Oryana stands with Black Lives Matter

  in Blog, News, Uncategorized

Dear Oryana Community Members,

While words are not enough at this time, we want to take a moment to reinforce publicly Oryana’s stance on equity, justice, and the ever-present need to eliminate systemic bias and racism, and assure that all our citizens may live a life free from fear of harm.

  • Oryana fully supports the Black Lives Matter movement and the plea for visibility and justice that it calls for.
  • While there is inherent worth in every life, we acknowledge that a distinct call for those marginalized and targeted (people and voices of color) is necessary and its recognition is long overdue.
  • Oryana continues the hard work to uncover and face up to bias and the systemic problems that come from that bias.
  • Fundamentally, Oryana is about the Health and Wellness of its community. (See our Mission and Ends Policies here). While we often equate that with food, we fully believe that there cannot be Health or Wellness without Equity. Until the day our society can achieve Equity, Oryana, along with so many others, as a cooperative organization, will continue our own internal work while also supporting those who are doing this external work.

These statements do not change the way in which Oryana fulfills its Mission in the community. It is a re-commitment to that work and a clear voicing of support for others embarking on that work. It is a call to listen, a call to examine, and a call to action, once again.

Oryana will be donating $500 to each of the following organizations in support of these critical efforts:

Finally, on Friday, June 5th, we will be dedicating our social media channels to promote voices of color. This is a small drop in the ocean of changes that need to happen, but amplifying those who deserve to be heard is something that we can do. Follow us on Facebook (Oryana 10th and Oryana West) and Instagram Friday for these resources and stories.

We invite you to continue this work with us, demanding better for those who have been marginalized.

In cooperation,



Steve Nance
Oryana General Manager

Photo courtesy of Fibonacci Blue/Minneapolis/2015