Vandalism in the Store

Beth B emailed the listserv about an incident where a shopper/employee vandalized a bin of Israeli couscous. Laura had a great idea as to a way of addressing it, so I wanted to start a discussion here about it so we can just get at what actions we can take as a committee to address this breach of the policy register. Here’s the part of the Policy Register I feel it goes against:

A3 Provide a respectful and safe work environment in which fairly compensated employees have a
strong sense of ownership in the success of the Cooperative.

A4 Create and sustain an ever-widening circle of community members with healthier and more
environmentally restorative lives, in an atmosphere that encourages communication and
discourse.

(Emphasis mine.)

I really liked Laura’s idea of adding a sign to the display case about it- do others think this is appropriate? Is it enough? Please add your ideas..

Thanks.

I really appreciate your effort to open this discussion!

Genelle, I appreciate your siting of the policy register items breached. I would love to see this in the display case! With it could be an invitation to have an in-person or online discussion of either the act of vandalism and/or the political statement that was so poorly expressed and what role could/should a community co-op play in addressing global politics effectively.

I would also be interested in knowing the facts about Israeli couscous and to find an opportunity to educate the community about both the product and its source. It might be an effective way of separating government politics from the people impacted by them, and also using an educable moment to comment on the misunderstandings perpetrated by stereotypes. Who among us wanted to be characterized in the world by the actions of Bush? For all we know, the couscous is produced by Palestinians! (And still I am making assumptions about the intent of the market defacer…!)

Thanks for taking this on!

I’ve created a wiki so we can work together in order to edit a statement. I think it’s better if we add comments in a discussion-format on that wiki page as well instead of continuing the discussion here.