Protesters caution Fred Meyer shoppers about Dole

Jan. 21 at 2 p.m., protesters wrapped Lakeway Fred Meyer’s Dole banana stand in caution tape while a man in a banana suit stood in a shopping cart and spoke to shoppers through a megaphone about Dole’s use of oil that comes from Tar Sands in Alberta. 

Bellingham activist Adam Gaya coordinated the group of five to stand against Dole for its support of the use of Canada’s Tar Sands.  Tar Sands are a type of petroleum deposit that is turned into fuel.  Dole, among other large corporations, feed the expansion of Tar Sands by getting their fuel from oil refineries that use Tar Sand petroleum, Gaya said. 

Gaya became interested in the issue through his work at ForestEthics, a nonprofit environmental organization that has a branch in downtown Bellingham. Both ForestEthics’ and Gaya’s goal is to help drive down U.S. demand for oil and therefore demand for Tar Sands. 

 In total eight cities participated in the action at more than 25 grocery stores, Gaya said.

Gaya said Dole has the largest fleet of refrigerator containers in the world, which use diesel.  Dole also uses an abundance of fuel for transporting of goods. 

Dole did not return phone calls, however according to ForestEthics, Dole has denied that it uses oil from Tar Sands. 
The ForestEthics website said this is incorrect, “Fuel in certain states, from Ohio to Oregon, comes from at least one Tar Sands refinery.”

Gaya and the four other protesters ate breakfast at Downtown Bellingham’s Old Town Café and planned the protest.  

“We want to get major companies, such as Dole, to boycott oil refineries that use Tar Sands,” Gaya said.

Western student Chelsea Thaw was also part of the protesting group. 

“I’ve been doing environmental justice work for years now, and I am particularly interested in fighting the Tar Sands,” she said. 

According to ForestEthics, producing one barrel of Tar Sands oil makes three to five times the global warming emissions that producing the same amount of conventional oil would.  The environmental impacts are the main concern regarding Tar Sands for the protesters.

However, Thaw brought up the health risks for the people who work in the open-pit mines and for the natives to the area of Northern Alberta where the Canadian Tar Sands are. 

“This is a huge issue for environment, indigenous rights and culture,” Thaw said. 

All of Bellingham’s Haggen stores, Fred Meyer and The Food Co-op carry Dole bananas.  The group decided to focus on protesting at Fred Meyer first.

Bellingham activist Andy Ingram wore a banana suit and yelled into a mega phone while being pushed in a shopping cart by another protester.

“The Tar Sands' toxic lakes grow by 1.8 billion liters each day, and are leaking dangerous chemicals into the nearby soil and water,” he said. 

This fact was just one of many that Ingram yelled before being pulled out of the cart by a Fred Meyer cashier.

This scene was meant by the protesters to be a diversion.  While it was happening, the remaining members of the group covered the Dole banana stand in plastic wrap so customers could not grab the bananas.  They then wrapped caution tape around the stand.

After one customer complained about how he needed bananas, a Fred Meyer employee unwrapped the stand and told the protesters to leave the store.

This protest prompted mixed reactions from the crowd of shoppers.  Some shoppers cheered and applauded, while others complained about their shopping being disrupted.

Corporate Fred Meyer customer service representatives who work with media did not know about the protest and chose not to comment.

The protesters left Fred Meyer feeling accomplished.

“I definitely feel like our actions in Bellingham were successful,” Gaya said.

Gaya and the other protesters plan on doing similar demonstrations around Bellingham in other grocery stores that carry Dole bananas.  The only store directly in the Downtown neighborhood that this affects is The Food Co-op.  The protesters decided to approach the co-op with information about the issue instead of doing a protest.  

Diving into Downtown

For this news site I will be spending the quarter getting to know Bellingham's Central Business District.  I will be listening to, observing, and interviewing people in the Downtown area and investigating further into the issues people are concerned with.  

This reporting will come in the form of news posts, blog entries and photographs.  It is meant to be practice for my future journalism career and also as an aid to better acquaint myself with the town I call home.  

Downtown Bellingham is bustling with activity and therefore will be an interesting source for discussion topics and stories.  With this blog I hope to showcase a few of the many captivating people, businesses and happenings this area has to offer.