Living far away from the comforts of the United States, small tastes of home mean an awful lot. Sometimes getting to make that special dinner and dessert that tastes like your life back in America makes all the difference. That favorite brand of cereal, cookie, or coffee creamer goes a long way in making Okinawa feel like home to so many of us. 

We are extremely thankful that we have DeCA Commissaries to provide this luxury to us as well as bringing jobs to the local community and supporting military families through scholarships, and community involvement. Our lives in Okinawa are made better by their presence. 

The DeCA goals are as follows:

"1. Our Customers: Deliver a premier customer experience in every store by providing a relevant and vital benefit.
2. Our Business: Advance our business model through the transparent management of resources and revenue.
3. Our Workforce: Empower a capable, engaged and responsible workforce.
4. Our Culture: Foster a culture of collaboration and change acceptance through proactive communication and inclusion."*

DeCA desires to provide a "relevant and vital benefit" to their customer and "Foster a culture of collaboration and change acceptance through proactive communication and inclusion.". Their website clearly states this under "Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals". Reading this encouraged us to take a leap of faith and start up a fruitful conversation with DeCA about the needs of our community and how to better serve our military families while they are serving overseas. 

It is in this light that we have created this petition. We truly desire to see our community's need for food and goods that are organic and healthy for our families and the Earth met and exceeded. 

Here are the main points of this petition:

1. We want to see all families' dietary needs met with a variety of products. 

2. We want to see more organic foods. We aren't picky. We understand that fresh is difficult. Frozen, canned, and shelf-stable organics would be outstanding. 

3. We want to see these products become permanent products. Everyone deserves access to these foods without worrying if they will be on the shelf the next time they are shopping. 

We think that working together with DeCA and expressing our need with unity and purpose, we can work towards a better place to live.