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Crime & Safety

Whole Foods Provides News of Parking Plans, Curley School Salad Bar, Before Police Shut Down Meeting

First public meeting with Whole Foods' representatives dissolves into a food fight at the packed Curley School.

Tonight’s  meeting between Whole Foods and Jamaica Plain residents was intended to consist of an hour-long presentation by the supermarket chain to be followed by a question-and-answer period with the audience.  Having assembled a cadre of executives from its operations, marketing, human resources, public relations departments, and others, the supermarket’s spokespersons barely managed to finish their PowerPoint show before police closed the meeting.

Major news from the presentation included confirmation that there will be a 20-spot overflow parking lot leased from the nearby . One executive said the store hopes to open in late fall. Also, the Curley School is among the schools participating in the chain's "Salad Bar Project," which puts fresh food into school cafeterias.

 Chief talking points during Whole Foods’ presentation included the following:

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  • Core Values:  Whole Foods offers high quality, natural and organic food, satisfies customers, supports its team members, and creates wealth and profit.
  • Building Update:  The exterior of the Centre Street building will remain unchanged.  The interior has been gutted and will be completely rebuilt.  The store is working with the , and hopes to open in the late fall.
  • Hiring Locally:  Positions at the Hyde Square store will be advertised via local media, and the firm will work with the   to hire local residents.  Whole Foods will have a trailer on the site’s parking lot for recruitment and hiring. $10 per hour is the starting rate.
  • Product Mix and Quality Standards:  Each store reflects it community.  Product recommendations may be suggested by sending an e-mail to JP_Products@WholeFoods.com.  The supermarket does not carry products containing trans-fats, artificial colors and flavors, or growth hormones.
  • Value Prices:  The grocery chain has frequent specials and carries its own private label products called “365” that are affordable.
  • Local Products:  Whole Foods sources products from local growers and suppliers, and is already working with JP’s .  Additionally, the store supports farmer’s markets and has a $10 million fund to support local businesses.
  • Responsible Community Partners:  Through its 5 Percent Day and other efforts, the chain provides financial support to numerous charities and non-profits including the JP-based and .  Additionally, JP’s Curley School is participating in Whole Foods’ Salad Bar Project.

The presence of numerous uniformed police at the Curley School’s crowded auditorium evidenced the palpable tension between supporters and opponents of the grocery store.  “Whose Foods” members, who had gathered prior to the meeting on the school stairs to distribute flyers and blue t-shirts that read “ I support an affordable and diverse JP,” were predominant in the audience.

The auditorium holds more than 400 people and was nearly full.

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The presentation by Whole Foods’ representatives began with relative calm.  At one point during the talk, the blue-shirted opponents of Whole Foods quietly held up English and Spanish flyers in silent protest.  Soon, however, the presentation was interrupted by loud shouts of “No Whole Foods!”   Smaller in numbers and certainly less vocal, some supporters replied by chanting “We love Whole Foods.”  Roughly midway through the PowerPoint show, the meeting appeared to dissolve into anarchy when two protestors, who were promptly arrested, unveiled a 10-foot long banner from the room’s balcony that read, “Displacement. What is Whole Foods going to Do About It?”

Nonetheless, the meeting briefly proceeded with its soon-to-be-abbreviated public comments portion, where speakers were directed to keep their remarks to a two minute limit.  Lines of would-be speakers queued up in the aisles, waiting their turn at two microphones.

The first speaker, Claudio Martinez, executive director of the Hyde Square Task Force, launched an angry tirade at the store’s representatives.  “This meeting should be in Hyde/Jackson Square!” he exclaimed.  “You have not reached out to the Hyde Square merchants,” he said. 

The next speaker, who said that she was “in mourning,” asked the executives to “recognize the pain and suffering,” and asked them to guarantee that local residents would be hired to work at the grocery. 

Subsequently, an unidentified woman criticized the firm for its lack of transparency.  “You should have come to the community prior,” she stated.  “Why did it take so long?” she asked. The JP Gazette broke the news of the store's plans in January.

As chants of “No Whole Foods!” surfaced again, the next speaker asked everyone to take three deep breaths.  “Passion is good but rudeness is not,” she stated before describing her fondness for the chain.  “Whole Foods follows gentrification,” she stated.  “It doesn’t create it.”

A few additional residents, both pro and con took their turn at the microphone.  One asked Whole Foods to offer 20 percent discounts to seniors and people on public assistance.  Steve Laferrier of the ’s Ad Hoc Whole Foods Committee asked the executives “to work to find common ground with tangible solutions” on issues ranging from local hiring, small businesses, affordable food, and traffic. 

The penultimate speaker, who did not identify herself, stated that she has lived in Hyde Square for 30 years, and was “glad to see a responsible company taking over the vacant store in Hyde Square,” which she said has many vacant businesses.

The final speaker, Martha Rodriguez, began to address the issue of displacement when suddenly screams were heard from the back of the auditorium. “You can’t take my banner away!” yelled a woman waiting her turn to speak.  After a brief scuffle, the woman was escorted away by police.  A Whole Food’s representative then took over the microphone and proclaimed, “We have been asked to end by the police supervisor. “  Suddenly, a uniformed police officer succinctly announced, “The meeting’s over for tonight.” 

As the crowd dissolved, numerous police cars lined the street outside the Curley School, and the sound of sirens could be heard throughout the neighborhood as police called for reinforcements to avoid a possible melee.

All told, three persons were arrested. The two who placed the banner in the balcony will be summonsed for disrupting a public assembly and trespassing, while a third will be summonsed for only the first charge. All three were released later that night.

A crowd of up to 50 people came to the District Police Station to protest the arrests, according to one witness. Here is a video of them chanting slogans outside the station, taken by Patrick Rosso of the Bulletin Newspapers.

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