Food and Wine in Utopia: Interview 5 (Isla Vista Food Co Op)

Foreword

                In this series of interview about Food and Wine in Utopia, I interviewed the CEO of the Isla Vista Food Cooperative in Santa Barbara. A book that I recommend reading along this is a fictional book, Everything For Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune 2052-2072 by Eman Abdelhadi and M.E. O’Brien.  

How long have you been in this line of work? Do you see yourself doing this in the future too? What has been your motivation in this line of work? Has it ever changed?

The Isla Vista Food Cooperative has been open for 50+ years. It was started in the 1970s and the task of running the cooperative is shared by its owners through its Board of Directors. I joined the co-op Board of Directors in 2003 and have served on it through the present. At first I was appointed and have now been elected many times over. This is a volunteer position that I take one outside of my work. Serving on the co-op Board has been fulfilling and challenging. The co-op is a very dynamic environment, and I have learned a lot in my time with the organization. Someday I will retire but I have another year and half on my term so I don't plan on slowing down anytime soon. There are many motivations for why someone might want to give their time in service to the co-op, such as support of the mission, connection to community, and/or general good will

Considering your goals in the food co-op, what problems are universal for other co-ops across the country? What's the biggest problem that IV food co-op specifically face?

Overall grocery has become a challenging business in the modern era. The margins are tight and the competition is strong. It can be hard for co-ops, whose missions have a greater scope than traditional grocery, to be competitive with so many corporate giants. We need to continually do outreach and education about the difference between a co-op and a traditional grocery store, and what that difference means for our communities.

The biggest misconception about co-ops is twofold: 1) that the products we carry might be too different from a standard grocery store, 2) that only owners can shop. Co-ops are open to all and once people come visit they usually find a reason to come back.

In a utopian society, how many food co-ops do you think you'll find within Santa Barbara? Or is there a general attractiveness to see food co-ops every, for example, five blocks? Or one per town?

I would love to see the cooperative network strong enough to support a store in every town. Grocery needs to be accessible to the community it supports. 

What about in other towns/cities? Transportation of food only emits about 6% of the carbon emissions for food logistics. What about towns that are not near agricultural land or are not in a region that grows crops for human production?

This is not my field of expertise, but I do believe that human ingenuity can have a sustainable focus, which helps us address and solve the kinds of issues you bring up here. We should aim to have infrastructure that allows us to move goods to areas that need them in a way that does not harm our world.

What about these concepts of urban farming. Some people say in a utopian society, there will be smaller towns, walkability, more amenities within blocks. Urban farming is one of them. There are also cons associated with it such as higher carbon emission. What are your thoughts about how society will look in utopia, how food is structured around the society? Is urban farming a small, medium, or large factor to consider when talking about food co-ops in utopia?

Urban farming is a great option for areas where fresh food is less accessible. But it also takes people who have the interest and passion to pursue those projects. Sometimes that means supporting a small local farm in your area because what they can produce is simply more efficient for the resources.

There are some restaurants that do winemaker dinners that bring winemakers in and engage with the diners, talking about the wine and their philosophy. Do you see a similar concept being available for farmers in food co-ops?

Yes! We love having farmers come to events and talk about what they grow. It is great when you have any local producer able to come and meet people.

Whose choice/vote should it be to see what kinds of food commodities or wines should end up on the shelves in food co-ops? There may be good profits from large marketable commodities such as candies, soda, or big brand food products. And even though some products may not be sustainable or healthy in the long run, do you still see these products being on the shelves because the co-op owners vote on them? Or because the neighborhood still craves them?

Food cooperatives are consumer owned and therefore all choices are essentially up to the ownership. The responsibility to make those choices falls on ourselves. Or we hire professional management to provide advice on those choices. Co-ops exist as mutual aid organizations. We support the community we are in, providing food access for our owners and neighbors. What exactly that looks like is up to the discretion of the co-op owners, generally through the Board of Directors who provide governance for the cooperative.

In a utopian society, do you still see these companies being a large factor/impact on global food distribution? And in local food co-ops?

In my utopia we are able to support small-scale food production with only some reliance on larger food distribution services.

What about affordability of food in the utopian society? Some ask for free food in this society. Obviously many want it to be accessible. What foods should be accessible? Bringing our conversation back to where food is grown and how it's transported, what about "luxury" food products? How will food co-ops play a role in "luxury" food distribution in the utopian society? Will this be priced higher accordingly? Or will it be an allocation? We think about the most vulnerable in our society and neighborhood and obviously want them to eat healthily, sustainably. Do we, as a society, have a role in making sure that they partake in experiencing what luxury food items should taste like? Does the food co-op have that responsibility in utopia? Some have mentioned perhaps a once-a-year town-wide dinner where all the luxury food items and wine and served with dishes made from the regular crops found in stores.

Food should be affordable, period. But we need to understand and be realistic about the value of food. We cannot undervalue the work of people in our local food shed under the idea of affordability. A fair price for fair work should be the goal for all workers.

“Fair” is a complicated yet simple concept. Do you think anything about our food system today is “fair”? Can you please go into detail on what “fair” is?

Our food system has a lot of inequalities, so there is a lot of work to be done to approach fair in terms of wages for workers.

How should food co-ops support growers and how should growers support food co-ops in utopia?

This is something food co-ops are already doing. The only utopian aspect would be the scale, by which I mean to scale up so that the vast majority of food produced is generated in a sustainable way but also in enough volume to feed the population at an affordable price.

Is the utopian goal to have every member of the neighborhood be a co-owner of the co-op?

Utopia is a concept that people are going to have varying opinions about. There isn't really a way to have people all agree. That said, if there was general agreement that supporting and taking part in your local food co-op was important I would hope that people do. Co-ops are voluntary organizations. People have to want to support them.

Do you see food co-ops being a venue of community rather than focusing on food? Could it bridge to other pillars of society such as education, politics, communal work, etc.? If this isn't the case, how do you think food co-ops should "grow" or "sustain" relevancy in the utopian society?

There is no single definition of utopia. To a further degree, people are going to have opposing viewpoints on what utopia is. Our differences make us human and that is something we should value. To that end, utopia isn't really the goal so much as peaceful coexistence and respect. Which I suppose is my utopia.

I do think that utopia is a goal that we keep working towards but likely never achieve. The world is too complicated and there are too many things changing all the time. Utopia is lofty. It is something we aim for and work towards. And I think that is a good thing.