Howto
From Foodcoop
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[edit] Definitions
Democracy: the control of an organization by its members, who have a free and equal right to participate in decision-making processes
Socialism: a political theory or system in which the means of production and distribution are controlled by the people and operated according to equity and fairness rather than market principles.
Collectivism: the system of direct control and ownership of factories, farms, and all the means of production and distribution, by the people.
Collectivity: the state in which people work together to form a whole.
Cooperation: the act of working together to achieve a common aim
Cooperative: a jointly owned entity in which all of the members share decisions, ideas, work and ultimate goals. Ours could be called a “working consumer” cooperative, because the customers do the work.
Local:
Regional:
[edit] How it all began
or, "shameless propaganda"
One rainy day in February, a few students and dropouts met at a cafe to share stories and ideas. The students wanted their comrades addicted to fresh and healthy foods, the dropout wanted to see people sharing the work when they needed something done, and Ramona, not yet two years old, pretended she was swimming on top of the table. She held a pen in each hand as is the custom in her home. When the meeting was over, she played in the puddles outside of Moffit and talked with remorse about her mommy.
One of these students came to the Bus Stop Food Co-op to work, and to see how easy it would be to peddle wares on campus. A boombox played loudly and eccentrically. Boxes overflowed with thick-skinned oranges, big leafy greens, and sugarful crystallized dates.
The customers frequenting this stand were curious as to how all this produce appeared and instead of boring them with how the magic happened they were recruited mercilessly. Customers biked to the farmers markets, wheeled and (fairly) dealed with the farmers, trekked the produce back to the bus stop and sold to the neighborhood people at wholesale prices. The people then were no longer customers, they were cooperative workers, buyers, sellers and inhabitants of a little tiny socialist island on the corner of Oregon and Sacramento Streets.
The students, after learning all this, wanted to have a little socialist island themselves on the autocratic campus of UC Berkeley. With the help of the young dropout we made connections to local farmers, picked up the produce and had our first Local at Kroeber fountain on pi day, 2007 (March 14th, ...159265...). The first day was such a success. Students, professors and passer-bys were curious as to its seemingly effortless appearance on campus. And we then began recruiting our working cooperative customers. The Local was the new hang-out spot. Young students could be seen mulling around during lunchtime, munching and chatting. We even had a picnic once with cheese and baked goods. Ahh... what a day that was. As the semester neared its end, we were concerned it would not survive the summer, but with perseverance the Local endured the hot summer months. Trips were made to San Francisco farmers markets and produce was brought back to the east bay on a hand truck via the curious and crowded BART. Armed officers of the peace tried more than once to put an end to this caravan, but couldn't write regulations fast enough to keep pace with our guerrilla circus. We brought back from distances far and wide sweet sweet mulberries, plump peaches, tart lemons, blue brown and white eggs, glistening red cherries, big heads of broccoli, the sweetest babyest carrots you have ever seen, weird melons and the grocery list goes on and on and on.
One would think that it has been all squash flowers and honeybees for the local and its workers, but not all is as it seems on the island. There have been complications for overnight storage, and transportation from the markets can become tiresome for the few students unwise enough to share their cars. Sometimes produce can be lost to disaster and so goes the money. There have even been voices of dissention. Police asking for nar to be had permits and a lady from an organization that shall not be named demanding that we give proper credit to the network that brings the farmers to the bay area. Burnouts of co-opers trying to do too much every week was a common occurrence but has now become an avoidable fate. The Local is now entering its second semester and we hope to see it continue into the future as long as it is desired by its workers and customers.
Now that you may continue telling the story of how it all began, here is how you and anybody you like can continue to make it all work:
[edit] Making Contact with the Farmers
Calls as a courtesy to the farmer should (must) be made Monday morning beginning at 8am. Oftentimes you will discover that farmer to be out in the field as you are making the call. Leave a message in detail with your name, your affiliation (The Local on UC Berkeley campus) and your phone number. Most of the time they will call you back confirming the order, sometimes they will call you back and tell you that your request is no longer in season and will make suggestions of other produce. As a rule of thumb you would like to order the same amount as last week to keep the money situation in balance. You will know what we need to order more or less of from the daily log or feedback from emails. This is a personal judgment but you want to use moderation when increasing orders.
The pick-up crew is responsible for choosing bonus veggies, which we couldn’t have predicted during the phone calls.
The call should go a little something like this… Hello, I am insert name here (a very enthusiastic smart student) calling for “The Local” produce stand on UC Berkeley campus. We would like to order for pick up from the Tuesday farmers market. What do you have that is new and exciting this week? We would like X amount of fill in the blank. (If you got a particularly good price last week, remind them of that.) Thank you. See you tomorrow.
Information that should be recorded for the Tuesday shoppers is
- The price of a box/flat,
- The number of lbs contained within and if possible see below
- An approximate number count of individual vegetables and fruit
- And the farm name.
- The total price of all items for the order.
