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Jamaica Plain group demands 'culturally appropriate food' at Whole Foods
By adamg on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 1:28pm
Jamaica Plain Patch posts a copy of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council's Whole Foods Ad Hoc Committee report, which says the store should make sure it offers "culturally appropriate food," that its work force exactly mirror the ethnic and economic makeup of the Hyde Square neighborhood and do other stuff to ensure the neighborhood doesn't become the preserve of upper-income white people.
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Comments
sigh. it just amazes me how
sigh. it just amazes me how much effort is STILL being put into it. Its still just a supermarket. I hope they force Stop & Shop nearby to abide by these same recommendations. What's good for the geese is good for the gander!
Imagine if people put this much effort into helping the homeless, or petition the city for more affordable housing, or something OTHER than fighting a supermarket. If this energy was displaced elsewhere instead of at Whole Foods, imagine what good work could be done.
But no, they're too busy fighting a supermarket than to really care about the homeless or poor of JP. Of course their fight against WH is just that.. "helping the poor and latinos of JP", which is a crock and a mask to cover up the real reason which is about property values and nothing else.
I'm even shocked that this group would even DO this and say what WF can and can't sell in their store. Honestly, by this time, if I was WF, I would have thumb'd my nose at ya and said "tuff crap, its our store. Want to dictate what sells, open your own".
Sigh.. its.. just... a... supermarket!
So they want all the
So they want all the MSG,Yellow #5, and extra fructose corn syrup foods in the store, these lames need to just go away...
See -
The problem comes on the word "supermarket". WF is not a supermarket to most people. But I suppose it has it's benefits - bring your kids there and they won't bug you for anything.
Really?
Sounds like one to me.
Not a supermarket?
Why not? It's big enough -- the Fresh Pond Whole Foods is huge. That one, the one near Symphony Hall, and the one in Charles River Plaza are all former Stop & Shop locations.
If they have - -
- Bush's baked beans- the kind with the chunk of pork fat at the top when you open the can- khans hot dogs- steak ums- and Jimmy dean sausage - and wachusetts or utz potato chips - I'll call whole foods a supermarket.
Chris, your behavior in this thread...
... is becoming increasingly troll-like.
Agreed.
You got me.
Culturally Appropriate Foods
Perhaps Whole Foods needs to do more outreach with the Redneck-American community.
Pickled Pigs Feet! Oh yea!
I live in JP. I grew up with delicious food such as pickled pigs feet, fried bologna, fried hot dogs with peanut butter, as well as scrapple, boiled okra, Spam, hog maws and chitlins. Since this refined cuisine is part of my past and therefore is culturally relevant to me, would that mean I can look forward to my occasional jar of organic, free range, underbelly tickled and sweet talked pickled pigs feet?
Hoo wee! We're gonna be eatin' good t'night!
Would ya....kill a man?
If JPNC made Whole Foods sell RAPA brand Scrapple up here, I'd take back everything I ever said about their stupid-ass waste-of-time petition.
Also, I miss Bob The Chef's. Come on, JPNC, make them bring that back too! :'(
Right
And the stores have toiletries, first aid stuff, kitchen stuff, socks, a bakery, a deli, prepared foods, pet supplies, etc. WIKIPEDIA SAYS THAT MAKES IT A SUPERMARKET DAMMIT.
Right...so we're agreed then
Whole Foods, you are not allowed to hire more than 1 Asian and absolutely NO American Indians!
Sigh...*faceslap*
Wow
I mean, I have a lot of time on my hands to post on UHUB and the like, but do these people actually have jobs? 69 pages for this thing?
I noticed that one of the recommendations was that 75% of the people who work here should be from JP. Does that mean Roxbury and Roslindale residents need not apply? Does the one in Dedham have the right to keep some of their staff there or do they force the JP resident workers to the new store to keep the quota level?
Dang.
This thing was going to be my humor reading for tonight but I do not want to read 69 pages! Yikes!
Back in the day
Did the Hi-Lo stock adequate "culturally appropriate food" ?
WANTED
Boston Police are looking for two Hispanic males wanted in connection for an incident that happened at the Jamaica Plain Whole Foods. These men are suspected of buying organic pasta sauce without a permit. Hispanics are not allowed to buy organic goods from the JP Whole Food Store, and anyone with further information should call the police at 1-800-you-have-to-be-shitting-me.
It's amazing the lengths that
It's amazing the lengths that these racist anti-WF folk, (and yes I do believe this has gone to such an extreme as to call it a form of racism), are going to in order to tell the Latino community that they are not worthy of WF, that they don't make enough money to shop there, that they shouldn't eat foods that may not belong to their ethnic origin. I'm sure the Latino community can represent themselves if the wish.
