Supporter Spotlight

During Thursday's Food Co-op 101 presentation, attendee Lee Parmenter mentioned that he had been part of a food co-op years ago in Jamaica Plain. We asked Lee to share his story as well as hopes for the Manchester Food Co-op as the 1st installment in our Supporter Spotlight series.

Many years ago, I lived in Jamaica Plain, a Boston neighborhood, when I was a pre-med student at Tufts University. I heard about a new food coop forming, and contacted the core group to become involved as it was starting up. At that time, things were so much simpler than what the movement has evolved to!

We had a single room (lent to us by someone) and twice a week, we collected order forms from people in the community who wanted to buy food that week. Most of the order form consisted of fresh vegetables. And, the order form for each week was based on the available stocks of left-over veggies in the Charlestown food supplier's loading docks.

After getting all the orders in, several of us would comb through each form and collate an order by hand for the appropriate amounts we'd need to get. Then, at 5am the next morning, in some's VW van, off we we would go to negotiate some good prices for the food we needed. We'd bring back the food, re-bag it according to what each order form required, and wait for the community to show up to pick up their orders and pay for their food. We never knew from week to week what the prices were going to be like, nor, for that matter, the quality. We did this cycle twice a week, either Mondays and Thursdays, or Tuesdays and Fridays; at this point, I just don't remember.

What I do remember is that a lot of families got the food they needed (or at least some of it) at very reasonable prices, well below what the local supermarket chains prices were. We knew that because we kept checking up on how we are stacking up against the big stores.

It was very rewarding to be involved with this because it had a direct impact on the day-to-day quality of life for our friends and neighbors. Had my studies not made such demands on my time, I think I would have remained involved, but I only had time for one extra activity per week, and I moved on to help organize a free health clinic in the Back Bay.

I am looking forward to the Manchester Food Co-op becoming a reality. I had this vision last evening of us eventually occupying the old Star Market space next to St Mary's bank by CMC. When that market went out of business, a huge segment of Manchester's lower income and elderly lost their access to a market within walking distance, even if they lived across the bridge in the downtown area. It is a wonderful goal to have and if enough of us gather together, it can become a reality...do your part - join us!

Lee Parmenter

Supporter Spotlight is an on-going series sharing the different experiences, hopes and concerns of the supporters of the Manchester Food Co-op initiative. If you have a story you'd like to share, please let us know using the link at the right.


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