 )

We are proud of our unusually lowmarkup and strive to keep it low. Wethink it is useful to point out the pri-mary source of our low prices.

Mike EakinGeneral Coordinator

SUNDAY AT THEPROSPECT PARK ICESKATING RINKApproaching from a distance I see,skaters flowing smoothly round and roundBut once on the ice – Chaos,bodies in Brownian movementWeave in and out, to avoid a collision,nanoseconds for each decisionUnsteady beginner headed my way self

destructs,goes down like a Kamikazi plane in a video

gameYes! now I’m here with a patch of clear ice,to try skating backwardsStepping and sliding I look over my

shoulder,to see that I’m glidingStraight towards a tangle of stumbling first

timersTurn quick and push, try to look cool and

pretend not to notice,when snubbed by the hot shot in hockey

attire who shoots throughthe gap with a nonchalant flip of a bladeSuddenly a whistle – clear the rink, the ice is

wounded it cries for healingtime for Doctor Zamboni to make an

appearanceThe Crowd watches with interest, and all

applaud the Doc’s gyrations,while the patient lies quietly and coolly

submits to Doc’s ministrationsSoon scrapes and gouges will be no more, the

ice will be without a flawExcitement increases as Doc’s circles get

smaller,anticipation mounting with each revolutionThe Crowd grows impatient they wait for the

signal,then surge towards the ice when the “All

Clear” is soundedAnd the first few to charge out at the head of

the pack,can for a few moments triumphantly claim

the whole glassy field as their personaldomain.

Anthony Marchese

WHERE IS THE HEARTOF THE CO-OP?

DEAR EDITOR:I had just gotten my period and

had no tampons left.I took a long bike ride to the Coop

because I needed the tampons thatdon’t have chemicals in them.

It was 5 past 10 p.m. and peoplewere still checking their things out atthe registers.

I ask “PLEASE, can’t I just run inand get one box of tampons?”

In the time I could have run in toaccomplish this, the lady sat therearguing with me, and then called theshift supervisor. I was then denied anycompassion by the shift supervisor,even though people were continuingthe check out and all the registerswere still open!

What does it mean to be memberowned and operated?

What is the point of workingtogether if no compassion is shownfor one another?

Is the Coop really only about get-ting cheap prices?

We are members, together, and wehave the power to help each other.

It was only I, pleading, bleedingand really just needing a box offemale friendly tampons.

Where is the Coop’s heart???? Ithought the Coop was about having astore that we all ran together, in a waythat is devoted not only to environ-mental consciousness but also devot-ed to creating community, a“humanistic shopping experience” ifyou will. That is why I shop at the Coopand not Duane Reade, where for exam-ple the manager has no incentive to“make an exception” for me becausethey don’t know me and don’t care.

That should not be attitude of peo-ple at the Coop.

Sara C.



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Brooklyn Food Conference: Local Action for Global Change

Learn How You Can Get Involvedin the Food Conference

We are holding a meeting to introduce you to the Brooklyn Food Conference, co-sponsored by the Park Slope Food Coop, Caribbean Women’s Health Association,Brooklyn Rescue Mission, World Hunger Year, and Brooklyn’s Bounty (plus 80other organizational partners). This huge conference, to be held on May 2 inPark Slope, will bring people together from all over Brooklyn who are interestedin changing the food system, making it healthy, environmentally sustainable,and socially just to workers and consumers.

Come learn about the conference and how you can participate in it

(Get FTOP hours if you get involved in the conference.):

Thursday, March 19, 20097:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Congregation Beth Elohim, Second Flr. BallroomGarfield Pl. off Eighth Ave. • Park Slope, Brooklyn

[email protected]

On Saturday, May 2, 2009, the PSFC, Caribbean Women's Health Association, Brooklyn RescueMission, World Hunger Year, and Brooklyn’s Bounty will co-sponsor an all-Brooklyn Food Conference:Local Action for Global Change. More than 80 community organizations have signed on as partnershelping us do publicity to attract the 2,000+ people we expect to attend. We need hundreds of Coopmembers to help us with this huge event! Do you have experience in ...

Please send an e-mail with your name and area of expertise to [email protected].

As we intend to keep the conference free and open to the community, we are asking for donations.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

BOOK KEEPING

BUS COORDINATOR – Coordinate bustransportation for the day of the event.

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR FORMAY 2, the day of the conference.

