daily Co-op’s board election 2020

Why would you like to serve on the Daily Groceries Co-op Board? 

I would love to serve on the Board the Daily Co-op because I believe that affecting locally is the best opportunity people have to positively influence the world around them. Local efforts like the Co-op help focus a community’s drive to better everyone within- especially important in the current global climate. 

How can you and your life experiences bring value to the Daily Groceries Co-op board? 

My time studying at the University imbued a strong focus on just how broken our current agricultural system is- especially when looking at environmental ethics, a number of ethical problems arise when economies of scale are applied to food- which was once exclusively a local product. I believe that bringing this local sense of food is tantamount to improving our neighborhoods, towns, and even globe. My experiences working at farm-to-table restaurants like Cakes & Ale in Atlanta have also inspired me to believe this is an achievable goal. 

Describe your experiences working collaboratively in a group setting. 

In terms of collaborative efforts, my whole life I have been a participant in team sports, primarily baseball, and have worked on service teams in various restaurants and bars for a decade and a half. Most recently, my efforts have been put towards CCBC’s city hall- a group of volunteers who organize city cleanups, and have recently been working to orchestrate a movie night in support of Ciné.

The Daily Groceries Co-op Board does not deal with operational matters. It does deal with overall policies that identify and guide the mission of the organization. How do you see the board maintaining and expanding on the broader vision for the Co-op? 

I believe the thrust of improving any community you are involved in starts with being a good neighbor. The Co-op board has a unique opportunity to do just that- I believe that by creating more and more partnerships with local chefs, pop-ups, etc. that there are great opportunities to better everyone in the food industry in Athens. This is especially true given the improvised and almost ad-hoc ways restaurants and the like have responded to the Covid pandemic. 

How can Board members better represent the opinions of the membership and the larger Athens community? 

The Co-op board is only succeeding and keeping the Athens community in mind when it is present in the Athens community. This means not simply believing that you know what is best for the people within, but instead being involved and aware of what needs exist. This is hard sometimes since needs are no always pretty- but being aware of every aspect of Athens, both good and bad (and how to improve them) is key.