This information is really important to help the co-opers give the “customers” the absolute closest to market price for their produce. And to reduce confusion throughout the day.
After you have ordered,
Post your list on www.berkeleyfoodcoop.org
Send your list to organics@lists.berkeley.edu
[edit] Pick Up
- The pick up crew usually meets at around 3:45 on Tuesday near the bike racks at the entrance to the market on Derby St. between Milvia and Martin Luther King Blvd.
***Roles:***
- Manager: The manager, whoever it may be, (we are a cooperative...YOU could be the manager next week...think on it...) is responsible for bringing the money (see money howto) and list of pre-orders from Monday's farmer calls to the market. Also, email the market crew list the day before to remind folks about the excitement and discuss any changes or ideas. The manager gives the necessary money to individual groups (see below), collects receipts from the farms, and keeps track of the budget and how much is spent.
- Crew: Usually, in groups of two, we marry gathers visit the stands of the farmers, exchange that paper stuff (money) for produce (What a deal! Paper for delicious sustenance?), and put the boxes in the cars to be transported to storage.
- Drivers: Let's try to have as few drivers as possible in order to reduce burning fossil fuels...People driving meet the rest of the team at about 3:45 and their car is used to transport goods from the market to MLK storage. $2 is usually required to park in the garage if you stay more than 10 minutes. Make sure you are reimbursed by STeam for this.
- Pick up squad: Picker-uppers either ride with the driver in the car from the market or meet the drivers at the MLK (Martin Luther King Student Union) parking garage. The garage is located in the lowest level of the structure through the big doors directly to your right when getting off the elevator. There is a hand cart located in the room where all non-refrigerated produce is stored. Said storage room is the first (I think) door on the right down the hallway on the right if you are facing the doors to the garage. All refrigerator bound produce is taken to the student convenience store that resembles a 7-11 on the 1st floor of MLK. The produce is stored in the refrigerator behind the drinks. Just ask someone working there and they will show you where to go.
- Market documenter: The documenter types up the list of how much was spent per pound or unit at each farm and puts it in the records binder at the Local on Wednesday. It is easiest to use the already made list from the Monday pre-order and simply add/change purchases made at the market. The documenter also prints out a sheet with the prices of how much each pound or individual fruit or veggie costs and brings it to the Local before opening.
***NOTES:***
- Dialog exchange between crew and farmer may go something like this: "Hi! I am (fill in name) here to pick up our pre-order for the Local." Sometimes it is nice to remind the farmers how the cooperative "Local" works and that we sell their product at wholesale (not for profit). They usually get pretty stoked to learn about our endeavors and zeal to educate students about eating sustainable, local, organic food.
- It is nice to attempt to establish a friendly relationship with the farmers. Let's really get to know where our food comes from and who grows it! Some farms enjoy speaking Spanish with us (always an adventure)...a few helpful translations: elotes: ears of corn, aguacate: avocado, onion: cebolla, and the most important, thank you: gracias!!!
- Names of people to get in touch with at stands (feel free to fill in names I forgot):
- Ludwig: Arthur
- Catalan: Maria
- Riverdog: Tim
- Blue Heron: Sheria
- Avalos: Efran
- Pomo Tierra: Bernie
- If there is extra money the pick up team decides what looks especially enticing and buys it as well! Example: Sometimes we have an abundance of greens and veggies...add some fruit to the mix! The peaches are making their final debut? Sweep 'em up! Carrots look amazing? YES! etc...
- After this and all is well, high fives and hugs are usually in order. Congrats on a successful trip! WHEW!!!
[edit] Set up
Laili
[edit] During the Day
Tessa Jean
[edit] Break down
Marisa
[edit] Money
Money now functions the same way every week. Here are the necessary steps in order to make The Local fun on campus:
1. Go to the 4th Floor of Eshleman sometime before market pick-ups on Tuesday. Walk back to Nyuget's office and pick up the predetermined amount of petty cash from her. Obviously, be safe and responsible about carrying this money.
2. Take this money to the Ashby market and use it for purchases. Any extra money should be taken to the Local the next day and placed in our locking cash box.
3. Make sales at the Local
4. Once The Local has been broken down, take all money in the cash box to the 4th floor of Eshleman. Return the same amount of petty cash that we used at the Tuesday market to Nyuget. Keep about $30 in small bills for start-up cash at the next market. Place any extra funds in our ASUC Sustainability Team account by filling out a deposit slip.
5. Repeat!
[edit] Self-management
If we can't do the work a manager normally does for us, we'll eventually need to hire a manager. Do you want a boss? So...
- Everyone should read the sign-up sheet with two things in mind:
- know what job you’re doing, and check that is it written down, and
- check if any other shifts be understaffed, or if there will be first-time workers without any experienced workers to help them.
- Please note who you’ll be working with, and call one or two of those people some time before your shift.
