Volume II, Number 2 January 23, 2014 Winter Warmers Line ...€¦ · teapots, tea infusers and for those who eschew plastic, especially when preparing hot food and drink, porcelain

Volume II, Number 2 January 23, 2014

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

By Hayley Gorenberg

From deep in the polar vor-tex, after the flurry of excite-

ment over the new mayoractually shoveling his nearbysidewalk, came the inspirationto prowl the Coop’s aisles forwinter warmers to keep uscomfy despite the cold.

What consolation does theCoop stock offer a frostbittenshopper? Starting in the“frozen” aisle might seemcounterintuitive, but it’schock full of some lovely com-fort food. The freezer case inAisle 3 is tiled with ravioli insurprising combinations ofpasta and fillings. RisingMoon Organics has concoct-

ed little pillows filled with fetahazelnut, wild chanterelle orgarlic and Gorgonzola. TheRavioli Store has filled basilpasta with sweet pea innards,and wrapped egg pastaaround alliterative arugulaand Asiago.

A little further down theaisle, the meat freezer has acarnivore’s array of animalproducts, and advertisestheir prices with one of thosesigns that’s singularly PSFC:“Meat in this freezer has beenmarked down 20%. It couldeven have been marked downmore than 20%. But mostlikely 20%.” Only at the Coop!

A special note about the

frozen foodstuffs aisle: Itbegins with a small collectionof bowls and mugs, house-wares that are often charmingartisanal sushi accou-trements. But the cold seemsto have gotten the goodsgiddy. Surprisingly sappymugs emblazoned with car-toon hearts proclaim, “I’mYours” and “Be Mine,” afterall, it is the time of year tothink about your valentine.

Exploring Aisle 5, one dis-covers it’s largely built from awall of tea boxes. The colorfularray includes the brands Tazo,Yogi and Numi, as well as themore traditional Twinings and

C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 5

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

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The January 28 and February 25 General Meetings will take place

At a Special Location:Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School,

500 19th St.,between 10th Ave. and Prospect Park West

Coop closing early!Sunday, February 2,

at 5:00 p.m.for year-end inventory.

Members whose shifts are affected by the closing will be contacted by the Membership Office.

Winter Warmers Line Coop ShelvesRECIPES HELP US DEAL WITH COLD DAYS AND NIGHTS

Fig Food Co.’s Yucatan Black Bean Soup.

By Eric Metzgar

Maybe you’ve already heard about this plastic bag proposal,or maybe not. There’s been a fair amount of confusion and

misunderstanding about it over the last several months. So letme try to clarify.

The Environmental Committee is proposing that the Coopno longer distribute free plastic roll bags and, instead, makethem available for purchase at a cost of twenty cents per bag.

Sound good? Sound insane?

Here’s What It IsFirst of all, our Coop has an Environmental Policy that says,

in short, we will try to do as little damage as possible to ourplanet. Specifically it says we should:

• Avoid toxic substances in a product’s production process,use, and disposal

• Minimize disposable products

IN THIS ISSUEPuzzle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Shelf-Labeling Committee Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Coordinator’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Green-Thumbing Through Middle School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6The Story of a Man, a Woman, and 35 Alpacas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Coop Calendar, Governance Information, Mission Statement . . 9Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Exciting Workslot Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Next General Meeting on January 28The General Meeting of the Park Slope Food Coop is held on thelast Tuesday of each month. The January General Meeting willbe on Tuesday, January 28, at 7:00 p.m. at Bishop Ford CentralCatholic High School, 500 19th St., between 10th Ave. andProspect Park West.

The agenda is in this Gazette, on the Coop website atwww.foodcoop.com and available as a flier in the entryway ofthe Coop. For more information about the GM and about Coopgovernance, please see the center of this issue.

The Proposal to ReducePlastic Roll Bag Use

E N V I R O N M E N T A LC O M M I T T E E R E P O R T

gazettte_1-23-14 p 1-16_Layout 1 1/22/14 6:07 PM Page 1

2 � January 23, 2014 Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY

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

the everlasting Celestial Sea-sonings. The herbaceous infu-sions tower over a lower shelfof other hot drink fixings.There’s the blast from the pastthat is Ovaltine. It perchesalongside Mediterraneanherbal coffee by Teecino, andthe tantalizing Inka instantgrain beverage (the last tworeviewed by the website “Veg-anAmericanPrincess” as “kick-ass coffee alternatives.”)

But what to put it allinside? If the mugs in Aisle 3aren’t to your taste, cast youreyes above, and find ceramicteapots, glass see-throughteapots, tea infusers and forthose who eschew plastic,especially when preparinghot food and drink, porcelaincoffee-filter cones.

Meandering to Aisle 2,the Bulk Aisle, take your pickof the Coop’s fair trade cof-fees, and load up onunbleached coffee filters(but only for a mega-pot ofsize 6; my size 2 filters forone cup in the morning arenowhere to be found).

On the more substantialside, we have beans a-go-go,waiting to become chili orsoups. Nestled amongstthem is a bin of steel-cutoats, which some peoplethink are too much troublefor a workday or school-daymorning. But don’t pass

them by! It’s possible to givesteel-cut oats a head startthe night before, cooking for10 or 15 minutes and thenleaving the hot oat mixtureto soak overnight. Reheatstovetop or in a microwavefirst thing in the morning foran energy-efficient, quickdose of serious, minimallyprocessed oatmeal.

Next to the bulk bins, dipinto condiments for thatbean stew you’re preparing,including magnificent organ-ic bay leaves from Turkey.Consider adding variety withany (or every) dried mush-room, waiting for the magicliquid to reconstitute, as wellas (near the packaged bread)an aisle-end display of vari-ous Goya chilies: arbol, gua-jillo, chipotle, pulla. The heatfrom those should meltmany an icy night!

Tools of the trade are avail-able to cooks who look up inAisle 6, where I found a collec-tion of tools from Harold

Import Company (HIC), fabri-cated in black nylon andstainless. I left with a polishedstainless skimmer I didn’tknow I needed till then. Oppo-site the cooking implementswe stock canned organicsoups and beans, from thebasic chicken (and un-chick-en) noodle, as well as FigFood Company lightly saltedsoups in pouches, such asMexican bean and rice soup,Nonna’s Minestrone andYucatan Black Bean.

...various Goya chilies: arbol,guajillo, chipotle, pulla.

The heat from those shouldmelt many an icy night!

And if the smell of freshbread baking is what youneed to make your home cozyin winter, consider FarmerGround bread flour, perhapsin buckwheat “half-white” or“buckwheat.”

Curious about what “half-

white” flour might be, Ichecked the website of the Tru-mansburg, New York, company(Farmergroundflour.com), andlearned that the flour is alsocalled “high-extractionbread flour” and averages12.5 to 13.5 percent protein,because it contains all of itsoriginal germ and some ofits original bran. FarmerGround says the f lour is“slightly darker in color thanconventional white flours,but much closer in perfor-mance to a white flour thana whole wheat. This sort ofhigh-extraction flour is whatin Europe would be called‘T-85,’ the same sort of flourused by the Poilâne Bakeryto make their world-famousMiche.” (The Poilâne Bakerysite looked absolutely lus-cious, and since I haven’tplanned a trip to Paris anytime soon, I made a mental

note to reconsider a bread-baking hobby, completewith therapeutic workout of“wedging” dough.)

Eyeballing the pizza cutterdangling in Aisle 6 remindedme how surprisingly easy it isto throw together a pizzaafter a quick Coop shop. Thepackaged cheese caseincludes a welter of mozzarel-la choices, as well as fresh,bagged pizza dough.

In the nearby meat refriger-ator cases, beef selectionsranged on a shelf that bore atag: “This bone-in chuck makesTHE BEST pot roast. See myrecipe at www.foodcoop.com.

To get there, just go to theCoop’s website, click on ‘’on-line library’’ and ‘’recipes.’’Pot Roast is listed under“Main Dishes” and it’s aboutthree-quarters of the waydown the list.

It features the recipe fromformer Coop meat buyer BillMalloy, who writes, “My mommade pot roast when I was akid, and I never liked it. Still,it always seemed a basic andsimple recipe to me, so I triedmaking it four or five timesover the last 25 or 30 years ofmy daily cooking history.They always stunk. This one,adapted from John Egerton’sfine book Southern Cooking,has a Kentucky/Tennesseepedigree, and is THE POTROAST I ALWAYS DREAMEDOF. Easy to produce—it pret-ty much cooks itself—and mychildren and their guestsdevoured it.”

Malloy (just one of manywho have offered recipes onthe PSFC site), also serves upa hot vegetarian option, theGreek lentil dish called “faki”which he calls “Greek comfortfood. Very nice on a blusterynight, served with freshbread, olives, and feta.”

Want to make it? Again, goto the Coop’s website, clickon ‘’online library’’ and‘’recipes.’’ The dish is listedunder soups.

Delectable recipes likethese might help take theedge off winter and say good-bye to the polar vortex. ■

Fragmented

Puzzle author: Stuart Marquis. For answers, see page xx.

The word fragments need to be recombined to form answers to the clues below. When all clues are answered, the

remaining fragments can be used to form a final relatedword. Each fragment will be used only once.

Paltrow’s daughter _ _ _ _ _Disneyland’s County _ _ _ _ _ _Informs against accomplices _ _ _ _ _ _ _Sprinkle with _ _ _ _ _ _Compress _ _ _ _ _ _Simoleons or smackers _ _ _ _ _ _ _Coolness exemplar _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

PP ER PE APP

PRO UA PE SH

MB CU ES OR

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Winter WarmersC O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1

Puzzle author: Stuart Marquis. For answers, see page 14.

CoopBand NiteThe Fun Committee islooking for bands

(various genres including rock, folkrock, funk, indie, etc.)

to perform at a free event on

April 26, 8-11 p.m.at Rock Shop

(249 Fourth Ave., Brooklyn,bet. Carroll & President)

At least one member of yourband must be a Coop member.

Please contact Sarah Safford at [email protected] or drop off demo CD with

Jason Weiner at the Coop. Deadline for submission is March 16.

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Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY January 23, 2014 � 3


To support the Coop’s effort toinform members about proposedGMO labeling legislation, theCoop’s GMO Labeling Committeeinvited Stacie Orell, CampaignDirector of the NY GE Food Label-ing campaign, to write this articlefor the Gazette about the campaignto label GMO/GE foods in NewYork State.—Joe Holtz, General Coordinator

By Stacie Orell, Campaign Director, NY GEFood Labeling Campaign

GMO Free NY (www.gmofreeny.net) is a NYC

grassroots group allied withFood & Water Watch, NOFA-NY, Sierra Club, NRDC,NYPIRG, Green Party of NY,Brooklyn Food Coalition,and others in the NY GEFood Labeling Campaign.We are advocating for thepassage of legislation in2014 requiring the labelingof genetically engineeredseed, seed, stock, and foodoffered for retail sale in NewYork State. The name of thelegislation is A.3525 (Rosen-thal) / S.3835 (LaValle).

Mandatory labeling ofgenetically engineered foods

is not about being liberal orconservative, rich or poor. Ifyou eat food, this issueaffects you. Everyone has theright to know what’s in theirfood and how it was pro-duced. Yet the biotech andbig food companies arefighting tooth and nailagainst giving us this right.To date they’ve spent $70million to fight GMO label-ing ballot initiatives in Cali-fornia and Washington.They’ve sent their lobbyiststo Albany to convince ourelected officials to continueto keep New Yorkers in thedark. And now the GroceryManufacturers Associa-tion—the lobbying group forbig food companies—is tak-ing a different tack. They’retrying to undermine all stateGMO labeling efforts bypushing the FDA to set atoothless federal policy ofvoluntary GMO labeling andthe condoned use of theword “natural” to describefoods containing GMOingredients. There’s nothingnatural about GMOs, folks.

