july/august 2013 newsletter
DESCRIPTION
George Street Co-op NewsletterTRANSCRIPT
Lessons from Cali
By John Leary
I write this article fresh from a ten-day trip to San Francisco, a land where delicious food, healthy lifestyles, and social enterprise are as much a part of the landscape as the legendary hills, streetcars, and fogbanks. Unsurprisingly, co-ops are highly successful in California’s bigger and more progressive cities, and even in smaller progressive towns like Berkeley and Davis the cooperative paradigm is popular and expanding. While on vacation, Jamie and I took the opportunity to visit a number of co-ops. New Jersey and California are two very different places, of course, and it would be dangerous to assume that what works well in one place would automatically work well in the other; but even where the two environments are extremely different it can be en-lightening to consider how our Californian sisters and brothers make it happen. Not all Califor-nia co-ops are food co-ops either. A good friend lives in a housing co-op in Berkeley, and it was a bit surprising that much of what ap-
plied to one seemed to apply to the other!
Letter from the
Manager
Food for Thought J U L Y ~ A U G U S T 2 0 1 3
What’s
Inside...
89 Morris St. New Brunswick, NJ 08901
The George Street Co-op, Inc.
5 Breast
Cancer
Can Be
Prevented
9
Bicycling
14
The End of
an Era
11
Cook It Up!
12
George
Street
Member
Highlight
FREE
One of the first things we noticed upon entering any Bay Area co-op was the plentiful signage attached to nearly every piece of co-op equipment, informing workers how to properly use and maintain it. Run-ning the gamut from paint-ed placards to scrawled Post-its, this in-place docu-mentation ensured a con-sistent level of upkeep throughout each co-op facility. What was surprising (at least to me) was that this onslaught of documenta-tion didn’t really clutter the facilities or distract the shoppers. Customers seem
to get how to tune it out instinctively. Getting past the sea of text, we honed in on the food co-ops’ product selec-tion and pricing. Product selection was in many ways comparable to ours, especially in the smaller co-ops, with the notable exception of a great more emphasis on small, homegrown brands — mom & pop imprints which were often made just a few miles from the store.
Continued on page 4
P A G E 2
From The Editor
T H E G E O R G E S T R E E T C O - O P , I N C .
Food for Thought is published monthly by The George Street Co-op, Inc. It is a communications bulletin, as there can be no cooperation without communication. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect official policy of The George Street Co-op.
Newsletter Staff
Jasmine Burroughs
Dean Fredrickson Barbara Glasgow
Editor, Layout /Artwork
Staff/ Back page layout Ad Manager
Invest in Your Health
Everyday we make choices. Why not make the choice to consume healthy meals that will help you become balanced?
I can’t believe we are nearing the end of July! It seems like just yester-day when we saw everyone excited about the first day of summer. Just because we see the hot summer months quickly pass us doesn't mean we should slowly stop exercising, walking, and soaking up the sun. Our health should always be #1! This is the perfect time to visit the Co-op, and stock your fridge will fresh produce. Once you have your fresh produce, don’t forget to cre-ate summer juices/smoothies—that’s always exciting. I hope you all enjoy reading the July/August issue of Food of Thought. Always remember to stay healthy and stay calm. Food for Thought is available online: http://www.georgestreetcoop.com/newsletter
Jasmine ❤❤❤
Advertising Rates (2 months)
Business card (3½″×2″ high) ¼ page (3½″×5″ high) ½ page (3½″×10″ high or 7½″×5″)
$30
$75
$150
Please submit ads to Barbara Glasgow: 732-422-0221 — [email protected]
Ad payments to Barbara Mastroianni:
732-247-8280 — [email protected]
Newsletter Contributions We appreciate short, non-political articles and letters of
700 words or fewer. Longer articles of importance will
be printed at the discretion of the editor. All letters and
articles may be edited for length and clarity. Email your
contributions to:
[email protected] deadline
is the 20th of each month.