[edit] Permitting
These are the necessary permits needed to make The Local "legal" in the eyes of UC Berkeley campus bureaucrats:
1. Space reservation
2. Fundraising permitting
3. Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) permit
[edit] Space Reservation Process
(note: you must be a signatory for a student group to perform this task)
1. Go to osl.berkeley.edu.
2. Click on the "Student Organizations" tab.
3. Click on "RESERVATIONS PROCESS"
4. Click on "South Tree Line" under "Outdoor Reservations"
5. Click on "Make an Outdoor Reservation" under "Making a Reservation" in the right hand column
6. Log in using your CalNet ID
7. Select "I would like to make an outdoor reservation" and choose the club for which you make to reservation (will most likely be Sustainability Team)
8. Fill in the necessary information. Be sure to include the correct dates and times (i.e. whichever Wednesday you are reserving for and 11-3 with a set-up starting at 9 and break-down ending at 5).
9. In order to submit this application for multiple Wednesdays, submit the request for the first Wednesday, press your "back" button, change the date only and submit again. This decreases the number of times that you have to fill out the form.
FYI: We have the South Tree Line reserved through the end of this semester and ASUC Auxiliary has given us permission to set up outside of the MLK doors under the overhang on rainy days.
[edit] Fundraising Permitting
Only one fundraising form has to be submitted for every semester that The Local is in operation. In order to do this:
1. Go to osl.berkeley.edu.
2. Click on the "Student Organizations" tab.
3. Click on "FORMS & EVENT PLANNING"
4. Click on "Fundraising Form"
5. Print form
6. Fill out form. Include a brief description of how we purchase and sell the food at the same price.
7. Turn form into 102 Sproul (Office of Campus Life and Leadership). Be sure to make sure that the form is approved and that you get a copy of the document to have in The Local binder.
[edit] Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) Permitting
This document is a little more complicated than the fundraising permitting. It must be submitted for a 3 events/90-day period permit. This means that we only have to submit this form once every three weeks. The trick is that one student group cannot apply for this permit for every single permit. Therefore, it is wise to make allies with other student group signatory's and use their name for the permit. Some suggestions include: Society for Agriculture and Food Ecology (SAFE), Earthweek Committee, Lettuce Turnip the Beets, Cooking Club, BOAA, etc.)
1. Go to osl.berkeley.edu.
2. Click on the "Student Organizations" tab.
3. Click on "FORMS & EVENT PLANNING"
4. Click on "Food Permit"
5. This will direct you to the EH&S website.
6. Click on "Permits" in the left-hand column.
7. Click on "Food permit to distribute or sell food on campus"
8. Print and fill out this document.
9. Fax to Patrick Kaulback at FAX (510) 643-7595 or turn in in person 10 DAYS PRIOR TO THE LOCAL. Be sure to be courteous to Patrick. He works very hard and often gives us the permitting even if we are late. He is also bending the rules by allowing us to "share" the permitting between various student groups.
[edit] Farmer contacts
Someone could add farmer contacts that we usually purchase from.
There's a hidden page for it, cuz not all the farmers want to get spam and random phone calls. We should sent the directory out every few weeks on the listserv.
[edit] Campus contacts
Nadesan Permaul (ASUC Auxiliary Executive Director)
Local support: appreciates our presence on campus and should be called if we need a special favor or some sway in a campus issue
Contact
Email: permaul@berkeley.edu
Office: 510-642-5420, 400 Eshleman
Tom Spivey (ASUC Auxiliary Associate Director)
Local support: Helps with refrigeration and storage
Contact
Email: tspivey@berkeley.edu
Office: 510-642-1118, 400 Eshleman
Susan Ten Bosch Paull (Campus Life and Leadership—the formal OSL, Advising Assistant)
Local support: approves some of our permitting (including space reservation requests and fundraising permitting)
Contact
Email: tenbosch@berkeley.edu
Office: 510-642-5171
Fax: 510-642-1672
Patrick Kaulback (Environmental Health & Safety, EH&S)
Local support: approves our food permitting, good contact to have because he allows us to use multiple student groups in order to comply with the 3 events/90 day permitting.
Email: pkaulback@berkeley.edu
Office: (510) 642-1977
Jan Crowder (ASUC Auxiliary Director of Student Affairs)
Local support: is allowing us to use petty cash from our ASUC account to make weekly purchases Contact
Email: janicec@berkeley.edu
Office: 510-642-8294, 400 Eshleman
Fax: 510-642-3022
Jillian Hagan (ASUC Office Manager and our accounts secretary)
Local support: manages the ASUC Sustainability Team account Contact
Email: jillh718@berkeley.edu
Fax: 510-643-6396
Office: 209 Eshleman
Nguyet Tran
Local support: gives us weekly petty cash on Tuesdays and collects it again on Wednesday afternoon
Contact
Email: nttran@berkeley.edu
Office: (510) 643-5972, 400 Eshleman
[edit] See Also
The Bus Stop Food Coop guides.
