Co-op Community - Community Food Co-op

Transcription

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A monthly publication with your good health in mind
FOOD CO OP
Co-op Community
In This Issue
NEWS
Co-op Grows Its Own—Page 3
Seaweed: The Forgotten Vegetable—Page 12
December 2011
Welcome 2012 Community Shopping Day
Organizations
Working together...
Laura Steiger, Community Affairs Coordinator
Back in 1997, the Co-op’s Member Affairs Committee had a great idea about
how our Co-op could support our greater community, and the Community
Shopping Day program was born. Since 1999, the Community Shopping Day
(CSD) program has supported the work of 12 Whatcom County community organizations every year by donating 2 percent of one day’s sales to a designated
organization (the 1998 pilot-year program included only six organizations).
Now the Member Affairs Committee and the Co-op Board of Directors are
happy to introduce the 2012 CSD recipients. Everyone involved is particularly
excited about the diverse array represented in next year’s groups. Read on to
discover more about each recipient and the exciting projects they plan to tackle
in the upcoming year with the assistance of CSD funds. Then mark your calendars for a big Co-op shopping trip on the third Saturday of every month.
Assistance League of Bellingham
Founded in 1977, Assistance League
of Bellingham is an all-volunteer
organization providing services to
children living in poverty, assistance
for adult and child victims of violence
and trauma, and summer enrichment
scholarships for talented and motivated high-school and middle-school
students. CSD funds will be used to
support Operation School Bell, which
provides new school clothing to lowincome Whatcom County students in
kindergarten through middle school.
Bellingham Books to Prisoners
Established in 2005, Bellingham
Books to Prisoners is an all-volunteer
organization that sends free books on
request to prisoners in state and federal
prisons throughout the United States.
These books are often the only materials available to prisoners to provide
education, spiritual growth, and simple
enjoyment. The group sent more than
10,000 books to prisoners last year.
All CSD funds will be dedicated to the
group’s largest expense, postage.
Bellingham/Assumption
Community Meal Program
The Bellingham Community Meal
Program was established in 1983
to provide one meal a month for 10
months of the year for anyone in need.
In 2010 they served 5,937 meals at an
average cost of $1.39 per meal. CSD
funds will be used to purchase food
and will almost fully fund two of the
10 meal services in 2012.
Brigadoon Service Dogs
Brigadoon Service Dogs (BSD)
was established in 2004 for the
purpose of acquiring, raising, and
training service dogs to assist veterans, children, and adults with developmental and physical disabilities.
They also provide area at-risk youth
with the opportunity to participate
in dog care and training, skill development opportunities for disabled
adults, and special day camp opportunities for disabled children. CSD
funds will provide 130 to 170 hours
of focused service dog training to
achieve the required skills for certification. It takes approximately 10
hours of training for each new skill
that a dog must acquire.
Ferndale Other Bank
Since 2001 the all-volunteer
Ferndale Other Bank has worked to
provide basic hygiene and cleaning
products for children and parents
in the Ferndale School District who
qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Each month families receive laundry detergent, dish detergent, toilet
paper, shampoo, bar soap, feminine
hygiene products, razors, deodorants,
toothbrushes (2 times a year), toothpaste, and diapers for baby siblings.
CSD funds will be used exclusively
to purchase items for distribution.
C mmunity
o
Friendly Visitors—a Visiting Nurse
Home Care program
Since 2004, the Friendly Visitors
program has helped people stay safe,
independent, and healthy in their own
homes while also addressing the isolation and loneliness experienced by
many seniors living independently. The
program recruits, trains, and matches
volunteers with seniors who are at risk.
These matches often become lifelong
friendships. CSD funds will be used
to provide training supplies and cover
costs for initial training, the matching
process, quarterly trainings, and ongoing support.
Friends of the North Fork
Community Library
The Friends of the North Fork Community Library provide support for rural library services for the communities
of Kendall, Maple Falls, Glacier, and
the Columbia Valley. Their vision for
the library is to provide a full range of
library services to all community residents, with a focus on serving children
and young adults, providing onsite
economic resources, expanding Russian language materials, and addressing
issues of rural isolation and limited
transportation through increased internet access. CSD funds will be used to
assist in maintaining the North Fork
Community Library, and to support a
wide range of community programming for teens and children, plus historical and informational programs.
o
Sh pping
Day
Grizzly Bear Outreach Project
(GBOP)
Since 2002, the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP) had focused
solely on outreach and education on
grizzly bears and black bears. Today,
because of the growing needs of the
communities served, GBOP has expanded to include wolves and cougars.
CSD funds will be used to create new
educational and informational materials to inform communities about the
ecology, behavior, and safety measures
for grizzly bears, black bears, wolves,
and cougars. Wildlife Safe brochures
will be used in media packets, one-onone meetings, community presentations, and tabling events. Wildlife Safe
door hangers will help reduce humanwildlife encounters—protecting both
people and wildlife.
