Biddeford-Saco Chamber Director Comments on the U.S. Chamber

It is important that I start this month’s column out with a clarification and a statement regarding the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s endorsement of a local candidate and their negative advertising campaign.

The Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce & Industry is not a direct member of the U.S. Chamber. We do not pay dues of any kind to them.  We are a member of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and they do belong to the U.Ss Chamber so that our State is represented. So technically there is a very loose connection.  Ironically, the U.S. Chamber’s regional representative has emailed us with language and explanations on how to distance ourselves from their actions.  Go figure!  Most importantly, all local Chambers are very independent and spend a vast majority of our time to promoting our communities and member businesses. We do not take direction or orders from the U.S. Chamber or the State Chamber.  We answer to our membership.

Locally, the Chamber board of directors does not endorse candidates.  We think it is in our members’ best interest that we provide information and opportunities to meet and hear the candidates directly.  We will continue to sponsor events and provide a service by inviting candidates to visit our community and meet local businesses.

The Biddeford-Saco Chamber urges all candidates to contact us and set up an appointment if they want to visit the area and have direct access to our membership.  We believe the candidates will be better received and will find a more positive tone and reception by working through us locally. 

A few people have taken the time to write and call us on this issue.  I want to thank you for doing so and I think it is legitimate to ask about our connection to the US Chamber and the negative political ads.  Recently, on three occasions, I heard people say “candidates use negative ads because they work.”  I find this very troubling.  When you and I apply for a position or a job, we put our best skills forward on our resume. We brag about our qualities and our work ethic.  We do not spend our entire time telling the employer about all the negative information we know about the other potential candidates.  Why is it then that we tolerate this from political candidates?  Last I knew, we the people employ them.  Would you hire the person who says the meanest, nastiest and most negative things about the other candidate?  I’ll stop here so I don’t cloud this article with any more personal comments than necessary. 

I hope you all enjoy the final weeks of August and that you all have a safe and prosperous Labor Day. 

Best,
Craig A. Pendleton 

Benefiting Our Entire Community

While on vacation, I took three days and attended a very exciting meeting in Oakland, CA.  I serve on the Concept Team and the National Organizing Committee for an organization called the Food Commons. (www.thefoodcommons.org ) The meeting was designed to look at how we might create a hybrid financial entity that would be able to walk in lock step with a newly designed national food system.  More than a dozen people from across the US were brought together to identify how we might gain access to capital needed to build value chains that better link harvesters to the consumer.  It was quite an undertaking.

Most importantly, for this article, is the recognition of one of the first comments at this meeting that really set me back in my chair and caught my attention. "All business starts and ends with food."  Think about it, we meet to discuss business over meals; we provide refreshments at most events.  We often take for granted where our food comes from and how hard the producers/harvesters work to bring the food to our tables.  This group is determined to change that and elevate locally grown food to a higher place of importance in our lives.

I have had the good fortune of having been involved with innovative businesses like the Portland Fish Exchange. Its purpose was to elevate the quality of the seafood we caught in Maine by placing it on an open display auction where buyers could see, touch and smell for freshness and in theory, reward the harvester with a better price.  The Food Commons takes another step and links farmers and fishermen to businesses that see value in local food, an educated work force, and innovation and technology.  It promotes organizing around a strong set of principles that act as the foundation for all business relationships.  The Food Commons promotes fair wages and high standard working conditions.  It encourages collaboration, openness and transparency. We believe we must change the way we look at food and get back to basics.  How irritated and concerned do you get when you hear of yet another hamburger recall, the pink slime discussion and just yesterday the recall of cantaloupes?

We have the good fortune to live in an area that can produce food and have an economic center that can embrace a new model like the Food Commons.  The success and longevity of the Saco Farmer's Market and the recent good fortune of the Biddeford Farmer's Market are great examples that, in my opinion, have only just begun to scratch the surface of what could be if we were to embrace a concept like the Food Commons.  What if the next step was to collaboratively open a grocery store in the mill district that accepted as much local produce, local meat and local seafood as possible? And what if that grocery store was a cooperative that was owned by the farmers, fishermen and interested citizens? 

Take a moment to check out the ideas put forward by the Concept Team and let me know if you think it is something that interests you.  Together we can begin a journey toward safe, affordable, local food that benefits our entire community.

Craig

Craig A. Pendleton