June marks the month that the Strategic Planning committee has been working for a year. Although the group has tried to be as transparent as possible, and involve as many people as possible, there may still be someone out there who doesn't know what we've been doing. We're here to fill you in on the activities.

The Board's goal has been, and continues to be, to open up the process of decision making to as many members as possible in the spirit of cooperation and active membership - including both those who work at the store all the time, and those who work there less frequently. We've also taken some opportunity to talk to customers and understand their perspective.

This open policy, when we remain respectful, affords us the ability to listen to each other, talk about constructive ways of coming to consensus, and working the process. It's not always easy, as we all have different perspectives - as a matter of fact it's damn hard sometimes. When we stick with the process (especially when we feel like giving up), that's when real progress occurs. We feel confident that we can continue to work together and work the process. It hasn't let us down yet.

Some folks have participated all the way through. Some have risen to a particular challenge and then stepped away. Some are doing what they do best and leaving the rest for others. Whatever your participation, it has been exceptional and truly appreciated. We have three active committees and one forming this month, thanks to interest shown at the Annual Meeting.

Let's review what our policy and the work of this committee has netted for the Coop:

1. Documents from the two surveys - Marketing and the longer written one, focus groups, etc., that reflect the opinion of a huge number of members and shoppers and can be used as reference.

2. A two-day retreat that produced actionable items for the membership and some excellent ideas, also retained for reference.

3. A draft of statements of conscience and a renewed commitment to the mission statement - approved by the membership.

4. Agreement from the membership (November) that we indeed need to grow, and the components we'd like included in that growth. Later, an adopted vision statement (April) about the growth to inform our decision making.

5. Recognition that we needed more detail in our food policy, as it's a key piece of our mission. An active food policy group is doing the hard work of figuring out what our policies for food purchase and merchandising could be. (And, let's appreciate, offering their work-up for criticism at regular intervals to those who will not participate in the actual committee - more detail at the end of this article.)

6. A close vote to continue in the NCGA (56-40) leads us to believe that there are many folks who are interested in doing business in a slightly different way, and are willing to begin doing research on how that could possibly happen - and hoping for input from the buyers in particular, if not the whole way along, then after the research is finished and it's time to actually consider making a change.

7. A site group that is working on collecting information and reviewing available sites, and beginning some research on what it would cost to build in an economically deprived neighborhood like Arbor Hill. That committee commissioned and received a report on our current building from an engineer, and is looking into financing options in conjunction with the Finance committee.

8. A Vision group that's trying to pull the pieces together, get it written down so newcomers and people who haven't been on the committee can understand what we're doing, and solidify the rest of the strategic plan. That committee is currently discussing the next retreat and the next forward steps.

Strategic planning takes a long time. (Lynne recently was at a meeting where the current leader of a strong, viable organization said they had done strategic planning work for 12 years. When she got her breath back, she recognized one more time what a lot we had accomplished in our first year out.) So, before we set out on the next challenging steps, let's try to keep in mind what we have accomplished, and remember that we will get through it. A year ago, this process was only an idea. If you'd like to participate in any way, please contact Lynne (kandl@capital.net) or Ginny (mginny1@nycap.rr.com) and we'll let you know when the next meeting is.

More about the Food Policy group

The Food and Product Policy committee has been meeting regularly in conjunction with members of the Nutrition and Education committee to draft language for a Food & Product Manual, as specified in the HWFC 2003 Bylaws. The committee's process began by reviewing the Bylaws and HWFC's mission statement and identifying nutritional, environmental and social justice concerns within them that might impact product selection, and then comparing these concerns with what we are doing in actual practice in the store.

We are now working on a series of guidelines that will support the Coop's commitment to healthy food, environmental and social sustainability, consumer education, service to customers with diverse needs, and the financial stability of the store. We have been guided in this by member and staff input from the focus groups, the survey in August 2003, and the September retreat. Committee meetings are open to all, and we circulate drafts of the manual to members and the Collective Management Team for comments, as well. For meeting dates and the latest update, contact Ginny McEwen (463-8904, or mginny1@nycap.rr.com) or Nate Horwitz (482-2667, or nate@hwfc.com). The manual will ultimately be submitted to the Board for review and to the membership for final approval.

In addition to the product manual, the committee is working on membership requests to replace the meat pre-order system with direct retail sale in the store. This suggestion was strongly supported in the August survey, with 57% in support of meat sales, 65% in support of poultry, and 71% in support of fish/seafood. At the September retreat we drafted provisions on hormone-free, environmental sustainability, humane treatment, sourcing and merchandising.