A Look at the Year Ahead: GreenStar 2012

By Kristie Snyder, GreenLeaf Editor,
Brandon Kane, General Manager, and
12th Moon, Council President

Another year has begun, and with it comes our annual look ahead at the next year, and beyond, for GreenStar. We talked with General Manager, Brandon Kane, and Council President, 12th Moon, about what lies ahead for the Co-op.

It's 2012 — the world has changed so much in the almost 41 years since GreenStar was founded. What does it mean to be a member of the Co-op today?

BK: There are so many answers to that question! I would start with the fact that we are seeing the results all around us of a world economy that is destabilized and out of control. Now, more than ever, community control of businesses is crucial for economic stability and having a say in how that business affects your community. One essential function of a cooperative, whether it's a natural foods store or a bio-diesel distributor, is that communities, as owners, invest in a business, help direct its mission, and consistently reinvest through participation, which can happen on all kinds of levels. At GreenStar, the simplest level of participation is patronage at the store, and that can increase all the way up to joining Council. There is so much strength in this model it is unbelievable! Look at GreenStar, 41 years old and going stronger than ever. We're currently at a growth rate of 12 percent over 2010. This is the best we've done in years! A critical mass of support for local businesses has definitely been reached, and with this support we're able to do so much — offer community rental space, donation programs to local organizations through our registers, direct support of local farms and vendors through sales at our stores, and support for the formation of co-ops in other communities, most recently illustrated by our expansion loan to Mariposa Co-op in Philly.

Read more: A Look at the Year Ahead: GreenStar 2012

It's Your Turn — Annual Council Elections Near

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 January 2012 22:37

By Melissa Blake,
Council Member

What does it mean to be a democratically controlled, member-owned and member-driven organization? Well, for one thing, our cooperative's Board of Directors (a.k.a. Council) is composed of member-owners and elected by member-owners. These, your elected representatives, serve three-year terms with some terms expiring every year. So every year we look for new Council candidates, and we think you should run!

Council is responsible for representing our members, for oversight of the finances and general operations of the stores, and, most of all, for helping set the vision and direction toward which the General Manager is to move the Co-op. At a recent monthly Council meeting, I asked some of the other 12 current members why they've chosen to serve the Co-op in this way.

Long-time Council member Jan Rhodes-Norman said she first ran for Council because she had a long relationship with the Co-op, going back to her time as a very active member of the Ithaca Real Food Co-op, GreenStar's precursor. "I consider the Co-op to be an essential cornerstone of a local, living economy and, for me, being part of that process is exciting. I also feel like it's an essential piece of community and so participating actively in providing more and more things to the community — whether it's services or good food at fair prices or a living wage — it's been exciting to be part of those things."

Read more: It's Your Turn — Annual Council Elections Near