Sixty-four countries haveGMO labeling laws, yet here

in the U.S. we’re still beg-ging the FDA to hear ourconcerns because our feder-al legislators and regulatoryagencies are corrupted byundue corporate influence.Monsanto basically wrotethe 1992 FDA policy state-ment based on the fallacythat GMOs are “substantiallyequivalent” to conventionalfoods and thus don’t requiremandatory safety testing orspecial labeling. That’s right,GMOs are not tested forsafety by our governmentbefore being approved forcommercial sale! Any pre-market research is conduct-ed or funded by the verycompanies that develop the

GMOs, and guess what? All the studies concludeGMOs are safe for humanconsumption!

However, there is a grow-ing body of independentresearch showing cause forconcern about chronic con-sumption of GMOs. We havebeen unwitting guinea pigsof the biotech industry sinceGMOs were slipped into ourfood supply in 1996. But howto opt out of this experimentwhen we don’t have labels tohelp inform our food pur-chasing decisions? How totrack potential impacts onhuman health when theabsence of labels preventstraceability, accountability

and liability?It’s time to take back con-

trol from the corporations.Last time I checked, Mon-santo, DuPont, Kraft, Pepsi-Co. and Kellogg’s were notconstituents of NYS andthus have no business tryingto dictate our food labelingpolicies! A 2013 New YorkTimes poll showed 93% of uswant genetically engineeredfoods labeled and it’s timeour elected officials got withthe program.

The NYS 2104 LegislativeSession has just begun andbill A.3525/S.3835 is underconsideration. But we needyour help to get these billspassed! ■

How to Take Action:A. Find your Assembly member: Check to see if they are a cosponsor of A.3525(sponsor = Linda B. Rosenthal):

If they ARE a cosponsor, then call/e-mail and:

1. State your name, address, and that you are a constituent of the Assembly member.2. Thank them for their support of A.3525 and that you look forward to their YES vote on the bill. 3. If your Assembly member is Linda B. Rosenthal, please do NOT contact her—she is already hard at work trying to get this bill passed.

If they are NOT a cosponsor, then call/e-mail and:

1. State your name, address, and that you are a constituent of the Assembly member.2. Briefly explain why you believe GMO foods should be labeled.3. Ask them to cosponsor A.3525 and to support it when it comes up for a vote in 2014.

B. Find your Senator: Check to see if they are already a cosponsor of S.3835 (sponsor = Kenneth LaValle)

If they ARE a cosponsor, then call/e-mail and:

1. State your name, address, and that you are a constituent of the Senator.2. Thank them for their support of S.3835 and that you look forward to their YES vote on the bill. 3. If your Senator is Kenneth LaValle, PLEASE CONTACT HIM—he needs to know there is strong support for S.3835 in his district.

If they are NOT a cosponsor, then call/e-mail and:

1. State your name, address, and that you are a constituent of the Senator.2. Briefly explain why you believe GMO foods should be labeled.3. Ask them to cosponsor S.3835 and support it when it comes up for a vote in 2014.

Please share this with every New Yorker who eats food. Thank you!

S H E L F - L A B E L I N G C O M M I T T E E R E P O R T

How You Can Help Get GMOs Labeled in New York:An Update on Genetically Modified Organisms in Our Food

ARE YOU A BROOKLYN-BASED

FILMMAKER? Would you like toscreen your work at the Coop?

Then submit your film for possible inclusion in the Coop’s Friday Film Night Screening Series.

If you’re a Coop member you’ll receive one FTOPcredit for screening and offering a Q+A with yourfilm. If you’re not a member, it’s still a chance tospread the word about your work and build your fanbase by screening for a local audience.

We accept documentary and fiction, both featuresand shorts (we program shorts as a group).

Please e-mail Faye Lederman for details [email protected] or mail your DVD to:

Faye Lederman, 2000 Linwood Ave, #9EFort Lee, NJ 07024




C O O R D I N A T O R ’ S C O R N E R

By Joe Holtz, General Coordinator

The Coop’s gross margineroded last fiscal year to

an historic low and there wasan indication this past fallthat we might be headed inthat direction for this year aswell. In response to this con-cern, I wrote in the 11/14/2013Gazette: “Yes there is spoilage.Yes there is breakage. Yesthere are other mistakes.But I do not see evidence ofincreases in those areas. Allthese losses are calledshrinkage. Theft is where thisshrinkage increase is comingfrom. My old estimate,reported at past GeneralMeetings, was $700 dollars aday or about $250,000 peryear. My new estimate isabout $1200 a day or$450,000 a year. These are notexaggerations designed todramatize. These are realnumbers that effect what weall own here together. A smallnumber of members can do a

lot of undermining damage.[emphasis added]” Since thatarticle was published, “othermistakes” have come to lightthat cause a revision of theinitial estimate.

In December, serious pric-ing errors were discovered inthe meat department thathad caused the Coop signifi-cant financial loss. The costto the Coop of Murray’s chick-en parts increased on average$.44 per pound but theincrease was not reflected inthe price members were pay-ing. For 15 months the Coopsold Murray’s chicken partsbased on an outdated deliv-ered cost. We failed to informMurray’s, who prices eachpackage for us, what our newselling prices were. The lossto the Coop was over $90,000.Over the last year it wasabout $75,000.

The discovery of the Mur-ray’s chicken pricing error ledto a closer examination ofother work in the meat

department. Subsequently,another error was uncovered.We failed to accurately pricethe cuts of meat (lamb, porkand beef) that are receivedwhen the Coop purchaseswhole animals. The invoicedcost for a whole animalincludes the animal, slaugh-tering, butchering, packagingand delivery. But the vendordoes not assign a price perpound to the cuts the Coopreceives. The Coop mustassign the prices and makesure that these prices coverthe actual delivered costs ofthe whole animals. However,we failed to accurately assignor update per pound pricesbased on current invoicedcosts. Estimated losses(looking at three weeks ofinvoices and prices) from thismispricing totals about$65,000 per year.

The General Coordinatorsand Receiving Coordinatorshave taken measures to elim-inate these losses. The Mur-ray’s chicken pricing error wascorrected immediately inDecember. Correcting wholeanimal errors took longer, butI can report that by the timethis article appears pricingwill be in place that endsthese losses. Consequently,members who purchase lambin particular and to a lesserextent pork or beef will seehigher per pound prices onsome of our products.

The staff continues to takesteps to find out if there areany other errors. We areestablishing stricter report-

ing controls to help insurethat such errors are notrepeated.

How do these errors revisethe initial estimate of $1,200per day loss due to theft? The$140,000 of annualized loss-es in the meat departmentaverages $400 per day. Sub-tract the $400 of these “othermistakes” from the initialestimate of $1,200, we arriveat a new estimate of $800 perday shrink due to theft.Therefore loss due to thefthas increased, just not at thelevel initially stated.

In order to help youunderstand more thorough-ly how shrink is calculatedand how I arrived at theseestimates, the remainder ofthis article provides anoverview of the calculationof gross margin and shrink.First some definitions:

Mark-up is the amountthe Coop adds to the deliv-ered cost of the goods to besold. The mark-up is 21%except vitamins and supple-ments are marked-up 31% asmandated by a General Meet-ing decision in the 1990s.Other exceptions exist; somedescribed below.

Gross margin is the por-tion or percentage of moneycollected from selling food inorder to pay all expensesafter recognizing how much isowed to food suppliers forthe food that got sold. Theexpenses include, for exam-ple, store supplies, heating orpersonnel expenses asdetailed on the Coop’s finan-cial statement.

Perfect gross margin isthe amount or percentagetheoretically collected if notheft, pricing errors, breakageor spoilage occurs.

Shrink equals the total ofmissing dollars calculated bysubtracting the actual grossmargin from the perfect grossmargin.

To put it all together: theCoop’s perfect gross margin iscalculated as follows. For anitem with a delivered cost of$1.00, 21% is added to arrive ata selling price of $1.21. Perfectgross margin is .21 divided by1.21= 17.36%. Taking into con-sideration the 31% mark-up onvitamins, an additional .35 isadded to include the highermark-up. The Coop’s perfectgross margin is thereforeabout 17.7% (17.36 plus .35).

For example, if the Coopends FY2014 (on Sunday2/2/2014) with a 16.80% grossmargin, shrink will be calcu-lated by subtracting the grossmargin from the perfect grossmargin or 17.70 – 16.80 toequal .90% of sales. In dollarterms, shrink would be$441,000 on expected salesthis year of $49 million.

Mistakes, breakages orspoilages are estimated asapproximately $3,000 perweek or $156,000 per year. Inmy opinion the rest of theshrink of $285,000 per yearresults from theft. In otherwords, $800 per day of lossesdue to theft.

But wait! one might say.What about those buckets ofcompost? What about foodfor the soup kitchen? Whatabout food on the floor Istepped on that spilled at thebulk in aisle 2? What aboutthe day-old bread we reduce?This $3,000 per week esti-mate for spillage, spoilage,must be too low! Thereforeyour theft estimate must betoo high!

As mentioned above,there are additional excep-tions to the 21% mark-up.Some of those exceptionshelp to cover the costs ofspillage, spoilage and break-age. For example, $.07 perpound is added to bulkprices to cover spillage in thebulk aisle. $1.10 is added toeach case cost of organicproduce and $.50 to conven-tional cases of producebecause on average eachcase of produce contains lesssellable product than theunits that are supposed to bein the case. Invariably someproduce is delivered spoiled,damaged or disfigured in away that makes it unsellable.The Coop began this practiceof add-ons rather thanchanging the overall mark-upbecause not all productshave the same risk of spillageor spoilage. We believe theadd-ons to produce coverabout 97% of what we give tosoup kitchens and put intocompost.

Since the 11/14/13 article,two additional members werecaught shoplifting and havebeen expelled from the Coop.One stole five times in a three-week period. The other stoleeight times in a 24-day period.Theft obviously continues atan unacceptable level for theCoop and we invite you toattend the January 28 GeneralMeeting to share your ideasabout how we can address thisproblem. ■

What Is That? How Do I Use It?

Ask Me QuestionsAbout Coop Foods

Every Monday, 12 to 2:45 p.m.You can join in any time during a

question-and-answer session on the shopping floor.

Look for tour leaders in produce aisle.

Updated Estimates on How Both Mistakes and Theft Have Hurt the Coop’s Gross MarginDaily theft estimate lowered due to newly found pricing mistakes. Theft remains high.




• Achieve environmentallysound packaging

• Avoid companies thathave demonstrated extremelevels of environmental irre-sponsibility

Our overuse of plastic bagsviolates this policy. Period.

But the proposal isn’t justabout adhering to a policythat most Coop membershave never read or even knewexisted. The proposal is anattempt to keep our children,our planet, our beloved gro-cery store and ourselves ashealthy and sustainable aspossible.

Consider ThisCombined, Coop mem-

bers use almost three millionplastic bags every year. Ifthose three million bags werelaid out in a line across theground, that line wouldstretch from the Coop toColumbus, Ohio. Now con-sider that there are around40,000 grocery stores in theU.S. If we multiply 40,000 bythree million (estimatingconservatively), then lay allthose plastic bags in a line, itwould circle the earth over900 times. Per year.

Obviously, plastic is notpart of the natural life cycle.Every piece of plastic evermade still exists today andwill exist forever. Why?Because it doesn’t biode-grade. Instead, it just breaksinto smaller and smallerpieces, as it leaches andbioaccumulates toxins andpermeates every corner ofour earth.

Despite having the imageof cleanliness, plastic is dirty.Research has shown thatnearly ALL plastic, even thatwhich claims to be BPA-free,releases chemicals that haveestrogenic activity—causinghormone disruption and con-tributing to the dramaticincrease in chronic healthproblems.

