OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE PARK SLOPE FOOD COOP Established 1973 Volume KK, Number 10 May 12, 2016 Judged Extremely Food Coops: Juicy Fruit Uncooperative, Four Members For Pop Culture Suspended for One Year By Hayley Gorenberg According to witnesses, our longtime Coop mem- by the time the protest Fbers have had their mem- came under control, berships suspended for a year there was no oppor- for derailing the April 2015 tunity for productive General Meeting’s discussion discussion. about carrying products made by Israel-based SodaStream. The four members appeared before the hearing officer com- mittee a year later, at a disci- plinary hearing on April 10, 2016, to face charges of “extremely uncoopera- PHOTO BY GREEN HILL FOOD COOP tive behavior.” An investiga- By Gayle Forman The episode, entitled “Co- tion by the Coop’s n a recent episode of the Op,” was shot at the Greene Disciplinary Com- IComedy Central television Hill Food Co-op in Clinton Hill, mittee had found show Broad City, one of the but it’s pretty clear that it’s the that the four, part of show’s main characters, Ilana Park Slope Food Coop—and the audience on April 28, (played by Ilana Glazer) runs Park Slope culture in general— 2015, during a presentation into trouble at a food coop. being, affectionately, teased. about SodaStream, “disrupt- Six Coop members report- ILLUSTRATION BY NINA FRENKEL After ogling the produce in a There’s the hot, hippie with ed the presentation by getting edly submitted complaints most Ilana-like way, at check- the man-bun refilling the bulk out of their chairs, yelling and after the meeting, and the out she is told she cannot bins, the coop schedule based screaming, and getting up on Disciplinary Committee the proceeding, the Hearing shop because she has not upon “moon cycles,” and per- the stage to prevent the pre- interviewed the complain- Officers Committee mem- worked any of her shifts. More- haps what most screams PSFC, sentation from continuing.” ants, numerous witnesses bers realized that the HDG over, she must complete the or people’s ideas of PSFC, The committee’s statement and the members accused of panel had not been screened shifts by end of the day or be is the portrayal of the rigid of the case further asserted, misconduct, listened to the to ascertain whether any of kicked out. Ilana has a doctor’s rules, as personified by the “Despite repeated requests audiotape of the meeting them had actually been pres- appointment so she asks her hippie-smocked, dour, humor- to cease and reminders that and reviewed and discussed ent during the event in ques- friend Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) to less Lori (hilariously played everyone would have a chance the matter with the full Dis- tion—which could improperly impersonate her and cover the by actress Melissa Leo). Lori, to speak after the presenta- ciplinary Committee. inject the bias of their own shift. High jinx ensue. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 tion, the disrupting members The Disciplinary Com- personal observations into refused to stop and effec- mittee presented its case to the mix. The two panel mem- Next General Meeting on May 31 tively prevented the General 15 members of the Hearing bers who, it turned out, had The General Meeting of the Park Slope Food Coop is held on Meeting from continuing for Deciding Group (HDG), who attended the April 2015 GM the last Tuesday of each month. The May General Meeting approximately 45 minutes.” were randomly selected to were dismissed from the will be on Tuesday, May 31, at 7:00 p.m. at a special location: The agenda item at the center hear the case and determine panel on the spot. John Jay High School, 237 Seventh Ave., between Fourth of the melee read, “We pro- whether the accused mem- The DC investigators and Fifth Sts. pose that the Coop boycott bers committed the violations explained that the GM had The agenda is in this Gazette, on the Coop website at Soda Stream products, which charged. The group members included a discussion item www.foodcoop.com and available as a flier in the entryway are manufactured in the Occu- received work credit. During expressing that because the of the Coop. For more information about the GM and about pied Palestinian Territories.” a break a couple hours into CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Coop governance, please see the center of this issue. Fri, May 13 • Wordsprouts: IN THIS ISSUE Friday Night with the Monday Writers 7:00 p.m. Puzzle .............................................. 2 Wed, May 18 • Learn About Cheese at the Coop PSFC Membership Breaks 17,000 Members ................4 Coop 7:00 p.m. International Trade Education Squad Report ..............5 Sat, May 21 • Meet Your Farmer: Coordinator’s Corner ..................................6 Event Gotham Greens 2:00 p.m. Obituary: Joan Arnold..................................7 Coop Calendar, Governance Information, Mission Statement .. 