Jessica Niederlander – Houghton STAR

The Allegany Harvest Cooperative Market (Co-op) is struggling financially, and without significant improvement in their sales by December, it will be forced to close.

Dr. Sunshine Sullivan, co-op board president, said that one cause for the current situation is the fact that half the members did not renew their membership for another year. Part of the reason for this is that many members have moved out of the area and no longer find it practical to shop at the co-op. But, another reason may be that the co-op does not sell all that they need to keep afloat. Rather than being able to go to the co-op and get all they need, customers often must make a trip there and then to another store, often the Shop-n-Save in Fillmore, to finish buying all their necessary groceries.

Vice-president of the board Peter Meilaender stated that residents in the area were not as interested in organic items in the area as the board members initially thought that they would be. Therefore the number of families included in calculations for weekly organic sales were much lower, resulting in profits that were overall lower than expected.

Another problem the co-op faces is accommodating the diversity in what customers want and need, according to Meilaender. It has proven more difficult than expected to meet the diverse demands of the people in the area. Though some may shop at the co-op just for the fresh produce, others come for the organic food or for various other reasons. Keeping up with these demands continues to be a struggle for the co-op.

Further down the list of difficulties the co-op has faced include issues with its building and with store maintenance. “We’ve had repeated problems with the floor, problems with cooling systems, [and] two changes in management,” Meilaender explained. “All these things cause at least short and sometimes longer problem periods where we have to shut the store temporarily, or sell out (or throw out) stock at a loss, or re-design systems.” In addition to cutting into its sales during closed days, these problems have cost the co-op money that it cannot afford to spend.

The board members’ ultimate goal, in order to remain in business in the long term, is to earn $4000 more in sales per month. For now, the board members have a target amount of $150 to $200 more monthly. This would be enough to hire a part-time manager and alleviate much of the current volunteer duties from the board members.

One of the ideas that board members have implemented to increase income is the practice of allowing co-op members to order and pre-pay for items. That way, members can purchase specific items not on shelves and purchase them in bulk.

Sullivan encourages student participation, saying that “students can help by shopping there more and putting suggestions in the suggestion box.” Although non-members cannot make pre-paid orders, they can advise board members as to which items of which they might like to see more in the co-op. All in all, what the co-op needs more than anything is patronage.

Closure of the co-op, if necessary, will affect many. The store still has loans from the bank and from about forty members who will not be repaid if it closes. The vendors who currently sell to the co-op will also have to find other venues through which to sell their goods. In addition, the customers in the Houghton area who depend on the co-op for much of their shopping will be forced to go elsewhere. Rebecca Rowley stated on Alleganyharvest.coop that, “ The [Allegany Harvest Cooperative Market] will provide a way for me to both get the quality of food I desire and support the local economy without having to track down individual farmers – a win/win situation!” Closing the co-op will force customers like her to either travel greater distances to acquire the same goods or settle for unwanted food.

Although those who enjoy the benefits of the co-op are many, the store will most likely have to close if it does not gain business soon. The members do not wish for this to happen; however, a realistic view of the co-op’s current state is required. Until forced to close, it is their wish to keep the store running.

On September 12, Houghton hosted a panel discussion revolving around the subject of immigration reform in the Center for the Fine Arts building. Panel speakers included two leaders of national organizations, Galen Carey of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and Daniel Watts of G92; a Houghton political science professor, Professor Peter Meilaender; and Jeff True, a local dairy farmer.

All panelists agreed that immigration laws are being broken and that illegal immigration remains a problem in the United States. True spoke of his personal experience of hiring of immigrants to work at his farm and said, “I have to choose which law to break . . . I hate it.” All that is required to hire a worker on his form is the proper documentation and they have to be able to fill out the I9 form. He cannot know whether the documentation is real or not and he cannot discriminate against them, so it often happens that True does not know whether or not the people he hires are legal immigrants or not.

A common complaint against immigration is that there are many unemployed Americans who cannot find jobs, and could otherwise take the jobs that immigrants do. However, farm work, such as at True’s dairy farm, requires people to work long hours with hard labor each day and, as the panel explained, most Americans do not want those kind of jobs anymore. Carey said that they want jobs that utilize the skill set that they have learned from school. Meilaender and Watts agreed and spoke of how the American society is not a very active one anymore with its emphasis on technology, so many do not want to work the long hours and hard labor necessary for some agricultural jobs.

One of the themes touched upon at the panel was the revitalization immigrants often bring to the culture into which they move. According to the panelists, those who come to America illegally are motivated to survive and succeed because of what they have endured to get here. Carey spoke briefly of the pattern of refugees seeking asylum: the first generation will struggle but the second generation will thrive, knowing the struggles it took to survive in this world. Watts, however, made sure to emphasize that these were broad generalizations being made and that what was said was not true for every person.

Dr. Peter Meilaender, chair of political science, emphasized, however, that people’s responsibilities were first to those in their community. “Immigration control is ethically justified,” Meilaender said. By refusing to open the borders to anyone who wanted to come in, the government is protecting people’s jobs, families, and their way of life.

But the immigrants who have made America their home also carry weight in this issue. Jessica Vaughn, a sophomore who attended the panel, shared a relevant experience with her bilingual home church, adding, “One of the assistant pastors is undocumented.” She continued to say that although she knows that not all Christians will agree on what needs to be done, one should nevertheless act towards the immigrants in a manner worthy of Christ. She sees it as a struggle with what to do with the immigrants who have made America their home but have done so without proper documentation.

“We want workable laws that meet our nation’s needs and that can be enforced and respected by all,” Carey wrote in his August 2013 article for The Washington Post titled “Evangelicals Keep the Faith with Those Working for Immigration Reform.” In it, he commented specifically on what was needed in the immigration laws that are being rewritten. Though he wants his family safe from dangerous people who may cross the border, he also desires to see families reunited and protected from the long separations they have had to endure. “We want to offer undocumented immigrants the opportunity to acknowledge their wrongs, make themselves right with the law, pay appropriate fines and penalties, get in line, and begin the long process of earning legal status and eventually, if they qualify, citizenship.” Though these guidelines to how Carey envisions immigration control will not be agreed upon by all citizens, they do address some of the key issues that will be discussed and addressed while forming new laws.

Though immigration laws may be broken now, hope that the situation will improve still remains and discussion about possible solutions continues. Vaughn said, “People who think the answers are clear cut and straightforward don’t know enough about the issue.” The intent of the panel was not to solve the problem of immigration reform; instead, it aimed to revive the exchange of ideas which may gradually bring the current situation to a less volatile point.