Plastic is full of chemicaladditives, but trade secretlaws protect the plasticindustry from having to dis-close those additives. So it’simpossible for consumers toknow what’s in plastic, and tomake matters worse, themajority of chemicals in usetoday haven’t even been test-ed for safety!

The Fracking ConnectionPlastic is created from

non-renewable and rapidlydeclining resources. Themajority of polyethylenefeedstock produced for theCoop’s plastic bags is born

from natural gas. Some nat-ural gas is obtained by frack-ing—an environmentallydestructive process thatwe’re only beginning tounderstand. Fracking threat-ens our food and water sup-ply and has been known toruin farmland and farmers.The Coop supports the anti-fracking/renewable energymovement, but by using somany plastic bags, we areactually increasing thedemand for fracking!

Manufacturing CostsOur plastic consumption

and convenience cultureaffects not only our commu-nity, but also the families liv-ing near and working inindustry plants.

In petrochemical centers,low-income families work inthe plastic manufacturingand recycling industry. Toxicair, water and soil and a highrate of cancer death is thenorm. According to an EPAstudy, of the 47 chemicalplants ranked highest in car-cinogenic emissions, 35 areinvolved in plastic recyclingor production.

Our trash and recycling istrucked through and to low-income communities forprocessing. These commu-nities suffer from highestasthma and cancer rates inthe city.

Plastic pollutes the ocean.Plastic polymers currentlycontribute up to 90% of thewaste floating in the oceans.

Unlike glass and metal,plastic is not effectively recy-cled. In the US, 93% of plas-tics are NOT recovered, i.e.put in plastic “recycling” bins.

The ConclusionPlastic bags suck. The Envi-

ronmental Committee feelsthat the downsides of plasticbag use FAR OUTWEIGH thebenefits, and therefore achange is warranted—specifi-cally, that the Coop:

• no longer distribute freeplastic roll bags and, instead,make them available for pur-chase at a cost of $.20 per bag

• ensures a wide selectionof low-cost, lightweight, re-usable roll bag alternatives

• improves floor signageand access to reusable bags

• encourages members toreuse plastic bags alreadytaken from the Coop andelsewhere

• provides educationalactivities and communicationsto help members with the tran-sition, if help is needed

Action/ReactionIf the mere notion of this

change incites panic, anger

or annoyance, let me assureyou that MANY Coop mem-bers already shop withoutusing plastic bags. It’s reallynot a big to-do. They simplybring reusable bags withthem. If they forget theirreusable bags, they buy oneor two new ones at the Coop.(They’re available in manyshapes and sizes.)

Some Coop staffers arevehemently opposed to thisproposal. They worry that if itpasses, there will be a massprotest and perhaps a grandexodus of members. I thinkthey underestimate ourmembers’ resilience andcommitment to the environ-ment. That isn’t to say that, ifthe proposal passes, thetransition will be painless. Itwill require some effort, aperiod of adjustment, somecreativity and courage, and afew dollops of elbowgrease… but we can do it. Weneed to do it. This is impor-tant stuff. The planet isn’tgoing to heal itself. Changerequires… well, change.

The Park Slope Food Coopis a role model to other foodcoops around the world. AFrench production companyis currently making a featuredocumentary about us. Ourexample matters. Our actionsresonate in the wider world.This change will not only pos-itively affect our local com-munity, but it will inspireaction elsewhere, as well.

We can do this. The votewill take place at the GeneralMeeting on February 25 at 7 p.m. at Bishop Ford CentralCatholic High School. Comeand share your thoughts,then vote and let’s make thishappen! ■

The General Meeting & The Board of DirectorsFrom our inception in 1973to the present, the monthlyGeneral Meeting has beenthe decision-making bodyof the Coop. Since theCoop incorporated in 1977,we have been legallyrequired to have a Board ofDirectors.

The Bylaws o f the ParkSlope Food Coop state :“The portion of the Boardof Directors meeting thatis devoted to receiving theadvice o f the membersshall be known as theGeneral Meeting…. Themembers who gather togive advice to the direc-tors may choose to vote inorder to express their sup-port or opposition for anyo f the issues that havecome before the meeting.”

Duties of the DirectorsThe Board of Direc-tors is com-prised o f f ivee lected Coopmembers and thesenior GeneralCoordinator pres-ent . Membersserve three-year terms. Mem-bers of the Board areexpected to attend GMsmonthly. They rece iveCoop work credit for theirattendance.

The Board of Directors con-ducts votes at the end ofevery GM whether to acceptthe advice of the membersthat night. Members of theBoard are required to actlegally and responsibly.

OpeningsThere are two openings onthe Board. Each position isfor a term of three years.

Candidate DeadlineIf you wish to place yourname into nomination, youmust declare your candida-cy by submitting a state-ment of up to 750 words to: [email protected]. Please include asmall photo for publicationin the Linewaiters’ Gazette andthe member proxy mailing.Deadline for candidacysubmission is Saturday,

March 1, 2014.

Deciding And Voting

Candidates will havethe opportunity topresent their platform

at the March 25, 2014,General Meeting.

Every member willreceive a proxy pack-age in the mail in lateMay. Members may

vote by returning their bal-lot by mail or by bringing itto the Coop. Members mayalso vote at the AnnualMeeting on June 24, 2014.

Board of DirectorsElection

Plastic Bag UseC O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1

Looking to help new coops form in Brooklynwhile getting a tax deduction?

Support the Fund for New Coops—a project of the Park Slope Food Coop.The Fund for New Coops will make low-interestloans to start-up coops that use the full-memberlabor model like ours. Loans will be extended to qualified start-ups to address problems andmaximize the chances that start-ups will flourish.

How can you donate?• Use the scannable Fund for New Coops donation cards

available on the shopping floor

• Donate directly from the Coop’s website, foodcoop.com. Follow the link forthe Fund for New Coops and select the DONATE button

• Mail a check—made out to the Fund for New Food Coops—to: FJC, 520 Eighth Ave., 20th Flr., New York, NY 10018

Help nascent coops that want to use our model: Contribute today!




By Allison Pennellince time first began, mid-dle school has sucked.

Alright, I am prone to occa-sional exaggeration but really,do you know anybody who ifgiven a chance to go back tohalcyon school days, would hitup seventh grade again? No.Long-tagged as a weak pointin the educational system,middle school education isbeginning to stage a longoverdue turnaround. Onepromising new program is TheBrooklyn Urban GardenSchool, known as ‘’BUGS,’’ anew charter middle school forDistrict 15 that opened itsdoors this fall in the Coop’sbackyard. Making a concertedpush to improve educationalopportunities during thesepivotal transitional years,

BUGS has set up an ambitiousgrassroots, green-minded pro-gram focusing on environ-mental sustainability and civicengagement for its incomingclass of 135 sixth graders.

The school took five years toput together and has beenfunded not by any particularcorporate sugar daddy but by adiverse grassroots support net-work of small donations fromcommunity members. Sup-porters held lots of “pass thehat” parties and raised fundsthrough a variety of smallgrants from organizations likethe David Lynch Foundation,which has offset costs forschool lunch to be provided byRed Rabbit Food, which useslocally sourced fresh products.They also received a CharterSchool Planning Grant through

Race to the Top.The school grew out of a

concern for the limitations ofDistrict 15’s middle schooloptions and process. A studycommissioned by BUGS andconducted by Brooklyn Col-lege’s Center for the Study ofBrooklyn found that the localbaby boom had left a shortfallof 1,000 seats in District 15.Applying to the three desir-able middle schools in the dis-trict is somewhat akin toapplying to college. MS 51 ofPark Slope refers to itself inthe applicant interview invita-tion as MS 51 “for the Intellec-tually Gifted and Talented.”There simply aren’t enoughspots for all those above aver-age kids.

BUGS founder Susan Ten-ner say that the diversity andrandomness of the requiredcharter lottery entrance sys-tem suited their goal to createa program that meets a realneed where everybody gets ashot. “It’s a challenge but it’s abeautiful challenge,” Tennertold me. She and her co-founder Miriam Nunberg haveassembled a team of staffmembers who are equallycommitted to sustainabilityand to teaching kids of thisage group. “It’s a time wherekids are testing so you have tohave staff who really love that

age of exploration and whocan take that and use itinstead of being freaked out bythat drive to test everything.”BUGS principal Linda Rosen-bury herself was a longtimeteacher at the Children’sSchool and spent five yearsheading up a large middleschool in the Bronx.

BUGS board member ElenaDay...a member of the FoodCoop, says, “It’s an amazing

school—the most diversemiddle school I’ve seen yetand a real representation ofthe diversity of Brooklyn.”

BUGS board memberElena Day, who is also amember of the Food Coop,says of BUGS, “It’s an amaz-ing school—the most diversemiddle school I’ve seen yetand a real representation ofthe diversity of Brooklyn.”This is high praise comingfrom Day, who is Chief Oper-ating Officer at AscendLearning, which operates 17city charter schools in NYC.(Ascend was cited in a Janu-ary 2014 New York Times edu-cation article for its “greatsuccess” in providing a chal-lenging and progressivehumanities-driven approachfor some of the city’s poorestkids). Day has a fifth-graderat PS 321 and has signed himup for the lottery at BUGS forthe upcoming year, which willwelcome a slightly smallerclass of 110 new students.

The school has an extendedday running from 8-4 p.m.,which allows for a rich curricu-lum that includes music,dance, art and sports. Stu-dents engage in studying waysto incorporate sustainabilityand civic engagement intoevery area of their school life.They’ve engaged in a litterless

campaign, are learning per-suasive writing through hypo-thetical grant writing, areproducing their own gadgetsand supplies in science andart to green their own space.And Miley Cyrus was shootinga video in the big school gymon the first day of school.

Food Coop members GregPaul and Lisa Dove, whose sonFinn is in sixth grade at BUGS,were drawn to the school’ssmall size and welcoming ofparental involvement. “Thereis a real investment in givingthe kids a voice in their school.We have an older son, so thisis not our first experience withmiddle school, and we wouldsay that BUGS is truly trying todo something different.Recently, they took a trip toMaterials for The Arts, which isgreat organization with a mis-sion of recycling and sustain-ability. We like the fact that theschool is forging relationshipswith organizations thatembody the principals thatBUGS is all about.”

One of those relationshipsis with Green-Wood Cemetery,which is right across the streetfrom Bishop Ford, whereBUGS is housed. Both BishopFord and Green-Wood havebeen enormously helpful part-ners, says Tenner: settingaside space for student gar-dens, with Bishop Ford settingup a mentoring program withBUGS students and Green-Wood staffers providing helpwith field research, suppliesand gardening expertise.

Tenner credits the pioneer-ing parent and student bodyfor getting the school off to astrong start. She says the aimis to stay a middle school andto foster a small learning com-munity where each child is apart of the focus and no onefalls through the cracks. Tofind out more, check out:www.bugsbrooklyn.org. ■

Green-Thumbing Through Middle School:Brooklyn Urban Garden School or ‘BUGS’A Look at a New Park Slope Charter School

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Collecting soil samples in Prospect Park to test soil quality.

Students make compost and garden at the Old Stone House.

Join the Compost Committee toHelp compost Coop food scraps

At local gardens!

Workslots (or Positions) open:

• Haulers with vehicles: Work with a partner to transport bucketsof Coop produce scraps to local gardens. Vehicle required.

• Turners to work Tuesdays at Gowanus Canal Conservancy.Turners responsible for manually turning compost windrows.

Requirements:

• Strong back and legs! Both workslots require physical labor• Work outside in all types of weather

• Reliability a mustInterested? Contact Squad Leader Sherry at 718-398-4454 or staff liaison

Annette Laskaris, [email protected] for more information.




