The Park Slope Food Co-op, located in a liberal Brooklyn neighborhood, faces internal strife over a proposed boycott. Members are divided on whether to stop selling various Israeli products in response to the Middle East crisis.
Inside the co-op, members shop for fresh produce, frozen foods, and ready-to-eat meals. Meanwhile, others engage in a heated debate outside, advocating for and against the boycott of Israeli goods.
The co-op, a symbol of cultural and consumer concerns for many Brooklyn residents, will soon vote on the matter. The general meeting scheduled for Tuesday night will be decisive. Over the weekend, an email notified members about new security measures. This includes hiring security personnel and establishing an additional check-in station. These steps follow threats, suspicious packages in the mail, aggressive calls, and hostile posts on social media.
“While most members engage respectfully, some incidents have escalated beyond normal disagreements to verbal and physical confrontations,” the email stated.
Recent general meetings have at times turned confrontational. Some members laughed at mentions of antisemitism or implied control by Jews over the U.S., causing concern among Jewish leaders and co-op members. The Park Slope Food Co-op, home to around 17,000 members, is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the country.