After the fire at the old Washington Mutual bank, several of the local newsgroups have been discussing possible new uses (including an expansion of the Ralphs next door, which may or may not happen). Some of the discussion has involved establishing a local food co-op.
Finally, someone has taken the bull by the horns, and sent this message. (Nut graf: meeting at Coffee Gallery, 11:30 a.m. Wednesday March 12):
Greetings,
In a recent on-line discussion it became apparent that some of us in
Altadena would be very interested in having a good food co-op in our
area. There’s been frustration at the closing of the Pasadena Wild Oats
and an interest in a wider selection of products than offered by
existing stores. Plus there are general issues of rising fuel prices
and the environmental that don’t seem to be addressed by grocery stores
in our immediate area.There are some wonderful co-ops in neighborhoods just like ours around
the country. They’re member owned so they’re responsive to local needs
and contribute back to the community in many ways. More information is
included below about how co-ops work and how they might help us.To get things started a small group will be meeting this Wednesday to
talk. This meeting is for people who are interested in, and have the
time to help research, what it will take to establish a food co-op. We
already have four folks from that initial on-line discussion but could
use more. No prior co-op forming experience is necessary. We’ll be
taking on issues of financial management, fund raising, marketing, real
estate and grocery store management. So if you have experience in any
of these it would be great to have you with us.This first meeting will be an opportunity for us to get to know each
other, to work out a schedule of future meetings and figure out who
wants to research what. The goal of our efforts will be to prepare for
the next step – which is to hold a community meeting to gauge general
interest in our area.We’ll be meeting at the Coffee Gallery, Wednesday 3/12/08 at 11:30
am.If you’re interested then please plan on attending. If you can, send
an RSVP so we’ll know to look for you. Send it to…
patricksavesworld@dslextreme
.com If you’re interested but cannot make this particular date, respond with
what days/hours work for you and we’ll factor this in to our meeting
schedule discussions.Feel free to pass this information on to others and to post it to
discussion groups/blogs for our area.Thanks,
Patrick
