Welcome to Mariposa Liberation! This site is sponsored by an informal network of community members in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who care deeply about our food co-op, Mariposa, built up through decades of loving effort by many, many people, known and unknown, to create the food distribution resource we use today. Mariposa has grown greatly since moving from a small storefront on Baltimore Avenue which Vientiane Restaurant is currently occupying to a much larger former bank building a block to the West, leveraged by a million-dollar loan. Mariposa remains in debt and the old motto, “Food for People not for Profit!” changes resonance as the neighborhood rapidly gentrifies. We look to the current leadership of our Co-op and see problems, including but not limited to the relationship with worker power and worker rights, as well as ongoing issues around informed consent for member-owners in a co-op where the Administration has shown little or no interest in keeping us in the loop about crucially important decisions.

When a workers’ union at Mariposa (UFCW Local 1776) formed and negotiated a contract at the end of March 2022, one might have hoped for more of a good faith welcoming in of the workers’ own organization followed by a rapid public announcement of true goodwill from Management. If a co-operative organization has any need of the labor/management struggle typical of capitalist enterprise is one question but at the very least “cooperative” endeavor should temper that dynamic with a search for solidarity with more generally. This unfortunately forces the issue of whose interests the Co-op ultimately serves. The Zapatistas call on their leaders to “mandar obedeciendo“, to lead by obeying. They also say,  “Para Todos Todo, Para Nosotros Nada“, (“Everything for Everyone, Nothing For Ourselves”). These are the kind of principles we need.

We come together and organize with others to forge bonds of solidarity and advance the struggle for this goal:

FOOD FOR PEOPLE NOT FOR PROFIT!

Questions and Comments can be directed to Mariposa Liberation, at: MariposaLiberation@gmail.com

Supplementary information can be found at www.mariposaliberation.org