Any day now, Co-op member-owners will receive a Board of Directors Election Info packet in the mail. Inside this packet, you’ll find information about our Board, the election process, candidate biographies, and instructions to help you cast YOUR vote for our Board of Directors.
This year there are 6 member-owners seeking election to 4 seats on the MNFC Board.
Feeling confused about the election? Check out these answers to three of the most commonly asked questions:
I don’t know a lot about the Co-op…should I still vote?
Yes! You don’t need to have any prior experience or expertise to vote. If you’ve been inside the store, then you have the experience needed to vote.
We recommend you look for candidates who demonstrate a commitment to strategic leadership—leadership that supports the best interests of our Co-op as a whole.
Why should I vote?
It’s very rare that you have the opportunity to make decisions about the leadership of a business, particularly one that plays such a significant role in our daily lives, such as a grocery store. When you vote, you have a direct impact on our community and local economy.
We literally own our co-op grocery store together, as member-owners. Big-name grocery stores are owned by shareholders that do not live in our community–profits from these stores are extracted from communities.
MNFC is different because we own the Co-op together–profits recirculate in our community, and all decisions are made locally by the Board of Directors and the Co-op Management Team.
Does my vote matter?
YES! Our elections are frequently very close races. Directors are often elected by a margin of only a few votes, and we occasionally have ties that result in run-off elections. Your vote really, truly matters!
Many thanks for your time! Please reach out if you have any questions.
In June this year, we welcomed five new directors to our Board: Barbara Hofer, Caryne Eskridge, Cody Mears, Erika Dunyak, and Zan Goldblatt. They have jumped right into learning about our Board’s policy governance system, helping decide on this year’s patronage dividend, monitoring the annual Ends Report from our General Manager, and much more. Current Board Member Ollie Cultrara checked in with them to learn how they are bringing their unique perspectives to board governance work on behalf of MNFC member-owners. (Some of their comments were edited for clarity and brevity.)
What’s something that has surprised you in your first few months on the Board?
Barbara: I did a training with other new board members from around the country and was surprised to find out how unusual our Co-op is compared to many others. Many co-ops are struggling both financially and in terms of member involvement. We are thriving financially, we are able to refund patronage dividends to our member-owners, and we have competitive elections for our Board. I’m proud of what our members, managers and staff have created and nurtured over these many years, and I’m honored to be part of a group so committed to sustaining that success.
Cody: It has been exciting to learn more about how MNFC is meeting our Ends statement on Environmentally Sustainable and Energy Efficient Practices. Many efforts are being made to increase the usage of reusable containers as well as partnering with producers that have their own reusable totes, apple crates, etc. It’s been eye-opening to learn about the larger efforts of waste diversion for things like plastic film and cardboard due to the sheer volume of these materials that MNFC encounters on a daily basis.
Erika: I’ve been so impressed by the community and engagement of the Board. The Board members prioritize their positions on the Board and create space for folks to contribute and to learn. It’s a truly collaborative and respectful group of people.
What other hats do you wear, and how do those aspects of your life influence the perspective you bring to the Board?
Zan: Mother, Farmer, Communitarian; with those hats how could I not love the Co-op? As a parent I want to be sure I have great food to feed my kids. Maybe they don’t always eat it, but at least I tried! As a farmer I want to support my colleagues; I know how hard they work to put food on my table because my family works just as hard to put our lamb on theirs. As a communitarian, I am driven to invest in the things that make Addison County great. Part of loving the Co-op means doing my part to join in and make sure it stays vibrant.
Caryne: In all of my roles—pastor, mental health worker, and individual—building community is at the heart. I bring lots of experience in group dynamics and group processes, especially around accountability and repair. I got excited about running for the Board when I learned that the MNFC is a cooperative first, and a grocery store second. I’m looking forward to learning more about how that reality frames the work of the Board and of the MNFC more broadly.
Barbara: I’m a research psychologist writing about science denial, with strong concerns about climate change, and I’m appreciative of the Co-op’s deep commitment to environmental issues—and I think we could do better yet.
