Oct 26th

I joined to non-profit group and was assigned to contact some legal offices in Portland area. I called two of them today and left message. I checked the website of the places I contacted and thought they would be a great resource. So, I’m looking forward to hear from them.

Assignment 3

1. In the broadest way you can think, considering health, the environment, social factors, economics, and the realities of living in the post-industrial USA, what do you think is the best answer to the “omnivore’s dilemma? From the research you have done in the last few weeks, what do you think Americans should be eating for their meals?

As Will Newman talked in our class, authentic organic farm can only be small; therefore we need more farmers not bigger. That will supply plenty of vegetables and crops. For meat, there needs to be a large decrease in consumption because it takes tremendous resources to raise a healthy cow. If we want so many cows, we will have to give up our own food and space. Cows need a lot of grass and space to stay healthy and it is simply impossible to sustain current number of cows along with humans. Dr. Mel Metzin, the staff veterinarian, said he wouldn’t have a job if cows are given lots of grass and space (Pollan p79). As much as we cannot sustain so many cows, this planet cannot sustain so many people. There needs to be a halt in population increase and stay under control.

Americans should look back their old days and remember what the food was like a hundred years ago; then, compare to the food we eat now and realize how unnatural it is and how disgusting that fact is. I believe that realization automatically leads to the answer: authentic farming.

As Marion Nestle suggests dietary patterns that best promote health derive most energy from plant foods, considerably less from foods of animal origin (meat, dairy, eggs), and even less from foods high in animal fats and sugars (Nestle 6). (Well…, she actually answered it for me. Nothing more to add…) As Japanese, one of the longest-lived populations, I can guarantee that is how my grandparents’ generation ate and lived so long.

2. Can cooperation (as defined by the 7 cooperative principles) succeed as a business model in the United States? Provide evidence to back up your answer.

Cooperation can succeed and fail as much as any businesses can do. Collapse of businesses starts when benefits (not profits) are not shared equally among buyers and sellers as in Adam Smith’s theory. If one gains more than the other, the continuous of exchange will suffer. Cooperation is no exception from this principle. Greed is a strong aspect of human nature and pushes to gain more than others. Just because there are guides to follow (7 principles), it does not mean those principles can erase this human nature. The reason that some companies still survive with collapsing policy is because those companies fool consumers and consumers remain to be fooled. Cooperation can do the same bad unless members carefully work its way out.

The reason I think cooperation can succeed is that the principles it follows include education in the fifth category. Through education, members can learn to share the benefit with the society and maximize well-being of whole. That will be a strong component in business success.

3. What do you think is the future of the natural food industry?

(Hmm, do I even care?) With the word “industry,” I cannot support its growth. As I read in “Omnivore’s dilemma,” there is so much deception toward consumers from this industry. If Americans choose to continue this foolishness, natural food “industry” will keep growing, but if they don’t, this industry simply will vanish.

4. What do you think are People’s strengths in the local marketplace? In comparison to its competitors, how do you think People’s should position itself into the future?

The No.1 strength of People’s is that it is community-owned. Ownership is not bought and sold for the purpose of gaining profit in marginal price. Therefore, changes of owners don’t occur frequently, and their visions and values remain quite stable. Thus, customers, which many times are owners, can trust the store policy and the safety of products. Most of the customers are owners and neighbors of People’s and that strengthen the bond of this community. This bond of community is the greatest strength for People’s.

One of the other strengths is the strong pursuit for sustainability and natural and safe product from local producers. This policy is very powerful to people who have deep consideration to environment, society, and to themselves. No other stores are as strong as People’s about this point.

I think People’s should strive to expand their circle of influence until this country becomes environment-saver from environment-abuser. The power of community is very strong and it just should not stop at SE Portland. Our diet is nothing that can be separated from environment, and truly healthy food can only be born from healthy environment. I hope People’s don’t stop this effort.

