By Isabel Spooner-Harvey, Board Member
I’m pleased to introduce one of our new Board members, Debra Shapiro. Debra was a Board member from 2005–2012, and we are excited to welcome her back. We asked Debra some questions to get to know her a bit better and learn what they love about the Co-op.
What was your first memory of Willy Street Co-op?
I think it must’ve been shopping at the store when it was on the other side of Willy St. My friend Dan Slick, who I knew from Survival Graphics, a screen printers’ collective, worked there.
How did you first learn about cooperatives, and what was the first co-op you joined?
I grew up in Pittsburgh and learned about co-ops, especially worker-owned co-ops, as an alternative to union vs. management labor organizing. The first co-op I joined was Semple Street Food Co-op in Pittsburgh. I went to a co-op camp in Michigan when I was 14, but I wasn’t a member.
How would you describe the Co-op to someone who has never been/a potential new Owner?
At the most basic level, members can simply use the Co-op as a source of good food, and you can feel good that the prices of the things you buy at the Co-op are not set to create bigger profits for billionaires; instead the profit is shared back to support the Co-op’s employees and the Co-op itself. Beyond that, you can get involved, know where your food comes from, and support the local food system.
What are your top three favorite Willy Street Co-op foods?
- Tipi carrots
- Farmer John’s Parmesan
- the great selection of local produce!
Do you have any favorite food traditions?
Thanksgiving and I bake thousands of cookies over the Christmas holiday season.
Besides being a Willy Street Co-op Board member, what else do you like to do with your time?
I’m a retired librarian and instructor at the UW-Madison iSchool. I always had side gigs when I was working and now I do those things: volunteering at the Goodman Community Center food pantry, working as an election official, and selecting donated books for the UW Libraries twice yearly book sale. I also develop recipes and post them on my blog, and occasionally teach cooking classes
What are you most excited about in being a new Board member, and what do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges the Co-op will face over the next few years?
I’m always excited about food and providing access to good food for more people, especially local. I’m worried about climate change and its impact on local growers and I’m also concerned about what’s going to happen economically in the next four years given the outcome of the recent election.
Is there anything else you’d like our Owners to know?
I’m the kind of person who wakes up in the morning thinking about what I want to cook for dinner–I know there’s others of you like me out there! Let’s wave when we meet.