Cody: Between being a member-owner, working with outdoor retailers during my day job, and helping out on my family’s farm, the perspective I bring to board work is often seen through a few different lenses. I am leaning on my strong understanding of the retail environment and what it means to be a producer as I shape my approach to board work.
Erika: I’m an attorney, an entrepreneur, and an educator. My role on the Board gives me space to use all of these skills, whether we’re analyzing financial data to inform patronage dividend decisions or we’re ensuring our corporate governance compliance. I deeply understand the framework of cooperative structures and cooperative decision-making. It’s so fun to bring that expertise to the on-the-ground board meetings.
What does Cooperative Democratic Ownership mean to you?
Caryne: In January 2022, a few months after I moved to Vermont, I heard a Brave Little State podcast episode called “Why are Vermont co-ops so successful?” The journalists covered the history of co-ops in Vermont, founded on the idea that when neighbors come together they can meet more of their needs than if they acted alone. This remains quite a radical idea, and yet I witness it proven true over and over. MNFC is part of this tradition, and I love that this model keeps the purpose of the Co-op’s existence in the hands of the community. I ran for the Board because I want to learn more about how this model works and because I would love to see the “Democratic” element become even more active and broad.
Erika: My professional life centers on co-ops, so I think about this a lot. “Cooperative” says to me that, even while we don’t all agree, we have mutual respect and are working toward shared outcomes. “Democratic Ownership” means that the interests of the enterprise are held collectively, by all those who use the cooperative. That’s such a special thing. Business ownership is increasingly consolidated as mega corporations undercut prices and convenience while paying subsistence wages and emptying our downtowns. The success of MNFC is a testament to Addison County’s support of itself over Wall Street. We are all part of a resilient economy that feeds itself (literally and figuratively).
It’s Board Election season here at the Co-op! Feeling confused about the election? Check out these answers to three of the most commonly asked questions:
I don’t know a lot about the Co-op…should I still vote?
Yes! You don’t need to have any prior experience or expertise to vote. If you’ve been inside the store, then you have the experience needed to vote.
We recommend you look for candidates who demonstrate a commitment to strategic leadership—leadership that supports the best interests of our Co-op as a whole.
Why should I vote?
It’s very rare that you have the opportunity to make decisions about the leadership of a business, particularly one that plays such a significant role in our daily lives, such as a grocery store. When you vote, you have a direct impact on our community and local economy.
We literally own our co-op grocery store together, as member-owners. Big-name grocery stores are owned by shareholders that do not live in our community–profits from these stores are extracted from communities.
MNFC is different because we own the Co-op together–profits recirculate in our community, and all decisions are made locally by the Board of Directors and the Co-op Management Team.
Does my vote matter?
YES! Our elections are frequently very close races. Directors are often elected by a margin of only a few votes, and we occasionally have ties that result in run-off elections. Your vote really, truly matters!
Many thanks for your time! Please reach out if you have any questions.
This article first appeared in the Addison County Independent on March 17, 2022, as part of the Climate Matters: Perspectives on Change weekly column. There is no denying that food and the climate emergency are intertwined, a relationship made even more complicated by the geopolitical relationships between governments. I find it daunting to consider how my daily choices are affected by things happening thousands of miles away and in turn, how my choices might ripple outwards. I offer a reprint of this piece as a road map for considering how the foods we love and enjoy at the MNFC are situated within a deeper, global context. For an excellent, in-depth exploration of food and climate, I also recommend this article from The Guardian.
Each time I make a dessert that calls for vanilla, I cringe a little. A whole teaspoon, I find myself thinking, but that’s so much! And then after I wince, I feel a twinge of sadness, because I think that in a few decades it is possible that vanilla, real non-synthetic vanilla, might be gone, or at least extremely rare. We’ll only know it as something produced in a chemical factory, the taste becoming ever more like the smell of candles and body lotion. I imagine how birthday cakes will seem slightly…off.