The Neighborhood Council will screen shoppers
so an incident like this wouldn't happen. We will have to show our ID cards before we are allowed into a store, to be sure we are buying only culturally appropriate food.
OMFG
I am not one prone to accusing someone of being a socialist, but DO THESE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND HOW BUSINESS WORKS?!?
Here is a simple cheat-sheet for these simpletons:
1) Actually try shopping at Whole Foods.
2) Don't see an item you'd like? Ask (not demand. I know, that might be a little hard for this rabble.) if they could carry said item.
3) If said item appears, buy it.
4) Friends (um, do you have any?)/neighbors (yeah, the non-white ones. You must not speak with the white ones since you have such a hate on for them.) intersted in the same items? See #2 and #3.
If enough people request and buy "culturally relevant" items, the store will carry them. If they find that an item doesn't sell well enough to justify the shelf-space it's taking up, or worse, expires and must be thrown away before being purchased, then that item won't be carried. No, not even because you think they should.
For cripes sakes, folks, there are little kids getting shot in our city parks, and you're going on about a supermarket as if it is likely to ruin your quality of life? Really???
Thank you, thank you!
Your last sentence should be blown up, placed on a white banner, and hung from lamp posts in JP. Thank you!
Ditto to what WhyaDuck said
Ditto to what WhyaDuck said
Cripes!
I think s/he is due to show up now...
WOW!
Do these egotistical dictators of JP have names or are they anonymous? Who elected them as spokespersons of the neighborhood? Shall I curtsey or bow if I am so honored to appear in their glorious and righteous presence?
Interesting responses here.
Interesting responses here. Especially considering that demands to hire local people have been standard operating procedure by urban community groups all over the country for decades. So you'd all be in favor of stopping this ethnic identity politics claptrap and just let businesses hire any damn person they please?
They used to say that a conservative was a liberal who had been mugged. Now, we can say that a conservative is a liberal who's had his organic carrots and free range chicken messed with. Progress?
Local vs. quotas
There is a huge difference between asking a business to hire locally and handing down quotas as to the ethnic make-up of the individuals hired. Hire locally with out quotas, and you'll get a reasonable cross-section of the local population.
Back to "this is a supermarket for cripe sakes!"; they're not going to be looking for special visas to bring in workers with special technical skills. Whole Foods has a reputation for hiring local.
The whole point of the 'hire
The whole point of the 'hire from the community' was always to favor a given ethnic/racial group. Hiring locally in Hyde Square could easily produce an all-white/Angelo staff. When a room full of black people demand that a developer hire locally in Dudley Square, they're not looking for ebony and ivory together - they want jobs for black folk. And that's what they've been getting for decades now. Was that wrong?
Well, these people are carrying it to extremes
Hiring locally in Roxbury really means hiring from an area that includes Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester. That's a lot of potential candidates.
Hiring locally to the anti-Fooders means hiring from, I'm guessing, a one-block-wide corridor along a short stretch of Centre Street, and making sure that the percentages of specific national-origin groups exactly match the population in that small area.
Even in the North End
You'd be hard-pressed to come up with an all-Angelo staff.
maybe not...
... now did you mean Anglo, or Angiullo?
Not what's worth discussing
You're talking about III(A):
Who cares about III(A) when III(D) is the really dumb one!
III(D):
Shut up-
- and enjoy the 4 varieties of turtle cheese and That delicious celery onion beet juice!
LOL at two things....
1) the notion that lilly-white hipster types are defining "culturally appropriate". No worries, guys! I'm sure they'll have those bulk bins of beans and rice. That's what you're driving at, yes? Oh and lots of pork products too. Okay, done!
2) the Whole Foods 'madness sale' banner ad that loaded at the top of my screen when I read this story..heh.
Question
I don't have time to read a 70 page report scolding a supermarket chain, so can someone tell me if they give examples of "culturally appropriate" foods? Because I cannot imagine any way they could get specific on that recommendation without being hugely, comically offensive. (Er, you know, even more so than they already have been.)
Plantain chips
Well obviously the've gotta carry plantain chips. After all that's what their housekeeper's kids are always eating, right?
If you have to ask, you're part of the problem?
The report says local Latinos are losing culturally appropriate foods, which will decrease their "food security," in part because they'll turn to bodegas, which typically charge more than supermarkets, but doesn't really specify "culturally appropriate" foods for that neighborhood, except for plantains and white cheese. There's a reference to an appendix that looked at pricing of specific items, but that doesn't seem to have been included in the copy online.
I am totally part of the problem
...in that I generally object to speaking for people who haven't asked to be spoken for and who are, in fact, perfectly capable of speaking for themselves and finding their own cheap plantains.
So they want to put the bodegas out of business?