By Taigi Smith

About 1½ hours fromBrooklyn, in Western New

Jersey, is where the Alpacaslive. They graze and sleep andhum in the lush valleys ofHumdinger Farms, beingcared for by Dennis Hite andKris Ensminger, former NewYorkers who gave up high-powered careers to raiseorganic vegetables andAlpacas instead. Kris and Den-nis live happily among their 35Alpacas in peace, far awayfrom the hustle and bustle ofNew York City, tending to theirflock and growing their bountylike seasoned farmers of yes-teryear. They are happyamongst the Alpacas andland; there is a sense of calmthat surrounds the couple,and a tranquility that couldmake one envious if she—ifeven for one second—has everdreamt of living on a farm.

Before he fell in love withAlpacas, Dennis spent threeyears in the Air Force and aportion of his youth in BedStuy. This was long before theneighborhood became gen-trified. He eventually becamea high-powered banker, work-ing as an executive at ChaseManhattan Bank, beforebecoming an assistant VicePresident for a major mort-gage accounting company. Atthe height of his career, Den-nis oversaw 113 residentialstate-owned complexes,including several MitchellLama properties. At the sametime, Dennis also developeda theater company on StatenIsland. “We produced classicAfrican-American plays andsome Shakespeare. It waspredominantly a black the-ater company providing aplatform for young, aspiringactors and actresses.”

During this time, Kris wasworking her way up at The NewYork Times in a career that last-ed 20 years. “I grew up onStaten Island. My grandfather

was a farmer. We had horses.He grew vegetables. As Ichild, I spent time with him.We used to go to the city andto see Broadway shows,” saysKris, who described herself ashaving had a foot in bothworlds. As an adult, Kris hadher own garden on StatenIsland and raised Angora rab-bits. But back in the office, atthe Times, she held variouspositions during her 20-yeartenure. “I worked at the photodesk and for the publisher,”says Kris who eventuallyended up writing the “Restau-rant Round-up,” column inthe Dining section beforemoving on to edit the “EatingOut,” section. Kris has alwaysenjoyed a love affair withgood food and organic living,so leaving Staten Island for alush farm in New Jersey wassimply a natural progressionof life. Still, says Kris, “I lovethe City. All my friends arehere. I could move back, but Iwould still need a garden.”

The couple moved toHumdinger Farms, locatedabout 65 miles from NewYork City, in 2001. “At thetime, Kris and I were talkingabout a change of lifestyleand finding a place in thecountry,” recalls Dennis. “Krisbrought an article homeabout alpacas and we beganvisiting farms in New Jerseyto learn more about alpacas.”About six months later, saysDennis, “We bought our firstAlpaca…” The year was 1998.

The day Dennis and Krispurchased their first alpaca isone Dennis will never forget.In fact, he tells the story as ifit were yesterday. The couplehad traveled to a MarylandAlpaca farm to attend a semi-nar. They’d developed aninterest in the animals andwanted to learn as muchabout them as they possiblycould. “Some of the alpacaswere up for sale,” recalls Den-nis, who adamantly told his

wife theywould not bebuying anAlpaca thatday. But then,Dennis spot-ted an Alpacanamed Vic.“Vic looked upat me and Ilooked up athim and I justcouldn’t geteyes and mindoff of him,”recalls Dennis,who had a dif-ficult timekeeping hismind on the

seminar after meeting thestrikingly beautiful alpaca.“During the seminar, I wasjust making sure nobody wasbuying him. At the end of theday, Vic became ours.” Butjust moments after the pur-chase, recalls Dennis, realityset in. “I was totally freakedout. I had no place to keephim. I had no idea what I wasgoing to do with him,” recallsDennis. “It was his personali-ty, his eyes… and the fact ofthat matter was, Vic’s ownerwas saying that if she didn’tsell him, she was going to“geld” him. That didn’t sitwell with me,” says Dennis.“Vic and I had a man-to-manmoment. There was some-thing about him that I justcould not bypass. He had amagnanimous personality.”

Kris and Dennis live happilyamong their 35 Alpacas inpeace, far away from the

hustle and bustle of New YorkCity, tending to their flockand growing their bounty...

For an outsider, like me,the bond between Dennisand Vic is unmistakable. Theyinteract like old friends, likefather and son. Dennis hascrowned Vic the king of theherd and Vic wears his titlewith pride, tossing about hiselite status with grunts andhums, firmly letting the otheralpacas know that it is he whorules the roost.

And it really is a sight tobehold, the herd of 35Alpacas, with their longnecks, big ol’ eyes and longeyelashes, batting about.They are serene and shy, curi-ous, cute and calm. When youreach out to pet them, theypull back, timidly. They cut astriking figure when pho-tographed and children gosilent when meeting theAlpacas face-to-face. “Theyare very smart. They arefunny,” says Kris of thealpacas. “We tell storiesabout them like we tell sto-ries about people at work.”

Thankfully, says Dennis,the alpacas are relatively easyto care for. “One of the goodthings about alpacas is theyoperate on your time. Everyday is a little different. You goout and clean the barn. Youfeed them hay,” says Dennis.“My days are full of dumpingpoop. The actual hands-ontime of attending to themand cleaning the barn canrange from one hour to onehour 45 minutes. Then youadd on shopping, shots,shearing them once a year—

depending on thesize of the herd,you’re looking atone hour to oneand a half hours aday. This is with aherd of 35.”

Back in Brook-lyn, many of Den-nis’ old friendsare still wonder-ing when he’llsnap out of hisorganic haze. “MyCity friends arestill scratchingtheir heads, won-dering why I didthis in the firstplace,” says Den-nis with that easylaugh. “Every timeI get on the phonewith them, they’resaying ‘I still can’t believe it.You must’ve lost your mind.What happened to you?” Whatthose old friends don’t under-stand is among the land, Krisand Dennis have found peaceand purpose. “Running a farmis an everyday, 24-7 kind ofdeal. You never know whatyou’re going to face. It keepsyour mind spiritually andphysically active. I know thateventually, I will have to give itup. I am going into my winteryears,” say Dennis as he jokesabout slinging 70-lb. bucketsof Alpaca poop. “I am notlooking forward to that day,but I know that day is going tocome.”

I’m the first to admit thatI’ve fantasized about giving upa full-time job and raising myyoung daughter on a farm or inMexico. Perhaps that is why Iwas so intrigued by Dennisand Kris. I’ve often wonderedabout growing my own fruitsand vegetables while standingin line at the Coop, but myown garden remains barrenand dry. With my 45-hourworkweek, there is just no timeto grow my own vegetables. AsI looked out on the acres ofHumdinger, I reveled in thewonder of nature and herbounty. As I followed Krisaround her farm, I marveled atthe pumpkins and kale thatsprouted here and there. Theseason had ended, but still,Nature was doing its job. “Igrow all types of crops,’” saysKris. “Mesclun greens, let-tuces, tomatoes, peppers,onions, sweet potatoes,pumpkins, squashes, peas,collards—just about every-thing—okra, brussels sprouts,just about anything I feel likegrowing, I grow. I also start myown plants so I know they areorganic.”

So what do two people and

35 alpacas do with all of thosevegetables? “We used to sellto Bouley,” says Kris, a foodieso devoted to teaching othersabout the wonders of freshvegetables that she teachescooking classes at a localchurch. “I give some away, wehave sold some locally, I cooksome of it, I freeze some of it. Igot involved with a communi-ty garden.”

It is when I begin to waxpoetic about the wonders ofnature and growing one’sfood that Dennis reminds me,that like a full-time job, run-ning a farm can be all-encom-passing. “This is for real. Soyou’ve got to jump in there.Keeping up the farm is a killerin the summertime. Mowing,weeding, plowing, it’s a wholelitany of things. Whateverbreaks down, you gotta fix,”laughs Dennis. “I am notextremely handy, so thereforewhen things break down, itbecomes a real problem. Idon’t have the patience andfortitude to fix it. By the time Iget a mower fixed, the grassis up around my waist and Idamn near break the moweronce it’s fixed ‘cause thegrass is so high.” When I com-ment that he’s still a NewYorker at heart, Dennis’answer is as simple as thenoonday sun. “To each hisown,” he says with a chuckle.“I’m adventurous. I have anadventurous soul.”

Kris and Dennis love visi-tors. In fact, they’d love YOUto visit. Bring your kids. Anddon’t forget to visit theHumdinger Farm Store whileyou are there. It’s the perfectday trip. ■

For more info or to visit the Alpacas,e-mail Kris and Dennis at [email protected] or visit theirWeb site: humdingeralpacas.com.

The Story of a Man, a Woman, and 35 Alpacas: Life on Humdinger Farms

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Friday, February 21, 8:00 p.m.

www.facebook.com/ProspectConcerts

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

Booking: Bev Grant, 718-788-3741

Axel’s Axiom is a group of Brooklyn-based jazz musicians with varying members. Led by pianist Axel

Schwintzer, the band plays mostly original instrumental music that stylistically ranges from samba-influenced grooves to funk- and pop-oriented tunes to swinging

jazzy themes and ballads; traditional jazz standards are also part of the repertoire. The styles cross over into one

another to create a blend that stays interesting for the casual as well as the experienced listener.

The New Students are a Brooklyn-based band with one foot in the 21st century and the other firmly planted in traditional American folk music. In New York City, Long Island, and faraway towns on the East Coast, the New Students, with their uplifting harmonies and thoughtful lyrics, are a delight to audiences young and old. The New Students have recorded two albums of original songs, both of which are available on iTunes. Visit them on the web at: www.thenewstudents.com.



This Issue Prepared By:

Coordinating Editors: Stephanie GoldenErik Lewis

Editor (development): Wally KonradTom Moore

Reporters: Hayley GorenbergAllison PennellTaigi Smith

Art Director (development): Mike Miranda

Illustrators: Rod MorrisonCathy Wassylenko

Photographers: Lisa CohenKevin Ryan

Thumbnails: Sarah Lang-Wiehart

Photoshop: Adam Segal-Isaacson

Preproduction: Yan Kong

Art Director (production): Phan Nguyen

Desktop Publishing: Lee SchereMaxwell TaylorHeloisa Zero

Editor (production) Freyana Irani

Advertising: Mary Robb

Puzzle Master: Stuart Marquis

Final Proofreader: Nancy Rosenberg

Index: Len Neufeld

COOP HOURS

Office Hours:Monday through Thursday

8:00 a.m. to 9:00 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

The Linewaiters’ Gazette is published biweekly by the Park SlopeFood Coop, Inc., 782 Union Street, Brooklyn, New York 11215.

Opinions expressed here may be solely the views of the writer. TheGazette will not knowingly publish articles that are racist, sexist or oth-erwise discriminatory.

The Gazette welcomes Coop-related articles and letters from members.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINESAll submissions must include author’s name and phone number andconform to the following guidelines. Editors will reject letters andarticles that are illegible or too long. Submission deadlines appearin the Coop Calendar opposite.

Letters: Maximum 500 words. All letters will be printed if theyconform to the guidelines above. The Anonymity and Fairnesspolicies appear on the letters page in most issues.

Voluntary Articles: Maximum 750 words. Editors will reject articlesthat are essentially just advertisements for member businesses andservices.

Committee Reports: Maximum 1,000 words.

Editor-Writer Guidelines: Except for letters to the editor, whichare published without editing but are subject to the Gazette letterspolicy regarding length, anonymity, respect and fairness, allsubmissions to the Linewaiters' Gazette will be reviewed and, ifnecessary, edited by the editor. In their review, editors are guid-ed by the Gazette's Fairness and Anonymity policies as well asstandard editorial practices of grammatical review, separation offact from opinion, attribution of factual statements, and rudi-mentary fact checking. Writers are responsible for the factualcontent of their stories. Editors must make a reasonable effort tocontact and communicate with writers regarding any proposededitorial changes. Writers must make a reasonable effort torespond to and be available to editors to confer about their arti-cles. If there is no response after a reasonable effort to contactthe writer, an editor, at her or his discretion, may make editorialchanges to a submission without conferring with the writer.

