History in the Remaking: Feeding Minds as Well as Bodies
added 02/22/10
by Rosemary Fifield
Education and Member Services Director
History repeats itself.
In 1844, a group of weavers in Rochdale, England, formed a cooperatively owned food store in response to the food supply issues of their time—adulterated products, limited supplies, and dishonest merchants. These forefathers of the modern-day cooperative movement also provided lectures, discussions, and a reading room to keep their members informed about current political and social issues affecting the quality of their lives.
In 1936, a group of Hanover and Norwich families came together to seek answers to the food supply issues of their day. The Great Depression had reduced their incomes, thereby increasing their need to get the best value for their dollar, while local grocers with limited resources were selling products of inferior quality. Those families formed a buyers’ club, which soon developed into a cooperatively owned food store. Following the cooperative principles established by the Rochdale Pioneers, the newly formed Hanover Co-op utilized the services of a volunteer education committee to provide education and information to its members and community.
The 1960s and 1970s saw renewed concern among consumers about the quality of the food supply. The use of agricultural pesticides, herbicides, and petroleum-based fertilizers after World War II was raising questions about their health and environmental effects. Co-op members began to seek products grown the “old” way—organically—and, in addition to adding natural and organic products, the Co-op hired its first paid Education Director to keep its members well-informed about burgeoning food production issues.
Today, the industrialization of food production raises myriad concerns about the true cost of the “cheap” food Americans have come to expect: antibiotics and hormones in the meat we eat, genetically modified organisms, patenting of seeds, loss of biodiversity, inhumane animal treatment, water pollution, ozone depletion, overfishing, and increased incidence of food contamination, to name a few. We have dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico caused by chemical runoff into our waterways, farmers in economic slavery to the demands of food conglomerates, and individuals being prosecuted by corporations for saving seeds the way farmers have saved them for thousands of years.
Fortunately, consumer awareness of these issues is growing. Thanks to movies like Food, Inc., The End of the Line, King Corn, and Fresh and authors such as Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), the American public is hearing more and more about the stories behind the food they purchase.
At the Co-op, our Education Department is working to increase awareness, as well. At this writing, we are planning to show the movie Fresh at the Howe Library on February 24 to interested members of the community, with a panel discussion to follow. The Howe Library will then put the DVD out to loan to the community. We anticipate more movie screenings, classes, speakers, and a book group or two in the months to come. Watch for information in our stores, follow us on Facebook, or check out our website, www.coopfoodstore.coop.
During the past two months, close to 300 Co-op employees have watched the movie Fresh in small groups, and several have taken the DVD home to share with family and friends. A lending library of relevant books and DVDs is available to staff at all locations, and we are planning additional ways to keep the conversation going. After all, our knowledgeable floor staff are still the best customer educators of all!
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