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A Park Slope Food Co-Op member is raising money to sue the organization, alleging racial discrimination
Park Slope Food Co-Op member Reginald Ferguson has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $10,000 in order to sue the decades-old, famed Brooklyn grocer over his suspension, alleging racial discrimination,
Brooklyn Paperreports.
Ferguson, who is Black, tells the community newspaper that he was suspended from the co-op following a situation in 2017 in which another member complained about Ferguson’s choice of music while he was working as shift manager. The complaint went in front of the co-op’s “Dispute Resolution Squad,” where another member “backed up the complaint, and took issue with Ferguson’s joyous attitude,” according to the report. Ferguson was eventually suspended over the situation without access to an internal hearing, he says, in a move that goes against the co-op’s disciplinary guidelines.
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Speaking at last month’s MIT Sustainability Summit, representatives of five companies discussed ways to reconcile this consumption with eco-friendliness, with various approaches. Speakers included:
Pat Brown, CEO of Impossible Foods, which develops plant-based substitutes for meat products.
Charley Cummings, whose Walden Local raises and distributes sustainable meat through a farm-share-like program.
Jill Marshall Gould, founder of Butter Meat Co., which focuses on mature, organic local beef.
Cara Nicoletti, whose Seemore Meats & Veggies produces carbon-neutral, vegetable-forward sausages.
Brian Spears, CEO of New Age Meats, which grows meat from the cells of animals that have not been slaughtered, a process known as “cultivated meat” or “cell-based meat.” The company’s products are not yet for sale.