Submissions on Paper: Typed or very legibly handwritten andplaced in the wallpocket labeled "Editor" on the second floor at thebase of the ramp.

Digital Submissions: We welcome digital submissions. The e-mail address for submissions is [email protected] disks in the wallpocket described above. Receipt of your sub-missions will be acknowledged on the deadline day.

Classified & Display Ads: Ads may only be placed by and on behalfof Coop members. Classified ads are 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 a submission form(available in a wallpocket on the first floor near the elevator). Classi-fied ads may be up to 315 characters and spaces. Display ads mustbe camera-ready and business card size (2"x3.5").

Printed by: Tri-Star Offset, Maspeth, NY.




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. The sign-ups sheet is available all month long, except for the day ofthe meeting when you have until 5 p.m. to sign up. On theday of the meeting, the sign-up sheet is kept in theMembership Office.

Some restrictions to this program do apply. Please seebelow 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.

• 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.

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, January 28, 7:00 p.m.The General Meeting is held on the last Tuesday of eachmonth.

Location Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School, 500 19th St.,between 10th Ave. and Prospect Park West.

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 Ann Herpel at the coop.

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) (unless there is a vote to extendthe meeting) • Meeting evaluation • Board of Directorsvote • 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 gC O O P CA L E N D A R

New Member OrientationsAttending an Orientation is the first step toward

Coop membership. Pre-registration is required forall of the three weekly New Member Orientations. To pre-register, visit foodcoop.com or contact theMembership 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 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Channels: 56 (Time-Warner), 69 (CableVision), 84 (RCN), 44 (Verizon),and live streaming on the Web: www.bricartsmedia.org/community-media/bcat-tv-network.

General Meeting InfoTUE, JANUARY 28GENERAL MEETING: 7:00 p.m.

TUE, FEBRUARY 4AGENDA SUBMISSIONS: 8:00 p.m. Submissions will be considered for the February 25General Meeting.

Gazette DeadlinesLETTERS & VOLUNTARY ARTICLES:

Feb 6 issue: 12:00 p.m., Mon, Jan 27Feb 20 issue: 12:00 p.m., Mon, Feb 10

CLASSIFIED ADS DEADLINE:Feb 6 issue: 7:00 p.m., Wed, Jan 29

Feb 20 issue: 7:00 p.m., Wed, Feb 12

WELCOME!

A warm welcome to these new Coop members who have joined us in the last two weeks. We’re glad you’ve decided to be a part of our community.

Angel AguilarBrittin AlfredReuben AllenEmily AngyalBrent AxthelmZena BarakatMonica BarrettRenee BecklesSylvia BlondeauPeter BracichowiczElizabeth CamerieroRay CarterChris CoulthrustChristain Crouch

Esra DayaniKory DayaniLonnie DynerOffer EgozyAitan EliachChana FarkashAnnie FitchEthan FletcherAutumn FrancoisHelen GarrettMukund GopalakrishnanJessica GreenawaltHeloisa GriggsLena Groeger

Allison GrossGinelle GrossDan GrunebaumSaori GrunebaumSacha Harford MerriganWill HermanKristen JohnstonMichelle KablerSarah KellyJoe KennedyLena KotaniGreta La FleurLauren LamborneShane Lamborne

Maddy LedermanEmily LumpkinCatherine MaclnnesDeborah MarucciRaphael MattoJoseph MerriganAdeLaide MestreSarah MikhailAlexandra MoyasYuri NamkungHolly NipperusIan O’BrienAshley PinakiewiczSonia Prelat

Danielle ReganChristopher ReidBrooke ReynoldsCaitlin RichardsMatthew RicheyMajida RitterRainier RodriguezJoseph RosenbergChristopher RosinaAaron RothLenny SandlarEric SchwartzTodd ShalomShanna Silien

Kevin SimondsElaine SmileyGabriel SmileyStacey SmithAlex SvecharnyMarjorie ThompsonNyeesha TurpinWayne TurpinSierra UrichUnice UzomaYessica VeraDoug WatermanAlexandra WildeSarah Wynn-Williams




Workshop for Couples Affected by ADHD/ADD

If any one of these sound familiar: “I can’t count on my partner for anything!”“Sometimes it feels like I’m a single parent with an extra kid!” Or...“I feel like mypartner is such a control freak!” “If my partner would start being affectionate againinstead of pissed off all the time, everything would be fine.” This workshop is foryou. Come explore the strengths and challenges of ADHD/ADD traits from a perspec-tive of mutual empathy and understanding. Partners in attendance will start todevelop new systems and strategies unique to their particular issues, so they canbegin to create a more loving, supportive and fulfilling life together. Reservationsstrongly suggested: 917-804-9572. In addition to being a Coop member since2004, Rahti Gorfien, PCC, ACCG, is certified by the International Coach Federationand the ADD Coach Academy.

Coop Kids’ Variety Show Auditions

Auditions for Coop members ages 4-18, in the second-floor meetingroom. To reserve an audition spot, contact Martha Siegel at 718-965-3916 or [email protected]. You must audition to be in the

show. Polished act not required for audition; we can help you polish it.We encourage singers and other musicians, poets, jugglers, stand-up

comics, rappers, dancers, magicians, gymnasts, etc. (no lip-syncing please).Performance date is Saturday, March 8, 7:00 p.m., at the Old First Church. We lookforward to hearing from you!

It’s Your FuneralPlanning for your own death now (as opposed to later) is a practice that canenable you to live in the moment, face your own mortality with courage—andcreate an end-of-life service that reflects your values. Join Coop member AmyCunningham, former journalist and graduate of the American Academy McAllisterInstitute of Funeral Service, in a conversation about fascinating advancementswithin the funeral business. The talk will cover how to plan a low-cost, back-to-basics funeral or memorial service, as well as offer information on green ceme-teries near New York City, cremation pros and cons, biodegradable caskets andurns, blended-faith/alternative ceremonies, and more. You’ll get a glimmer ofwhat funerals of the future might look like—and leave with planning literaturefor yourself or for someone you love.

Report from Librarians and Archivists to Palestine

Last summer, a group of international librarians and archivists traveled to Palestine toconnect with colleagues in libraries, archives, and related projects. The delegationexplored issues of access to information under occupation and colonialism in the WestBank, East Jerusalem, and 1948 Palestine (Israel). The delegation bore witness to thedestruction, theft and appropriation of books and historical documents, and wasinspired by the many projects, institutions, and individuals engaged in daily resistanceto settler-colonialism. More information is at librarians2palestine.wordpress.com. Coopmembers Bronwen Densmore, Rachel Mattson, and Melissa Morrone will discuss theirexperiences on the delegation, share some of the projects that were visited, and talkabout the next steps for the delegation’s ongoing solidarity work.

PSFC JAN General MeetingItems will be taken up in the order given. Times in parenthesesare suggestions. More information on each item may be avail-able on the entrance table at the meeting. We ask members toplease read the materials available between 7 and 7:15 p.m.

Meeting location: Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School, 500 19th St., between10th Ave. and Prospect Park West.I. Member Arrival and Meeting Warm-UpII. Open ForumIII. Coordinator and Committee ReportsIV. Meeting AgendaItem 1: Expand Tree Care Squad Area (30 minutes)Proposal: Expand Tree Care Squad tree care efforts to formally adopt six additionaltrees and expand number of shift workers from five to six. In the first season of the TreeCare Squad, we learned there is ample time during the work shift to provide care foradditional trees. Regular squad workers support the adoption of six additional nearbytrees, three of which are young and vulnerable. The locations of these trees are as fol-lows: three trees on west side of Seventh Ave. between Union and President Sts.; twotrees closest to Seventh Ave., on north side of President St. between Sixth and SeventhAves.; one tree on northwest corner of Seventh Ave. at Union St. (in front of Bank ofAmerica). —submitted by Talia WilnerItem 2: Coop Theft (30 minutes)Discussion: Discussion to solicit ideas from membership to address $800/day losses totheft. —submitted by Barbara MazorItem 3: Ban of New GMO Foods at Coop (30 minutes)Discussion: Effective at a date to be determined, no new foods containing GMO ingredi-ents, that is, ingredients considered high risk by the Non-GMO Project, shall be addedto the Coop shelves. —submitted by GMO Labeling CommitteeV. Board of Directors MeetingVI. Wrap-Up. Includes member sign-in for workslot credit.For information on how to place an item on the Agenda, please see the center pages ofthe Linewaiters’ Gazette. The Agenda Committee minutes and the status of pendingagenda items are available in the Coop office.

Aging ConsciouslyIt takes a community to grow older consciously! Honest talk and connection for womenover 55, who are inspired by others and who are curious about what later life has tooffer and its challenges. The focus is on issues of aging, including your hopes anddreams, stresses, opportunities, and whatever concerns you as an older adult, such asresolving loss, illness, transitions, loneliness, finding your place in the world, and anyunfinished business. The aim is to enhance the quality of your life, wherever you are onyour life journey. Following the introductory workshop, an ongoing group will be formed,which is intended to be a psycho-support group, focused on learning about oneselfthrough emotional interaction with the other members and coping with one’s daily lifethrough self-exploration. Coop member Margo Steinfeld is a licensed clinical socialworker and certified group psychotherapist with a private practice in Park Slope.

Critical Mass: A Tale of Two Bicycling Cities

Learn about the Critical Mass bicycle rides in New York City and San Francisco throughfirst-person storytelling, film (two are screening as part of the 2013–14 Bicycle FilmFestival in London, Mexico City, Chicago, Istanbul, Lisbon, Milan, with more to follow),and critical discussion. Founded in SF on 9/25/1992, Critical Mass is now an interna-tional monthly celebration in more than 300 cities worldwide. Coop member StephenArthur is a documentary filmmaker in partnership with Dedicated Lane Productions,and is a volunteer organizer of the relaxing Time's Up! Summer Beach Rides. He is anexperienced NYC and SF urban cyclist.

jan 25sat 12 pm

jan 25sat 3 pm

jan 26sun 12 pm

jan 28tue 7 pm

jan 28tue 7 pm

jan 31fri 7 pm

feb 1sat 7 pm

For more information on these and other events, visit the Coop’s website: foodcoop.comAll events take place at the Park Slope Food Coop unless otherwise noted. Nonmembers are welcome to attend workshops.

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




Global Impacts of Clothing Manufacturing

As consumers, we have largely accepted that we must educate ourselves in order tokeep ourselves healthy and safe when it comes to food. But, what about our clothing?We have exported the majority of garment manufacturing jobs—and with it, carbonemissions, water pollution, and waste that mass manufacturing procures. What if—likewith food—we prioritize local, wholesome, and certifiable purity when it comes toapparel? Coop member Libby Chisholm Fearnley will help to expose the global impactsof the garment industry and offers to collectively brainstorm how consumers can playan active role in changing the business model. Chisholm Fearnley is working toward theSustainable Design Entrepreneurs Certificate at FIT.

Agenda Committee MeetingThe Committee reviews pending agenda items and creates theagenda for this month’s General Meeting. Drop by and talk withcommittee members face-to-face between 8:00 and 8:15 p.m.Before submitting an item, read “How to Develop an Agenda

Item for the General Meeting” and fill out the General Meeting Agenda Item SubmissionForm, both available from the Membership Office or at foodcoop.com. The next General Meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 25, 7 p.m., at Bishop Ford CentralCatholic High School, 500 19th St., between 10th Ave. and Prospect Park West.

Food Class: Jacques GautierChef Jacques Gautier will demonstrate the culinary versatility offresh masa (dough made from dried corn.) He will demonstraterecipes and provide tastings, preparing his fillings prior to theclass. Before Gautier opened his Park Slope restaurants Palo

Santo (Latin-inspired) and Fort Reno (good quality and delicious barbecue), he worked inVong in New York and Azie in San Francisco. He spent most of 2004 traveling and work-ing as a winemaker’s assistant in Argentina. At age 20, he was invited to cook at theJames Beard House and remains the youngest to have received this honor. Gautier is agraduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute and is presently a member of its AdvisoryBoard. Menu includes: tortillas; tacos; tostados; quesadillas; sopes; huraraches; pupusas.ASL interpreter may be available upon advance request. If you would like to request anASL interpreter, please contact Ginger Jung in the Membership Office by January 23.Materials fee: $4. Food classes are coordinated by Coop member Susan Baldassano.

