Winter Warmers - Park Slope Food Coop

11-01-27 pp1-12_Layout 1 1/26/11 7:40 PM Page 44 January 27, 2011 Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NYMEMBERSHIPRESIGNATIONTO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,I had the unfortunate experienceof joining the Park Slope Food Coopthe week before Christmas, but,before I was even able to shop orwork on my assigned shift, I wasaccused of lying.With my kids grown and away atschool and due to the recession, myhusband needed to relocate to Canadafor work, I figured this was finally agood time for me to join theCoop. Knowing that I would have thetime to commit to working, I registeredweeks ago and attended my orientationappointment for theWednesday before Christmas.I needed to return after the orientationmeeting to bring proof ofaddress. One of my sons was in thecar waiting for me while I did this. Wewere on our way to pick up my otherson from college. My husband wasarriving from Toronto the next day forthe Christmas holidays.Once I had finished showing myproof of address and finishing otheradministrative tasks, I briefly chattedwith the member who was taking allthis information. We talked about howeconomical and delicious the Coop is.I told her about my son in the car,the other son at the Culinary Instituteand my husband, all large men and all‘foodies.’ I explained that I wanted tobring in my son when I shopped forour Christmas Eve dinner, and wastold it was not a problem as long as Iregistered them as visitor. And, I volunteeredthat my husband no longerlives with me because he had to moveto Toronto for work. Unsolicited, Ishared all this information with themember as a matter of course thatwas my “enrollment” conversationwith the member.When I arrived home that nightthere was a message from the Coopstating that there was a problem withmy registration and that I should callthe office.I could never have expected norcould have imagined what the “problem”was.The staff member at the desk toldme that I had not been registered theprevious day because someone in theoffice notified her that she had overheardme say I had a husband waitingfor me in the car.I was flabbergasted by this miscommunicationof what I said the previousday. I attempted to right thiswrong info by repeating what I hadstated.With no apology or attempt to saythat perhaps she was mistaken, it wasdecided that rules are rules and that Icould shop once on that day but onlyif I “sign my husband up, too.”Therefore, I was guilty until proveninnocent, my word was not good. Iwas presumed to be a liar based onhearsay.I said that more than half of myfriends are members of the Coop, thattwo were present that day who couldvouch for me, and that I had his twophone numbers, land line and cellphone in Canada in my phone. Notgood enough.She and the general supervisor saidthat during the week my husband wasvisiting he should bring in proof of hisCanadian residence to become amember (then ostensibly turn rightaround and resign) and they wouldmake this one exception to allow meto shop now.And, though he will never be ableto work at the Coop and barely eat thefood I will bring home from there, hestill would need to sign up.Gee, I thought, this was becomingreminiscent of the behavior of otherregimes throughout history. But, alas,not those associated with “democracy”or in line with the Coop’s missionstatement:“We oppose discrimination in any form.We strive to make the Coop welcoming andaccessible to all and to respect the opinions,needs and concerns of every memberThose values were lost during thisconfrontation.On my work shift day scheduled forthe week after New Year’s, my husbandhad taken ill during his time off(as is often the case for people duringthe holidays after stressful work).I wasdepressed by the thought of returningto the Coop.In fact, I would rather saw off myhead than drag him in to disprove theaccusation that I was a liar.I not only withdraw my membershipbased on this appalling accusation,but it has forever tainted myvision of the Coop. Shame on you.Anita GlestaEXTREMELY POLITE OREXTREMELY STUPIDDEAR GAZETTE:As I was waiting on a very longline this past Friday, I suggested thatthe person in front of me can startunloading at a checkout stationwhere a customer was packing up.The unloading part of the counterwas completely empty. The person Iwas talking to refused to budge andthought I was being very impolite.After processing a buyer, and