Johnny Letter

Another gem – I still take issue with this -grocery stores with toys! Our local coop even puts toys near the children’s medicine; a practice i find particularly egregious. At least when Whole Foods bought Wild Oats they have pretty much done away with the toys or at least hidden them away!

Johnny Letter was a SNL skit from years past which I still find amusing about a wild west outlaw who wrote letters to defeat his foes…

Here is the letter, never sent, mind you, though written at the height of the toys made in China lead paint debacle.

As a member, a mother and a frequent shopper at the Good Foods Coop, I have become increasingly disappointed in the pervasive marketing of toys to children occurring over the past few months.

The toys are placed on lower shelves easily accessible to children, yet children are not allowed to play with them. I have witnessed an ever changing array, often conveniently tied in with seasons and holidays, displayed at register end caps, highlighting the children’s vitamins and supplements area and most recently was flabbergasted to see a 3 foot stuffed manatee in between shelves of tomato sauce.

This insistence on the stocking of toys of questionable quality manufactured thousands of miles away is at best alarming. I became a member of the Good Foods Coop and choose to spend the majority of my family’s grocery budget there because I value an alternative to our noxious consumer culture.  More and more I am finding that this alternative does not exist at the Good Foods Coop.

If the coop truly wants to focus on the sustainability and environmental stewardship broadcast in its mission statement, then why not support parents, kids and families by creating an environment free of extraneous merchandise.

The Coop is not a toy store. I urge you to make a change. Do away with end cap displays at the registers and instead install a chalkboard where kids can express their creativity. Or call on members to donate toys and create a play area near the registers in order to meet children’s need for play and to help out parents trying to bag and pay for their groceries.