RESEARCHER

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT INTERNCOORDINATOR

WEB SITE CODING SKILLS

AD COORDINATOR for the printed pro-gram for the conference.

CHEFS AND “FRONT OF HOUSE” PRO-FESSIONALS to work the event on May 2,as well as doing kitchen prep work on Wed,April 29, 30, and May 1.

STORE, RESTAURANT, & VENDOR

OUTREACH – Help us reach out to stores,restaurants, and vendors to involve them inour conference.

GRANT WRITING – Help us raise foundationfunds to support this free conference.

MEDIA CONTACTS – Help connect us topeople you know in the media—journalists,TV, radio, bloggers, all needed.

EVENT PLANNING- – Including a parade,films, vendors, info tables, workshops, andeducational groups for May 2; we also needhelp organizing fundraisers before May 2 tosupport this free conference.

TRANSLATION – Spanish, Creole, Arabic,Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian and AmericanSign Language

And if you have them, we need: AIRMILES ormoney to help bring keynote speakers to theconference.

Bank FTOP hours using your expertise to create one of the largest events in the COOP’s history.

www.BrooklynFoodConference.org

09-03-12 p 01-16 3/11/09 8:20 PM



SAT, MAR 14

PEOPLES’ VOICE CAFE: AlixDobkin; Blanche Wiesen Cook. Atthe Community Church of NewYork Unitarian Universalist, 40 E35th St. (Madison & Park); wheel-chair-accessible. Info: 212-787-3903 or www.peoplesvoice-cafe.org. Suggested donation: $15general/$10 members/more if youchoose, less if you can’t/no oneturned away.

THU, MAR 19

WORKSHOP TO END GLOBALPOVERTY at The NeighborhoodChurch of Greenwich Village (269Bleecker St.), 7-9:45 p.m. Join yourfriends and neighbors as we workwith the Obama administrationand the 111th Congress to endglobal poverty. Info: nycresults.org.

FRI, MAR 20

“ORPHEUS & EURYDICE” by Gluckin English. Orpheus descends tothe underworld to bring Eurydiceback to life with the help of theGoddess of Love, but not beforehe encounters Furies who will notlet Orpheus pass into Hades.Brooklyn Repertory Opera withorchestra & ballet. 7:30 p.m.Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 FourthAve./President. Admission $20,Seniors/Students $10.www.bropera.org.

SAT, MAR 21

PEOPLES’ VOICE CAFE: Women’sSong Night: Jaime Anderson, TheBelle, Lydia Adams Davis andKathy Byers. At the CommunityChurch of New York Unitarian Uni-versalist, 40 E 35th St. (Madison &Park); wheelchair-accessible. Info:212-787-3903 or www.peoples-voicecafe.org. Suggested dona-tion: $15 general/$10 mem-bers/more if you choose, less ifyou can’t/no one turned away.

“ORPHEUS & EURYDICE” by Gluckin English. Orpheus descends tothe underworld to bring Eurydiceback to life with the help of theGoddess of Love, but not before heencounters Furies who will not letOrpheus pass into Hades. Brook-lyn Repertory Opera with orchestra& ballet. 3:30 p.m. BrooklynLyceum, 227 Fourth Ave./Presi-dent. Admission $20, Seniors/Stu-dents $10. www.bropera.org.

SUN, MAR 22

SPRING INTO ACTION! cookingclass to fundraise for youth inneed in Africa. Learn how to cookdelicious and nutritious meals forthe Spring season with Asian-inspired cuisine. 5-8 p.m. $100minimum donation to SEVA Pro-ject (visit www.amberjcam-pion.com for more details about

project) and $25 for food andmaterials. Space is limited. Info:[email protected].

SAT, MAR 28

CELEBRATION OF URBAN FOLKMUSIC of the 1940s & 1950s Pan-els and Concert. Oscar Brand, JeanRitchie, Tony Saletan, RogerSprung & more. Little Red School-house, Elisabeth Irwin HS, 40Charlton St. NYC, Folk Music Soci-ety of N.Y., Inc/ N.Y. PinewoodsFolk Music Club, 1-10, $25 panels,$25 concert, or $40 full day.www.folk musicny.org.

