Seward Co-op has been receiving comments in the store and via social media regarding Eden Foods CEOs position on the supreme courts Hobby Lobby decision on Monday. Customers have inquired if the co-op would consider pulling Eden Foods product from the shelves. The co-op shares these concerns about Eden Foods’ position. In fact, weve been watching this situation for over a year. Seward communicated our concerns in 2013 to the company’s president, Michael Potter, when Eden Foods filed a complaint against the U.S. government of its own (that was an even more worrisome action than simply voicing approval of the Hobby Lobby decision in the press, as Potter did this week). You can read more about that case (Eden Foods v. Sibelius) here: motherjones/politics/2014/04/hobby-lobby-sebelius-contraceptive-for-profit-lawsuits There are three main problems facing Seward when a longtime vendors beliefs prove to run counter to our beliefs on an issue (for the record, we unconditionally support womens health and womens access to health care, if that wasnt clear). First, we cannot expect to achieve 100-percent alignment with each brand we carry at Seward. Every producer has his or her own vision and values, and while the co-op strives to source products from companies with values similar to our own, we wouldnt have many products on our shelves if we expected all our vendors to have the same mission statement as ours. Secondly, several other aspects of Eden Foods’ practices align very well with Seward Co-op values. Many of our customers appreciate the fact that Eden Foods is an independent company rather than one owned by a large corporation. Furthermore, Eden Foods has been a staunch ally, consistently supporting strict organic standards, and Eden Foods products were free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and Bisphenol A (BPAs), LONG before most other producers began to consider these issues. As often as possible, Eden Foods also sources crops locally to their business, and they keep hundreds of small, family organic farms in business. Third, Eden Foods is an utterly unique vendor and has been for decades. Removing their wide array of certified organic staples from our shelves would leave holes that would take months of research to fill, probably with scores of other vendors -- and its difficult to believe Eden Foods quality could ever be matched. In short, in order to meet the wide variety of product needs within our diverse community we have to carry Eden Foods even though some of our customers may prefer to not to see them on our shelves. Seward Co-op respects your purchasing decisions in this regard, and we strongly encourage you to make product choices that align with your values every time you shop.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 20:42:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015