Store Hours
Monday – Friday
Saturday
Sunday
10 AM – 8 PM
10 AM – 7 PM
10 AM – 6 PM
Board of Directors
John Leary President/Outreach, Tech Chair
732-850-6547 [email protected]
Marilynn Winston Vice President
732-249-7509 [email protected]
Richard Menashe Treasurer/ Finance Chair
732-906-8866 [email protected]
Chad Hetman Secretary/Product Committee
732-485-6877 [email protected]
Jamie Balancia Membership Committee Chair
908-202-3539 [email protected]
Joel Wattacheril Tech Committee member
214-734-8160 [email protected]
Other Committee Chairs
Norman Zboray Facilities Committee Chair 609-516-0186 r [email protected]
Jasmine Burroughs Newsletter Committee Chair
Joe DiFillippo Personnel, Meetings & Elections
732-220-0931 [email protected]
Paid Staff
John Leary General Manager
Barbara Mastroianni Office Manager
Sean Gallagher
&Neal Treec Floor Managers
Bob Wright Produce/Bulk Closer
Arnette Phipps Closer
Volunteer Coordination Team Nora Devlin & John Leary
732-993-VOLC
Upcoming Events
Get Involved!! Come to our
Board Meetings!
The second Monday of each
month at the Co-op in our
upstairs meeting room.
We’re looking for a few good
candidates for the Co-op
board.
Would you like to:
Earn a 15% discount on
purchase?
Learn more about retail
cooperatives?
Do something for your
community owned busi-
ness?
If you would like to get in-
volved then contact John or
Marilynn.
Thu, Jul 4 . . . . . . CLOSED for Independence
Day!
Mon, Jul 8 . . . 7:30PM . . . Board of Directors meeting
Sat, Jul 13 . . . 4:00PM . . . Member orientation
Tue, Jul 16 . . . 6:00PM . . . Member orientation
Wed, Jul 17 . . . 6:30PM . . . Finance Committee meeting
Sun, Jul 28 . . . 11:00AM . . . Member orientation
Sat, Aug 10 . . . 4:00PM . . . Member orientation
Mon, Aug 12 . . . 7:30PM . . . Board of Directors meeting
Vision
Mission
The George
Street
Co-op is
creating a
place for
people
who value
healthy
food, a
healthy
planet,
and
P A G E 4 This is something we’ve also been working on at George Street Co‑op, and from a purely aesthetic standpoint it’s truly beautiful to see the proliferation of small brands on San Francisco’s store shelves. I was surprised at the pric-es for local, organic produce in San Francisco’s co-ops. An organic avocado costs $2.39 at one San Francisco co-op, while at George Street Co-op we stock it for $1.99. (For comparison, at San Francisco’s ubiquitous Safe-way chain, a non-organic avo-cado is $1.50.) I’d figured that the nearness of Califor-nia’s fertile Central valley might keep prices wonderful-ly low for organic produce, but it seems not even the co-ops can escape the costs of being in the Bay Area. San Francisco’s average co-op worker has an incredible level of devotion to their cause. They are highly pro-tective of co-op interests, and they work hard to achieve positive outcomes, but at the same time they seem truly open and flexible about what methods and means will be used to get there. We en-countered this personally at one food co‑op when two workers approached us with completely contradictory in-formation, but when in-formed of the contradiction
they communicated intensely (but 100% respectfully) with each other until they’d re-solved the contradiction to everyone’s satisfaction. It was inspiring to see this sense of committed steward-ship with absolutely no pos-sessiveness or territoriality. We often achieve this ideal at George Street, but seeing it there again reaffirmed to me that this is the way a coopera-tive truly needs to be. We spent a great deal of time there talking with co‑op members about their co-ops’ histories and turning points. Individual stories varied widely, but one trend clearly emerged: San Franscisco’s co-op culture is resolutely ideal-istic, yet relentlessly pragmat-ic in making decisions which actually make members’ ideals achievable in the real world. In story after story, we heard about serious issues that were identified and taken head-on — and ineffective ideas that the co-op consid-ered and then rejected so eve-ry minute of their workers’ effort would be in the service of seriously meaningful change. Their co-op boards have not feared to take on poten-tially controversial and/or divisive issues. When co-op changes have come at the expense of small
constituencies within the group, the co-op as a whole has made great efforts to find a fair reconciliation so all members can feel whole about the change. It took these co-ops a great deal of extra effort to work on these concessions, but the longevity and positivity of the results tells me it’s more than worth it. Finally, there seems to be very little in the way of hierar-chy in the average Bay Area co-op. Or more accurately, the people high in the hierar-chy consider themselves side-by-side with the newest re-cruits. Jamie and I were at Other Avenues food co-op (in San Francisco’s seaward Sunset District) hearing the cashier tell us her own co-op story (she’d once been at Weaver’s Way in Philadelph-ia), when suddenly we learned she was the CFO of the whole organization. That’s a beautiful thing — because everyone in a co-op should be able to talk directly to the officers who work for them.