Oct 24th reflective thoughts

I read an article about "green gas" from vegetarian times. I learned some benefits of each alternative fuels, such as biodiesel, ethanol, and hydrogen fuel cells. I understood about what Sarah, Board member of People's, was saying about building biodiesel station. Some oregon wineries already started using biodiesel and introduced its effort for the environment in the label of wine bottles. Many farmers can probably use biodiesel for their equipment too, and will be eased from high gas prices.

Hours spent from Oct 17th to Oct 23rd.

16 hours reading and working on assignments

Oct 23rd. reflective thoughts

We went to Alberta food coop. It looked quite different from People’s. It definitely has more visibility and advantageous location; although I don’t think they’ve been taking advantage of that fact wisely. There are only very small signs for their name and what they do. They carried many brand names, such as Tillamock cheese and Sunshine milk. Considering the fact, that People’s focus on highly standardized natural food, which enhances their identity as natural food store, Alberta food coop has weaker identify, not much difference from New Season’s or Fred Meyer organic sections, except for produce that they buy from local farmers. They had bigger store space and more variety of products that customers will enjoy. However, I have to say People’s use its shelf space more wisely and keep it more clean and organized. Their use of lighting and display are more appealing too. The Operation Manager, Rachel, did great job to promote her store to us. She was very honest and open, knowing the condition of the business and members’ needs. It was nice that she offered us a volunteer opportunity, and People’s actually didn’t. That really changes the impression about openness. I thought volunteering at coops is only for members. Anyway, it was great to have something that can be compared together, so we get good picture of better natural food store.

Assignment 2

1a. Students in this class recognized the following motivations for food purchase and consumption—nutrition, taste, convenience, cost, “addiction,” “style,” and ethics. On your next trip to the supermarket, record your food purchases—and list each food item purchased according to your motivations for that particular item.

*I apologize the following format is in a complete mess. I just couldn't figure out how to paste a table in here, or organize in any ways. When I publish, it changes everything.

Items, Motivations, Ads influence
Tokoroten(Japanese noodles): Nutrition, taste, convenience, No
Pork: Nutrition, taste, No
Asian pear: Taste, No
Green beans: Nutrition, taste, No
Tomato: Nutrition, taste, No
Kefir: Nutrition, taste, No
Avocado: Nutrition, taste, No
Onion: Nutrition, taste, No
Dried bean curd: Nutrition, taste, No
Water bamboo shoots: Nutrition, taste, No
Dried seaweed: Nutrition, taste, No
Japanese sweet potato: Nutrition, taste, No
Nonfat milk: Nutrition, taste, No
Bell pepper: Nutrition, taste, No
Bean sprouts: Nutrition, taste, No
Green onion: Nutrition, taste, No
Taro potato Nutrition, taste, No
Shrimp: Nutrition, taste, No
Oyster mushroom: Nutrition, taste, No
Cucumber: Nutrition, taste, No

For all the food purchases, there are two key motivations: taste and nutrition. It is not always like this. I sometimes buy ice creams and potato chips, which are not nutritious at all. But at least 80% of food choice would be based on nutrition and taste. Nutrition and taste are key determinants for me. I don’t like separating these two. I’m sometimes choosing food just for taste, but that is a very rare occasion. If I get really busy, there will be more convenience food, such as canned soup, retort curry, or something like that. But I still pay attention to food and eat as healthy as possible.


1b. Do you think your motivations were influenced at all by some form of advertising or the marketing of that item? Note your response for each food item (The list is in the above).

Kefir (yogurt drink) and tokoroten (Japanese sour noodles) are the only things that have anything to do with marketing. However, the only method that each company uses is packaging. I haven’t seen any other form of advertisement for these products. Although it is not promoted from the company, I have seen a featured program for kefir. That is how I got to know what kefir is. However, the reason I keep buying this product is not because it looked good on TV, but rather I realized its health benefits through my body functioning, especially with digestive system. About tokoroten, it was only a spontantanous thought when I was at my home doing my homework ( I was not looking at any image of tokoroten or hearing anything about it.) For that, I don't consider any marekting clicked my apetite for tokoroten. It was only the taste I craved for, not any figures or sounds related to this product.