As someone who cooks for a living, I think about food a lot, and I believed that I had considered how climate change would affect agriculture. I mean, I’m open to protein alternatives like insects, support local food systems, and try to make ethical consumer choices. That’s good, right? But I had never thought about what foods I would lose because of climate change until the fall of 2017. Around October that year, I placed a call to a vendor from work, looking to order a backup quart of vanilla, and I was warned that the price had gone up some. Now, price increases are normal in food service, an inevitability like taxes, but for vanilla to triple in price so quickly was unusual. Was this price gouging? An issue with shipping? No, nothing so mundane as the logistics of commerce. It was the weather. Cyclone Enawo in Madagascar, and then Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico had decimated what some estimates placed at almost half of the world’s vanilla production.
We are going to lose some foods we currently find ubiquitous to the point of being boring —think about the last time you described someone as “vanilla.” Or consider how every grocery store in America, whether it is in Miami or Minnesota, has bananas. And coffee. And chocolate. All of these foods are grown in a specific swath within 10º-20º latitude of the equator, an area that is going to look drastically different within the next few decades. Vanilla extract is already an incredibly tricky thing to produce. It comes from an orchid that takes years to grow in specific tropical climates and requires hand pollination for every single flower. There are lots of synthetic varieties, but none is as complex to our nose and palate as the real thing. The reality is that modern food systems often supply the majority shares of individual crops, like vanilla, from relatively small regions. The production of many foods eaten worldwide is coming from just a handful of places. When those places are devastated by storms, rising sea levels, or drought, it means there is no other growing zone to pick up the slack.
And it won’t just be our diets that are affected. There are thousands and thousands of people working to grow, harvest, and process these foods so we can eat them year-round. Imagine what their lives are going to be like when their jobs and homes are further impacted by climate change. We know that we are going to see devastating storms more frequently in tropical areas, and as temperatures rise, those areas closest to the equator will become the least habitable. The countries located in this area are among the poorest in the world, and they will be forced to bear the brunt of our pollution. It is a stark picture that can unspool from baking brownies in a warm kitchen and worrying about the cost of a flavoring.
It saddens me further to say that there is nothing we can do about this. Even if we as a species were to make climate the single biggest priority for every world government today, we are still going to see many of these foods become rare. That damage has already been done, and we can’t stop it from happening. Columns like this one often include a “call to action,” some step or policy that could make a difference. But in addition to pressuring world leaders and changing our lifestyles, we need to confront—often and publicly—that we have made irrevocable changes to our planet that cannot be fixed.
See, it’s not just about taking action now, though there is lots of room for that, too. We have to begin to make plans for the future that we are guaranteed to have, a future with large groups of climate refugees. The same people who now produce our vanilla and bananas and coffee have been placed in an untenable situation and we have to figure out how we are going to take care of them because we helped create that situation. Currently, it is a lengthy and expensive process to immigrate into the U.S., one plagued by bureaucracy and red tape. Climate refugees are an unavoidable part of our future, which means we need to work now to change immigration. In some ways, this idea does give me hope, because if we can finally be moved to take care of each other, then maybe we can take care of the planet.
A friend and I joke that if we were to transport our spice cabinets to the 15th century, we would be the picture of wealth and riches. But I’ve started to change that daydream to imagine the riches my spice cabinet will represent to someone in just a few decades. Maybe it is silly to grieve for vanilla extract. But when I pour out each dark, fragrant spoonful, the flash of heartache I feel also comes with an awareness of what is to come, and what needs to happen.
Samantha Langevin is a Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op Board Member
The votes are counted and the results are in! Over 22% of our current member-owners participated in this year’s Board Election. We appreciate your participation in this important democratic process! As promised, fifty of our voters will be rewarded with a $25 Co-o[ Gift Card!
Now, please help us welcome returning incumbent Board Members:
Every business has a team of people working behind the scenes and the Coop is no exception. As Board Treasurer I would like to shine a light on the Finance Department and team members: Steve Koch, Grace Sauerwald, and Kerry Dashnaw and thank them for all their good work behind the scenes…especially during the pandemic.
