Friends of Wholefoods

The Wholefoods Collective and the MSA Executive have continued their negotiations to secure the future of Wholefoods. The proposal, put forward by the MSA Executive, planned to incorporate Wholefoods and remove it from the MSA Constitution through a referendum at the MSA elections in two weeks, contingent on Exec and Collective agreeing on details at a later date.

However, on Monday, Collective argued it was too soon to approve the proposal. Collective members stated that the details of any agreement should be decided before taking it to a referendum, for several reasons. First of all, members thought that it was necessary for students to be able to make an informed decision. Secondly, after informal legal and financial advice, Collective members felt that rushing into incorporation could put Wholefoods’ future at risk.

Collective members are not necessarily opposed to incorporation, but believe it is in the best interests of all involved to take their time to ensure decisions are based on a full exploration of all issues.

Negotiations with the MSA will continue in the interim, with the Executive considering the idea of bringing back a Volunteers Coordinator and volunteers, which the Collective supports.

However, the Executive has yet to explicitly rule out renovations to Wholefoods over the summer break, which have been planned since mid-2011. All documents relating to the renovations remain confidential, unseen by the Collective.

The opportunity that the mediation has given to discuss issues that have been concerning the Wholefoods community over the past few years was appreciated, but despite members’ earlier optimism and the Executive’s positive take of the recent process of mediation, serious concerns remain.