People’s Organic Food Co-op will celebrate its 35th birthday this Saturday, Aug. 19, with all the trappings of a summer picnic: live music, clowns for the kids, a vegetarian barbeque and a gigantic vegan cake to top it off.
The Chuck Walker Trio will play jazz, Loma Tones will perform classic rock and Israel Maldonado will bring world music.
Free Spirit the Clown will delight the children, as will the Astro-Jump, face painting and games.
Veggie burgers will sizzle on the grill, accompanied by sides of corn, greek salad and macaroni salad, and watermelon. Everything will be organic.
Each year the co-op hosts its summer picnic to show appreciation for its members, who collectively own the cooperative. Between 300-400 shoppers are expected to turn out.
“It’s a way for us to get together in the summer to listen to some good music, eat really good organic food and to see each other outside the co-op,” said Amber Forest, Marketing Director for People’s.
The co-op will also celebrate 35 years of vegetarian business, as well as its mission to help people live “ecologically sustainable and environmentally sound lives,” according to Forest.
“I think that we have really helped the community embrace those ideals and over the years we’ve gone from one hand-cranked calculator to a five-register line,” she added.
Forest said that it’s a trip to recall the first day the co-op opened its doors; she was 10 years old at the time and employees used to weigh all the food by hand and then relay the amounts to the cashier.
“It was a big trust dynamic going on,” Forest said.
People’s doesn’t only cater to the hippies of the seventies, however.
“We serve the mainstream shopper,” Forest said. “People have discovered that organic food is much better for them than commercial, conventionally grown food.”
The picnic takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Robb Field. Tickets cost $3 for members and $5 for non-members. Children under 10 are free. For more information, call (619) 224 1387 or visit www.obpeoplesfood.coop. People’s is located on 4765 Voltaire St.