South Philly Food Co-op

Steering Committee Meeting

Monday, August 23, 2010

In attendance: David W., Rose M. W., Maria, Marsha, John, Alison, Mary Beth

1. Website ($2.50) for Mary Beth

a. Alison, Marsha, Maria, Rose, John, David paid

2. Subcommittee update
a. Outreach has elected a chair (Rebecca Finkel), secretary (Julie Haynes)
and volunteer coordinator (Patty Day)

3. Notes from Timeline Committee

a. First timeline committee meeting was last Thursday.
b. Draft pulled together for a 26 month timeline) by Alison, Cassie, Jamie,
Patty, reviewed by Marsha
c. goal of 30 members among committee members, 300 paid members from
the community
d. 3 stages with revisiting and reflection w/chance to revise as necessary
e. large bulk of time laid out for organizing before feasibility study

4. Education topics – have 2 people present a topic of their choice at a meeting

starting October 25th and continuing second meeting of every month.

a. Membership Structures--Cassie (?) on October 25th

b. Communication w/each other -----David for all committee meeting
c. Governance --- also David at all committee meeting
d. Rochdale Principles --- Marsha on October 25th
e. Road trip-
i. Weavers Way—purchasing manager? Accountant for Finance
committee?
ii. Mariposa
iii. 4th Street Co-op in NYC
f. Incorporating, bank accounts, grants (from L/F?)
g. Start-up co-op case studies----Maria
h. History of Co-ops --- Mary Beth on November 22nd
i. Food history of neighborhood----John on November 22nd
j. Teamwork/conflict resolution
k. leadership/Board roles
l. membership drives
m. demographics of the neighborhood----Rose & Jamie (?) for all
committee

Keep archives of these presentations for future newsletters/publications.

5. Door-to-door surveys/ Mapping update

a. Gathering data will help us know if it makes sense to move forward

b. what are the current food sources/businesses in the neighborhood?—is
there a need for what we are doing?
i. analyze for local/organic options
ii. map locations using a Google Map?
iii. ad-hoc committee to send out to survey grocery options to map out
iv. committee will create checklist of items that a store might have
(i.e. produce, canned goods, meats, local goods, organic goods,
prices, square footage of store, etc…) to take data when they visit
businesses
v. committee would generate a report (Excel?) of findings to present
to steering committee
vi. Plan and checklist completed by: September 27th
vii. Report ideally completed by the end of October
viii. Steering committee will give feedback & use data to inform
decisions
c. Make personal connections with businesses for fundraising opportunities
i. ongoing. Strike up conversations.
ii. businesses can provide gift certificates/in-kind donations/placing
flyers in the business/include in marketing
d. Neighborhood door-to-door co-op opinion surveys – what is the initial
perceived need? 10 surveys each
e. Target date for door-to-door surveys in: OCT 9
i. all committee members responsible for 10 paper surveys

6. All Committee Party

7. Other
• happy hour fundraiser
 • Tina Johnson---acting director of Keystone Development Center----provides
grants for rural co-ops---willing to attend a steering committee meeting
(9/13?)
• Appearance at Lo/Mo Festival --- Outreach will man the table.

8. Date and time for next meeting

September 13th---1526 S. Camac St (Mary Beth’s house) 6:30pm