See What the PAFCU OffersRepresentatives from People’s Alliance Federal Credit Union will be at the ParkSlope Food Coop in the Meeting Room to sign up members for credit union mem-bership. Learn about: $5 minimum savings balance; loans starting at 2.99%; holi-day club account; debit/Visa cards; mobile/text message banking; no-fee checking;Internet banking; kids’ accounts; vacation club accounts. Any new member to openan account, any existing member to add a PAFCU product, or any member to refer anew member to the credit union will be entered to win a Drive Away VacationPackage. Stop by for a chance to win a surprise gift.Representatives from the PAFCU will also meet at the Coop on February 8, February 28and March 1.

Film Night: Occupy Bakery andChocolate CountryTwo films by Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick. Occupy Bakery isabout shy sandwich-maker Mahoma López and his undocument-ed immigrant coworkers who set out to end abusive conditionsat a New York restaurant chain owned by powerful investors. Theepic power struggle that ensues turns a single city block into abattlefield in America’s new wage wars. This 6-minute short was

recently featured in The New York Times Op-Docs section and is adapted from the featuredocumentary in progress The Hand That Feeds, to be broadcast on PBS in 2015.Chocolate Country takes place in the isolated hill towns of the Dominican Republic, wherecacao farmers have been fighting a losing battle with the global economy for as long asanyone can remember. In the village of Loma Guaconejo, things are about to change.Rachel Lears has worked as a filmmaker and writer for more than seven years and holds aPh.D. in Cultural Anthropology from New York University. A product of backwoods Maine,Robin Blotnik has worked in motion-picture development and as a freelance editor ofeverything from cage-fighting matches to celebrity home movies.To book a Film Night, contact Faye Lederman, [email protected].

See What the PAFCU OffersRepresentatives from People’s Alliance Federal Credit Union will be at the ParkSlope Food Coop in the Meeting Room to sign up members for credit union mem-bership. Learn about: $5 minimum savings balance; loans starting at 2.99%; holi-day club account; debit/Visa cards; mobile/text message banking; no-fee checking;Internet banking; kids’ accounts; vacation club accounts. Any new member to openan account, any existing member to add a PAFCU product, or any member to refer anew member to the credit union will be entered to win a Drive Away VacationPackage. Stop by for a chance to win a surprise gift.Representatives from the PAFCU will also meet at the Coop on February 28 and March 1.

Valentine’s Day Card–Making Party

Bring family and friends of all ages to a Valentine’s Day Card–Makingparty in the Coop’s Meeting Room. We’ll supply glue, markers, andpaper and some fun art-making tips. Bring any other special art materi-

als you would like to use. Hot cocoa and chocolatey treats will be avail-able to purchase.

How to Ace the SATThe SAT is a super-important test that influences a high school student’s future.But fortunately, there are many ways to prepare for the test and send your student’sscores through the roof. Strategies include deciding which questions to omit, multi-ple-choice strategy, fun vocabulary-building games, essay structure, and muchmore. Children and friends of Coop members are warmly welcome! Nataliya is aCoop member and has been an SAT tutor for years, producing great results andinstilling confidence in high schoolers. She currently teaches SAT Prep in the CityUniversity of New York.

feb 4tue 8 pm

feb 6thu 7:30 pm

Susan Baldassano, Coordinator

feb 7fri 4–6 pm

feb 7fri 7 pm

feb 8sat 10 am–12:30 pm

feb 8sat 2–4 pm

feb 8sat 6 pm

feb 2sun 12 pm

Safe Food Committee Film Night

Ten Living Points for the Creative Spirit

Nutrition Response Testing

Cheese Class

Prospect Concerts

PSFC FEBRUARY General Meeting

See What the PAFCU Offers

Fast Tracking of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

feb 11

feb 14

feb 16

feb 21

feb 21

feb 25

feb 28

feb 28




DEAR COOP MEMBERS:This letter has nothing to do with

your food—and everything to dowith your well-being. A few nightsago I noticed flashing red lights out-side our window, and when I lookedout there was a fire truck up theblock. I went back to bed, and about15 minutes later heard an explosion.Looking out, the fire truck was stillthere, but no alarming activity so Iagain went back to bed. A while laterour carbon monoxide (CO) detectorwent off. We silenced it, but when itwent off again my husband wentdownstairs and spoke to the fire-fighters who came up with theirmonitors. The CO was dangerouslyhigh. They threw open all the win-dows and politely told us to leave“now.” Our neighbors took us in, andin half an hour the f iref ightersrechecked the CO and we were safeto return. Without the detector wewould have slept on… and on. CO isodor-free, insidious, and deadly.Please make sure that you have adetector and check that it is work-ing. All the organic food in the Coopwon’t keep healthy if you aren’t aliveto eat it.

Best,Roberta Gordon

MY FIRST AND LAST SHIFT ON NEW YEAR’S DAY

DEAR COOP MEMBERS:On New Year’s Day, subway is

free! Oh, yeah? Really? Because Ibelieved that, I decided to work myshift on January 1. I was supposed to

get off to a good start in 2014, butthe turnsti le didn’t turn free ofcharge. What the heck! Oops, Ishouldn’t curse on New Year’s Day.It’s too early for April 1!

I took heart and started workingat the Coop. The store was busy! Allthe shoppers had to get in the linesby 5:15. No exception! We workedhard and got our work done on time.It was beautiful! Later on, I learnedof the impending snowstorm. Thatis why the Coop was so busy.

By the way, when will my next shiftfall on New Year’s Day? I’m curious.Our work shift runs in a cycle of 28days. There are 364 days in 13 cycles.If the whole year is exactly 364 days,January 1 will fall on my shift everyyear from now on. That’s not good.However, because of 364 + 1 days,New Year’s Day shift changes by oneday every year except in the leapyears: this year falls on Wednesday“A” shift, 2015 falls on Thursday “A,”and 2016 falls on Friday “A” and soon. Saturday “A” is skipped because2016 is a leap year. God is generous.The jump is applied to 2017 for Feb-ruary 29, which affects the followingJanuary 1.

In this manner, I can use all my fin-gers to count 29 days one by one from2014, adding one extra count aftereach leap year. In leap year 2036, itfalls on the 28th day. The followingyear skips my shift on New Year’s Day.How generous you are, God! So, whenwill my shift fall on January 1 again?2059? Oh, no. I’ll be in my 90s bythen! How sad to realize that January1, 2014, was my first and last NewYear’s Day shift.

Seiji Ikuta

HELP STOP COOP THEFT

DEAR FELLOW MEMBERS:We will be discussing ideas for

addressing Coop theft at the January28 General Meeting. The Coop losesabout $1,200 a day due to theft. Thisis a collective problem, requiring acollective solution.

At the General Meeting we willbrainstorm and solicit ideas from themembership on how to address thisproblem. Multiple solutions are nec-essary. We need ideas for creating ananti-theft culture within the Coop,prevention, action when theft isobserved, and consequences. Fromthe discussion, we will be able todevelop effective methods.

Please attend to contribute yourthoughts and be part of the solution.

In Cooperation,Barbara Mazor

HOW MUCH PER PLASTIC BAG?

TO THE EDITOR:The graphic in the Environmental

Committee Report in the 12/26/13Gazette is confusing. It proposes thatshoppers be charged “.20¢” per bag—that is, two-tenths of a cent per bag.Does this make sense? How could shop-pers pay for bags in fractions of a penny?But if what’s meant is 20 cents per bag,that seems outrageously expensive.

It would be good if this were clari-fied before the February GM, when theproposal is scheduled for a vote.

Len Neufeld

Editor’s note: As a committee report in thisissue notes—the plan would charge twentycents per plastic bag.

WASTEFUL RETAILERS INPARK SLOPE

TO THE EDITOR:I read with interest the December

26 article by Lily Rothman about theCoop’s excellent composting prac-tices [“Coop Bucks Grocery GarbageTrend”]. A tenant in my house reli-giously collects, six days per week,food about to be thrown out at a well-known local food market. She lugshome many pounds of food eachnight including expensive cheeses,fancy snack food, yogurts, produceand lots of other great food. All thewhile, picky Slope shoppers arespending top dollar for pricey food atthis shop. I wonder how’d they feel ifthey knew much of this food ends upin the dumpster, destined for landfillsin Ohio and Virginia? My seven ten-ants and I end up eating much of theotherwise wasted food and what wedon’t eat ends up in our compost pile.

Recently a new group was formed toaddress this foolish waste of resources.Called Brooklyn Alliance of Com-posters and Carters, we aim to use bike

carts to pick up food waste at commu-nity retailers and convert it to compostfor use by gardeners and landscapers.We are planning a spring forum tohighlight how other municipalities inthe U.S. are capturing their wastestream for beneficial use in the com-munity. If you’d like to get involved, wemeet each third Monday at BoroughHall, 209 Joralemon St. on the secondfloor at 6:30 p.m. You can contact mefor more information at [email protected]. Let’s stop the dumping of valu-able resources in distant landfills.

Greg Todd

TO THE EDITOR:On the day of the storm, Friday, Jan-

uary 3, I somehow managed, with thehelp of an adventurous walker, to domy week’s food shopping and get thecart home through the snow. Therewas barely anyone shopping beyondone bag of necessities. It was the mostpleasant Coop day ever. Anyhow, thewalker (Carol Wald) and I took picturesof each other. In particular, her picture[here] is cool be-cause it shows theCoop logo on her vest as well as onthe cart. Just thought you might likethe picture for your next issue.

Best,Sabrina Waijers

ABUSE OF VISITORPRIVILEGES IS A FORMOF THEFT

TO THE EDITOR:Josh Wolf wrote a letter noting that

he has seen visitors shopping at theCoop [Gazette, 12/26/13, “Abuse of Visi-tor Privileges Is a Form of Theft”]. I’mpretty sure we all have. He suggesteda couple steps that could be imple-mented to diminish it.

I have only brought guests to theCoop a few times. None of the timesdid either of us shop. I brought themto give them a personal tour.

My suggestion to diminish theproblem is a one-time rule. We nowlog the names of the visitors on asheet of paper. I’d enter all that infor-mation into a database. Then visitorscan only visit the Coop once. That’s it.One time is enough to see what theCoop offers. I can’t think of any reasonto let a visitor come in again aftertheir first time.

Don Wiss

We welcome letters from members. Submissiondeadlines appear in the Coop Calendar. All let-ters will be printed if they conform to the pub-lished guidelines. We will not knowingly publisharticles which are racist, sexist or otherwise dis-criminatory

The maximum length for letters is 500words. Letters must include your name andphone number and be typed or very legiblyhandwritten. Editors will reject letters that areillegible or too long.

You may submit on paper, typed or very legi-bly handwritten, or via email to [email protected] or on disk.

AnonymityUnattributed letters will not be published

unless the Gazette knows the identity of thewriter, and therefore must be signed when sub-mitted (giving phone number). Such letters willbe published only where a reason is given to theeditor as to why public identification of thewriter would impose an unfair burden of embar-rassment or difficulty. Such letters must relateto Coop issues and avoid any non-constructive,non-cooperative language.

FairnessIn order to provide fair, comprehensive, fac-

tual coverage:1. The Gazette will not publish hearsay—that

is, allegations not based on the author's first-hand observation.

2. Nor will we publish accusations that arenot specific or are not substantiated by factualassertions.

3. Copies of submissions that make substan-tive accusations against specific individuals willbe given to those persons to enable them towrite a response, and both submissions andresponse will be published simultaneously. Thismeans that the original submission may notappear until the issue after the one for which itwas submitted.

