When food puritans go too far

I'm so glad I don't live in NYC, and the feeling is probably mutual. While rent is ridiculous here too, at least I can inhale the scents of jasmine and trumpet flowers while walking to the train stop. I apologize for blowing this S.F. smug cloud in your face, but it's also a luxury to hike down a hill on Saturdays for $1/pound locally-grown, organic apples or onions, or to cycle over to the aptly-named Good Life or Rainbow for groceries week-round. La di da.

Look at what this poor, gray New Yorker had to go through just for cheap produce in Park Slope, Brooklyn, trying to improve her failing health. For the privilege of shopping at a food co-op there, you have to volunteer a few hours of work each month. That's fine, but the membership rules sound downright draconian, as the author explained on Mr. Beller's Neighborhood. Her story contains some tired stereotypes about granola shoppers, but hear this horror: you supposedly get kicked out of the co-op if any non-member winds up eating the food you buy there:

A friend of mine, making use of her free pass to shop, told me of a harrowing experience she encountered while waiting on line to purchase a variety of vegetarian foods: Tofurkey Jerky that tasted like the beef variety but wasn’t, Quinoa, spelt, and tempeh, and then a number of organic steaks for her live-in boyfriend who was a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Her upper lip beaded with sweat as she stood on line, worried that the mix of items in her cart gave her away–-she was committing a flagrant food coop offense, shopping for a non-worker.

What if you want to throw dinner parties?

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[Phil]

The Park Slope Co-Op is known to be somewhat strict, but what that woman failed to mention is that she could just as easily went around the corner to the regular health food store that's about a block away to get the same items without worrying about welching on the agreement she has with the co-op. They make it very clear what the rules are when you inquire about signing up there. It's not for everyone really-- I didn't sign up when I lived out there, because it just didn't work for my situation.

[elsa]

Christine--Thanks for your comment. Your NYC lifestyle sounds eco-utopian, and NY's getting a lot of attention lately for being greener than most people assume. Cheers. Who knows, maybe the Mr. Bellers writer just ran across a few bad apples that spoiled the bunch for her.

My SF-worshipping is done with a smirk, as SF gets too much "only in SF" credit for a lot of things including its eco-friendliness. Still, I doubt that I'd be able to afford a non-claustrophobic place to live in Manhattan or Brooklyn compared to what I can find even in SF's wacky real estate market.

[Christine]

I enjoy your blog. However, I take issue with this NYC-related entry. You have never lived in my fair city, have you? I have lived in NYC (manhattan, upper west side) for almost a decade in a 2BR apartment where I look out 3 windows at a gorgeous pond surrounded by willow trees and wildlife (the northwest region of Central Park) and I walk less than 4 blocks to my farmer's market (at 106th Street.) for local produce. A community garden at 104th Street (a 1-2 minute walk from my home) takes compost, so my husband and I contribute our scraps regularly. We are proud to be green in a city that supports pedestrian life, mass transit commuting, recycling, and eco-friendly eating. I have never owned (or missed!) a car here -- whereas my brother & his girlfriend live in the heart of SanFran and own two cars so they can each commute 60+ minutes a day on fossil fuel. Speaking of zipping around my city on mass transit, I visited a friend in Park Slope a few months ago and, as it happens, we strolled past the Food Coop, where I'd never been before -- I was so curious, she gladly took me as her guest. I put a few items in her basket, she paid at checkout while I stood by, and I reimbursed her later -- we didn't find it stressful or militant at all. I'm told every shopper there fudges the membership rules occasionally for friends, and if you're wise you're discreet about it, that's all. Keep up the great work, Park Slope Co-oppers!

[Jasmin]

She should just join a CSA!

[Lynn]

Food nazis indeed. Why on earth would they want to make people who just want to start eating right go through such strict requirements?