Page 24 RAIN May 1976 What's Growing,in Iowa? . - Four hundred kilometers west of Chicago, amidst fertile corn fields, on the banks'of the Iowa River, sits Iowa City, home of a growing, group of alternative organizations. The University of Iowa adds-21,0o·o students to the city's 50,000 populat'ion and provides a secure sqne payroll for almost half the employed people in town. There also are several small factories and many farm-oriented businesses here. Scattered aroupd town and out over the countryside are many communal living groups. Craft~ people and artists produce wares to be sold at bi-monthly crafts fairs in town. Several cooperative day care centers, an alternative elementary school and a free university meet only a part of the need for alternative educatio_n. The Crisis Center provides hotline service to people in need, wit~ volunteer and United Way sup- .port. A Simple Living group meets weekly. LINK is a monthlypublished listing of things people want to learn and teach. The Iowa Student Public Interest Research Group has been an effective statewide lobby and organizer for environmental and political issues. Two consignment shops, Goodwill Industries and~ Free Store, provide free or low-cost used clothing. , A Free C:linic staffed by liberal medic;(professionals and students provides free medical care sevefcl.l evenings a week. HERA, a radical feminist psychotherapy collective, offers' treatment and raises consciousness of the social causes of emotional illness-particularly sexism: The Emma Goldman Clinic for Women is a women's health collective which provides self-help groups, pregnancy screening, abortions, gyne~ cological services arid pre-natal class~s. All these services are offered in a supportive environment so women learn to care for and control their own bodies as they receive health·care. Educational and political programs operate out of the Women's Center at the University, and there is a women's restaurant, struggling to maintain its women only policy in the face of City opposition. A women's work crew contracts remodeling jobs. Through the valiant efforts of a citizens' advisory committee, the City Council-which has long been controlled by business interests-has allocated substantial fed1ral money to neighborhood community centers and a Citizens Housing Cen-• ter·, which will help low-income folks rehabilitate their own , houses. An active tenants' organization helped push these changes through the council. The largest alternative organization in Iowa City is the New Pioneer Cooperative Society, which operates a natural food store, bakery, Stone Soup Restaurant and co-op garage, a memorial society and a new co-op credit union. New Pioneer began five years ago as a small buying club for people interested in natural foods. They soon had a store front and grew a thousand members..The co-op store sells dry goods, herbs, dairy products, oils, vitamins, a wide variety of books and periodicals 3;nd some cooking equipment. 'Members who volunCraig Mosher teer two hours per month to heip in the store get a 20% discount on purchases and six low-paid staff keep tµe plac~ operating. The membership is diver~e and includes mostly nonstudents who live and w9rk in Iowa City and the surrounding countryside. • Co-op poli ies are discussed to consensus at monthly mem1 bership meetings, usually attended by thirty to fifty people. • The co-op is presently considering buying a building to est.ablish a more permanent location and ·is discussing ways to generate the 1)-ecessary funds internally. We continually struggle to persuade enough volunteers to work in the store so the staff has time to expand services and to avoid hiring additional staff. We often ask, how long do we remain a cooperative if we need to hire increasing numbers of paid staff to do the work volunteer members.refuse to do? Also, is there not a legitimate need for continuity and .experience in the coordination and operation of the store which only paid staffcan fulfill? Upstairs from the New Piorieer food co-op is Blooming Prairie Warehouse, which supplies many midwestern co-ops. The warehouse was established about two years ago and has also grown rapidly as more co-ops have sprung up around the state. There are over·a dozen food co-ops and buying clubs in Iowa, including two which have just started this year. The •
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz