First Shifts

Last month, Seth and I joined the Food Coop here in Park Slope. It really didn't take me long to Fall in Love! I thought I wouldn't get as many groceries there because it's a little out of the way during my normal day (& there's a conveniently located grocery store on the way home from the subway)... But, instead of going every day or every other day (like I was in the habit of doing before) I've been getting most of the things I need for the week and not having to spend any time at the market during the week evenings.

My sister-in-law and nephew raved about the coop and encouraged us to join as soon as possible. P even explained how he Loved it there... and now I understand his feelings. We had our first work shifts there this last weekend, and we now feel like we are Real members of the coop! Early Sunday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed... me heading to the recipe box with a pen and paper to make a quick list for after our shift, Seth heading for the sumo in the living to lay back down (Sooo not a morning person). It was nice, walking through the neighborhood at 5:30 a.m. The sun was slowly lighting up the streets, there was a soft breeze and the temperature was a perfect cool.

We didn't really know what we were doing, but the nice thing about that place is, everyone has been there before... being new, starting the shifts, learning the ropes. Many are still learning, and so far, all are willing to share the knowledge of the coop with us. I headed to the basement to do my job, food processing. Seth, he wondered around for a while, not really sure where he was supposed to be for receiving. He was looking forward to getting trucks in to unload, but sadly, Sundays aren't big truck days, so he was stuck stocking shelves.

Meanwhile, back in the basement, I was slicing cheeses, wrapping them, weighing, and labeling them. It was great fun, until the last cheese, an asiago cheese, which was a little harder to cut and exhausted my tiny little arm muscles! I really liked my job. I cut cheese with a few other people, one cutting cheese, one bagging olives, one bagging dried foods, and one measuring and bagging spices, and the whole time we just hung out and talked. They were all older than me, but it was cool to hear their stories, their thoughts.

After our shifts, we headed upstairs to the store to do our shopping. It was already quite busy at 8:30 a.m. As we walked through, I overheard a woman asking someone who was working their shift where we kept something. I realized how cool that was, as it had been mentioned in the orientation... It's not "Where do you keep this item?"... It really is, "Where do We keep this item?" Because we are all a part of this market.

Oh, and here a few things we loved this week from the coop... Smoked Gouda ($1.44 for .6 lb.), Cherry tomatoes ($2.03 per container), Naval oranges ($0.36 each), Hummus ($3.09), Cantaloupe ($1.62 per melon), Portobello Mushrooms ($2.14 for 2 caps) .... Portobello Mushroom burgers were dinner tonight, along with guacamole (made using the Excellent avocados from the coop).