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Food
co-op might sell meat
BY
LISA MACKIE
Results
of the vote on the proposed change to the mission statement
of the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Food Co-op are now available.
The membership chose to maintain the current wording and not
add "vegetarian" to the mission statement.
Voting
ended in early March, after more than 20 percent of the membership
had cast their ballots.
Of 1004
total votes, 292 (29 percent), voted for the change, while
an overwhelming 71 percent (712 votes) were against the change.
The percentage of total members who voted is approximately
37 percent.
Les Ramo,
who works at the store, said these results mean that the management
now "have the option of expanding the inventory."
"Bob
[Atwood, the general manager] will do a survey to see what
products customers want that we don’t carry," said
Sue, a store manager. She said that they definitely plan to
start carrying pet food in the Takoma Park location.
Atwood
said the survey is in the planning stages. It should be available
within the next few weeks but the process may take a couple
of months. Members and staff have already begun expressing
interest in working on the survey. He expects it will be available
at checkout counters, and that there will also be staff or
members conducting the surveys at certain times for non-members.
"I
want to make it available to everyone," he said.
The survey
may not alter anything at the Silver Spring location, however.
Sue thought that "the flavor" of the Silver Spring
store would not change.
"They’ll
just continue to meet customer and member needs," she
said.
Sue thinks
the vote reflects the opinion of the usually silent majority.
"It’s
probably more participation than we’ve had in years.
The membership is not hugely involved," she said.
As for
those who voiced opinions in favor of an expressly vegetarian
mission statement, there is some dismay at the outcome. Member
Paul Shapiro said, "While I do think the co-op should
stand for peace toward all of us, not just humans, I'm not
sure I'd ever refuse to shop there."
Some members
had claimed they would not only not shop at the co-op, but
would no longer continue as members.
"There's
a difference between no longer shopping at TPSS and revoking
one's membership in the co-op. Most, if not all, local vegetarians
go to grocery stores and restaurants which serve meat. But
they don't make $100 membership donations to them," Shapiro
said.
He may
ask for his membership donation back if the Takoma Park store
begins offering meat.
"If
the co-op is no longer vegetarian, there's much less incentive
for many vegetarians to travel to shop there, when there are
many other health food stores in the area which are much more
economical to shop at," he said.
The general
manager said there has not been a noticeable change in membership
since the vote. He thinks people are waiting to see what happens.
He claims that when a co-op begins carrying meat products,
"it’s common nationwide for a few to quit and quite
a few join up."
Sue said
that store literature has already changed to reflect the vote.
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