Whole Foods

At-large candidates don't have much to say about Whole Foods issue in JP

The Jamaica Plain Gazette quizzed the seven candidates on some JP-specific issues. Only JP resident Sean Ryan had any criticisms of the way the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council handled the matter.

Speaking of the neighborhood council, the Gazette also reports that among the Whose Foods protesters outside the new store on its opening day earlier this week was Ben Day, the council's new chairman.

Day said that he was there to support locally owned businesses, affordable housing and culturally appropriate food in Hyde Square.

The Gazette did not say when Day is planning protests outside the Rent-a-Center or CVS or whether he considers Scottish food culturally appropriate for Hyde Square.

Whole Foods opens early in Jamaica Plain

The Globe reports the store where the Hi-Lo used to be opened today instead of its announced Wednesday date.

That didn't fool Whose Foods, though. Patty Neal tweets:

The 20-something protestors at WF have a drum circle! The customers are shouting at them "We love Whole Foods!"

Jamaica Plain Whole Foods to open next week

Neither community opponents nor union picketers could stop it, the Jamaica Plain Gazette reports.

Newest attraction for photographers in Jamaica Plain

Whole Foods sign

Roving UHub photographer Gretchen snapped the new Whole Foods sign in Hyde Square this morning, adds:

I chatted with the workmen this morning and discovered I wasn't the only person who had stopped to take pictures.

Larger turnout for JP Neighborhood Council election

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports at least three anti-Whole Foods candidates won seats in the Saturday election for the advisory council, which saw turnout of twice as much as the 2009 elections.

Backers of the 'less radical' candidates fight back in today's JP elections

Today's Election Day in Jamaica Plain, for seats on the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (one of the polling places is at JP Licks - vote, buy some ice cream, it's a wonderful thing). Steve Garfield, who lives in Jamaica Plain, posted a copy of a flier distributed around the neighborhood urging votes for non-anti-Whole-Foods candidates (this is JP after all), and wonders who's behind it (since it has no identification on it):

Today is the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council elections,

Till 7:00 PM, vote at Forest Hills T stop, JP Licks, Stop and Shop.
More info:http://www.jpnc.org/

Whole Foods: We haven't even opened in JP yet, and we've already donated $36,000 to local groups

Julio Varela posts a statement by Whole Foods in response to Whose Foods' demand it fork over 1% of its annual revenues to stop gentrification in the neighborhood, and the Jamaica Plan Neighborhood Council's sorta demand it create a fund specifically for use by JP community groups:

The JPNC recently requested that Whole Foods Market create a fund for use by JP community groups, which is a request that has never been made to any other retailer joining JP. Creating a fund for a specific community is not how we do business, nor have we ever found it necessary given our history of community involvement. Our outlook at this time has not changed, and we are now focusing 100% of our energy on opening our new store in Jamaica Plain.

Earlier:
JP group may or may not rewrite proposal that Whole Foods may or may not sign.

JP group may or may not rewrite proposal that Whole Foods may or may not sign

The Jamaica Plain Gazette keeps us up to date on the JP Neighborhood Council, which is now busy "redesigning" the agreement it may or may not want Whole Foods to sign and which it may or may not have discussed with the company at a meeting that may or may not have left the door open to further negotiations earlier this month.

[T]he JPNC did not directly ask Whole Foods to sign anything, and Whole Foods did not directly say no, Howley told the Gazette. She said that certain requests "made it unsignable" because they addressed practices that Whole Foods never does as a company. She declined to specify those requests on the record.

JP council will ask Whole Foods for something after all

Exactly what, however, is a secret, the Jamaica Plain Gazette reports:

“We'll certainly share info when we can, but we're concerned that sharing with the public what we’re asking before we ask it could compromise the effort and be perceived as acting in bad faith," said a statement from the JPNC's "Negotiating Team" sent to the Gazette by member and council chair Andrea Howley.