The above applies to both articles and letters.The only exceptions will be articles by Gazettereporters which will be required to include theresponse within the article itself.

RespectLetters must not be personally derogatory or

insulting, even when strongly criticizing an indi-vidual member's actions. Letter writers mustrefer to other people with respect, refrain fromcalling someone by a nickname that the personnever uses himself or herself, and refrain fromcomparing other people to odious figures likeHitler or Idi Amin.

LETTERS POLICY

PHO

TO B

Y C

ARO

L W

ALD




BDS TOPICS:

TO THE EDITOR:The letter in the 01/09/14 Linewait-

ers ’ Gazette titled “Thanks, CoopMembers!” should have beenplaced in the BDS section not thegeneral section. The author specifi-cally referred to “opposition to ourcarrying Israeli products.”

Sincerely,Stewart Pravda

ANOTHERENVIRONMENTALORGANIZATION DENIESASSOCIATION WITHANTI-ISRAELMOVEMENT

TO THE EDITOR: A recent Gazette letter (Buchwald,

11/14/13, “St. Louis BDS Committeein Coalition with Environmentaland Social Justice Groups Cam-paigned Successfully Against Veoli-a’s Contract Proposal”) claimed thatThe Sierra Club participated in acoalition in St. Louis, MO, formedby the St. Louis Palestine SolidarityCommittee to have the city of St.Louis “Dump Veolia,” a companythat was to help the city with cost-cutting measures for its water sys-tem. According to the letter, Veolia“participates and profits in Israel’soccupation of Palestinian lands.” Isubsequently contacted the SierraClub to confirm or deny the BDSclaim of an association between theSierra Club and the St. Louis Pales-tine Solidarity Committee. Below isan excerpt from the response byCaroline Pufalt, Sierra Club Mis-souri Chapter Conservation Chair,forwarded by Tene Lewis, Washing-ton, DC, Operations Assistant of theSierra Club.

“The decision to becomeinvolved in the issue of the Veoliacontract was approved by the East-ern Missouri Group ExCom [Execu-tive Committee of the local SierraClub]. Concerns were due to Veoli-a’s questionable environmentalrecord in other municipalities and

the fact that the contract was a steptoward privatization. Also as theissue grew there were serious goodgovernment concerns raised alongthe way. The Sierra Club was not amember of the coalition butendorsed a statement of oppositionto the proposed Veolia contract. Wemaintained the distinction betweenbeing a member of the Dump Veoliacoalition (which we were not) andactively supporting the campaign(which we did). We were aware thatthe international political issuesraised by the PSC could be contro-versial among some of our mem-bers. Although the PSC was anactive part of the Dump Veoliacoalition, there were many otherlocal environmental and citizensgroups involved as well, both asmembers and supporters ... as youcan see the Sierra Club took noposition on the matters of concernto Marion Stein [i.e, boycott, cen-sure or termination of contractualties due to any issue in theIsraeli/Palestinian conflict or relat-ed to business or activities in theterritories].”

A similar letter was published inthe 12/26/13 Gazette written by MattOhloff of Food & Water Watch[“Response Letter to Park SlopeLetter on St. Louis Water Privatiza-tion Fight”], another environmentalorganization opposed to privatiza-tion of water processing. Among hismore detailed description of thework of Food & Water Watch hewrote: “Consistent with our organi-zational mission, Food & WaterWatch became involved in this cam-paign in order to protect St. Louis’swater system from private exploita-tion. Our involvement was in no wayconnected to, or inspired by, ten-sions between Israel and Palestine.”

Thus Sierra Club and Food &Water Watch are just the latesthoaxes to join Hampshire College,the UK investment firm Blackrock,Deutsche Bank, the investmentgiant TIAA-CREF, the Dutch pensionfund PFZW, and numerous otherBDS claimed divestors, all of whichhave been exposed as fraudulent.Yet although demonstrated fabrica-tions, as was the claim of a mas-

sacre at Jenin, nonetheless theselies continue to be published in ourCoop newsletter.

Marion Stein

DUTCH PENSION GIANTDIVESTS FROM FIVEISRAELI BANKS;NORWEGIAN MUSICIANCANCELS TEL AVIVPERFORMANCE; ISRAELTHREATENS TO ARRESTFOUR EUROPEANLEGISLATORS

MEMBERS:Effective January 1, 2014, the

Netherlands’ largest pension fundmanagement company, PGGM, oneof the leading in the world, haspulled out its investments from fiveIsraeli banks involved in the occu-pied Palestinian West Bank citingits policy of “social responsibility”in the decision. Bank Leumi, BankHapoalim, Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot,Israel Discount Bank and the FirstInternational Bank of Israel eitherhave branches in illegal settlementsor finance the settlements’ con-struction. The divestment by PGGMinvolves some 150 billion euros ofpension money.

In discussions with the banks,PGGM said its opinion was based onan advisory opinion by the Interna-tional Court of Justice in The Hague,2004: settlements in occupied Pales-tinian territory are illegal and violateArticle 49 of the Fourth Geneva Con-vention. That article states: “TheOccupying Power shall not deport ortransfer parts of its own civilian pop-ulation into the territory it occupies.”The Israeli banks responded thatIsraeli law doesn’t allow them tocease providing service to entitiesconnected to the settlements. (AlexKane, Barak Ravid)

Norwegian musician Moddi (PalModdi Knutsen) has cancelled aFebruary 1st Tel Aviv show after acall from Palestinians in Gaza andother solidarity activists. “This iswithout comparison the most diffi-cult decision I have ever made as an

artist, and one that hurts almost asmuch as it feels right.” The follow-ing are from his statements to can-cel: “Kerry’s peace talks create animpression of constant progress“concealing the increasingly tighterbesiegement of Gaza, the ongoingfragmentation of the West Bank andthe continuing discrimination ofArab-Israeli citizens.” All, whileIsrael announces the constructionof 1400 new settlements. “I will notlend my voice to it.” (Ali Abunimah)

Israeli Minister of DefenseMoshe Ya’alon declared that ClareShort (British Parliament member),and three other European legisla-tors would be arrested if they try tocome to Israel because of theirmembership in the Council forEuropean Palestinian Relations(CEPR) outlawed in Israel lateDecember, 2013.

Israel can seize its assets andarrest members, declaring CEPR athreat to Israel’s national security(providing no evidence of anyinvolvement in terrorist activity).Ya’alon referred vaguely to CEPR’scalling for an end to the Israeli siegeon Gaza.

CEPR, a non-profit organizationaims “to promote dialogue andunderstanding between European,Palestinian and Arab parliamentari-ans and policy makers to resolvethe Israeli-Palestinian conflict inaccordance with international law.”Clare Short said: ’Given Israel’strack record, the Defense Minister’saction is not surprising, but it is yetmore evidence that Israel’s claim tobe a democracy is eroding veryfast.” (Saed Bannoura)

Note: Following Matt Ohloff’s12/26/13 concerned letter[“Response Letter to Park SlopeLetter on St. Louis Water Privatiza-tion Fight”], I e-mailed him the linklisting Food & Water Watch endors-ing St. Louis Dump Veolia. Howev-er, after checking the officialwebsite, I found the same broad listof endorsers without his organiza-tion. Sorry, Matt.

Mary BuchwaldBrooklyn For Peace

PSFC members for BDSwww.psfcbds.wordpress.com




By Alan P. Berger

No doubt you’ve heard ofZipcar, Airbnb, the NYC

bike-sharing program, andmaybe Rent the Runway andLyft too. These are all exam-ples of what is being calledthe sharing economy or col-lective consumption econo-my. This growing movementrecognizes that we don’thave unlimited resources(money, energy, raw materi-als, etc.) and it’s wastefuland inefficient for everyoneto personally continue toamass more and more stuff,much of it used infrequent-ly, when a lot of what weneed and want alreadyprobably exists in our ownneighborhood. We’d be bet-ter off sharing the things weneed rather than everyoneowning everything, and bysharing we’ll be buildingmore cohesive and sel f -

reliant communities.In addition to the above,

other benefits of sharingbecome apparent once youthink about it: you instantlyhave access to more thingsthan you previously thoughtpossible, as people offer toloan things that you neverwould have bought yourself.And you don’t need as muchstorage space in your home(or small business or orga-nization) because everyonedoesn’t need to buy andstore everything anymore.Also, most of this lendingand borrowing wil l takeplace in your immediateneighborhood, saving time,energy, and best of al l ,building community—youget to see and get to knowmore people in your neigh-borhood. And, if we’re usingour current resources moreand not making and buying

as many new things, thereduction in raw materialuse, energy for processing,producing and transportingfinished goods, will result inhelping to reduce globalwarming and have otherenvironmental benefits.Finally, and certainly notleast of all, we reduce ourdependence on large corpo-rations and for-profit busi-nesses that make anddistribute all this stuff andmotivate them to startthinking of more sustain-able ways to provide prod-ucts and services to theircustomers.

What are some examplesof stuff we could be sharing?Well, here’s a really shortlist: drill, screw gun, DVDsand CDs, cameras, breadmaker, ice cream maker,juicer, food processor,blender, Wii, tree pruner,amplifier, bike, ladder, saw,folding chairs, folding table,

luggage, large serving plat-ters, wine glasses, shredder,scanner, saw, snow blower,weed cutter, mixer, pastamaker, coffee maker, musicalinstruments, books, air mat-tress, humidifier, de-humidi-fier, portable heater, tennisracquet, baseball bat, camp-ing gear, golf clubs, skis, carroof rack or bike rack, carstorage bin, and sewingmachine. Not only goodsbut also services can beshared, such as sportslessons, computer help,help with taxes, manuallabor, etc. I think you get theidea and probably haveother ideas of plenty ofthings to add to this list.

As an example of oneneighborhood group thathas started recently to sharegoods and services, a groupof Prospect Lefferts Gardensresidents in November 2013established a group on thesharing platform neighbor-goods.net and at press timehas 62 members sharingmore than 80 goods and ser-vices. Establishing a groupmeans that you’re alwayssharing with someone wholives nearby, which meansyou’re probably more likelyto use it more and to knowthe people you’re sharingwith. On neighborgoods.netit’s free to join, free to set upa group, and free to share.Other sites charge transac-tion fees, service charges, ortake a percentage of the

money that changes hands.If you’re interested in tak-

ing part in something likethis, helping to set up agroup in your neighborhood,or helping the goods andservices sharing concept to grow, contact me [email protected] orcall me at 917-715-7157.

And, to learn more aboutthe sharing economy hereare a few links:

Recent article in The NewYorker: www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2013/09/16/130916ta_talk_surowiecki

TED talk: www.ted.com/talks/rachel_botsman_the_case_for_col laborat ive_consumption.html

For the ambitious—awhole book on the topic:www.library.uniteddiversity.coop/Money_and_Economics/The_Sharing_Solution.pdf. ■

APPLEORANGEPEACHESPEPPERSQUASHCABBAGECUCUMBERPRODUCE

PuzzleAnswer

The Sharing Economy

M E M B E R S U B M I S S I O N

✤ Do you want your shift to operate more smoothly?

✤ Are there folks on your squad who seem to irritate one another, and it’s difficult to see

what the problem is?

✤ When a conflict occurs between shoppers duringyour shift, what can you do to ease

the situation on the spot?

✤ Do you know what resources are available for people who want to follow up?

The Park Slope Food Coop’s Diversity and Equality Committee is holding a series of workshops for Squad Leaders. The goal of the two-hour workshop

is to increase awareness and understanding of diversity in the Coop. Through interactive discussions we will talk about the values of diversity, how differences can create both collaboration and conflict and strategies

for dealing with issues of diversity. We will discuss conflicts that have arisen in the Coop, the findings

of the diversity survey and what you can do to make the Coop a more welcoming place for all.