A transition is underway this month in the Finance Department and I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Steve Koch, Finance Manager of the Coop. For the past 17 years, Steve has successfully led and managed the Finance Department and will be retiring in June 2021. Much change has taken place during this time. When Steve began working in 2004, the Coop had 1,580 member-owners, 32 staff members, gross sales of $4.2 million, and 3,000 square feet of retail space. Moving to the present moment, the Coop has 5,456 member-owners, 91 staff members, gross sales of $19.6 million, and 9,000 square feet of retail space. Did you notice that I express change in numbers? This was intentional because these types of changes have a direct and seismic impact on the Finance Department. More people, products, and data to track. In addition to the daily work of the office, Steve managed two rounds of member loans ($400,00 in 2004 and $1 million in 2017) and tracked construction costs for the new store and store expansions (large and small) over the years. No easy feat!
I have had the unique opportunity to work closely and collaboratively with Steve during the past six years in my role as the Board Treasurer. Steve’s deep historic and financial knowledge of the Coop has been a gift and supported the work that I do on behalf of the Coop Board. As an accountant myself, I am grateful for his attention to detail, his ability to converse articulately about complex financial matters, and most importantly his integrity that he brings to all his work. Steve, please know that you will be missed.
On behalf of the Board thank you for all the work you have done to leave the Coop in a strong financial position, and we wish you all the best as you step into the next chapter of your beautiful life. Have fun sailing, paddling, and working in your woodshop!
Lynn Dunton is a Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op board member.
As I look at the myriad bills presented across the country right now designed to limit access to voting – and as I remember with horror the January 6 insurrection at our nation’s Capitol by folks refusing to believe the results of the November 2020 election – I find a glimmer of hope in how we practice democracy at MNFC.
What IS democracy? Many of us believe this is our ability to cast a vote. The history of our country is partially a tale of who has had the right to vote, how, and when. Years ago, I painted the posthumous portrait of Marilla Ricker (1840-1920) for the New Hampshire statehouse in Concord. A young widow, with property and means who paid taxes, she was not allowed to vote because she was a woman. She is known to have said, “This is taxation without representation!” at her little town hall in Dover, NH. She walked in every year to try to cast her vote. A freethinker, she spent her life as a suffragist and also became the first woman lawyer in NH, as well as one of the first women in the nation to argue a case before the US Supreme Court. She died in 1920, just after the first election in which women were allowed to vote; it’s not known whether she was physically able to get to the polls to cast her vote.
We know intuitively that an active and healthy democracy is much more than voting, however. True participation has preconditions: the freedom to express one’s opinion, and the opportunity for active participation in the conversations and arguments around the issues and candidates for whom we cast votes. Howard Zinn describes democracy as more than a series of votes: it is a series of actions. We also know that the process by which we select our leaders matters.
At MNFC, collectively owned by US, we are our member-owners. We are our democracy. our participation, our care, our questions, the flow of ideas as we develop policy and make decisions, all of this is integral to the cooperative model. Our board meetings are open to the public. I speak for the board when I say, we welcome all questions and concerns.
All member-owners have opportunities to engage and participate in conversations about our values. I dream that the ways the coop model practices democracy could serve as a model for our country: no gerrymandering, no electoral college, fewer regulations on when and how to vote, no ID laws, no disenfranchising voters based on their color, race, or identity, no long lines because of closed polling places.
Every spring, member-owners are invited and encouraged to participate in our annual May election. For the most part, the May election is exclusively focused on Board of Director elections. Each year one-third of the board is up for re-election and new candidates are encouraged to run through an extensive outreach process.
This year there is a record number of candidates (12) for the four open seats on the Coop’s board of directors. Of the 12 candidates, four are incumbents, all of whom served as we collectively navigated the stormy seas of the pandemic and resulting economy. Eight candidates are community members: farmers, producers, educators, coaches, health providers – each a member-owner of our vital organization — with a variety of perspectives and life experiences.
A board candidate does not need to be wealthy or “connected” to run. They simply need to be a member-owner, interested in the mission of MNFC, and open to exploring how the board of directors functions before choosing to run.
As a member-owner, we get to choose the design of our board of directors. Does the board reflect our community? Are there folks with skill sets (finance, legal, communications/ marketing/education, health, agriculture) that enhance the board’s intelligence? Is the board balanced by gender, race, socioeconomic status, and age?
And May right now is our election month. Each member-owner votes for board candidates and access to voting lasts all month long – electronically – see below for more details. Watch your regular mail for our annual report that includes the ballots with all the candidates’ profiles and instructions for casting your vote.
