1. To the Open Harvest Management Team, General Manager, and Board of Directors,

We live in a highly politicized and polarized time. Just as much as we can no longer maintain silence, we cannot affect change everywhere. We must focus our efforts on places and people that matter to us. Open Harvest matters to us. The Cooperative Principles matter to us. We care deeply about this place and its people, and that is the place from where we speak to you today. We are invested in making change, and we invite you, as Managers, to join us.

Change is rarely easy, comfortable, or palatable. You have made yourselves available to hear concerns and to support staff through words only. When we take your collective actions into consideration, the culture you have nurtured is one of toxicity. Through investigation, we have uncovered and documented a long cycle of misconduct, abuse, and neglect. Your policy does not protect us. Your power and hierarchy do not enable us to use our voices, but instead snuff them out. Therefore, we demand:

1) Anti-Bias training take place as soon as possible. This training must address the topics of gender, race, class, and sexuality. Training must NOT be led by Management or the Board, but by a 3rd party expert.

2) Our hiring process be restructured to grow and nurture a diverse staff. Equal opportunity must be honored when considering any open positions, and all staff, including those of non cis-white identities, must be celebrated publicly, with consent.

3) Our marketing and advertising must be accessible to people of all identities.

4) Open Harvest must intentionally create access to affordable products through participation in WIC and price reduction.

5) An immediate reform, with active representation of non-management staff, of the following documents and processes:

● Employee Handbook

● Incident Reporting

● Training Curriculum

● Communication Strategy

6) Reinstatement of the Community Outreach position.

7) Major changes to the store or store policies must be approved with staff representation, in addition to Management. The Board, and Management, must engage and collaborate with non-management employees when making decisions regarding said changes.

8) Immediate creation of a Management accountability process to prevent further abuse of power, and to explicitly include the development of and hire for an HR position.

9) A thorough consideration of National Co-op Grocers as an institution, their relationship withOpen Harvest, and an examination of how Open Harvest's impact in the community may change in their absence.

While Open Harvest preaches 'everyone welcome' we do not practice it. We do not truly welcome all people, we are not a diverse or inclusive space, and we, who have brought these demands forward, can no longer participate in cultivating this space as something it merely claims to be. If Open Harvest is truly concerned for its community, we must take action to dismantle this institution and rebuild anew.

With questions, contact concernedohemployees@protonmail.com.

{Statements by former & current OH employees: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EDyqJIQ6ZUedRISEuLS6BJ4ANBvjnrMn/view?usp=sharing }

{Demand statement and amended demands}

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-1st2P2R2JlPBDOgi...

In cooperation,