GM Meeting June 2013 Notes

The Greene Hill Food Co-op General MeetingThursday, June 20, 2013, 7:00PM-9:00PM

DK – Facilitator, Michael - Secretary

INTRODUCTION Welcome and explanation of what/who the Co-op is: 100% working, member owned Lawrence; need a facilitator for future GMs; need to put in classified/newsletter for position; can be a work credit; e-mail board@greenhill.coop if interested. From now on, GM will always begin with finance and membership report and then select discussions. DK: adding renovation report to this GM

FINANCE REPORTS –Sean, treasurer and chair of finance committee Finance will set up a binder in the Store for any member-owner to look at. The binder will contain the latest financial information, such as: this report; weekly, monthly, annual and year-to-date sales (soon); and, eventually, the Co-op quarterly financial reports: income statements and balance sheets. GHFC could also place the Board Minutes in this binder (from the General Meetings and the Board Work Meetings). The general consensus is that the Minutes posted to the Web Site should not have Co-op financial data (as a safety precaution), but that the full Minutes with financial data will be available in the Store. The binder will be labled "Greene Hill Food Co-op: Meeting Minutes and Financial Reports."

MEMBERSHIP REPORTS – Nick, Chair membership committee Membership: Increases: May 2013 - 23 new members June, 2013 - 19 new members so far 188 new members for the year 1262 overall 1042 working <220 on leave> Recruitment is an issue; need to coordinate with other committees to increase members For a coop that’s striving to be representative of our community GHFC need to increase “Apple” memberships – lowest entry price for GHFC membership. Report from refund team; new exit survey provides critical data as to likes and dislikes of members who leave. It’s anonymous feedback that can be quantified Nick: 19 responses so far, comments are useful for evaluating GHFC Membership: Withdrawals 6 - 2011 231- 2012 199 so far in 2013 8 out of 10 withdrawals are due to moving. DK, Sean: Park Slope membership is declining; they are losing more members then they are accruing Park Slope not drilling down in their data; have 16K members, no concerns about why they loose anyone.

MAIN AGENDA Ways to detox your home with natural products: Jill Hoffman – health and lifestyle coach Environmental toxins everywhere – specifically plastics which are cheap, lightweight, convenient Bisphenol A (BPA) is a toxin found in baby bottles, thermal paper receipts, canned foods – and endocrine destructing chemical; cause individuals to gain weight; heart disease, delayed development; children are most prone to toxic overload. Food is #1 entry point for toxins; because plastics are not molecularly sound; 5 components that make plastics degrade faster: heat, oil, acidity, abrasion, time Look at what comes in contact with your food and make sure that you use high quality containers Glass is fine; put items in at room temperature and do not fill to the brim. Coop stocks ideal food containers Plastic is horrible for the environment; a double win when you eliminate plastics in your pantries Metal cooking pots; move away for non-stick pots, stainless steel or ceramic are best. EWG is a great resource for information. Ron Finley’s TED talk “A Guerilla Gardner in L.A.”-

NEWSLETTER - Matthew Newsletter format: blurb on top that links out to other sections; first is the upcoming GM; then events for the upcoming month, recipe to feature, profile a coop member or supplier, then job listings Nick: merchandise has seasonal items; on a monthly basis focus on 2 – 3 products to promote. Member suggestion: coop in the community; encourage event committee chairs to feature this in the newsletter Highlight price drops; very important to highlight – focus on staples DK: incorporate price chart to incorporate going forward; a basket showing downward trend. Merchandising needs to work more closely with the newsletter Matt – communicates with committee heads through “committees@” Nick – approach committees on an individual basis; need to maintain consistent dialogue/get information Leaflet is marketing committee; paper newsletter; DK so far it’s been slow going; four times a year Matt - 1,000 active members and 4,000 newsletter recipients Matt – can focus on membership recruitment – would combine with pricing Nick – innovative ideas for recruitment – a newsletter once or twice a year that focuses on recruitment Pablo – feature innovative jobs that might entice new members/get members involved, such as receiver/leader position Nick – include Allison in newsletter outreach Matt – how do members use the newsletter; it’s updated once a month; the website is more current; link out to the website to be more current; Newsletter link with webmasters Lawrence, less is more – one coop-wide communication per month; linking to certain items on web is more desirable; but then website need to be kept up to date. Nick – distinguish between membership and PR functions of the newsletter; time-sensitive; newsletter, website, social media should be interchangeable Social media; Kelsey sends out material all the time but are members responding? DK – new marketing co-chairs are also looking at communication ; GM agenda must be available at least 10 days in advance GM agenda, needs to be more visible; GMs will be meeting later in the month; see agenda and have more prep prior to the GM. Jill – segment list of members; Matt thinks this is not happening; DK we can separate members Jill – send out two different messages, one for members, the other is non-members; target focus your message to your audience.

CONSTRUCTION – Pablo + Lawrence Incredibly necessary improvements to the back wall; prepare expansion space and storeroom for Phase 2 Nick – Facebook posting of work in progress as well; what’s being done and why – Matt will write about this; talk to April and Pablo; communication on this project needs to be increased. Business as normal in the store while work is in progress Pablo; will meet foreman on 6/21; construction will start 6/22 Saturday AM Back wall and expansion space will get rat-proof; once done move from stockroom to expansion place; this will happen approx 10 days after construction begins Jerrick Waterproofing carrying out construction; coordinate member labor (Nick); need to motivate people to work; communication is essential to motivate members Pablo - need people Friday during the day; expansion space is half empty but needs to be cleared out as expansion area must be empty before work can begin Storage pod is in place; select items still need to be relocated Lawrence - estimates 3 – 5 days for moving stock room into expansion space Document before and after views of space Kelsey - takeaway is Ratproofing! Send out info to Matt and social media

OPEN FORUM DK on Saturday will paint the grills and bring out pictures for new promo pieces; spiffing up the front! Member relief council – change their shift/financial obligations; this council can assist. Kelsey – non-member shopping day; coordinate with outreach to promote the store; have the event when the gates are open in the back.

CLOSING Next Meeting: July 18 at 7pm To be a future facilitator, secretary, or to propose items for next meeting’s agenda contact the Events Committee at events@greenehillfood.coop