O F F I C I A L N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E P A R K S L O P E F O O D C O O P Established printed on 1973 recycled paper Volume T, Number 21 February 10, 2000 GM Approve s M a r keting Survey By Jane N. Barrett bout 50 members (the money retained by the Cooperative Bank (NCB). The t r udged through a Coop out of every dollar Coop has agreed to use these Aheavy snowstorm to the received) was slightly down. funds only for building pur- General Meeting held Tu e s- Last year, the Coop re t a i n e d poses, and to place all subse- d a y, January 25. The gro u p 15.81 cents out of every dol- quently received member g a t h e red in the social hall of lar; this year that figure was loans in the re s t r i c t e d Bovine Growth Hormone the Garfield Temple was a mix only 15.55 cents, pro b a b l y account. These terms were By Ann Pappert of first-timers, veteran mem- due to theft. Eakin pointed p a r t of the deal when NCB bers, the Board of Dire c t o r s , out that this gross margin is a g r eed to extend a $926,000 The Coop may unknowingly be buying dairy products that and members of various com- low compared to other store- mortgage for the purchase of contain a controversial, synthetically engineered hormone that mittees, as well as long-time based coops, all of which the new building. many environmental and consumer groups believe may pose a activists in the Coop. Carl have a much higher mark-up Over the existence of the health hazard. A r nold and Stana We i s b u r d on merchandise, typically Coop, retained earnings have Bovine Growth Hormone is made by Monsanto Chemical Co. c h a i red the meeting. 53% as opposed to our 20% totaled $176,000, out of a total and was approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. in 1993. The T h r ee formal items were mark-up. The Coop’s income of about $80,000,000 in sales. drug, which is also called BGH, rBGH, BST and rBST, is sold to on the agenda: l) election of this period before taxes was Linda Wheeler, General d a i ry farmers under the brand name Posilac. BGH is a geneti- members to the Disciplinary about $48,100, a little lower C o o r d i n a t o r, re p o r ted that cally-engineered copy of a hormone that is produced naturally Hearing Committee; 2) a than last year’s figure of the issue of debit and cre d i t by cows. When Posilac is injected into dairy cows it incre a s e s p roposal to conduct a mar- $55,600. (Last year was an c a r ds continued to be a milk production by 10-15%. keting survey of membership exceptionally good year.) s o u rce of both great intere s t Opponents believe that BGH is a dangerous solution to a satisfaction; and 3) an emo- The relative percentage of and controversy amongst the non-existent problem. Studies have shown that BGH can cause tionally charged proposal to operating expenses devoted membership. A spate of art i- a wide range of health problems in cows, including re d u c e d revise pro c e d u r es for respectively to personnel, cles and letters in the G a z e t t e pregnancy rates, cystic ovaries and uterine disorders, digestive a p p r oving the minutes of o c c u p a n c y, store, and off i c e has prompted the Coord i n a- problems, and knee enlargements and calluses. More problem- the prior GM. remained virtually unchanged. tors to draft a proposal to the atic, the use of BGH increases the risk of udder infections, B e f o r e addressing these Average sales per week membership. A draft pro p o s- which in turn increases the use of antibiotics to treat the infec- items, re p o rts were re c e i v e d rose 7.5% and membership al was circulated at the meet- tion. Increased antibiotic use can mean an increase in antibiot- on finance, a debit and cre d i t rose by 3%. ing and will be on the agenda ic residue in milk produced by the cows. c a rd proposal and re n o v a t i o n . The total assets of the of an upcoming GM, perhaps T h e r e have been no long-term health studies about the Mike Eakin briefed the Coop showed a dramatic rise, in March. The proposal and effects of BGH on humans. But it is known that BGH increases membership on the Coop’s f r om $1,680,00 last year to the accompanying art i c l e the levels of another growth hormone called IGF-1 in the cows. financial status. Mike based $2,815,000 this year, larg e l y appear in the January 27 Although BGH produces only a slight increase in the levels of his presentation on a attributable to the acquisi- Gazette. IGF-1 in milk, IGF-1 is a strong risk factor for prostate and breast detailed six-page re p o r t , tion of the new building. Myra Klockenbrink, of the c a n c e r. Some scientists have expressed concern that even a which compared in detail the Eakin explained that of the Renovation Committee, gave income, operating expenses, C o o p ’s cash re s e r v e s , an update on the status of C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 3 sales, memberships, assets $114,000 is in a re s t r i c t e d and liabilities for the 48 account with the National C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 2 weeks ending January 2, 2000, with the 48 weeks ending Jan- u a r y 3, 1999. A copy of the Next General Meeting on February 29 statement was distributed at The General Meeting of the Park Slope Food Coop is held on the the meeting; copies are avail- last Tuesday of each month. The next General Meeting will be able at the Community Cor- Tu e s d a y, Febru a ry 29, 7:00 p.m. at the Congregation Beth Elo- ner around the corner fro m him Temple House (Garfield Temple), 274 Garfield Pl. the ground floor bathro o m . The agenda is printed inside this issue (see index below) and Net sales were up signifi- is posted at the Coop Community Corner. For more information c a n t l y, from $8,281,000 last about the GM and about Coop governance, please see the cen- year to $8,906,00 this year. ter of this issue. H o w e v e r, the gross marg i n I N T H I S I S S U E Thu, Feb 17 Nov. Coop Concert at Bklyn Museum on WNYC, 11 pm General Meeting Agenda . 3 Coop Fri, Feb 18 Good Coffeehouse–Zen Music, Zen Words V, 8:00 p.m. Are You a List Person? . 4 Mon, Feb 21 Coop OPEN EARLY—8:00 a.m. Coop Hours. 6 Thur, Feb 24 Blood Drive, 6:30 p.m. Coop Calendar, Governance Information, Mission Statement. 7 E v e n t Thur, Mar 2 Food Class–Sea Vegetable, 7:30 p.m. Community Calendar . 8 Fri, Mar 17 Good Coffeehouse–Steal the Donut, 8:00 p.m. Letters to the Editor . 9 H i g h l i g h t s Sun, Mar 26 Family Concert–Imagination Workshop Band, 3:30 p.m. Member Contribution: Why Give Blood? . 9 Look for additional information about these and other events in this issue. Classified Ads . 10 2 F February 10, 2000 Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY GM Approves Marketing Survey C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1 the new building. The pro- back Book, the General Meet- jected schedule is to seek ings, and the official web bids in April, start constru c- page (foodcoop.com), it is tion in June, and complete h a r d to determine whether the job in twelve months. The these sentiments are widely Committee has not yet decid- s h a r ed, or advocated by a ed whether to use union or p a r ticularly vocal minority. non-union labor. One mem- The Committee proposed to b e r, a life-long union man, conduct a random sample of passionately argued against the members by mail, con- the use of non-union labor: tacting 300 to 500 members While cheaper, it is exploita- and querying them on items tive and often exposes a like: time of visits to the l a rgel y immigrant work forc e Coop; product satisfaction; to hazardous conditions. He tenor of interactions with fel- was invited to submit a pro- low members and staff; and posal to the Renovation overall satisfaction.