What corporate scumbags these Whose Foods fools are - tools of oppression of the small business owner, grinding the little guy under the heel of the corporation, etc.
Culturally Appropriate Food
So far, my son's "cultural" friends have yet to crack that bag of plantain chips sitting on the shelf, all the while going through three costco-sized bags of cornchips and a half gallon of salsa.
His girlfriend's mom shops at the same stores we do, including Whole Foods - he's tagged along with her while she finds "culturally appropriate" food there, apparently. Another friend's family owns a Brazillian market, so that's where they get their food.
Why they expect Whole Foods to turn in to High-Higher is beyond me. At least a bit north of the city, there seems to be no lack.
HAHA
I read the report yesterday.... ugh, 69 pages????
Also, was at Whole Foods in Dedham this past week, forgot to get swiss cheese so I stopped at City Feed. 6.59 for 6 ounces of sliced swiss cheese! I don't think WFs would be $16 a pound for swiss!
$17.57, actually
Looking at Peapod, yeah, that's stupidly expensive, though cheese prices are like wine...can be all over the place depending on how good it is.
Oh, this report actually exists! I thought it was a joke!
Yup, I am officially embarrassed to live in Jamaica Plain. It's time to take my family and my tax dollars somewhere else.
Isn't it a conservative is a
Isn't it a conservative is a liberal with a job?
Or is it a unitarian is a protestant with a wife? I can't remember the jokes from my WASP friends.
The people who have their
The people who have their knickers in knots over a GROCERY STORE really need to get a hobby.
Yeah-
- they should be working out their new bus schedules to the nearest real supermarket where they can buy food.
Crisis averted in Brighton
Imagine my amusement when I read the local listserv in Allston-Brighton today talking about a city meeting to discuss installing a brand new Whole Foods on Washington St in Brighton!
"Haha!", I thought, "The ACA (Brighton doesn't actually have its own group...nor its name included in Berkeley's group) can join forces with the JPNC like a giant Voltron of Derp!"
Crisis averted however, when it was recently determined that it's not a Whole Foods that wants to move in, but a "Nature's Green Grocer" (only other location known is in Peterborough, NH?).
LOL
Every time I read "like a giant Voltron of Derp", it makes me laugh.
I demand some sensitivity and
I demand some sensitivity and culturally appropriate foods stuff! Now excuse me while I go measure myself for some Native American headgear and proceed to blast some rap by some white frat guy.
The absurdity of all this is
The absurdity of all this is very amusing. One member of the committee who wrote this report lives in Roxbury, but the JPNC said, hey you're a local business owner, granted not a brick & mortar business owner, but well, close enough, we need to hear what you think.
Well good thing this whole report got wrapped up in time because his business appears to be moving to Columbus Avenue in the South End...blocks away from the Symphony Whole Foods.
One word, kids!
GOYA!!!!
Whole Foods and the MFA
Can both have a Goya exhibit!
or...as they used to say in old JP
GOYIM!
Here's a good summary of the JPNC proposal
This is like a little kid's Christmas list.
Read the summary here.
I take one night off from
I take one night off from reading UHub and look what happens, I miss a major post on 'The major social issue of our day". Only when SWMBO informed me of this post after I finished washing the dishes and folding laundry last night, did I learn of this.
When I saw that there were 69 pages of material, I desperately called/texted/emailed my colleagues to cloudsource the content of this document, but no luck. So I ended up reading (except when my eyes glazed over and I skipped some of the more pedantic parts) into the early morning.
Here are a few highlights:
extortion, er I mean negotiation if WF applied for a common victualers license.Despite JPNDC's effort to create a non-WF alternative in the old Sacred Heart property and Harvest Co-op's expansion plans, I can't help but wonder if all of this misplaced energy wasn't directed in some way that would benefit the economically disadvantaged in the JP area.
Peter, this has been my point
Peter, this has been my point all along. People really should think and pick their battles. This isn't one of them.
Maybe if this much energy was spent on getting grants to build a farmers market in JP (yep I'm suggesting one!) or low income housing it would have a far better outcome that an uphill battle with a corporation.
I also wonder if JPNDC will make other businesses follow their orders? I mean, you can't just single out Whole Foods, its far from fair. They need to do this for ALL businesses in JP if they want to push this to this level, not just Whole Foods.
So where's the same document for Stop & Shop to follow? How about City Feed? How about the bodegas? Are they going to force these things on to them too.
Again what's good for the goose, has to be good for the gander too. You can't force "fairness" on one business only!
poultry equity
Why stop at the food sellers? If the underlying gunpowder that has ignited with the Whole Foods spark is the gentrification issue, then shouldn't most of the businesses along Centre Street from Hyde Square south be held to the same criteria? And is the "Same Old Place" exempted because they "kept it real" with a shooting?