To vote, you need to be a member-owner. In my household of two, I am the member-owner. If my husband wishes to vote, then he needs to become a member-owner as well.
If you have any issues with the electronic interface – such as no computer or Wi-Fi connection — please bring your ballot into the Coop with you on a shopping day and a staff member will help you go online to cast your vote in the store.
I relish the notion that we are member-owners of MNFC voting with our minds and hearts, not simply consumers voting with dollars. Thank you for being part of the conversation.
If you have any questions, or want to know more about any of the candidates, please don’t hesitate to contact Amanda at apawarren@gmail.com
We will announce the winners at this year’s Annual Meeting, held remotely on June 2, at 6:30 pm. Click HERE to find out more.
If you are a member-owner, and would like more information about how to vote in this year’s Board of Directors Election, please click HERE to find out more.
Kate Gridley is a Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op Board Member
As we approach the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year, we are reminded of connection to the seasons, to change, to death and rebirth, to darkness and light. The more I pay attention to the seasons, the more rooted I have become. The more I have embraced the seasonal darkness, the more I have welcomed the inner darkness. Solstice is a journey from the outer world to the inner world, and then after a season of darkness, we can transition outward and toward the light. What we learn internally can help us reflect on the work that is being asked to be done as a community and a country.
In the darkness, we are confronted with our fears. In confronting our fears, we learn and can be liberated, we can be reborn. Anyone who does Jungian shadow work is familiar with this. In the “Power of Vulnerability” a talk by Brene Brown, she says that we have to sit with fear as if it were a professor and learn from it. Buddhist philosophy asks us to invite it for tea. Many would agree that this past year with a pandemic and a divisive political climate has been quite dark. Many would also agree we have grown in this darkness. A seed needs darkness to sprout. A perennial needs winter to rest so it can return in the spring.
Having grown up in northern California, I considered myself a light seeker. Moving to Vermont almost a decade ago confronted me with seasons, winter, and darkness. In my first very hard winters here, an older fellow Californian told me it would take me seven winters. That felt long but oddly it was true! I remember reading somewhere that our body fully regenerates every seven years. Seven has always been a powerful number to me, as it is for many. I hadn’t understood my seventh-generation Vermonter husband’s love of winter and the seasonal shifts. They always felt hard for me. Yet somehow in my seventh winter, something clicked. It was a curious journey with a lot of exploration and support, but I got there. I discovered ways to enjoy winter, like a massive tea collection and the ritual of lighting our wood stove. I found hot baths with oil soothing. I also learned mindfulness practices and lots of vitamins that support seasonal affective disorder. I found ways to acknowledge depression and learn from it through therapy. As I cultivated wellness within, I found more energy to cultivate wellness in my family and in my community. Seasonal death guided me to internal death and rebirth.
My work at the college focuses on developing sustainability programs and cultivating wellbeing in people, places, and the planet. I think about sustainability as an interconnected system where everything and everyone matters. I heard a lecture once where a man said that wellness is at the core of social justice work. The field of sustainability used to only be focused on the environment. My work in particular is interested in the sustainability of self. How do we cultivate wellbeing within, mind, body, soul? How do we hold space for people to do that work? As a college student at Middlebury College, I wanted to “save the world”. As I got older I realized I had to save myself to save the world. So that has become my daily practice. How do I live in alignment with my soul? After that, I ask how am I living in alignment with my husband, my children, my community/my earth. It’s all a ripple effect and if I’m not okay, the rest cannot be okay. We are an undeniably interconnected system. I clearly acknowledge the privilege that comes with this. Therefore, I also continuously ask how do we create more access and more inclusion?
On this cold dark November morning, as I write about the continued darkness and the coming light, I wonder what my future self would say to me. What will life look like in 7 years? Will our country come together? Will we grow with the seasons changing? I believe that we are learning from our collective darkness. Our country is doing its shadow work. We are addressing the injustices that this country was built on. We are going through deaths and rebirths. As a Coop and board that is actively doing anti-racism work, I believe that we are working toward a more just society. It’s messy, and we will make mistakes, but we will keep doing the work. The new era is just beginning, and many folks are waking up and remembering we are stronger together. Seeds of justice and hope are being planted and cultivated in the darkness. For someone who used to fear the darkness, I now say please come in for tea and let me listen and learn.
