Live-tweeting from the Park Slope Coop meeting – a gathering for tortured PC souls
WITH its leafy streets lined with charming brownstones, Park Slope is one of New York’s most desirable neighbourhoods. The area’s name comes from its location on the western slope of Prospect Park – Brooklyn’s green oasis.
In the family-friendly Park Slope, also nicknamed “Stroller City”, yummy mummies brush shoulders with actors, directors and authors. Tom Hanks has a house here, as does Steve Buscemi and celebrity couple Maggie Gyllenhall and Peter Sarsgaard. Vintage shops, restaurants serving locally-sourced food and fair-trade coffee, community gardens and farmers’ markets cater to the well-to-do residents’ every need and PC preoccupation.
At the heart of the neighbourhood is the Park Slope Coop, a members’ only supermarket selling organic fruit and veg, artisan cheeses, supplements and vitamins, environmentally-friendly cleaning material and more. The coop has over 15,000 members, most of whom work at the shop once a month in exchange for discounts on groceries – and the buzz they get from feeling morally superior to their fast-food chomping peers.
This week, Reuters journalist and Park Slope Food Coop member Chadwick Maitlin attended the association’s monthly meeting and decided to live tweet it. Lasting over two hours, the Twitter documentation of the earnest proceedings gives a hilarious insight into the tortured souls of Park Slope, whose quandaries about things like how many times to re-use biodegradable plastic bags and whether or not to buy “fascist food” is beyond parody. Here’s a selection of Maitlin’s tweets. Read them and weep.
I wasn’t going to, but it’s too good not to tweet. The park slope food coop meeting has begun.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
The room is tense with passive aggression. Israeli food referendum dominates. Free Oreos given out, but not free hummus.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Man gets up, says coop should ban Israeli food only if it bans american food because of native American occupation. He’s wearing yarmulke.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Food coordinator admits that even though clemntines are coming from Morocco, they’re really delicious.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Have now moved on to tonight’s business: whether to eliminate plastic produce bags at coop. No vote tonight. Just discussion.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Slide: “plastic bags + fracking?”
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Proponent saying one reason to ban plastic bags because they go into trash that goes through low income community in South Bronx.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Proponent says one option to replace plastic bags is that members can make their own cloth replacements.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Anti plastic bag PSA being played. Called “The Shopper”. Spoof of “The Artist”
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
“but my collards won’t fit!” — one of the actresses in the silent film PSA.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Lengthy speech abt cost of cloth bags compred to plastic bags on scale. Half cent on a scale, not factoring in cost of water to clean them.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Woman proposing that coop could have muslin (sp?) bag donation drive.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Counterpoint! “Bio bags have their own sustainability issues. A lot of them are made from corn.” Proposes group bag share w mutual cleaning.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
“Most ppl have a bag of bags. I used to have a bag of bags that took up half the closet.”
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Man comes up to speak and say that he heard on the news that somebody may have discovered a plastic-eating bacteria.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
“My name is Robert Dow. No relation to Dow Chemical.”
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
“corn production contributes to dead zone on ocean, so that’s one thing to consider if we use corn bags”
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
“In europe I have been using the biodegradable, and they degrade do fast by the time you’re at checkout you don’t know where the bag is”
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Bag washing instructions: “you dump them in water with white vinegar. A week later it’s still smiling!”
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
“the responsible thing for the coop to do is to remove the temptation”
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Clear sentiment emerging to pass the ban. But it’ll have to wait until enviro committee hones proposal, brings back another month for vote.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Nuanced point of civil liberty implications of ban raised (by my roommate.)
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Plastic bag discussion now closed. Moving on now to whether all coop members should be required to shop with carts. (to prevent theft)
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Getting history lesson on coop theft history. At one point in 80s, someone installed in high chair to watch over cashiers. (no longer)
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
“We had something called the no food zone.” In a grocery store.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
“150 linear feet of vegetables. Most of which, organic. Just thrills me.”
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Mandatory shopping cart usage far more controversial than plastic bag ban. Only at the coop.
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
New concerns about racial profiling being raised if we create a culture of “criminalization.”
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Point of order for non members: reason why everyone still here because you have to sign in at beginning AND end of meeting. To prevent abuse
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Final segment of meeting is time for questions about meeting. Man asks question about whthr discussion should be for comments…or questions
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
“Meeting is adjourned.” See you all next month for the Israel vote. (Or, rather the vote on whether to allow a vote)
— Chadwick Matlin (@ChadwickMatlin) February 29, 2012
Posted: 7th, March 2012 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