Please call 888-922-COOP (2667) box 89 or send an e-mail [email protected] (with “SL Training” in the subject line) to confirm your

attendance and/or for more information. In either case, please tell us yourname, Coop member number, contact information and the date you are interested in attending. We will reply with a confirmation within a week.

Diversity and Equality CommitteePARK SLOPE FOOD COOP

Workslot credit (make-up or FTOP) is available to those who attend.

Saturday, April 1310:30 a.m. –12:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 1110:30 a.m. –12:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 237–9 p.m.

Saturday, May 1110:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 237–9 p.m.

Saturday, February 110:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 197–9 p.m.


Saturday, March 1510:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.



Saturday, March 1510:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.



COMMUNITY CALENDARCommunity calendar listings are free. Please submit your

event listing in 50 words or less [email protected].

Submission deadlines are the same as for classified ads.Please refer to the Coop Calendar in the center of this issue.

SAT, FEB 1

11 a.m.-3 p.m. More Than A

Score: Talking Back to Testing

Forum. Participatory discussion

of misuse of school testing and

how to fight back. Edward A

Reynolds West Side High

School, 140 W. 102 St. NY 10025

Change the Stakes & Movement

of Rank & File Educators

www.morecaucusnyc.org/.

8 p.m. Peoples' Voice Cafe: Judy

Gorman; The Blues Mothers. At

The Community Church of New

York Unitarian Universalist, 40 E.

35 St. NY NY Wheelchair-accessi-

ble. For info 212-787-3903 or see

www.peoplesvoicecafe.org.

Donation: $18 general/$10 mem-

bers/more if you choose, less if

you can't/no one turned away.

SUN, FEB 2

4 p.m. BPL Chamber Players at

the Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Center,

Central Library 10 Grand Army

Plaza, Bklyn, featuring Escher

String Quartet, Adam Barnett-

Hart and Aaron Boyd, violins;

Pierre Lapointe, viola; Dane

Johansen, cello; and Deanne

Meek, mezzo-soprano.

4 p.m. Concert: Old-Time Tunes &

Songs. Alan Friend (banjo, guitar,

fiddle), Harry Bolick (fiddle, man-

dolin), Don Friedman (guitar,

banjo), Charlie Shaw (bass,

drum) celebrate release of the CD

Bad Times & Better Times. The Old

Stone House, 336 Third St. (in the

Park), Park Slope. $10, Children

under 13: $5. Info, 718-768-3195,

www.theoldstonehouse.org/.




To Submit Classified or Display Ads:

Ads may be placed on behalf of Coop members only. Clas-sified ads are prepaid at $15 per insertion, display ads at $30.(Classified ads in the “Merchandise–Non-commercial” cate-gory are free.) All ads must be written on a submission form.Classified ads may be up to 315 characters and spaces. Dis-play ads must be camera-ready and business card size (2" x3.5" horizontal).

Submission forms are available in a wallpocket near theelevator in the entrance lobby.

BED & BREAKFASTTHE HOUSE ON 3rd ST. B&B-serv-

ing the Slope for over 20 yrs. Parlor

floor-thru apt. sleeps 5 in comfort

& privacy, queen bed, bath, double

living room, kitchenette, outdoor

deck. Visit our website at house-

on3st.com. Click our FB link or call

Jane at 718-788-7171. Ask about

bargains for last minute bookings.

Let us host you!

CHILDCAREArt teacher; exuberant! NYS certi-

fied; excellent references; home/

private school, wknds; ages

5-12. Fredda Patti; freddame@

hotmail.com

HOUSINGAVAILABLE

Vacation cottage 3/2 0n 1 acre on

great South Bay E. Patchogue for

sale. Solar-heat pool, perrenial

gardens, views, water sports. Near

towns of Bellport and Patchogue

with cultural and nature activities.

Only one hour form NYC. Contact:

[email protected]. or

718-768-9610.

EXPERIENCE RURAL UPSTATE.

Rent a solar home - skylights,

waterfall, ravine, pond, woods. Care

for chicks, laying hens, garden. All

organic practices. Sharon Springs -

near Albany, Cooperstown. Fur-

nished or not. No indoor pets. No

smoking. WiFi. 6 mo. or longer.

Approx. $1,250/mo. 518-234-1942.

[email protected].

SERVICES AVAILABLE

ATTORNEY—Personal Injury

Emphasis—35 years experience in

all aspects of injury law. Individual

attention provided for entire case.

Free phone or office consulta-

tions. Prompt, courteous commu-

nications. 23-year Park Slope Food

Coop member; Park Slope resi-

dent; downtown Brooklyn office.

Tom Guccione, 718-596-4184, also

at www.tguccionelaw.com.

MADISON AVENUE HAIRCUTTER

is right around the corner from the

Food Coop, so if you would like a

really good haircut at a decent

price, please call Maggie at 718-

783-2154, I charge $60.00.

EXPRESS MOVES. One flat price

for the entire move! No deceptive

hourly estimates! Careful, experi-

enced mover. Everything quilt

padded. No extra charge for

wardrobes and packing tape. Spe-

cialist in walkups. Thousands of

satisfied customers. Great Coop

references. 718-670-7071.

RESTORATION Did you break a

special vase or chip enamel jewel-

ry? I restore pottery and small

objects (antique or just treasured)

made of enamel, ivory, horn, tor-

toise, some plastics and wood,

etc. Estimates cheerfully given.

References available. Near the

coop. Roberta: 718-623-6777 or

[email protected]

THE ARTFUL DODGER painting

co. has served the NY metro

region for over 30 yrs. "Every-

thing with paint" from standard

paint ing to spec ia l i zed wal l

treatments. Expert prep work.

Clean and eff icient. Insured,

EPA ce r t i f i ed . Re fe rences

available. REASONABLE! Call

646-734-0899 o r e -mai l

[email protected].

Do you or a senior you love need

to move? Are you eager to get

organized? Paper Moon Moves is a

senior move management compa-

ny helping New Yorkers to: get

organized; sell, donate or discard

things no longer needed; and

manage moves. Call 917-374-1525

for a free consultation!

SERVICESWANTED

SEEKING SPANISH TUTOR for

afternoon conversation class con-

sisting of two women, intermedi-

ate level, in Park Slope. Call Rose

718-789-9251.

*FREELANCE TALENT WANTED*

Non-profit has great opportunities

for talented WRITERS: Sales-Copy,

Web-Content, Articles, Motivation,

Metaphysics, Radio. WEB SITE:

Designer/Builder. RADIO: Agent,

PROGRAM PRODUCER: Motiva-

tional, Metaphysical. DESIGNERS:

Graphic. Clothing. Costume. Fabric.

RESEARCHER. P/R. E-mail to:

[email protected].

CLASSIFIEDS

Follow the Food Coop on:

@foodcoop

Members Sought for PSFC Personnel CommitteeIf you know how to work collaboratively and believe you could make a contribution

to the Coop, we would love to hear from you. The Personnel Committee is anelected group of members that serves in an advisory capacity to the

General Coordinators (the Coop’s collective managerial team),supporting them with/in performance evaluations, succession planning,

developing human resources policies and in the hiring/termination ofGeneral Coordinators when/if either of those actions is necessary.

We would like the Personnel Committee to reflect the diversity of the Coop.We are especially interested in people who have skills in finance, running a business,

upper-level management, organizational development, personnel andhuman resources. Applicants should have a minimum of one year ofCoop membership immediately prior to applying, experience doing

workshifts at the Coop and excellent attendance.

The Personnel Committee meets with the General Coordinators onthe third Tuesday of every month from 5:30 to 7:15 p.m.Additional work outside the meetings is also required.

If you are interested, please do the following two things: e-mail your resume and aletter explaining why you would like to be part of the committee to

[email protected], and go to http://bit.ly/120Dn2s to fill out a short questionnaire.

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

If you are interested in the history of the Coop or in when and how particular subjects have been

discussed in the Gazette...

Send an e-mail to Len Neufeld, Gazette indexer, [email protected], to request PDF files of

either or both of the following indexes:

◆ An alphabetized list of the titles of all articles published in theGazette from 1995 to the present, with issue dates.

◆ An alphabetized list of all subjects (including people’s names) discussed in Gazette articles from 1995 to the present,

with article titles, issue dates, and page numbers.

Many of the Gazette issues referenced in these indexes are available as PDFs on the Coop’s website.




Interested in Engaging Coop Work?Disciplinary Committee Seeks NEW Members

Our work includes• Applying Coop’s rules and regulations• Discussing policy issues related to the DC’s work• Investigating allegations of uncooperative behavior by members and engaging in problem solving• Daily email contact with DC members to discuss cases• Participating in mediation, disciplinary hearings, and other conflict resolution methods

Requirements:In order to be considered for this position, any candidate must:• be a member for at least a year• have good attendance record• possess the abilty to work on a team• communicate clearly • have good writing skills• have computer proficiency (excel, word, emails) is essential• attend an evening meeting every six weeksWe work on average 6 hours per month, more than the required work shifthours. You will be credited and your hours banked for future use.

We recognize the importance of various points of view when consideringcases brought to us. WE ARE SEEKING A CANDIDATE POOL THAT REFLECTSTHE DIVERSITY OF THE COOP’S MEMBERSHIP.

Contact: Karen: 718-208-7897 or [email protected]

Skills needed:CommunicationProblem solving Conflict resolutionDealing with difficult

situations and peopleInvestigationWritingResearch

Currently we have members from the following fields:Social work, education, law, dispute resolution,holistic medicine, design,and journalism

Join us to make the Coop the best place it can be for everyone.

✮ EXCITING WORKSLOT OPPORTUNITIES ✮

Bathroom CleaningTuesday, 12 to 2 p.m.Work with a partner to deep clean theCoop’s bathrooms. Tasks include scrub-bing floor tiles, cleaning toilets, moppingfloors and stocking the bathrooms. Youwill work with only natural cleaning prod-ucts. This job is perfect for members wholike to clean and are conscientious aboutdoing a thorough job.

Office Set-upMonday and Wednesday,6 to 8:30 a.m.Need an early riser with lots of energy todo a variety of physical tasks including:setting up tables and chairs, buying foodand supplies, labeling and putting awayfood and supplies, recycling, washing

dishes and making coffee. Sound like yourdream come true? This job might be foryou. Please speak to Adriana in theMembership Office for more information.

Store Equipment CleaningMonday and Wednesday, 6 to 8 a.m.The Coop is looking for members to cleanthe checkout area of the store. It entailscleaning the scales at each checkout andvacuuming around the base of the check-out station as well as sweeping and occa-sionally mopping. You will work under thesupervision of a staff person.

The Coop will not beaccepting

special ordersthrough

Monday, February 3, 2014.

We apologize for any inconvenience.Our paid staff will be focusing on keeping the

store fully stocked through the winterholidays. Special orders will resume after the

annual year-end inventory.

Special orders can be placedthrough the Membership

Office beginning again onTuesday, February 4, 2014.

Vitamin/Supplement orders remain indefinitely suspended.

Join the Committee andhelp set the monthly

General Meeting agenda.Requirements:

◆ Attend monthly Committee meetings on the first Tuesday of the month at 8:00 p.m.

◆ Attend at least five General Meetings per year

◆ Have a cooperative spirit and willingness to work in a collaborative committee environment

◆ Be interested in the ongoing business ofthe Coop

◆ Have a good attendance record If interested, contact Ann Herpel at

718-622-0560 or [email protected]. The Committee will interview applicants before

submitting candidates to the GM for election.We are seeking an applicant pool that reflects

the diversity of the Coop’s membership.

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Documents

Volume II, Number 2 January 23, 2014 Winter Warmers Line ...€¦ · teapots, tea infusers and for those who eschew plastic, especially when preparing hot food and drink, porcelain