9 Highlights Thu, Jun 2 • Food Class: Calendar of Events ...................................10 Seasonal Sweet & Savory Tarts 7:30 p.m. Letters to the Editor..................................12 Look for additional information about these and other events in this issue. Classifieds, Community Calendar.......................15 Amy Hepworth Kicks Off “Meet Your Farmer” Seminars .....16 Read the Gazette while you’re standing on line OR online at www.foodcoop.com 2 May 12, 2016 Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY Suspended onstage, while some mem- controversial and had filled ing that the “entire bers encouraged them to virtually every available seat. meeting was CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 return to their seats and The investigatory mate- hijacked,” with Sodastream factory func- members of the GM Chair rials noted that several of people yelling, tioned in Israeli-occupied Committee and the Coop’s the charged parties gen- jumping on stage, the beginning territory, the Coop ought not Board of Directors tried erally acknowledged their blocking presenters and of the presen- purchase its products. Wit- unsuccessfully to regain con- conduct in what was clearly ignoring requests to desist tation were nesses from the Coop mem- trol of the meeting. Reports “not a brief emotional out- by those running the meet- extremely bership and staff stated that included epithets, shouts burst,” but rather a “sus- ing—who said they were provocative. the pre-scheduled 45-min- of “anti-Semite Jew haters!” tained” disruption. One entirely disregarded as they At the con- ute presentation and discus- “Liars!” and threats that if the investigator noted the facts tried to regain control of the clusion of tes- sion period rapidly devolved slides were not taken down, were not much in question, meeting. timony, the into shouting, rushing the those who objected would concluding, “There was sort Called as a witness, Gen- nine-mem- stage, and attempts to take force them to be removed. of a general agreement eral Coordinator Joe Holtz, ber Hear- down the presenters’ slides, Witnesses said the disruption about what happened, what who agreed to give up what ing Deciding including one described as continued for a minimum of this disruption was. There would traditionally be his Group delib- depicting a soldier with a a half-hour, affecting the pre- weren’t a whole lot of dis- anonymity in these hearings erated and schoolgirl. sentation and the hundreds senting voices about what and have his name published unanimously As described, the charged who had assembled to partic- actually happened.” here, stated that while “from concluded that members provoked chaos, ipate in the discussion, which time to time people didn’t the four mem- ILLUSTRATION BY NINA FRENKEL urging others to join them had been anticipated to be An investigation by behave themselves [at bers charged GMs]…. There was nothing with extremely uncooperative the Coop’s Disciplinary that ever came close” to the conduct had not engaged in Committee had found that disruption last year. “I just “physical or verbal conduct Crossword Puzzle the four... “disrupted the remember the yelling and which threatens or endan- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 presentation by getting the inability of the meeting gers the health and safety of out of their chairs, yelling to function.” He referenced another person in connection 14 15 16 and screaming, and getting the GM as a core democrat- with Coop activities,” but that 17 18 19 ic process for the Coop, and all four had engaged in “dis- up on the stage to prevent summarized: “It was an item rupting or obstructing Coop 20 21 22 the presentation from that was not going to be activities.” 23 24 continuing.” voted on that night. There was nothing permanent on The investigatory materials 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Per Coop guidelines, the the table for anyone to lose. noted that several 33 34 35 charged members had been It was a discussion, and they given the choice of attend- didn’t let this discussion of the charged parties 36 37 38 39 40 ing a hearing or arbitration, item go forward.” generally acknowledged 41 42 43 44 45 or permanently resigning Neither Holtz nor other their conduct in what from the Coop. The com- witnesses said they felt 46 47 48 was clearly “not a brief mittee members noted that threatened or anticipated emotional outburst,” 49 50 while infractions concerning violence during the disrup- stealing time or products tion. but rather a “sustained” 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 from the Coop usually result The charged members disruption. 58 59 60 61 in a member’s suspension had found representatives, pending a hearing, these who stated that the mem- In view of the factual 62 63 64 members had been initial- bers were all longtime Coop findings, the Hearing Offi- 65 66 67 ly suspended but had their members with excellent cer Committee levied the suspensions lifted pending attendance records, some on penalty of a one-year sus- Across Down the hearing, as they were not limited incomes—and that pension of membership for 1.