Food collective gets reprieve
Daniel Davydiuk helps Marco Burelli make some healthy choices. The store is much more than health foods. Burelli was asked why he shopped at the Frigo Vert and his response was that “food is politics.” Among their many initiatives, Frigo Vert supports local farmers by creating a bridge between their crops and buyers.
Photo by Greg Fretz
A student levy could ease the rental troubles that threatened to pull the plug on Le Frigo Vert, the Concordia-based collective food store.
Students voted late last month to increase Le Frigo Vert’s current undergraduate fee from $1.70 per semester to $0.25 per credit. The change would mean a boost in student fees for undergrads taking more than two classes.
Students voted 2,459 to 1,948 in favour of the levy after Le Frigo Vert appealed to students to help defray rising rental costs. In July the store’s rent increased from $700 per month to $2,300 per month after their landlord boosted rates and a tenant they shared the space with departed.
“I’m really happy about the levy passing,” said Janel Fisher, a graduate anthropology student. “The store is an excellent resource for getting healthy, organic food at cheap prices.”
Le Frigo Vert’s small space at 2130 Mackay St. is packed with a variety of foods that appeal to adventurous and environmentally conscious consumers. Bulk quinoa, Asian cooking sauces, frozen rice milk treats, organic kale and Swiss chard line the store’s shelves and fridges.
Many students pop in to purchase a quick lunch. Nori rolls, tofu sandwiches and veggie-stuffed pitas are wrapped and ready to go.
At 51 cents a cup, the store also offers students one of the cheapest places to get their coffee fix. As with many products in the store, the coffee is fair traded, giving producers a more equitable price for their goods.
Le Frigo Vert doesn’t just sell food. Earth-friendly dish washing liquid, natural deodorants and additive-free soaps are also offered.
“As a woman, having alternative menstrual products is important to me,” Fisher said. “Le Frigo Vert has organic tampons and reusable pads that I can’t find in a regular pharmacy.”
The store also offers workshops on baking bread, making clothes, do-it-yourself baby food, nutrition, and other topics.
They also offer fresh vegetables, spices and home cooking on a weekly basis, direct from farmers. Staff member Marielle Levine said the levy’s success is inspiring.
“There’s way more energy in the store,” she said. “It’s really exciting to be here now as support has continued to build. It’s great that the student body appreciates the store.”
While things are looking up, it’s been a rough year for the little co-op.
Some workers used personal bank loans to keep the store’s shelves stocked after the rental increase. Staff hours were slashed and benefits were eliminated to meet expenses. Two employees voluntarily worked without pay for all of last summer.
As with all student referendums, le Frigo Vert’s levy had to be approved by Concordia’s Board of Governors on April 21.
Interviewed before that meeting, le Frigo Vert staff member Shelly Bazuik said she didn’t want to count her chickens before they hatched, but she ought to be relieved, as it was passed.
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