3. Now it’s your turn—flip side: choose one day and eat ONLY healthy whole foods or foods you process yourself (your definition of “healthy”). Record your food choices, taking note of nutritional content, where the food comes from, cost, taste and any other factors related to your food purchase. Also note how you felt at the end of the day.

Breakfast: (Menu & Origin)
　
Sabamiso: Mackerel (Pacific Coast ), Miso (Japan) Ginger (California)
Rice: Brown Rice (CA)
Tonjiru: Daikon radish (California), Carrot (U.S.A.), Pork (Oregon), Gobo (CA), Taro (CA), Miso (Japan), Mirin (Japan)
Sunomono: Cucumber (Canada), Seaweed (Korea), Vinegar (CA), Soy sauce (WI)


Lunch: (Menu & Origin)

Rice: Brown Rice (CA)
Nappa Miso Soup: Nappa (OR) Miso (Japan)
Kouyadouhu toji: Kouyadouhu (Japan), Shrimp (U.S.A.)
Green Beans stir fry: Green Beans (CA), Bonito (Japan)
Drink: Kefir (Maine)


Dinner: (Menu & Origin)
　
Rice: Brown Rice (CA)
Chicken stir fry: Chicken (OR), Bell pepper (OR), Tomato (OR), Onion (CA), Mushroom (OR)Wakatakeni: Bamboo shoot (China), Seaweed (Korea)


Nutritional content: It turned out my menus fulfilled most of the essential nutrition needed for a day. For example, I had 614mg of calcium which I need to have about 600mg. I had 531μg of vitamin A and it is only 9μg short from needed amount. I also had a plenty of vitamin D, E, K, B1, B2, and C. The calculation is derived from the database at http://www.nuis.ac.jp/~takagi/sql/masuno/eiyou.html.

Cost: One meal ranged from $5 to $6.5, which is about the same price as McDonald combo. So, it is quite cheap to eat organic foods I found. I usually eat less variety and quantity in a day, which drives down the prices even more.

Taste: All of them tasted good. Some of them were a little bit salty and some others needed more salt. I was overwhelmed from cooking all day and wasn’t able to keep paying attention for flavoring. But overall, they were all good.

How I felt at the end of the day: I was quite exhausted. My definition of healthy was to eat a variety of food, especially vegetables, so I cooked for every meal, instead of eating left overs of one meal. Every time I cook, I had to check where the food came from and its nutritional content. So, the effort to use a variety of vegetables had a counter effect to my well-being as it required more time to research for each ingredient. My day just flew away for cooking and researching about food. Though I was glad to eat nutritious and tasty food, I got tired from standing in the kitchen, taking notes, and so on. I’ve probably overdone it. There wasn’t significant difference in my energy level, functionability, and mood. This is probably because I eat quite healthy everyday. I surely like cooking whole foods on daily basis. I feel more comfortable and safe to eat whole foods. Through this assignment, I realized how little attention I pay regarding where the food comes from. I assumed almost all non-processed food comes from somewhere nearby, but they may not. I surely learned to be more conscious about food origin.


4. Take a personal field trip to either Whole Foods or New Seasons (or both if you have the time). Note what is different at these markets, as compared to People’s Food Coop. Think about scale, product offerings, customer satisfaction and marketing.

I went to New Season’s and People’s to make comparison. In terms of scale, there is a huge gap between People’s and New Season’s. New Seasons is more than three times bigger than People’s and offer far more variety of products. New Seasons have many in-store-processing-stations, such as bakery, butcher, and deli. The difference from other stores including People’s is that New Seasons prepares the food from scratch at where customers can see, and this transparency is probably quite appealing to their customers.

There are many local organic products at New Season’s, but there are many others that are neither local nor organic. This could be quite confusing to customers since they may assume everything in store passed New Season’s standard as their advertisement say “home-grown.” (You would have to carefully read into small letters to find out that it only applies to the products with yellow tags.) I, myself, used to think New Season’s has high standard of product selection before giving careful look to each product. A nice thing about People’s is that they don’t have this kind of misleading selection. Everything there is met the standard of healthy, organic, sustainable, humanly raised, and fair traded products.

