Concern for Community and Safe Shopping at Spiral Food Co-op

Lynn Gannon, Board President

Spiral Food Co-op is committed to the health and safety of our employees, owners, shoppers, and all residents of Hastings and the surrounding communities. We accomplish this by ensuring a continued supply of fresh, local, organic, and sustainable produce, meats, dairy, cheese and groceries, as well as maintaining a robust inventory of health and wellness products and supplements. We also do this by staying informed of the most current information from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and the Minnesota Department of Health and complying with their recommendations and guidance. 

The most significant and, we believe, effective change Spiral Food Co-op has implemented to protect every employee and shopper is Spiral’s new online shopping and curbside pickup system.

For shoppers who choose to shop inside the store, to protect all shoppers and employees, Spiral Food Co-op has taken the following measures:

• All sales personnel are now required to wear a face covering, either in the form of a cloth or surgical mask, or in the form of a face shield, to cover their mouth and nose.

• Hand sanitizer is located next to the shopping carts. All shoppers and employees should use hand sanitizer upon entering the store and as frequently as needed thereafter.

• Spiral Food Co-op employees sanitize commonly touched areas of the store, including the door handles and the credit card machines, every 30 minutes.

• Gloves are supplied by the Co-op for customers and employees to use while accessing bulk products. Bulk products that used to be stored in bins are now pre-bagged by Co-op staff to prevent contamination.

• Markings on the floor indicate six food intervals to help employees and shoppers gauge the appropriate social distance needed for safe public interactions.

These measures are based on guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Minnesota Department of Health to help slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus, especially by individuals who are not aware they carry it.

Recognizing that some may disagree with these changes or find them to be inconvenient, Spiral’s General Manager, with the full support of the Board of Directors, believes these policies are the right thing to do under present circumstances. These simple acts of safety and courtesy are ones we can easily undertake together for the benefit of our community, a concept central to Spiral Food Co-op.

Never has there been a time in history more well suited to the cooperative business model than the times we find ourselves in today. Cooperatives are values driven businesses (as opposed to profit driven), with one of our seven guiding principles being “Concern for Community.” In fact, the word “community” appears in each of the three sentences that comprise Spiral Food Co-op’s 2015 mission statement (formally referred to as our Ends Statement). The health and safety of our community is at the core of who we are and what we do. The added safety that these measures bring to bear for our community is worth the minor inconvenience, even when you personally question the necessity or appropriateness of the measures. Thus, we respectfully ask those who may disagree with these policies to accept them in the spirit in which they have been enacted and please abide by them.

The Board of Directors invites you to share (board@sprial.coop) your thoughts, commentary, or suggestions about preventing the transmission of Covid-19 among employees, shoppers, and community. We will summarize information we receive and provide it to the General Manager, as well as posting it on the bulletin board in the store for everyone to see. Thank you for being a Spiral Owner or shopper and, from your Board of Directors, we hope that all who read this enjoy continued good health and have a safe shopping experience at Spiral Food Co-op.