Reykjavík Grapevine - apr 2021, Qupperneq 29

29The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 04— 2021
Jonathan in his element
Food
businesses. It's great for tourists,
but I feel like I've been working my
ass off through this pandemic, and
something like this. I'm facing los-
ing everything because there wasn't
proper defensive action taken 20
years ago when they made this risk
assessment originally, or because
some elected official prioritised an-
other project over having defenses
on our mountains and protecting
our people."
"She was super nice,” he says.
“We talked for a half an hour, and
then someone from her office
reached out to me and we talked
for an hour and a half. They were
very kind and empathetic and un-
derstanding."
"Once the allocation rules were
released I texted her asking what
was going on because I'm drown-
ing in work as it is, and it seems
like I'm being asked to create more
work in order just to receive some
sort of support. But it's not really
the support I'm actually looking for.
She texted me back asking if we can
talk about this after Easter, and she
was very nice. Then I spoke with the
people at Austurbrú who explained
that this was actually a good thing
and made for people like me."
Just call him!
"I'm hoping that the outcome of
these funds is something that's go-
ing to be very long term, and will
put our company on a trajectory
where it's more streamlined and
we have the proper facilities,” Jona-
than says. “We're right now running
on a very DIY, just-get-it-done kind
of thing."
At the same time, the success
of the Austurlands Food Coop was
built on people believing in what
they’re doing, and that’s what they
need most right now.
"That's how this project has got-
ten to where it's been,” he says. “It's
just been people really happy to be
a part of something that they know
will change things and improve the
quality of life."
When asked what others can do
to help out, Jonathan is very suc-
cinct.
"Just call me,” he says. “That's
how we started this thing. When
I think about becoming more le-
gitimate a business in the future,
I'm doing this because of a need. I
see that someone needs to do this.
I’m almost doing this out of activ-
ism. Eating good is a right; not a
privilege. People should have va-
riety. They should have options
and not feel cornered into buying
something because it's 50% off. It's
a weird way to do your shopping. So
right now, we really need an 'angel
investor', as they call it. We need
someone who sees what we're do-
ing, and sees it as the natural pro-
gression for food. People are going
to want healthier options, fresher
options. This is something that
hasn't been embraced wholly by our
current grocery stores. We really
need someone with deep pockets
who sees this inevitable future to
get us out of surviving mode, and
into thriving mode, so that we can
actually become something that's
never going to go away. But apart
from that, even just subscribing to
the boxes really helps us out, be-
cause this helps us run our business
more efficiently. We're coming up
now in prime season, and for the
next six months it just gets better
and better."
You can visit https://foodcoop.is/ for
more information and to subscribe to
their boxes.
A view of the devastation
Ó!INSTORG | 101 | REYKJAVÍK | ÍSLAND
SNAPSBISTRO.IS | +354 5116677
FRENCH ONION SOUP
Icelandic Ísbúi cheese, croûtons
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steamed mussels from Brei"afjör"ur
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FISH OF THE DAY
chef´s special
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Lunch offer from 11:30 - 14:00 1.990 kr.
EST. 2012REYKJAVIK