In terms of product offerings, there are as many kinds of produce (fruits and vegetables) as in both stores. The difference is quantity. People’s use its shelf space quite wisely to offer the same variety in much smaller space. Except produce, New Seasons has far more product offerings than People’s. New Seasons has more of household products, snacks, milks, yogurt, and almost anything you can find at stores like Safeway, whereas People's selection is very limited to food and very little household products.

In terms of customer satisfaction, the atmosphere at New Seasons is less personal compared to People’s, even though New Seasons is a very friendly place compared to other stores in town. Busy traffic in parking lots, crowded space, busy customers, and long lines contributes to impersonal atmosphere at New Season’s. Surprisingly, at People’s, the same aspects don’t contribute to impersonal atmosphere. Traffic can get quite busy on 21st, the store can be very crowded, lines could be long, but People’s store still maintain peaceful and friendly atmosphere. I noticed that it is not only the sales clerks who are friendly, but also many customers are friendly and respectful to each other. There are more customers and sales clerks who know each other and enjoy conversations at People's, which increases homy atmosphere. This type of customer satisfaction is probably hard to measure, but it is definitely there.

Regarding marketing, New Seasons has definitely stronger marketing strategy and bigger budget. Its name appears on the outside wall, store entrance, store bags, and various advertisements. The visibility and exposure are much higher for New Season’s than People’s. Just comparing the size of the name board, fonts, lettering, and the combination of colors, New Season's logo is much more visually noticible than People's. New Seasons use catchy words very effectively, such as “home-grown,” “friendliest store in town.” Reflecting what I learned in my marketing classes, these are very effective promotions. The words often used at People’s like “organic” and “local” have been overused by so many and don’t stand out by themselves these days. Even comparing to some of the other coops appeared in “We Own It” on page 51, 19, and 22, it seems obvious that People’s store front and advertisement are less effective to catch eyes. People’s marketing materials, such as magazine advertisement, store signs on streets, store bags, don’t seem to have its purpose to catch peoples’ attention; they are just so small in fonts, skinny letterings, and bad use of colors. It would only help people who already know the store in very little way. Therefore, People’s marketing has very little effect to increase customers. Farmers’ market can be covering these weaknesses with more visiblity and noticibility, but it's only on Wednesday, once a week. However, if the intention is to avoid the influx of new customers, maybe it is better this way. People’s has very small store capacity. Though, if that is the case, spending time and money for marketing is just simply a waste in my opinion.

5a. What are the politics of the “food pyramid” as described by Marion Nestle?

According to Marion Nestle, food pyramid is the product of political wars over food. Meat industry consistently fought for the expressions about meet intake and the suggested amount. Compromise in wording such as: from “decrease consumption of meat” to “increase consumption of lean meat (p41),” from “eat less meat” to “avoid too much fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol (which come mostly from meat and dairy in American diet) (p46),” are the example of changes in expressions. The intake of meat was suggested to be 2-3 servings per day; however, the recommended range was extended to 9 ounces per day from the desirable upper limit of 5-7 ounces per day (p72).

There are far more political influences than meat industry into food pyramid. One is dairy product. It is at the second top in the pyramid as an essential nutrient (“must have” implication) even though it contains lactose that cannot be digested by most nonwhite populations (p.73). The current version of food pyramid does not refer to the fat content of dairy products (p79), so the “essential nutrient” could possibly be coming from heavy whipping cream in one’s diet (Actually, the picture of whipped cream is in the Daily Food Guide Pyramid under milk category on page 80.).

Nestle claims 6 out of 11 members of the Guidelines committee had significant ties to the meat, dairy, or egg industries and these members—all university-based academics—had received research grants from, lectured to, consulted for, published with, or served on boards of the organizations with commercial interests in specific guidelines and what was said about them (p73).

