February 16th, 2011:

For many of us living in the neighborhoods of Boston, gentrification is the largest “us vs them” issue we face on a daily basis. The battle of Yuppies vs Locals has sprouted up in communities across the City from the North End to South Boston, but arguably the most heated gentrification battle has been in Jamaica Pain.

JP is a community that has long attracted a diverse resident population in every sense of the word. It is also a community that is famously progressive and home to some of the city’s most renowned activists. Most notably, JP’s activists stood in the way of a proposed 12 lane highway and helped to turn it into one of the City’s longest stretching green spaces (Southwest Corridor Park). It seemed that in JP you could, as Billy Bragg put it, “be active with the activists or sleep in with the sleepers.” That is until Whole Foods came to town.

If you’re unfamiliar with the story of the Hi-Lo Market and the subsequent Whole Foods acquisition in Hyde Square, I suggest you check out Meghan Irons’ Boston Globe piece from January here . Those that are familiar know that this was more than just a community rallying around a favorite business, this was a sign of things to come.

At last night’s “State of the Neighborhood” meeting at English High School in Jamaica Plain, neighbors, activists, and legislators discussed a wide range of community specific concerns ranging from education to transportation to immigration, but the issue that seemed to be on everyone’s mind was Whole Foods.

What’s the big deal? You may ask. Many communities would be ecstatic to see a new supermarket enter their neighborhood, especially one that offered a healthy alternative to the Stop N’ Shops and Shaws’ of the world, but, then again, JP has never been like most communities.

Some residents were taken aback by the opposition to the Whole Foods store and organized. One resident, Steve Garfield, began a Facebook page called “We Are All Whole Foods” as a response to some of the comments he saw appearing in the Boston Globe. “I wanted to create a place where facts could be shared about Whole Foods”, he said, “I believe in seek first to understand” and saw many factual inaccuracies in the stories that appeared. For him, all he kept hearing was “it’ll be great to have a Whole Foods in the neighborhood so we won’t have to drive to Dedham” and that many of the complaints that were seen online and in the papers was from a “vocal minority”.

Back at the “State of the Neighborhood”, organizer Orion Kriegman seemed to reference this when he spoke of “2 JP’s, places that share the same space, but rarely meet.” And while Garfield represented one JP, many in the crowd last night represented the other. This other faction represented what Rep. Liz Malia described as Jamaica Plain’s “history and heritage of involvement” or “the agents of the solution” as Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz called them. This was a community that had a legacy of people that “create community resilience”, as Kriegman put it, and saw Whole Foods as a symbol of the forces of gentrification barreling at them (like a 12 lane highway) once again.

The fact is this is about more than Hi-Lo vs. Whole Foods, it’s about a community taking ownership in itself. Life-long JP resident and state Rep. Jeffery Sanchez confessed, “Was [Hi-Lo] the best, nicest looking supermarket in the world? No, but it served the neighborhood.” This notion of serving the community – affordable food and employing local residents was seen as Hi-Lo’s saving grace. Whole Foods, for its part, has pledged to continue that legacy, stating in an open letter to the neighborhood that “being a community partner is a responsibility we take very seriously” and that they are “eager to show our support and commitment to the wonderful organizations that make up the fabric of the JP neighborhood.” Steve Garfield seemed satisfied with this letter predicting that since they have “explained what the community can look forward to, the debate will subside as people realize that Whole Foods will be inclusive, support the local community, and bring healthy products to JP.”

For others, it was less about what Whole Foods does or doesn’t do; it’s how the residents respond. The organic food giant, either actively or passively, will change the neighborhood. In the various breakout groups that followed the “State of the Neighborhood” panel, residents discussed organizing around affordable housing, fair wages, and local growing, but still saw Whole Foods as “a call to arms against the gentrification of JP as a whole.” The overlying theme of the residents seemed to be about preserving the community that they called home and what City Councilor Matt O’Malley referred to as “the best representation of the City in all its glory.” The fear was that, as JP Resident Stephanie Reyes Rand said, “the ethos that made JP, JP is not being shared with those coming in” and that the community whose identity had long been of inclusion and community values would go the way of Hi-Lo. The residents of JP, however, seemed determined to stop this from happening. Petitions, flyers for future events, and invitations were being passed around throughout the two and a half our event with many lingering in the hallways continuing their discussions and strategies. At least last night, it wasn’t clear exactly who the “them” was, but the feeling of “us” was alive and well in JP.