By COLlive reporter
A new food cooperative is putting roots down in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood and it might be kosher too.
The Lefferts Community Food Co-Op, located at 324 Empire Blvd (between Nostrand and Rogers) is on a mission to sell sustainable, nutritious food at a good value and to encourage healthy food practices.
Like other consumer led food distribution outlets, this will be a member-worker cooperative, where only those who contribute to its workforce can shop at the store and make executive decisions.
“This is a very unique opportunity for Jewish residents to get in on the ground floor of this new food co op, particularly now as development is underway,” Yaakova Babinet told COLlive.com.
“A Kosher Committee is currently being set up to address the needs/wants of Jewish members/customers and they are looking for people to assist them with this,” said Babinet, owner of Wholey Grains in Crown Heights, a bakery which uses freshly milled organic whole grain flour.
Products that will be available in the store will very much depend on what members agree to stock.
Babinet says that by joining, Kosher observant residents of the neighborhood can “have a say as to what products are available in the Co-Op. A main focus will be local and very fresh produce but the aim is to provide a full service store with one stop shopping.”
Requirements to join is to volunteer two hours and 45 minutes every four weeks to work in the store and a one-time membership investment that is refundable (or donated) upon leaving the food co-op. Qualifying low income membership investment is $25.
People involved in the co-op say that items can be 20% cheaper than in other markets. This is for two reasons: the food co-op does not make a profit from selling groceries to its members and member work contributes substantially to reduce labor costs.
Members of its inaugural board are Camille Acey, Deborah Brinkley, Karen Oh, Cameron Page, Barbara Rogers, Barent Roth and Laura Stadler. They said that current members of the neighboring Park Slope Food Co-Op can do their shifts at the new food co-op.
They are also looking for people with some of the following skills: print and web design, programming (web and database), bookkeeping, marketing, writing, construction, painting, carpentry, retail and business experience, illustrators or muralists, among others.
To become a member or for more info, visit leffertsfoodcoop.org
The jewish members of this co-op must counter that in response to boycotts of Israeli products in OTHER coops, this coop branch will have a reverse boycot of products from Arab & Muslim countries, those double standard idiots will cry racism & every other term they could use & make demonstrations outside the coop, but they’ll learn every coin has two sides, & it’s a two way street. Enough said.
Maybe we need separate shopping hours on Kingston too?
Or maybe totally separate days? Sunday for men, Monday for women etc.
What about same gender rules in offices? Or in organizations?
And schools??
I’ve been fortunate to try a number of Wholey Grains. This woman’s focus is completely on natural and healthy goods. I know that anything she’s involved in is for complete physical health. She also is really a creative and talented baker. Whenever I visit Crown Heights, I stock up on her goods to take back and give to friends to enjoy. They are so so so delicious! Looking forward to when she starts shipping.
Hi, This is Karen, I’m a board member of the Lefferts Community Food Coop and thought I would post here. There are good questions about a boycott, but please let me assure you that we’re no where near boycotting anything and as other posters have rightly pointed out, this is a cooperative, meaning it has democratic control by its members. Like Park Slope Food Coop, the “board” is elected FROM the membership and the membership is really the key to what the coop should and shouldn’t do. We would love for more residents of our community to join the coop… Read more »
Yaakova is a tzadeikes!
B”H if this co-op can really be as low cost as the park slope one it will be hugely successful without the anti Jewish bigotry.
I used to be a member of the Park Slope Co-op and the savings were phenomenal, so I’m looking forward to joining this one. As #7 said, the store’s decisions are democratic, so Jewish members would have input on what the store carries–I don’t think there would be much question of an anti-Israel boycott in CH. The real question is what to do during Pesach, because a Co-op member is a partial owner of the store and therefore has partial ownership of whatever chametz is sold there. But I’m sure they figured something out for the many frum Jews who… Read more »
It is a mitzva to support Jewish merchants in one’s own community. If someone wants a store in Crown Heights to offer different products, why not ask the store’s owner? Why advertise a store that is probably not Jewish owned and is possibly not shomer-Shabbos?
Men and women in our community work at the JCM, Tzivos Hashem, Tzach, all of our local schools have both male and female staff members…….
The members/Consumers make the decisions, so if frum jews make up a big percentage of the consumers a boycot of anything Jewish would not even be entertained as a thought.
Prepare the list of items from Israel for a boycott!!!!
WHAT FOOLS WE ARE……..
to have the men and women members of our community working in this coop at the same time
or working with together with other men and women
it becomes an inappropriate social scene
no parking
Wonder what’s their opinion on BDS movement
Are they going to be like the Park Slope co-op that tried to boycott Israeli products? Be very careful, people, you may find yourselves part of this protest without knowing it. If there are no Israeli goods on the shelves, you are a part of it.
Can’t wait