This whole thing is more than asinine because they walked right up to some important issues and then proceeded to draw attention to themselves by being idiots and discrediting some of the actual, legitimate concerns. Was it done to jumpstart some assholes non-profit or political career? Was it done because a current politician(s) is manipulating the whole thing? Is it extortion from "poverty-pimps" against a wholesome corporation honestly providing needed and appreciated services? Is it just egomaniacs who like to hear themselves blather on but won't constrain themselves to comments on a blog....? er... I dunno. All of these motives have been thrown out there on UHub. I just wish it would go the fuck away so that we can get back to blaming bicycling hipsters for everything.
What's that stand for?
Is that the Jamaica Plain Nexus of Determined Cranks?
Whole Foods should just pat them on the head and say "there, there." This isn't engagement, it's a tantrum.
If JPNDC really wants to do something useful to ensure access to "culturally appropriate foods" at the Whole Foods, they should do a market study to demonstrate the demand for such foods. The business would not ignore a demonstrated market.
Giving a long list of increasingly unhinged demands just makes them seem not worth the bother of acknowledging.
I think the best suggestion I've seen recently (and it was presented as a suggestion, not a demand) was that Whole Foods should put out some fixed tables and chairs in front so the viejitos can talk and play dominoes. Set up a pushcart selling tiny cups of black coffee and empanadas and you'll make it perfect.
If only it were that simple
If Whole Foods set up a pushcart selling coffee and empanadas, they'd have to get a common victualer's license, and then the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Whole Foods would have them right where they want them, MWA-HAH-HAH!
Because also included in the ad hockery is a demand that Whole Foods not destroy nearby culturally appropriate restaurants by going into competition with them through a CV license. If they did apply for a license, they'd have to appear before both the neighborhood council and the Boston Licensing Board to explain themselves. And you know the JPNCAHCWF would be at both hearings (of which only the licensing-board one would ultimately matter, since they are the ones who actually issue the licenses).
JPNC ad hoc committee
Hi Adam,
The Ad Hoc Committee (5 JPNC members plus 10 randomly selected community members has finished it's mandate, which was to produce the report. Like the Norwegian Blue, the Ad Hoc Comm is "No More". Now the duty is with the JPNC to consider the communities "report/wishlist" and to coordinate with Whole Foods. The JPNC accepted significant input for the report from anyone who wanted to contribute, whether part of the JPNC-AHC or the extremely motivated non-members(Whose Foods). That is either a blessing or a curse depending on your point of view. It certainly created a kitchen sink/wishlist mentality, the other point of view is that the JPNC can claim that this time they are listening to all perspectives. After the JPNC voted WF was "not a good fit" for JP, they were inundated with opinions to the contrary. Forming the AHC and letting it rip allowed the JPNC to say that they have heard from the community. In my opinion, they have once again heard from a small but very vocal minority. The average person that is happy that Whole Foods is moving in was not motivated to attend multiple meetings just to voice that opinion. This seems to be the prevailing opinion among my neighbors in JP South (SoMo ???). I realize that most posters on UHUB are not from JP and can't tell a JPNC from a JPNDC but it sure would have been nice to have some of these voices of reason attending the JPNC-AHC meetings over the last few months, instead of griping now. OTOH, why waste the time since the WF is going to open anyway? Maybe the answer is not so much about WF but about the next Biz that considers opening in JP?
You are correct that if WF wants to serve prepared foods, they have to meet with the JPNC. The city can accept or reject the JPNC recommendations but that is the process. The JP store is quite small in square footage, but usually prepared foods are a pretty good profit center, so they will likely come to the JPNC at some point. If I owned WF, I would open in Nov. and then come to the JPNC for prepared foods when things quiet down.
It's just that the discussion
It's just that the discussion was so retarded to begin with that no one who supports the opening of a supermarket could really get so keyed up that they would actually attend a meeting sponsored by a bunch of cry-babies at the JPNC or whatever it's called. No one had to care much about the JPNC until now--so I guess it's good for the JPNC if more people care about its existance, but maybe bad if more people hate it and want it to be disbanded.
JPNC Elections
Good point. Well, if anyone does feel keyed up about the JPNC and wishes to become involved, you can pick up the signature packets 7/8/11 either of the JP BPL's!
All the more reason
They should propose it ASAP so that the Jamaica Plain Nexus of Determined Cranks can whine and protest about it. Then WF can declare that the JPNC is waging war against Latino culture and you'll have a... oh, I can't say it.
"fixed tables and chairs in
"fixed tables and chairs in front so the viejitos can talk and play dominoes. Set up a pushcart selling tiny cups of black coffee and empanadas and you'll make it perfect."
Along with the suggestions about soul food plus Depression era favorites such as fried baloney - I'm there.