Sophie Esser Calvi is a Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op Board Member
National elections are here again and although they’re always tense for one reason or another, this time they’re especially fraught. The stakes are extra high; the rhetoric is super caustic, and the electorate is bitterly divided. So at a time like this, it’s hopeful to recall that good, fair, democratic elections actually do exist: right here at our co-op.
Every year, the entire membership elects representatives to its board of directors who act on its behalf. The election cycle actually begins long before voting takes place in May. Starting in February, with the help of the co-op’s marketing, education, and membership team, we begin to publicize the election and invite any member-owner who’s curious to consider running for the board. Announcements are put on signs inside and outside of the store; placed in both the electronic and paper versions of our newsletters; bannered on our website; and posted to all of our social media channels. You don’t need special skills or qualifications, we explain; you just need to want to serve your co-op.
To get a sense of what’s involved, we say, download a copy of the new director application packet, or pick one up in the store. Call us, write us, send us an email. Sit and chat over coffee and Zoom. Drop into a meeting to get a firsthand look at your co-op’s governance in action (they’re held online these days, but that makes them even easier to attend in some ways. Just send us a note and we’ll send you a link to the next meeting).
Our recruitment efforts don’t end there, however. Both directors and staff reach out to anyone they think might be interested in running for the board: who knows anyone who might know someone else. We really shake the tree. By mid-March, everyone who wants to run, including incumbent directors, has submitted their application. These applications, by the way, are designed to convey a general sense of who applicants are to the membership and why they are interested in running. They are also designed to be straightforward and easy to complete. We don’t want any barriers to entry in our process. Everyone, absolutely everyone, has a fair shot. (Each year, we review this application process and ask ourselves whether there is anything challenging in it, anything that’s ambiguous, sends a mixed message, or could possibly come across as discriminatory or biased. If there is, we fix it or take it out.)
The application essays are posted on our website, as well as printed in our Annual Report. In April, while the reports are being printed, we continue to publicize the May elections in every way possible. We are always trying to make the elections more accessible to more of our member-owners. A perfect example was this past election when we switched to electronic voting. This took the form of links to a very simple voting page being sent to everyone via email. (Anyone without internet access could also stop by the store to vote.) The result was that we nearly doubled our turnout, which says a lot because we already had very high voter turnouts compared with other co-ops.
So in a time when many election processes are controversial, and surrounded by a noxious cloud of alternate facts, filter bubbles, and distrust, it’s good to know that here, at least, we’re doing it right. (In a future newsletter, I’ll describe the board’s officer election process, which may possibly set new standards among co-ops for fairness and transparency.) As always, write any time with suggestions, comments, or questions: tam@middlebury.coop.
Tam Stewart is the president of the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op Board of Directors
In August, we’ll be voting for the Board of Directors and the bylaws, again.
Last May 2019, the membership voted on the Board’s proposed new bylaws. That vote passed with members voting 623 YES (97%) and 19 NO (3%).
Why are we voting on bylaws again?
Section 3.2 of the new bylaws explains that members can petition to request a special vote or meeting. In fall 2019, one member utilized this procedure, acquired the necessary member signatures on a petition, and presented it to the Board of Directors. The petition requests for a vote on two bylaw changes which will appear on the August 2020 ballot for members to decide.
What are the bylaw changes being voted on in August 2020?
Shall the MNFC reinstate the wording “goods and services at the lowest possible cost” under Section 1.3: Objectives of the MNFC?
Shall the MNFC reinstate the wording “Member-owners shall also be permitted to contribute services for additional discounts and other entitlements as determined by the Board” under section 2.2 Membership of MNFC?
Why did the Board propose bylaw changes in 2019?
Co-op leadership (Board + Management) found that the old bylaws were outdated in numerous ways, as a result of remaining mostly unchanged for nearly 40 years. The goal was to make them clearer, simpler, and even more consistent with our values, and consistent with the best practices of our peer food co-ops.