AUCTION FUNDRAISER: MiddleSchool 51 PTA AnnualDinner/Dance & Auction, at Tem-ple Beth Elohim, Garfield & 8thAve., 2nd fl. ballroom. Food,drinks, dancing to music by Mem-phis Train & The Boxcar Horns.Purchase tickets ($45 inadvance/$50 at the door) atw w w. n y c h a r i t i e s . o r g / e v e n t -/event.asp?CE_ID=3535.


PEOPLES’ VOICE CAFE: SaraThompsen; Bernardo Palombo. Atthe Community Church of NewYork Unitarian Universalist, 40 E35th St. (Madison & Park); wheel-chair-accessible. Info: 212-787-3903 or www.peoplesvoice-cafe.org. Suggested donation: $15general/$10 members/more if youchoose, less if you can’t/no oneturned away.

SUN, MAR 29


FINAL GIFTS: DONATING ONE’SBODY TO MEDICAL EDUCATIONOR RESEARCH. Park Slope UnitedMethodist Church, 6th Ave. and8th St., 1-2 p.m. Representativesof NY medical school programsand two PSUMC family membersof donors will present, with timefor questions. Info: [email protected], 718-288-6874 or [email protected].

FOLK OPEN SING: Come sing withus. Bring voice, instruments,friends. Children welcome.

Cohosted by the Folk Music Soci-ety of N.Y., the Ethical CultureSociety & the Goodcoffee House.At the Ethical Culture Society, 53Prospect Park West. 7:30-10p.m.Info: 718-636-6341.

WED, APR 1

“Will Work for Food”—a radiodocumentary about the Coop(see page 4 of this issue)—willair on WBAI at 99.5 FM at 11 a.m.You can also listen online afterthe air date at the archive showsection at www.wbai.org.

FRI, APR 3

CHILDREN’S GARDENING CLASS-ES: Spring classes for ages 4-12 atBrooklyn Botanic Garden’s historicChildren’s Garden; Fridays & Satur-days beginning April 3. Kids tendtheir own garden plots and harvestfresh flowers, fruits & vegetables tobring home. Full scholarshipsavailable. Register: 718-623-7220or www.bbg.org/edu-/children.

SAT, APR 4

PEOPLES’ VOICE CAFE: RayKorona Band. At the CommunityChurch of New York Unitarian Uni-versalist, 40 E 35th St. (Madison &Park); wheelchair-accessible. Info:212-787-3903 or www.peoplesvoice-cafe.org. Suggested donation: $15general/$10 members/more if youchoose, less if you can’t/no oneturned away.

SUN, APR 5

SUPPORT GROUP for people car-ing for aging family and friendsmeets the first Sunday of eachmonth from 9:30–11:00 a.m. atPark Slope United MethodistChurch. Open to all members ofthe community dealing withissues around elderly parents,family or friends. Come share feel-ings, insights and resource ideaswith others. Info: 718-783-4404.

COMMUNITY CALENDARCommunity calendar listings are free. Please submit your listings in 50 words or less by mail, themailslot in the entry vestibule, or [email protected]. Submission deadlines are thesame as for classified ads. Please refer to the Coop Calendar in the center of this issue.*Denotes a Coop member.

Silent ChoicesSilent Choices is a documentary about abortion andits impact on the lives of African American women.From African Americans' cautious involvement withMargaret Sanger during the early birth control move-ment to black nationalists and civil rights activists whostaunchly opposed abortion (or stayed silent on theissue), Silent Choices examines the juxtaposition ofrace and reproductive politics. Three black women alsoshare their stories of the abortions they had.

Faith Pennick wrote, directed, produced and edited theaward-winning narrative short, Running on Eggshells,that aired on U.S. television in the fall of 2007. Shealso produced the narrative short film Harlem SistasDouble Dutch, which aired on the WNET/New York filmseries Reel New York in 2005. Pennick is currentlydirecting and producingWeightless, a short documentaryfilm about plus-size femalescuba divers, to be completed inthe summer of 2009.

Film Curator Faye Lederman’s independent filmsinclude Women of the Wall, The New Old Country, A GoodUplift, and Hold the Soup. She was a field producer onElection Day (POV 2008) and consulting producer onJudith Hefand's Cooked (in production). She is a mem-ber of New Day Films and her work has been supportedby NYSCA, NYFA, the Funding Exchange and the PuffinFoundation.

