News

The Food Co-op considers meat

By LISA MACKIE

The Board of Representatives of the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Co-op have presented the membership with a profound question about the identity of the organization. Should the co-op mission statement be revised to include the word "vegetarian" or should it be left as it is?

Jim Johnson, a former board member, explained that the "meat question" has been simmering for many years. A convergence of pressures, such as requests by the Silver Spring store shoppers to stock meat and declining sales at the Takoma Park location, convinced the board it was time to confront the volatile issue.

A special forum was held January 12 at the Takoma Park municipal building to inform the general membership about the issues and to allow members to ask questions of the board, voice opinions, and begin voting. Central to the issue is the fact that, although the philosophy statement describes the co-op as vegetarian, "there is no written rule prohibiting the sale of meat," as Johnson discovered after searching through the bylaws and records. Founding members assumed the co-op would be vegetarian but never codified that decision. "We just didn't think we needed toÑit's just who we were," said Neal Chalofsky. Now, more than 20 years later, with a membership of nearly 3,000 and two locations, Chalofsky commented, "we can't operate like we did back then."

The forum is part of an educational campaign to reach out to voters. "We need to make sure we honor all members' rights and responsibilities" said Larry Haller, treasurer of the board. "We want to see broad member participationÑ20 percent or more." In order to ensure accuracy, votes are being tallied by a third party, a certified public accountant.

Depending on the outcome of the vote, the membership may face the other difficult task of agreeing on a definition for "vegetarian." One of the co-op founders, Barbara Reisner, remarked, "Everybody is on a continuum in terms of what you eat."

Those who see the issue in moral terms may want the co-op to discontinue selling products currently offered such as cheese made with animal rennet. Questions could also be raised about the selling of honey, wool, and other animal-produced goods, noted Johnson. Paul Shapiro, founder of the animal rights group Compassion Over Killing, said, "This is not a matter of personal choice." He asked, "Should the co-op be supporting animal abuse?"

Another member quoted an alarming statistic, supported by information published by the Vegetarian Society of America, that half of all deaths in the District of Columbia are caused by diseases related to unhealthy diet. She equated killing animals for food with slavery. She said, "I don't see where choice is an issue." Underscoring this point Dawn Radcliffe added, "Animals can't vote for themselves."

An additional issue raised by the "meat question" is store autonomy. Staff members of the Silver Spring store said customers had asked for meat and some suggested that sales would fall if they were not given the option to stock it. Tiffany Muir said, "I want vegetarians to keep [the Takoma Park] store unique," but added, "people in Silver Spring want us to carry meat." The board did consider bringing this issue to the members but finally decided that the simplest approach would be to maintain the idea, in Haller's words, that "we have two locations but we are one co-op."

Several members said they would request their membership money back and stop patronizing the co-op if meat products were soldÑpresumably in the Takoma Park location as the Silver Spring store already offers meat. It would no longer be worth "taking two buses" because it would not retain its unique appeal. Others see the core identity as defined by the democratic and co-operative values. One staff member, Pauline Dross, said, "The reason I've been hauling my butt from Virginia is the principles of the co-op."

A number of speakers related that they had practiced vegetarianism but for health reasons were forced to change their diet. Dross said of the personal change, "I hate it," but also "was pleased to see the Silver Spring store carry meat." Members who find themselves in this position would rather have the option to buy meat at the co-op where they could at least be assured of "free-range and organic" products. Monica Corrado asked, "If the co-op does not support the growing movement of farmers [to follow more humane practices], who is going to support it?"

One long-time resident of the area only recently became a member. She said, "Once I entered the co-op, my eating habits changed because I've become more knowledgeable. I like it the way it is. But if we had meat we could educate more people." The argument she and others put forth is that if the co-op can attract a wider customer base by providing a greater range of products, then those people may be influenced by the philosophy of "healthful living" through "wholesome food" according to the current mission statement.

Members also suggested ways to avoid the issue by phrasing the statement in terms of a "pro-vegetarian identity," which would "promote compassion." Those who worried that the impetus for selling meat was based on economic concerns, such as Alice Richardson, proposed increasing "promoting and advertising." She said, "I fell in love with the philosophy statement." The deeper issue, she believes, is the decline of the community decision-making process since the board adopted a new policy in June, 2002, giving management greater control.

Joanie Eisenberg placed the issue in the larger context of the identity of Takoma Park. "Takoma Park is a nuclear-free zoneÑit makes a strong statement.," she said. "We need a meat-free zone."

Board members urged the general membership to assert "democratic member control" by becoming informed about the issues, taking an active role in the decision-making process, and attending co-op meetings.

Co-op members are invited to vote on the Co-op identity either by returning a ballot that was mailed to members, or by completing a ballot at either store. The Co-op board says that it will tally votes in early March. If less than 20 percent of the members have responded at that time, the board says that it will extend the deadline up to two more times until 20 percent have responded.