whilethe buyer is packing, the checkoutperson stands there like a bump on alog waiting for the customer to finishpacking. If each instance wasted 2minutes (sometimes a lot more)multiplied by 1,000 customers a day(just a rough guess) that’s 33 1/3hours of completely wasted timeevery day, 233 1/3 hours every week,and 12,333 hours every year, 505DAYS! Who has so much time towaste. When I mentioned this to theperson directing people to checkout,she said a lot of checkout people liketo wash the counter after each customer.Doesn’t happen. Yes, bepolite, but be efficient! I’m gettingolder very quickly and don’t likewasting time through sheer stupidity.Go to a supermarket (God forbid)and see if people wait until the previousperson is safe at home in theircozy abode before proceeding. Canthis be made a stated policy? Itwould hasten the procedure andPlow to Plate Movie Series Presents . . . All in This TeaBy Adam RabinerMany of the films featured in thePlow to Plate movie series havefocused on food and how it’s produced.But the series is equallyinterested in beverages. Already ithas explored the alleged malfeasanceof Coca-Cola bottlers inColombia, the negative economicand environmental externalities ofbottled water, and the unfair trade ofglobal coffee markets. Now theseries turns its attention to a veryquaint and lovely drink, namely tea.However, this film is neither anangry indictment nor a dire warning.It is a gentle and lyrical movie filledwith beautiful Chinese string music,attractive images of tea and China,and wonderfully poetic words of loveand appreciation for the film’s subject.Mostly, though, the viewer justenjoys spending time with David LeeHoffman, an American tea importer,as the film follows his efforts toidentify and procure the highestquality product. Hoffman is anomad, friend of the Dalai Lama,Buddhist, pioneer of fair trade, successfulbusinessman, early andSAFE FOOD COMMITTEE REPORTstrong advocate of sustainable andorganic production, and an allaroundgood guy....All in This Tea begins with a choreographedtea ceremony featuringdozens of identically costumed youngwomen performing perfectly synchronizedmovements at an oolong competitionin Hangzhou in 1997. The filmitself takes on a ceremony’s meditativeand tranquil qualities and theviewer in some ways becomes drawnin as a participant. A tea ceremonycreates a vocabulary for richly experiencingtea’s subtle nuances, and, similarly,the film is engaged in an almostspiritual effort to describe the ineffable.Hoffman has highly attuned tastebuds and is an expert at discoveringthe best quality product. Sniffing ahandful of tea leaves, he mightexclaim “sensational,” or nod his headin distaste and spit out the word“chemicals.” But a deeper languageeludes him. At one point, speakingwith German filmmaker Warner Herzogover some freshly brewed tea,Hoffman declares that there is novocabulary that can say what the teatastes like. Herzog counters: “I imaginethings like walking through a forest.There are leaves on the ground. Ithas just rained. The rain has stopped.It’s damp, and you walk…and somehowthat’s all in this tea.”The film is an elegy to tea, which isvariously described as “shavings onangels’ wings,” “the spirit of Cleopatra,”“buttery,” “vegetal,” “rich,” “fragrant,”and “oceanic, seaweed, notflowery.” Tea’s flavors are determinedby soil, minerals, neighboring plants,water, elevation, sunlight and shade,the skill of the farmer, and hundredsof other variables. No two teas arealike; drinking good tea is imbibingnature. Drinking tea is resurrectingarcheology; sharing in the same sensualexperiences as were found in thecourt of a Chinese emperor or thetimes of Queen Victoria: it’s …all inthe tea.A deep and abiding respect fornature and efforts to restore its healthis Hoffman’s deeper mission. At thetime of the film’s making, traditionalChinese tea farmers were a dyingbreed, and the Chinese governmentRead the Gazette while you’re standing on line OR online at www.foodcoop.comwas supporting industrial tea manufacturing,chemical fertilizers and pesticides.However, largely due toHoffman’s tireless efforts, traditional,organic and sustainable tea productionis on the rise in China andaround the globe. This movie mayvery well further this trend by inspiringyou to trade in your Lipton teabags for some premium Darjeeling. ■...All in This Tea:Tuesday, February 8,Park Slope Food Coop,second floor, at 7:00 p.m.Tea will be served.