FREENon-members

welcome

Views expressed by the presenter do not necessarily represent the Park Slope Food Coop

April 3 • 7:00 p.m. at the Coop

09-03-12 p 01-16 3/11/09 8:20 PM



Audrey Miller-KomaroffI’m Audrey Miller-Komaroff. I currently sit on the

Board of Directors and I’m theFriday Shopping Coordinator.I’ve been a Coop membersince 1975, and I’ve happilyseen the Coop grow from 400members to its present size.

I’ve always gone where Ifelt the Coop needed me. Iwas the first cashier trainer. I

was one of the twelve people who excavated andstarted the “Garden of Union.” When the Coopexpanded Friday shopping hours, I became a squadleader on the first 8:00 a.m. shift. Feeling limitedbeing a squad leader on two squads, one for myselfand one for my husband, I asked to become the Fri-day Shopping Coordinator when the job becamevacant.

I have been a positive and cooperative memberthrough all our changes in the last 34 years. Thegeneral meetings opened my eyes to our policymaking procedures and I’ve enjoyed them. The

Coop is a very unique and successful venture that Ilove being a part of. Having served on the board forthree years, I would like to continue for anotherthree years.

I value the General Meetings and the expertiseof the General, Receiving and Office Coordinators. Iwholeheartedly believe in the cooperative spiritwhere each person gives of themselves for the ben-efit of the whole. The core beliefs of the Coop havemade it strong and prosperous. I’m sure theseshared ideals will serve it well in the future. My can-didacy is endorsed by the General Coordinators.

Candidate for Board of Directors of the Park Slope Food Coop, Inc.Two full three-year terms are open.

To vote you may use a proxy or be present at the Food Coop Annual Meeting on June 30, 2009. Every member will receive a proxy package in the mail in late May.

You will have the opportunity to meet the candidates at the Annual Meeting.

Candidate Statements:(Statements are unedited and presented in alphabetical order.)

The Role of the BoardFrom our inception in 1973 to the present, the

monthly General Meeting has been the decision-making body of the Coop. Since the Coop incor-porated in 1977, we have been legally required tohave a board of Directors.

The Bylaws of the Park Slope Food Coop state:“The portion of the Board of Directors meetingthat is devoted to receiving the advice of themembers shall be known as the General Meeting.…The members who gather to give advice to thedirectors may choose to vote in order to expresstheir support or opposition for any of the issues

that have come before the meeting.”The Board of Directors, which is required to act

legally and responsibly, conducts a vote at theend of every General Meeting on whether toaccept the advice of the members as expressed intheir vote(s) during the GM.

The Election ProcessEach year the Coop must, by law, hold an

Annual Meeting. This is the only meeting whereproxies can be used. Those members who cannotattend the Annual Meeting may be represented, ifthey wish, by a proxy.

If you submit a proxy but come to the AnnualMeeting in person, your proxy will be returned toyou when you register.

Members who have a current membership asof Saturday, June 13, 2009 are eligible to vote inthe election of Directors at the Annual Meetingeither in person or by proxy.

Proxy packets are mailed to members in mid-May. If you do not receive a packet, please callthe Membership Office or pick one up at theentrance door of the Coop. ■

The EnvironmentalCommittee has a blog!

We’reblogging

about ouractivities at the Coop,

as well asenvironmental events

of interest at the Coopand beyond.

Find us at:http://ecokvetch.blogspot.com/

Please visit oftenfor timely news and

informationfrom the PSFCEnvironmental

Committee.

Right now the hills are steepa head wind stings the cheekstears rake the face

A light steady rainmakes a goo of the roadand the mud is flipped by the wheelonto the seat of our pants

The breath burnswe want to stop – but it's as farto go back as it is to move aheadout here in the middle of nowherethe place we brought ourselves toon the bicycle of our world-bound selves

Someoneno one we knowcycles down to uspeddles expertly in frontpulls us into their slipstreamand hauls us up the hilland then the next

By the time of our descent we have restedthe wind at our backthe rain eased

we sail back home happywhole

We have to apply ourselveswe have to knit othersand sometimes allow ourselves

to be knittedinto the slipstream of the collective good

That's where we're headed

The Park Slope Food CoopLeading the wayby Myra Klockenbrink

Friday, March 20 (C week)10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 2 (A week)10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Monday, April 6 (B week)noon to 1:00 p.m. and1:30 t0 2:30 p.m.

You can join in any time during a tour.

What Is That? How Do I Use It?