5b. Describe, in your words, the business ethics of Phillip Morris’ advertisement in illustration 5 on page24 of Marion Nestle’s Food Politics

Phillip Morris is informing its generous food donations for magazine readers using a mother and her child in the advertisement. Its title says “Katya’s mom no longer worries where her next meal is coming from.” This is a very questionable statement and I’m having a hard time to figure Phillip Morris’s intention. However, the words “no longer worries where her next meal is coming from” are obviously troubling. The good side of Phillip Morris’s intention is supporting low income family for their food supply, making their lives easier especially for mothers with small children. However, the negative side of this advertisement and the potential underlying intention is to brain-wash the audience to fool them the source of their food is nothing to worry about, though it should be for caring mothers. As described throughout in “Food Politics” and “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” where the food is coming from is something all Americans should pay far more attention to. There are convincing evidences in many researches that it is dangerous to assume food safety without careful examination. Many food industries spend millions of dollars to flip this image and implant subliminal impression in people about the safety of their products. This Phillip Morris’s advertisement can be one of those ill-intended promotion.

Oct 18th

.
We met Will Newman. I was very impressed by his speech. He was very knowledgeable about issues surrounding farmers and sustainability. One of the things he said and I kept thinking about was increasing population. I read in “Omnivore’s dilemma” that without synthetic fertilizer billions of people would never have been born, and synthetic fertilizer is the cause of environmental damages such as acid rain and global warming (p43). We reached this much of population by damaging Earth. As Will Newman says, “Human being is the worst disease on this planet,” we’ve been devouring this earth until nothing will be left. The continuous increase in population is going to kill us sooner or later.

Extra credit activity: FILP forum (Oct 17th)

I participated in FILP forum at Embassy Suites in Tigard. The forum started with discussions about health issues, such as trans-fat, whether its use should be banned by government or not. One student said it should be a choice for consumers and one businessman said it should be an informed choice. I thought, “Well…, it could be a consumer’s choice, but what for? Trans-fat doesn’t improve taste or anything, and replacement doesn’t cost much…”

Then, the topic shifted to retail marketing and how powerful it can be. Representatives from Wal-Mart said marketing at retail can be a strong influence to what customers buy and marketers can pretty much determine what the customers will eat for their lunch and/or dinner (of course, breakfast).

MC raised the topic for personalized marketing with the example of Net-Flix, who has a large inventory of movies, and yet 80% of the product gets rented out by suggesting the movies particular customers may like. His point was to say applying this practice to food industry would be a great idea giving sales representatives unique professions.

Well, the only topic that had anything to do with natural food was about (artificial) trans-fat. It is very sad that marketing has so much power to influence what people eat and so many Americans get chronic disease for what they eat.

Hours spent for class from Oct 5th to Oct 16th

34 hours in total for reading and assignments.

Oct 3rd reflective thoughts

Reflecting the movie "the future of food" we saw yesterday, there were many findings for me.

I've written at least three papers about GMOs and updated my information everytime I do the research. However, there were many refereshing new information, and the movie put it very nicely examining GMOs from many angles.

The first surprithing news was that Monsanto suing farmers to gain from their patent rights. There are many GMOs advocates saying GMOs ease farmers jobs, provide more consistant supply, and more. However, this news clearly illustrates that those giant GMO companies are starving for profits and extract every possible dirty pennies from innocent farmers.

Another thing was tracibility. Many researchers said nobody knows the long-term effects on human health. We are all guinea pigs and so on. But, since it is currently not tracible to track the health impacts from GMOs, we don't even know the short-term impacts on our health. What's going on in our body when we eat GMOs.

Hours spend from Sep 25th to Oct 4th

Mon September 25th: 30 min spent examining cooperative structure
Tue September 26th: 0 hours
Wed September 27th: 1 1/2 hours spent exproring People's
Thurs September 28th: o hours
Fri September 29th: 2 hours spent for reading
Sat September 30th: 2 hours spent for reading
Sun Oct 1st: 5 hours spent for reading
Mon Oct 2nd: 2 hours spent discussing about the film with others
Tue Oct 3rd: 12 hours spent writing for Assignment 1 and blog
Wed Oct 4th: 1 1/2 hours spent shopping at farmers market and watching people

Assignment 1

Assignment One

1a. What are the different motivations that drive Americans to make their food choices, according to Marion Nestle and Michael Pollan?