So we’re back in NJ now, back in the humidity and the more frenetic pace of East Coast life. It’s good to be home, but there’s some things I hope we’ll be bring-ing here from California. Wherever you go this sum-mer, I hope it brings beautiful things to you too.
Letter from the manager continued
By Bonnie Camo MD
Angelina Jolie's recent decision
to undergo a 'prophylactic' double mastectomy due to her BRCA status, was her choice, but those who may wish to follow in her foot-steps should be aware that there are other options. According to breast surgeon Su-san Love of UCLA, at least 30 per-cent of tumors found on mammo-grams would go away if you did ab-solutely nothing. These tumors ap-pear to be destined to stop growing on their own, shrink, and even go away completely. Your immune sys-
tem is always on the alert, removing most cancer cells that develop be-fore they are able to multiply. One way to strengthen your immune sys-tem is to minimize your exposure to mammograms and other sources of ionizing radiation. You can strengthen your immune system by good diet and lifestyle choices. First optimize your vitamin D3 level. Vitamin D is actually able to enter cancer cells and trigger apoptosis, or cancer cell death. Jo-Ellen Welsh, a researcher with the State University of New York at Al-bany, injected vitamin D into human breast cancer cells, killing half of them within days. Vitamin D was as
effective as breast cancer drugs like Tamoxifen, without the side effects and at a cost of pennies. If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer you should have your D level checked and maintain a level of at least 70 ng/ml. Vitamin A also plays a role in pre-venting breast cancer; your best sources are organic egg yolks, raw milk and butter, and beef and chick-en liver from organically raised, grass pastured animals. However, commercial red meat may be a seri-ous risk factor for breast can-cer. When animal protein is cooked, especially at high heat, like frying, carcinogens are formed. Saturated animal fat is converted into a carcin-ogen by bacteria in your large intes-tine. Animal fat is also the storage site for all the pesticides on the food the animal ate, as well as the antibi-otics, hormones, and growth stimu-lants the animals were given. Grill-ing meat adds additional carcino-gens. Fruits and vegetables are “virtual anticancer pharmacies.” Phyto-chemicals in plants have many ways of protecting you from cancer. Ca-rotenoids which give color to red, orange and yellow fruits and vegeta-bles are potent antioxidants and block different steps in development of cancer. All cruciferous vegeta-bles, like broccoli, cabbage and kale, contain indole-3 carbinole, which stops breast cancer cells from grow-ing, and converts estrogen into a non-cancer-promoting form. Broc-coli also contains sulforaphane, which promotes liver enzymes which destroy carcinogens and move them out of the body.
Continued on page 6
Breast Cancer
Can Be
Prevented
Natural Medicine & Homeopathy
Breast Cancer Can Be Prevented continued
P A G E 6
Of course, all these fruits and vegetables should be organic, so you are not in-troducing more carcinogen-ic pesticides into your body.
A powerful anticancer spice is turmeric, the bril-liant yellow-orange root used in curries and in Ayur-vedic and Chinese medicine for over five thousand years. Turmeric is one of the most potent tumor-inhibiting foods, destroys toxins in the liver, is a pow-erful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, and prevents DNA mutations that lead to cancer.
Herbs like black cohosh, artemisinin, and kelp have anticancer proper-ties. Green tea is the num-ber one anticancer bever-age, full of anti-inflammatories and antioxi-dants, such as polyphenols like ECGC. Raw cannabis
and “hemp oil” (not to be confused with hempseed oil, which is highly nutri-tious, but not known to be a cancer cure) both look very promising, for those who live in places where they are legal.
Avoid all forms of sugar, cancer’s favorite food, as well as artificial sweeten-ers. Stevia is a safe sweet-ener.
Good sleep is essential to good health. During sleep the mind/body is repaired and purified. In darkness the pineal gland produces melatonin, which promotes natural sleep and is a pow-erful cancer preventer. The best melatonin production occurs when you go to bed by 10 pm and get up by 6 am.