Food Tours in the Coop

09-03-12 p 01-16 3/11/09 8:20 PM



Helping Feral/Outside Cats: Trap-Neuter-Return

WITH JESSE OLDHAM

Do you want to help your neighborhood cats?

Please join us for a comprehensive workshop onwhy trap-neuter-return is the healthiest and most

humane choice for feral cats.

We will speak about the trap-neuter-return process, feral

nutrition, advocacy,socialization, spay/neuter

options, winter shelterand cold-weather caretaking tips!

All attendees will get a proof-of-attendance cardenabling them to borrow traps from a

number of area trap banks.Jesse Oldham, a PSFC member, has been an animal welfare advocate for 13years. She is the founder and President of Slope Street Cats and is on the NYCFeral Cat Council.

Saturday, March 141:00 – 4:00 at the Coop

FREENon-members welcome


Past Life Regression Through Hypnosis

DO YOU HAVE THE FEELING THAT YOU HAVE LIVED BEFORE?

Have you ever just met someone and feltlike you have previously known them?

Are there other countries or cultures thatseem familiar to you?

Well there might be an explanation forthis.

Through hypnosis we can tap into thesubconscious mind, as well as enter into a peaceful trance-like state to retrievememories of our past lives.

Relax and take a journey within.

Gain: • Realizations • A deeper understanding of who you are• Retrieve memories • Pass beyond death and back again

Bring: A blanket to lie down on or a comfortable lawn chair to relax into A note book to write down anything that comes up

Jeffrey T. Carl, CHt, a Coop member, is a certified clinical hypnotherapist,and a member of I.A.C.T. Jeffrey is also certified in past regression thoughthe Wiess Institute.

W I T H J E F F R E Y T . C A R L , C H T .

Friday, March 137:30 p.m. at the Coop



A Class InBasic Meditation

The fundamental nature of our mind is stable, strong and clear—yet these qualities become

obscured by the stress and speed of our lives.

Meditation opens and calms the mind.

This is a basic meditation class for beginners, and for anyone who would like a renewed

understanding of the technique.

Allan Novick has practiced meditation since 1975 and is a medita-tion instructor at the New York Shambhala Center. He lives in ParkSlope, has been a Coop member for many years, and works as apsychologist for the New York City Department of Education.

Meet YourMind

Friday, March 207:30 p.m. at the Coop


WITH ALLAN NOVICK


09-03-12 p 01-16 3/11/09 8:20 PM


To Submit Classified or Display Ads:Ads may be placed on behalf of Coop members

only. Classified ads are prepaid at $15 per insertion,business card ads at $30. (Ads in the “Merchan-dise– Non-commercial” category are free.) All adsmust be written on a submission form. Classifiedads may be up to 315 characters and spaces. Dis-play ads must be camera-ready and business cardsize (2" x 3.5" horizontal).

Submission forms are available in a wallpocketnear the elevator.


BED & BREAKFAST

SOUTH SLOPE GREEN - new bed & breakfast. Full breakfast,organic, most diets accommodated. 2-room suite, private bath,families of 1-5. Reasonable rates, Coop members 10% discount.TV, Internet, mini fridge and microwave. Call Linda Wheeler at347-721-6575 or email [email protected].

HOUSE ON 3rd St. B&B, beautiful parlor floor thru apt., dou-ble living room, bath, deck overlooking garden, wi-fi. Sleeps 4-5 in privacy and comfort. Perfect for families. Call Jane White at718-788-7171 or visit us on the web at houseon3st.com.

CLASSES/GROUPS

SUPER GENTLE YOGA. Think you’re too stiff, too old, toolarge, too out-of-shape to do yoga? Gentle, nurturing classeson Wednesdays, 7:30-8:15 PM or private sessions. ConvenientPark Slope locations. Call Mina Hamilton, 212-427-2324.

¿HABLAS UN POQUITO DE ESPANOL? I can help you breakthrough and truly improve your command of the language.Strengthen your grammar and pronunciation in a fun, conver-sational approach. All levels are welcome. Call Sergio at646-775-1475.

PERSONAL YOGILATES TRAINING in Brooklyn and Manhat-tan. Yogilates is a balanced and complete workout combiningthe essence of yoga and pilates. Certified trainer offering one-on-one instruction in your home or office. A 60 min. session is$50.00. All levels are welcome. Call Maria 917-213-1140.