Michael Pollan brings up several points as to be the motivations of Americans’ food choices in his book “Omnivore’s dilemma.” The first reason was found going back to the days when humans or other omnivores didn’t know which foods were edible and which were not. Omnivores judged the edibility of food according to the taste: sweetness meant edible and bitterness meant toxic (Pollan 4). That is how omnivores like humans decided what to eat in the early stage of food history. This judgment method still remains in our brain systems, telling us to eat more carbohydrates over bitter food. Along with those senses and memories about taste that each person experiences, humans passed on the various knowledge about food in the form of culture (Pollan 4), which is a quite significant information we have about food choice.

Pollan discusses another point as the key motivation of American’s food choice: abundance and affordability. He says, “When food is abundant and cheap, people will eat more (Pollan 102).” It turns out that the fullness of stomach doesn’t stop us from eating more. Researchers found that people eat 30% more with larger portions than they would otherwise do with the smaller portions (Pollan 106). Marketing strategy called “supersizing” definitely succeeded to let people eat more (Pollan 105). It overcame our human psychology to stay away from the servings for more than one person. It is guilty to order the second portions or more; however, if one portion is very large, it makes us happy. It resolves the frustrations of not having enough or remaining unsatisfied after meals. Therefore, “supersizing” strategy plays a key role for Americans in choosing the amount of the food they eat and the supersizing doesn’t cost much for both sellers and buyers.

Pollan also said we have “the tongue of an animal that natural selection has wired to seek out energy-dense foods (Pollan 107).” He also considers factors like our lifestyles as they are represented with fast food and eating in a moving car (Pollan 109).

All of the above reasons are considered to be the motivations of Americans for their food choice according to Pollan.



According to Marion Nestle, Americans choose their food according to the flavor, smell, sight, texture and familiarity. Those senses and feelings are influenced by family and ethnic background, level of education, income, age, and gender. Besides those influences, we have universal preferences for fat, sugar and salt (Nestle 17). Convenience also plays a key role for Americans’ food choice (Nestle 23).


1b. Do you agree? What are the motivations that drive YOU to make YOUR food choices?

I do agree with all of the points that are brought up from both authors. Especially, if supersized food was available when I was much younger, when I didn’t have much knowledge and awareness about health, I probably would have eaten supersized food as part of my regular diet. I’ve been a big food lover from the birth. Kids like me would go easily over-weight and be obese. It is surely a dangerous practice for younger generations.

In my diet, culture plays the biggest role for choosing what I eat. My culture, which is Japanese, provided the most longevity among any countries. I have a good trust for the traditional Japanese food. I occasionally enjoy eating other food, but I eat Japanese food for the most of times.

I also consider the quality of food as important factors for choice. Freshness, genuineness, ripeness, and free of additives are the quality I look for.

2a. Do you think the film “The Future of Food” is hopeful or pessimistic about the future of food? Why, specifically?

I do think the future that is described in the film is very pessimistic. Such as plastic foods, Monsanto GMOs dominating world species, or genetically modified people are something that many countries and people are strongly determined to avoid. Even though the threat is quite large and the conflicts of interest get more tense, many of us who are aware of this matter make a lot of effort to prevent this future by sharing information with others and so on. It is surely a serious concern of this country that many people are not aware of this problem. The future described in the film is possible but preventable. If we are to work toward changes, we should not be concerned ourselves about pessimistic futures.

2b. Do YOU agree with Michael Pollan’s suggestion in “The Future of Food that organic food is not overpriced, once external costs are factored in?