The list of natural pre-vention methods should in-clude not wearing bras. There's lots of evidence for bras impeding the blood and lymph flow that keeps tissues healthy, as documented in Dressed to Kill by Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer.
Exercise lowers your risk of breast cancer, in part by helping prevent obesity which increases your risk. Aerobic exercise causes the brain to produce healing neuropeptides which reduce stress and prevent depression.
P A G E 7
Sign up for our book club!! There is a book club in
progress!!
The first book up for
discussion: Eating An-
imals by Johnathan
Safran Foer.
The book makes a
compelling argument
for how imperative it
is ecologically and
socially to get away
from the factory meth-
ods of farming currently
used in nearly all of
America’s meat indus-
tries.
It’s an engaging read,
supported by facts, and
could challenge you on
the question, “what
should I eat today.”
It’s a fun read, and may
inspire some good peace-
ful conversations, which is
what we need on a hot
button topic like the con-
temporary food industry.
If you are interested
please contact me by
email:
New Members!! Welcome! Gabby Fricke
Dorothy Ott
Gabrielle Fricke
Winona Dunlap
Mary Hynes
Millie Abbate
Rob Pires
Paola Pinzon
Gary Brill
Sadae Hori
Kevin Morris
Tamar Brill
Amber Wilmore-Hurley
Rachel Degutz
Matthew LeBoeuf
Andrea Sullivan
Ravit Keren
Abby Callahan
Paul Brennan
Damian Catera
Sarah Frier
Danielle London
Caroline Lipiec
Peter Lipiec
P A G E 8
By Barbara
Glasgow
Membership Committee Goals are facilitating member pro-cesses, increasing general member-ship and member labor, and keeping materials current. The committee’s proposal for Rolling Membership was completed and delivered to the Meetings and Elections Committee (with Board approval), which mailed it out to all Co-op members in the form of a referendum to be voted on. They have begun interviews with the Co-op’s paid staff, the first of which is printed in this newsletter. Ideas for future proposals and clarifi-cation of various membership issues were discussed. Policies will be set to ensure consistent and fair treatment for all members. They are eager to develop a mes-sage board to improve internal com-munication and have requested that the Tech Committee offer support toward this goal. The Co-op contin-ues to have a thriving volunteer group that is providing many pro-ductive hours toward keeping our store running smoothly. Any mem-ber wanting to discuss a concern or having a comment or question should contact a member of this committee.
Facilities Committee Their goal is to maintain the phys-ical plant of the Co-op. Routine maintenance was completed and the water filters in the prep room were
changed. They activated the fans to the basement, but are considering cooling the compressors with water as a more effective alternative. They are working on the plumbing in the café and have installed a 3 bay sink there. The committee is always hop-ing to increase their workforce and members can contact Richard Menashe (732-767-0720) to help.
Outreach Committee Goals are recruiting volunteers and organizing monthly and special events to promote awareness of, membership in, and sales at the Co-op; and updating Co-op literature. In June, the Outreach Committee re-turned to sending monthly sales spe-cials emails to the Co-op’s full mail-ing list of 2,107 people. This email includes our biggest sales deals each month, and also an encouragement to sign up as a volunteer. The com-mittee has made a number of correc-tions to our Spanish-language trifold brochure and has begun printing the corrected version in the store. The Co-op currently has 1,610 Facebook friends and 1,781 follow-ers on our Facebook page. We have 389 Twitter followers and are on 35 Twitter lists.
Finance Committee This committee’s goals include increasing revenue, promoting fund-raising, and decreasing costs by iden-tifying and reducing financial waste. Work is on-going on the 2011 taxes and a new account was opened for the café. Money was transferred
from the Co-op’s savings account into the general operating fund to pay some bills and the accrued paid time off was updated. May’s net in-come showed improvement over the previous month due to a reduction in loss.
