The Organic foods movement led to my involvement with the Co-op first as a farmer supplying eggs and produce and later as an investor through Slow Money SLO to help move the store to it’s current location.
I grew up in a food and farm family in the Pajaro Valley in Santa Cruz County, picking and packing ollalieberries, plums, and apples. After high school, I moved to San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly on a football scholarship. Later, I taught and coached high school tennis. In the late 70’s, when real estate was booming, I jumped in head-first and eventually owned franchises of both Coldwell Banker and Better Homes & Gardens. I also developed sma+ll subdivisions and townhome projects in Atascadero.
The Cooperative business model provides an alternative to the basic profit-motivated economic system. As members of the Co-op, we own the store and keep any profits local, re-distributing throughout the community rather than in some hedge-fund in Manhattan. As a Director of SLO Food Co-op, I want to continue to contribute to our success and have a voice in plans for our future.