I have been a Board of Directors member of Ocean Beach People's Co-op since June 2023 and am an active member who serves on the Finance Committee, the Board Monitoring Committee and the Operating and Education Committee.

I have worked as an Accountant for over 30 years and have spent the last year and a half as a resident of the Ocean Beach neighborhood. My accounting experience includes working for a natural foods wholesaler; evaluating products in the natural foods space, and marketing, and tracking sales. I also worked in the legal, educational, and seafood industries in both the profit and non profit sectors. I prepared budgets, developed cost analysis, and worked on sourcing and inventory management.

I have always been involved in my community serving on several Boards throughout my career: I was a Board member of Lifestream, Inc., an agency providing services to disabled adults, a member of the outreach committee for a local charitable organization and I am the Treasurer of Board of Directors of Animal Advocates, Inc ., an agency that spays and neuters dogs and cats.

My goals are to ensure financial stability, employee and customer satisfaction and increase membership of the Co-op by continuing my work on the committees and be active in its programs and events.

I believe in the power of food and community and would love the opportunity to provide a deeper level of support for People’s Co-op by becoming a Board Member. I have served as a Board Member for the Washington State Farmers Market Association and GROW, the advocacy group for Seattle’s community gardens.

I know the commitment and dedication it takes to be an active and engaged Board Member. I first became interested in learning about local food systems while living in San Francisco and began my journey to understand the impacts of our food choices.

While working at a food bank I drew a greater understanding of the immense need for equitable access to fresh food and began to work toward destigmatizing food access programs. I spent 6 years as the Director of a Farmers Market in Washington state and loved the feeling of community that was created within the local food scene.

Food cooperatives have always been a place where I feel a sense of place and purpose and I am thrilled to be a member owner of People’s Co-op. I look forward to working to improve food access in our community and promote that special magic of the co-op.

I'm not old enough to remember the neighborhood buying club known as Serve the People (STP) or Ye Billiard Den, former occupant of People's old location, but my earliest days in San Diego did allow me to catch the co-op grow from 6,000 sqft next door to over double in size. In 20+ years of being a member-owner I've witnessed first hand what working together with community support can accomplish. It helped inspire me to assist in the vegan transition of a neighborhood grocery store. I was even a candidate for the People's Co-op Board of Directors back in 2004. Now I'm back to serve.

In addition to making your member-owner voices heard I hope to bring a few ideas to the team such as:

Championing our produce / bulk sections and strive towards a zero waste shopping experience

Offer community classes such as cooking / preparing healthy whole food plant based meals

Striving for the best vegetarian culinary delights in the upstairs deli San Diego has to offer

I'm actively a part of over a dozen local organizations and hope to bring that same fervor and skill-set to the People's team. I appreciate your consideration and hope I can count on your vote. Thank you.

I'm Lunna, a proud Brazilian Italian hailing from Rio de Janeiro. My upbringing in a developing nation instilled in me the value of resourcefulness and gratitude for abundant food, especially given my family's farming heritage. Food isn't just sustenance; it's our love language.

I pursued studies in Communications, Marketing, Branding, and Design, skills I've combined with my passion for food. Over the years, I've channeled my expertise into a meaningful endeavor called VAINANA, a photography project advocating for food safety and sustainability. Through this, I've become a food activist, working diligently to create awareness, currently serving as Design Lead for San Diego Tijuana World Design Capital 2024 for all Climate & Sustainability projects.

Since June 2023, I've had the honor of serving on the Board of Directors at OBPFC, contributing innovative ideas, and staying dedicated to helping the board refine and adjust our co-op to make it easily accessible to our community. My goal is to keep serving the board and help transform our co-op into a beacon of values that embrace food safety and sustainability. If given the chance, I will advocate these principles within our board and community and continue my engagement in environmental activities and community outreach. I envision a future where our co-op wholeheartedly embraces these values, nurturing a space where these ideals thrive. Thank you for considering my candidacy. I am eager to continue contributing to the OBPFC and make a difference.

I have been an owner/member of the Cooperative that runs the Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market for more than thirty years. During that time I have had the privilege of being elected and re-elected to the Board of Directors for more than 20 years. I have served the Board of Directors as President for ten years and I have been the Treasurer for more than five years. I have attended seminars, workshops and conferences that focus on cooperatives and finding ways to support their continuing success. My commitment to the Cooperative is reflected in the hundreds of hours of volunteering my services and attending more Board of Director functions and meetings than any other owner/member of the Cooperative.

My decades of positive experiences on the Board of Directors make me uniquely qualified as a candidate for re-election to the Board of Directors. My goal for the future is to support the General Manager as she works to increase membership and profitability of the Cooperative. Thank you for taking your valuable time to read this, and thank you in advance for voting in the Cooperative’s Board of Directors Election.

I love Ocean Beach People's Food Co-op! I became a People's Co-op member 10 years ago, and I still enjoy its organic produce, wholesale nuts/beans/grains, and its delicious, vegan deli food! I also like that People's obtains food from local farms whenever possible, and that its products are responsibly sourced.

Because of all this, I want our Co-op to prosper - to grow in sales and in membership, and to continue providing us with quality organic food. While I recognize the challenges facing smaller businesses in today's competitive market, I am convinced that People's offers a unique product, one not found anywhere else in San Diego!

If given the opportunity to be a board member for the Ocean Beach People's Food Co-op, I will strive to be informed about the issues facing the co-operative, so that my vote helps promote the Co-op's optimum operational and financial health. I will also keep foremost in mind our store's mission of promoting personal health and ecological sustainability.

Meet me at the Deli for a vegan meal?