PILATES, YOGA, BODYWORK & more @ Force and Flow Inte-grated Bodywork on Dean St. btn Franklin & Bedford. Smallaffordable group classes (5 max.) w/ lots of attention to align-ment & breath. Thai Bodywork, Reiki & Bodytalk also available.OPEN HOUSE SAT. MARCH 14. Email [email protected] call 646-644-9743.

FREE FITNESS CLASS Sat. Mar. 21 Devi Studio 7 p.m. 837Union St. No experience necessary. All ages & fitness levels.The NIA Technique combines dance arts, martial arts, healingarts in a one-hour aerobic workout. Experience the JOY! NIA isbased on the pleasure principle and done barefoot. Fusion Fit-ness. Info: http://niany.com/.

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09-03-12 p 01-16 3/11/09 8:20 PM

COMMERCIAL SPACE

PROFESSIONAL OFFICES AVAIL-ABLE. Ideal for a colon therapist,psychotherapist, medical doctor, shi-atsu, reiki, speech therapist, etc. Bepart of a Holistic Center in the beau-tiful SOHO section of Manhattan.The doctor will introduce all patientsto you. For further information,please call 212-505-5055.

WONDERFUL OFFICE SPACE in theheart of the Village. Pvt ofc in suite w/semi-pvt or shared recept. nr 4 St. Anoasis in the city. New wood floors,great people, herb teas, classicalmusic. Mult option for use. A-F & 1/9trains, alt pkg, 2 hr meters. $1,000negot. please call S. Epstein 917-945-9002 or email [email protected] (4 pix).

HOUSING AVAILABLE

HOUSE FOR SALE by owner. Mohe-gan Colony Progressive Communityin northern Westchester. 2500 sf legaltwo family on 0.9 acre. 3 br/2 baths +home office/family room and 1 br/1bath. Lake rights to Mohegan Lake,near train and #15 bus. Lakelandschool district. Phone 917-755-4686.Bob.

Female vegetarian kosher seekinglike-minded female to share large 2-bedroom apt. in Kensington. Quiet,tree-lined neighborhood. No smok-ers, no pets, no drugs. Rent = $700+sec. dep. Gas & electric included.646-415-8294.

MERCHANDISE-NONCOMMERCIAL

FOR SALE: Women’s shoes, Merrell,size 8 1/2, tan, new, $45; dark greenSusan Bennis suede boots, embroi-dered, size 10, $30; gold-plated jew-elry signed by artist (vintage),$20-$40. Call 718-768-1598.

YAMAHA ELECTRIC PIANO UPP-50.76 weighted keys with stand andmanual. email: [email protected].

SERVICES

PAINTING-PLASTERING+PAPER-HANGING-Over 25 years experiencedoing the finest prep + finish work in

Brownstone Brooklyn. An entirehouse or one room. Reliable, cleanand reasonably priced. Fred Becker -718-853-0750.

EXPRESS MOVES. One flat price forthe entire move! No deceptive hourlyestimates! Careful, experiencedmover. Everything quilt padded. Noextra charge for wardrobes and pack-ing tape. Specialist in walkups. Thou-sands of satisfied customers. GreatCoop references. 718-670-7071.

ATTORNEY—Experienced personalinjury trial lawyer representing injuredbicyclists and other accident victims.Limited caseload to ensure maximumcompensation. Member of NYSTLAand ATLA. No recovery, no fee. Freeconsult. Manhattan office. Park Sloperesident. Long time PSFC member.Adam D. White. 212-577-9710.

ATTORNEY—Personal Injury Empha-sis—30 years experience in allaspects of injury law. Individualattention provided for entire case.Free phone or office consultation.Prompt, courteous communications.20-year Park Slope Food Coop mem-ber; Park Slope resident; downtownBrooklyn office. Tom Guccione,718-596-4184, also at www.tguc-cionelaw.com.

MADISON AVENUE Hair Stylist isright around the corner from theFood Coop—so if you would like areally good haircut at a decent price,please call Maggie at 718-783-2154. Icharge $60.00.

HYPNOSIS SPELLS RELIEF: Do youhave problems with self esteem &confidence? Do you suffer fromstress or pain? Are you overweight ora compulsive smoker? Hypnosis canhelp with all of this and more. I am acertified hypnotherapist, practice inPark Slope & have flexible hours. Callme, Dr. Celene Krauss 718-857-1262.