I do agree that there is so much dollar value that is not included in cheap food, such as 99 cents hamburger. I do agree that organic food it not overpriced, not because of the external costs, but because of the complexity of natural agriculture itself and to provide decent life for farmers who respectfully grows organic food which is far less profitable than non-organic food. The external costs of 99cent hamburgers are imposed on those who buy the hamburgers and those who do not in the environmental factors, rising insurance costs, and so on. Those who buy the hamburgers quite regularly are more likely to suffer from life style related disease than people who buy organic food. Once those external costs are added to the price of McDonald’s hamburgers, consumers are paying far more than 99cents. There are probably many situations in America in which people simply cannot afford for organic food on the day to day basis. However, I think it is a different matter such as more equal income distribution, increasing minimum wage, or something like that.
3. In your own word, define a cooperative business structure.

Cooperative business structure is the structure where ownership of business is equally distributed among members, every member has an equal say and the same voting power, and the staffs are equally paid. The authors of “We own it” say that cooperatives are “committed to a looser, more personal, less hierarchical working situation.”

4. What are YOUR first impressions of People’s post expansion business model? Do YOU think they are running a strong business? Why or why not?

At the first impression, I was surprised how small the size of expansion is. People’s store is still as small as some of the smallest convenience stores. As I get to know about their fund raising system, only $180 per member, it made a total sense that the size to remain so small. Given that condition, management must’ve been working incredibly hard just to let this expansion happen. I don’t think it is a strong business if I am comparing to for-profit-companies. The philosophy of cooperative ownership actually prevents from running a strong business model in terms of growth and profit. However, in terms promoting the most important values of People’s, equality and access to natural food, I do think it is a very significant business model.

5. What are some of the markers of People’s identity? Can you identify how People’s store “brand” is marketed to its membership and the general population of consumers (in the store and in promotional materials?)

Some of the outstanding markers I find in People’s identity are community services, localization, promotion of environment-friendly practices, and natural foods. Some of the “brand” of People’s store are respect among customers and staffs and friendliness. Those brands are derived from conscience of customers and staffs with deep respect to environment and their own wellness. That is not hard to see and feel at People’s store. Another brand aspect of People’s I find in promotional materials is the promotion of environmental practices as in newsletters and in various brochures. Environmental practices are easy to perceive in the store structure itself even without precise knowledge about environmental buildings. The cleanness and beauty of natural materials are the most convincing proof of environmental building.

Oct 2ndreflective thoughts

October 2, 2006

Today, we discussed about our impressions for People’s Coop., and watched the movie called “The Future of Food.” About People’s, many classmates were confused about what their directions are for the future because People’s did not seem to have a clear picture. With the cooperative ownership and consensus management, it is quite understandable that People’s has trouble finding its directions.

The obvious goal for most of the businesses is to make profits; however, People’s has very vague goal in serving community, and providing access to natural food. That is quite vague given the fact there are many other seemingly similar entities.

With cooperative ownership, there is nobody who has more stakes than others and there isn’t any single person who has the ultimate decision rights. So, establishing vision will be extremely difficult. For most of the businesses including non-profit, it is usually the managers’ jobs to establish and share visions throughout the organizations. Cooperatives don’t seem to do that. If every owner has the equal say about the directions, it will be a very absurd process to reflect all opinions. Consensus agreement requires more time and commitment of members. To have a true consensus agreement, everybody needs to have deep understandings about what opposing arguments are. In the corporate structure, it is relatively easier to do so by limiting the size of group and selection of committed members. I don’t really know how possible that would be for cooperatives in a consistent manner where the involvement seems more like voluntary.

In the cooperative structure, individuals’ creativity also may get thinned out with the respect to wholeness. That may create an emotional difficulty for some people. I would if it were the situation.

I got some questions to ask People’s. I may need to articulate a little more, but I will do that later on.

-How big is the board (the number of participating members)?
-How do you bring up issues to be discussed, and how do you decide whether it needs more exploration or to be dropped?
-How do you set a time frame for that issue?
-How do you compare and study each alternative?
-How much time commitment do the board members make?
-(Just because I’m a management major, I’m curious about this) Do you do any particular things to build cohesiveness among board members or staffs?

------------------------------------------------

I got some of the answers for above questions from reading the course packet.

Just set it up

I just set up my blog. This will be my first experience posting my log on internet.