It was the summer of 2002. Until that time I had always lived a fairly insular life, never really taking an active part in the community at large. All that changed one day as I was riding my bike through Jackson Square. The benches were gone! I knew then and there that I was going to stage a protest in Jackson Square. Well, as it turned out, there was already a group formed called BBB (Bring Back the Benches). I went to one of their meetings and suggested we stage a protest.

Three weeks later there were two hundred people in Jackson Square. It was September 8 and I was riding a big wave of community spirit. That afternoon I bumped into my friend Dave Jeffries, and I said, “Hey Dave, do you still want to start a food co-op?”

Well, we met for coffee a few days later and started talking about food co-ops. We got a few other friends involved, and we quickly recognized we needed to involve the community at large.

We held our first general meeting on November 11. There were 22 inspired people there that evening who all, for many reasons, truly wanted to see a food co-op happen in New Orleans.
Before that first general meeting I was a bit uncertain as to whether a food co-op could really work in New Orleans. After that meeting I felt confident that one day there would be a cooperative grocery in New Orleans. On November 11 the food coop was no longer just a good idea shared by a couple of friends, but a true community effort.