Technology Committee Goals include implementing a Point of Sale (POS) system with inte-grated UPC scanning, inventory con-trol and detailed sales statistics re-porting, maintaining the Co-op’s website, and increasing Co-op reve-nues by having online credit card approval processes. The Tech Com-mittee met to discuss priorities for the next several months, and to iden-tify ways to proceed on them. There is now an active national community of developers working on the Point Of Sale system, which should make it much easier for the Co-op to suc-cessfully roll out our installation. Two Tech Committee members (John and Paul) will be taking part in the national conference call every Friday. The Membership Committee has requested support for a new membership tracking system and development of a message board. As a member of both committees, John will be responsible for those tasks. Finally, the Tech Committee is look-ing for ways to better partition and secure the Co-op’s internal network, and to keep secure backups of our files. A central server could be used, as could a cloud-based solution.
Continued on page 13
Committee Corner
By Virginia Ahearn
IN 1989 a friend and I rode cross country on our bicycles. There are times when I still can’t believe we did it. Since I am having a hard time thinking of a topic in midwifery or herbal medicine to talk about this month, I will tell some stories from my trip. We started at the end of April, which is still pretty chilly. We didn’t go straight across the US, we went south, then zig zagged up through the middle. We wanted to visit a lot of alternative communities, many of which are in the south where land is cheaper. We visited Twin Oaks in Virginia, then a yoga retreat cen-ter, a gay men’s community outside Nashville, and sev-eral women’s communities. We visited The Farm, the famed community known for its midwifery clinic and services run by Ina Mae Gaskin, herself a well-known midwife. We got caught in a freak snowstorm in Virginia (in
May!), lightening in Montana, 102 degree heat in
Washington State, and lots of lovely weather too. We
spent summer solstice in a campground in Kansas, lay-
ing outside out tents watching jagged bolts of lighten-
ing flash across the huge open sky. We ate tons of ice
cream and cookies the whole way.
I think I will tell the story of the full moon gathering
at the gay men’s community called Short Mountain
Sanctuary (SMS). This was before cell phones and the
internet. When we wanted to visit places we called
from pay phones, hoping to get an answer, although
answering machines were in use then. We heard of
SMS from the women at the land trust in Kentucky,
and they gave us the contact number. There was no
phone at SMS itself. WE called the contact person who
gave us directions and told us that if we got there by
Friday night ( 2 days away), we would be there for the
full moon gathering. She said just show up. We were
stoked. It would be lots of miles to ride, but we could
do it. We rode into the rinky dink town that the com-
munity was near, either the Thursday or Friday, and
went to a rinky dink restaurant to eat.
Continued on page 10
Bicycling
In places like this we were a spectacle, and like doz-ens of other places in the south, everyone turned to stare when we walked in. And they would keep staring. We pretended not to notice. When we were on our way again the directions included lots of unnamed streets and eventually a dirt road. There was an occasional metal pink triangle nailed to a tree to guide visitors. Although we had not been told of the markers, we were reassured to see them. The road got steep and rough and we could no long-er ride. We had to push our bikes up the road, over rocks and bumps and pits. IT is hard to push a bike with 60+ pounds of gear, probably weighing 80 lbs in all. The bike wants to go backwards. WE had to push at a 45 degree angle to the road. IT was hot and this was not fun. Finally, we found the place, lots of prop-erty, several dwellings, a garden. The women in Ken-tucky had introduced us to the term ‘radical fairies’, which is how these gay men identified. They were gay hippies. Living close to the land or off the grid. Many followed the Goddess ‘religion’ or Wiccan traditions. We introduced ourselves, told them the contact per-son told us we could show up, and that we would be glad to do work exchange to stay a few days. They helped us find a spot for our tents, gave us a tour. Some guy named Milo did an herb walk, my first foray into herbal medicine, actually. We tromped through the woods and he pointed out medicinal plants and what they did. Somewhere I still have notes.
The day of the full moon everyone was gathering kin-dling, logs, fallen branches and whole dead trees. People started arriving in pick up trucks, some from as far as Alabama, several hours drive. We talked with folks, and they were excited to meet us. Many brought drums, and soon a full-on pagan, wiccan-like event was underway. The bonfire was getting bigger, later in the night it was alarm-ingly huge, flames as high as a three story house. Folks were singing songs celebrating the goddess. Tammy and I looked at each other, in wonderment that we had ended up there. Tucked away in the hills of Tennessee. It was only our 6th week on the trip. So much more ahead. We watched the flames leap skyward. 10 GEORGESTREETCOOP.COM/NEWSLETTER
Beet, Apple and Feta Cheese Sal-
ad Nestled in Winterbor Kale
Rating: 3 Level: Easy
Servings: 4
Cook Time: 10 min
Ready Time: 45 min
Ingredients: 6 beets, cleaned
2 cups water
1 apple, cored and diced
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or white
wine vinegar)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dill, minced
2-3 kale leaves, cleaned and chopped
Preparation: Bring beets and water to a boil.