What was the 2019 bylaw revision process?
Fall 2018 – a committee (board, staff, others) formed to review the old bylaws, as well as recommendations from peer co-ops and consultants, to create the first draft.
Why does the petitioner recommend voting YES on the ballot? Please see a statement from the petitioner, below:
Why Maintain Lowest Possible Cost?
Affordability is important for many members and selling things at the lowest possible cost was only mentioned in the by-laws, not in any of the board policies, the co-op mission or ends statements. Since the co-op already endeavors to offer goods at the lowest possible cost, why not let people know about it and state it somewhere in our official documents to help prevent us from going backward on costs?
It’s not like the requirement to sell food at the lowest possible cost prevented the co-op from treating vendors and staff fairly while also balancing fair returns and wages for producers and staff. There’s no evidence that producers or staff were treated unfairly during the last forty plus years this wording was in the bylaws. The fact that many vendors and staff have worked with, or for the co-op for decades, suggests that they feel MNFC treats them fairly.
Why Keep The Volunteer Worker Requirement?
Volunteer workers are the most powerful way to develop a strong sense of ownership and build customer loyalty while reducing labor costs, and helping provide goods at the lowest price. A worker discount is also the fairest, most equitable way to provide lower costs. Coupons and special deals are wonderful, but sales on nuts or beef, are of little use if you have allergies or are vegetarian. Special deals also promote impulse purchases compounding the problem of hyper-consumerism, while worker discounts are used primarily for purchasing required items.
Potential liability concerns have been addressed through the reduction of volunteer worker participation. The co-op used to have lots of volunteers work daily. So many people used to volunteer, that at one time MNFC hired a volunteer coordinator. Eventually, the 20% “super-worker” option was discontinued and now volunteer workers only receive a 10% discount. Over the years, volunteer numbers were gradually reduced. Today the co-op typically prefers to have a maximum of two volunteers daily and work is limited to only packaging bulk items.
The co-op could also allow owners/members to volunteer in the community in return for a discount, as Onion River does, eliminating liability concerns while meeting the bylaw requirement.
Given the historical trajectory of reducing volunteer numbers, reducing the hours that can be worked, reducing the discount, and reducing job availability, it’s likely that at some point without a by-law requirement, the volunteer worker program will eventually be eliminated.
The Co-op Leadership recommends voting “NO” on this 2020 ballot for the proposed bylaw changes.
Why does the Co-op leadership recommend voting “NO”? Below please find a statement from your Board of Directors: – The current Bylaw 1.2 states: The Cooperative will be owned by its members. The objectives of the Cooperative are to provide a democratic, member-owned cooperative organization; to provide healthy foods and other useful goods and services; to encourage patterns of production and consumption that are ecologically sound and healthful; and to serve as a center for activities, education, and services consistent with these objectives.
Lowest Possible Price: The phrase “goods and services at the lowest possible price” was removed in 2019. Lowest possible price is a strategy employed by our competitors, Walmart in the extreme case; a strategy we believe wreaks havoc on the community, economy, and environment. Our goal is to provide the fairest prices possible to customers, while also balancing other factors such as a fair price to farmers/producers, and fair compensation for employees, all while keeping the co-op financially sustainable.
Member Worker Program – members can sign up to work in the co-op for a 10% discount. We love this program and our member workers and plan to continue this program into the foreseeable future. The bylaw review process removed this wording from the bylaws to allow flexibility in the future. During the past 10 years, many of our peer co-ops have been forced to change their member-worker programs because of worker insurance liability or employee union contracts which do not allow non-union workers to do union work. Our co-op may face similar challenges in the future, and we want to have the flexibility to make required changes if necessary.
This petition process highlights one of the many ways in which the cooperative model is unique – it is democracy in action! We thank you for your engagement and participation.
Cooperatively yours,
The Co-op Leadership: General Manager Glenn Lower, Board of Directors: R.J. Adler, Molly Anderson, Nadine Canter Barnicle, Erin Buckwalter, Ilaria Brancoli Busdraghi, Lynn Dunton, Sophie Esser Calvi, Kate Gridley, Tam Stewart, Louise Vojtisek, and Amanda Warren
