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Member Worker
Profile: Lisa Vines
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by Andrew Elder
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When I first met member
worker Lisa Vines, she was carrying around a hand-drawn map she had
created of the new bulk foods section. It was a meticulously detailed
piece worthy of any draftsman. But amateur retail cartography is just
one of Lisa’s many talents, and one of many areas she works at Honest
Weight. Although her first and greatest allegiance is to bulk foods,
she wears lots of hats. Have you seen the cat-and-dog mobile hanging
over the new natural pet food area? That was Lisa. She also works with
Lorilee Bird on signs and advertising. She writes about bulk foods for
the Coop Scoop. She lends a hand in produce and with the flower
displays in the summer where she banks extra hours for her family. Lisa
is truly a Jane of All Trades.
She’s only been a member for a few years, but it wasn’t for lack of
trying. “It’s a bit embarrassing, but for the longest time I couldn’t
find the Co-op,” she confessed. “People kept saying: ‘You should shop
at the Co-op, you’d love it,’ but I couldn’t find it!” Ironically, it
wasn’t until she moved several miles away from downtown Albany, to
Delmar, that she finally found her way. And she hasn’t left since. Lisa
teaches at the Albany College of Pharmacy and has several colleagues
who are long-time Co-op members. She grew up in and around Memphis,
while her husband is a native of upstate New York. “Jeff is Mr.
Watertown,” said Lisa. “He loves the cold, while I still expect spring
to arrive around March every year.”
Honest Weight is where Lisa and her family learned all about healthy,
local and organic food. She’s also learned about retail operations,
interior design and even botany. She says she is constantly impressed
by how much staff and other member workers know about a wide variety of
subjects. For Lisa, that knowledge and experience base was one of the
most valuable resources as a new member and she would love to see it
become a part of orientation.
Lisa and her husband Jeff are still in Delmar with their three
children, one of whom sat in on Lisa’s interview. Marianne echoed her
mother’s fondness for the people and philosophies behind Honest Weight.
The kids started out in love with the yogurt-covered raisins mom
brought home, but quickly grew to enjoy all manner of new and healthy
treats. Although Lisa was the first person in the family to become
vegetarian, Marianne was right behind her and supported her mother’s
early experiments with recipes centering on then unknown bulk foods.
Marianne categorized the family as “adventurous vegetarians.” When
asked how the experiments end up, Marianne smiled and said: “They
usually work out… usually.”
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