HAIRCUTS HAIRCUTS HAIRCUTS.Adults, Kids in the convenience ofyour home or mine. Also Color,Perms, Treatments. Adults, $35.00,Kids $15.00. Call Leonora,718-857-2215.

Experienced, patient chemistry tutoravailable for Regents, AP and CollegeChemistry. Masters degree in Chem-istry from Columbia University. 20years teaching and tutoring experi-ence. Call: 718-440-1919.

Beautiful. Comfortable. Practical.Olive design for your home. Let mehelp you make smart, sensible andsavvy choices to fit your budget. I’llshow you how to blend what youhave with the new items you need toget the home that you want. Paintcolors, furniture, windows, lightingand more. 347-495-5188.www.olivedesignNY.com.

SERVICES-HEALTH

HOLISTIC DENTISTRY in Brooklyn(Midwood) & Manhattan (Soho). Dr.Stephen Goldberg provides compre-hensive, family dental care usingnon-mercury fillings, crowns, den-tures, thorough cleanings, minimalX-rays and non-surgical gum treat-ments. For a free initial exam andinsurance information, call212-505-5055.

HOLISTIC OPTOMETRY: Most eyedoctors treat patients symptomati-cally by prescribing ever-increasingprescriptions. We try to find thesource of your vision problem. Someof the symptoms that can be treatedinclude headaches, eye fatigue, com-puter discomfort, learning disabili-ties. Convenient Park Slope location.Dr. Jerry Wintrob, 718-789-2020.holisticeyecare.com.

HOLISTIC DOCTOR in Naturopathystimulates body’s natural ability toheal chronic conditions, allergy, skin,muscle, cancer support with home-opathy, physical & chelation thera-pies, bioenergetic acupuncture, labtests, hair analysis & more. ResearchDirector. 20 years exp. As featured inAllure Magazine. Dr. Gilman212-505-1010.

Life Coaching with Mina. Are you intransition? Want to explore new pos-sibilities in your career? More fullyexpress your creative potential? LifeCoaching is a powerful tool forchange and growth. Sessions eitherby phone or in convenient Park Slopelocation. First session free. Call212-427-2324.

PSYCHOTHERAPY TO SUIT YOURNEEDS AND YOUR LIFESTYLE.Helen Wintrob, Ph.D., licensed Psy-chologist and trained family thera-pist will accept insurance includingGHI, Oxford, Aetna, Blue Cross/BlueShield. Park Slope Office. Eveningand weekend appointments.718-783-0913.

PSYCHOTHERAPY: Clinical psycholo-gist with many yrs. experience (&many yrs. coop membership) offersrespectful, collaborative treatment foradults, adolescents, couples & fami-lies. Insurance accepted. Look me upon http://therapists.psychologyto-day.com/rms/60175. Linda Nagel,Ph.D., 718-788-9243.

VACATIONS

BUNGALOWS FOR RENT in charm-ing cooperative summer community.Beautiful wooded grounds. Olympicpool, tennis, basketball, swim & boatin lake. Near Bethel Woods Perform-ing Arts Center. Great family vaca-tion. Reasonable prices. ContactMarlene Star, [email protected], 914-777-3088.

WHAT’S FOR FREE

FREE INITIAL ORAL EXAMINATION ina Holistic Family Dental office for allCoop members. Using a nutritionalapproach, Dr. Goldberg practices pre-ventive dentistry, with non-mercury fill-ings, thorough cleanings andnon-surgical gum treatments. Forinsurance information and an appoint-ment, please call 212-505-5055.

Classified advertising in the Linewaiters’ Gazette is available only to Coop members. Publication does not imply endorsement by the Coop.


16 � March, 12 2009 Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY

S L P A R E S

A C E R S E E R

S C A A S T E A L E

C A R E S R E L C S E

A E T A L E S A R E T A I N S T A

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R E S A L T S T E S I T

A T A L T E R S R E T S I N A E

T A R L E I R

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R S L A T E R S L A T E R A

E T A L A S P E A R

A T R E A P S P S S

T E A S E R T A E

E R S T A R E A P R E S

R S R E

Puzzle Answer

09-03-12 p 01-16 3/11/09 8:20 PM

volume dd, number 6 march 12, 2009 on coop diversity ......israel’s recent incursions into the...

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