The issue is heating up in my state capital. The Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op is only a few miles away from the state house and so a referendum on boycott-of-Israeli-products on the food co-op ballot has gotten the attention of some of the local political hacks– a year and a half into the boycott campaign. This is how the LATimes frames it:
A small band of members pushed the co-op board to strip store shelves of Israeli-made items, arguing that Israel represses its Palestinian population and the co-op should take a stand. They collected signatures and demanded a referendum on the issue, but the board said no. So the activists launched a campaign to take over some board seats. Votes will be tallied Saturday.
This co-op is in its 4th decade with annual sales 0f $26 million and 12,000 members. But membership has been swelling of late because of the battle:
[Barry Broad] was new to foodie activism after a career spent advising Gov. Gray Davis, two past Assembly speakers and presidential campaigns. He also served six years in the New Hampshire state Legislature. He assumed the co-op presidency earlier this year when his predecessor moved out of town.
Trying to quash the protest, he activated a network of political insiders. He crossed party lines to recruit Julie Soderlund, who helped manage Republican Carly Fiorina’s run for U.S. Senate last year and had worked for former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Broad has scooped up supporters, too, recruiting 250 new members by canvassing from synagogue to synagogue. He has spent evenings phoning them with reminders to vote. And he orchestrated a “buycott” that emptied co-op shelves of Israeli goods. (The store, seizing on the rush of sales, quickly restocked, and Broad is stuck with a surplus of bath salts.)
The lobbyist has locked horns with big business, Republicans and even fellow Democrats. But they don’t compete with the co-op’s outliers, he says: “These people are more tenacious.”
Capitol Weekly: Fierce political fight breaks out at Food Co-op and Indybay give a glimpse of the behind the scenes shenanigans scuffling over this election and memberships.