Cover and reduce heat to medium.
Cook 35-40 minutes or until beets soften.
Remove beets, peel and dice.
Combine diced apple, beets and feta cheese.
Whisk olive oil, vinegar, dill and a pinch of
sea salt and black pepper. Mix into the salad.
Steam kale leaves until bright green and soft
(5-7 minutes). Place kale on a plate and top
with Beet Apple Feta Salad.
Recipe courtesy of Veria.com
Photo courtesy of TastyKichen.com
COOK IT UP!
By Barbara Glasgow
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the Co-op’s newest staff member, Laura Eppinger. It is my in-tent to talk to each one of the Co-op’s awesome staff with the hopes that Co-op members, as well as non-member shoppers, will more deeply appreciate the won-derful people that keep our store going each day. Laura is one of the Co-op’s Floor Managers, working both weekend days and several evenings. Her job con-sists of keeping the basic functions of the store running, which is actually a multi-faceted feat. She makes sure the coffee is brewed, the soup is ready, the produce is plen-tiful, the shelves and sandwich case are well stocked, all items are priced and, at the end of the day, the floors are mopped, the soup and coffee vessels are cleaned, and the cash register totals are accurate. She cashiers when she’s needed too, but her main job is supporting cus-tomers and volunteer workers. When I asked Laura what she liked best about working at the Co-op, she shared how impressed she is by the volunteers and their commitment to the Co-op. She said that they often come up with great ideas and always have such good attitudes about giving their time and energy to their work there. She also likes learning new information about healthy foods and supplements, which she gathers from doing personal research for customers and from knowledgeable customers too. A little background…….. Laura grew up in South River, NJ, went to St. Mary’s High School and then moved to Milwaukee, WI to at-tend Marquette University, where she majored in jour-nalism. During college, she did a study abroad in Cape
Town, South Africa. While there, she shared a kitchen with other vegetarians and learned to see food not only as a way to nourish the body, but also as something communal that brings people together. This belief fur-ther enhanced her already-formed passion for healthy eating. Back in Milwaukee, she shopped at local farmer’s markets, joined SEAC (Students for Environmentally Active Campus), and helped start a CSA. After graduating, Laura served 2 terms with Ameri-Corps/VISTA, whose focus is on reducing poverty in America through various service projects. Then she re-turned to Cape Town to complete her Master’s degree. Laura originally discovered the Co-op during high school when her mother was employed at the New Brunswick Public Library and they went to the Co-op on her breaks. With sensitive skin, her initial purchases were in the HABA department, particularly Dr. Bronner soaps. One thing led to another and soon after moving back to NJ upon completion of grad school, she became a Co-op SuperWorker. At the same time, she began her 3rd term with AmeriCorps, this time in New Brunswick. As synchronicity would have it, a week after completing this 3rd term, the job of Floor Manager was posted at the Co-op. Laura interviewed and was hired in April. She works at the Co-op part time as well as working part time at New Brunswick’s 4H, whose mission is to teach school-age children about healthy living and leadership. Laura’s personal interests and hobbies include reading (with a goal of completing 52 books each year), listen-ing/seeing live music (her brother plays in a band), eat-ing out, and trying new foods. Using Facebook, she has
started a Writers’ Group where members share their personal creative writing. I really enjoyed this interview with Laura and left feeling sure that our Co-op is very lucky to have her as part of the team of our wonderful staff.
Interview wih
Laura Eppinger
George Street Member Spotlight
Product Committee
The committee’s goals are determining overpriced products with the intention of eliminating high prices that turn off customers, minimizing product waste, in-creasing member participation in the Product Commit-tee, and working to create a strategic product mix in the store. They are creating a survey using online links and various members are doing online competitive analyses of nearby grocery stores. The committee is looking at the current inventory tracking system as well as the tracking of product expiration dates in an effort to im-prove these systems. They are discussing ideas to better address customer requests and inquiries and improving the visual representation of products on the end caps as well as in the produce section. Some of their future goals include painting the Co-op, providing samples on Saturdays along with a short survey, and providing prod-uct education (nutrients, health benefits, recipes, etc.) on the shelves beneath various food items.
Personnel Committee This committee did not meet and has no current re-port.
For future scheduled meetings please consult the Co-op’s calendar (online or in the store). To contact a committee chairperson, please see the inside cover of this newsletter.
Committee Corner continued Page 13
We want to hear from you!
If you have comments, suggestions, or contributions, please contact us:
By Morris Kafka Well, it had to happen … eventually. The writing was on the wall. Our relationship began way back in 1987. She was my first. It was not love at first sight, though she certainly grew on me over time. She suited me and in exchange for all she gave me I paid her way and took care of her every need through better or worse. We were partners for the long haul and it seemed like we’d be together forever. But towards the end things began to change. Her constant complaints and ailments demanded more and more of my time and money. I can’t fault her, as I constantly unloaded my burdens on her and pressed her to do everything she had as if she was still young after all these years. Bessie was my knight in shining armor. You may have seen her in the Co-op lot or around town. She was my white 1986 Ford F150 long bed pick up truck. She was the only vehicle I had of my own from age 21 until nearly age 48. We clocked over 380,000 miles and countless memories together. Previous articles have explained how I’d managed to keep her somewhat effi-cient and safe and running all those years. I did much better than expected, but given our harsh climate Moth
er Nature ultimately had her way. She looked good and ran strong but her frame finally rusted enough to render her risky for highway travel. Even with full restoration the end result would be a truck marginal on economy and emissions with dated safety features and in terms of being a practical conveyance for my needs her time was now over.
In terms of being ‘green’ she may not have been as efficient as newer trucks but one crucial way to re-duce waste is to keep things as long as possible and not purchase more than you need. For 26 years I never put a vehicle in the landfill or caused a new one to be manu-factured. My accountant also told me it was most cost effective way to ‘drive it until the wheels fall off’. I’m glad to say that someone who was thrilled to have her has taken her to PA to do the restoration necessary and use locally. She certainly is a classic now. As she glided nearly silently down my driveway and out of sight for the last time, gleaming as if new yet, I confess I began to cry. I had underestimated just what a visceral, primal bond I had to her. She had been crucial to my ability to earn a living, to get necessities and to travel to see fami-ly and loved ones for more than a generation. You nev-er forget your first they say. But you have to move on.
The End of an Era
Those older trucks predated the con-
cept of pick up trucks as a status vehicle, when trucks were for farmers and contractors and were cheaper than cars. I was disappointed that any long bed truck made in the last decade was at least a foot longer than Bessie. New trucks also run about a half a foot or more higher in back, meaning you have to lift cargo farther and your rear visibility is diminished. I did copious research to find a late model truck that would fit my garage while still giving me that 8 foot cargo bed. It is disappointing that nearly three decades later trucks are not much more efficient. Still I was able to get the most efficient one for my needs and the emissions controls are more advanced.
Overall, perhaps outside of Cuba (which is the textbook case of auto preserva-tion) Bessie’s longevity is rather amazing as an only vehicle, in heavy daily work and interstate travel use on salted roads in wet climates, for nearly 26 years. Should ‘new Bessie’ last me as long I would be shopping for my third vehicle at age 73! Consider this ‘food for thought’ about how many of us end up with constant car loans and new cars every few years, feeding into a cycle of disposability. How much car do we really need? If we maintain it how often do we need to replace it? While mine is not a typ-ical case it shows what is possible when one does diligent maintenance on one of the most costly items most of us purchase.
Old home or household questions? Please visit my old house lover’s blog at http://oldhouseresource.wordpress.com to find back articles and post questions, comments or suggestions.
RECEPIE: Wake and Shake
Level:
Easy
Servings:
1
Cook
Time: 05
min
Ready
Time: 05
min
Ingredients: 11/2cups coconut
water
3 stalks kale, large stems re-
moved
Leaves from 2 small sprigs
fresh mint
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 frozen pear
Preparation: Put all ingredients
in a high-speed blender and
blend until smooth.
Photo courtesy of infinitygreens.com
*Article courtesy of Veria.com
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