Whatcom Dispute Resolution
Center
Since 1992 the Whatcom Dispute
Resolution Center (WDRC) has been
dedicated to providing and promoting
constructive and collaborative approaches to conflict through mediation,
training, facilitation, and community
education on a free or low-cost sliding
scale. They served more than 3,800
people in 2010 and conducted 190 mediations. With a housing crisis underway, WDRC launched a Foreclosure
Mediation Program. CSD funds will
help provide eight additional hours per
continued top of page 11
1220 N. Forest St., Bellingham WA • 315 Westerly Rd., Bellingham WA • 360-734-8158 • www.communityfood.coop
1220 N. Forest St.
Bellingham WA 98226
315 Westerly Rd.
Bellingham WA 98225
360-734-8158
(both locations)
Co-op Community News
is published as a service
for members. Letters from
members are welcome
(see guidelines below).
The deadline for submissions of letters is 8 pm on
the 5th of the month
preceding publication.
Editor:
Diana Campbell
Design/Production:
Joanne Plucy
Opinions expressed in
the Co-op Community
News are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the
Co-op Board, management, staff or members.
Nutrition and health information is provided for
informational purposes
only and is not meant as a
substitute for a consultation with a licensed health
or dietary practitioner.
Acceptance of advertising
does not indicate endorsement by the Co-op of the
product or service offered.
Letters to the Editor
Guidelines
Letters must include your
name, address, and a
daytime phone number.
Please respect a maximum
of 150 words. Due to
space considerations, we
regret that we may not be
able to publish all letters.
Please send your letters to:
Newsletter Editor
1220 N. Forest St.
Bellingham WA 98225
[email protected]
November 9, 2011
Board of Directors Meeting Summary
Jean Rogers, Board Administrator
The meeting opened with a presentation
on affordable access to farmland by Dean
Fearing, Executive Director of Kulshan
Community Land Trust (KCLT). The group
discussed opportunities and challenges to
increasing access to farmland in Whatcom
County noting the high cost of land, difficulty in finding land for farming with
adequate water rights, the importance of developing relationships with county farmers,
the possible role of local and regional land
trusts, long-term leases, and other ideas for
collaborative efforts.
The Board then discussed the process for
selecting the Board chair and vice chair. The
goal is to keep the process consistent with
the Co-op’s bylaws while offering a comfortable experience for directors running for
Board positions. The group agreed to add a
policy interpretation noting that the Board
decides by consensus to use a vote if more
than one director wants to serve as chair or
vice chair.
A complete copy of the governing policies
is available at the service desk. Complete
minutes of the Board meetings are posted
on the bulletin boards at both stores and on
the Co-op website at www.communityfood.
coop.
The first 10 minutes of every Board meeting are reserved for member input. Our next
meeting will be held December 14, 7 pm, in
the Downtown Co-op Connection building.
Hope to see you there.
Co-op Now Seeking Board Candidates:
Leadership for a Sustainable Future
Do you want to help create the Co-op’s future? Do
you care about healthy food,
local farms, and a resilient
community? Would you
like to be part of guiding a
local, democratically run,
member-owned business?
If so, please consider running for the Co-op Board
of Directors. Our Board is a
collaborative team that provides oversight, advice, and
a sounding board for Co-op management.
Board director Megan Westgate says, “I
am sincerely enjoying the opportunity to
support this cornerstone of our community
with my time and energy. I feel like I’m getting a chance to help vision and shape the
future not only of the Co-op, but for all of
Whatcom County, and it is so inspiring. Not
to mention that the other Board members
are absolutely a pleasure to work with...it’s
nice that it’s possible to be so
productive and have so much
fun at the same time.”
The Co-op Board elections
will be held in March 2012.
Three positions for threeyear terms will be open. Stop
by the service desk at either
store and ask for a candidate
packet. And of course you
can always attend a Board
meeting and see the process
in action. Mark your calendar
to attend one of the Candidate Orientation
sessions (see announcement below).
For information, contact Board Chair
Deborah Craig at 360-441-1766 or 360738-9015 or Board Administrator Jean
Rogers at 360-734-8158 or [email protected]. The deadline for applications is Wednesday, January 11.
Co-op Board Candidate
Orientations
Thinking about running for the Board of Directors, but not
quite sure? Come to one of the Co-op’s informal orientations
and find out more about what’s involved
in serving on the Board.
The candidate orientation sessions will be held at
the Cordata Co-op, Roots Room, 315 Westerly Rd.
Refreshments provided.
Please RSVP to Jean Rogers at 360-734-8158, ext
217 or [email protected].
Who benefits from the
Co-op Farm Fund?
We all do!
Donations accepted at all
registers, by mail, or phone.
For more information, contact
Farm Fund administrator Jean
Rogers at 360-734-8158 ext. 217
or [email protected].
Thanks to the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship for their generous donation to the Farm Fund.
Co-op Community News, December 2011
The Co-op Board of Directors
Meetings are on the
second Wednesday of every month.
Next Meeting:
Wednesday, December 14, at 7 pm
Downtown Co-op Connection Building
1220 N. Forest St.
Members are welcome to attend.
If there is something you want to discuss
at the meeting, contact Jim Ashby,
General Manager (360-734-8158) or
Deborah Craig, Chair (360-738-9015)
by the first Monday of the month so your item
can be included on the agenda.
Jim Ashby
General Manager:
360-734-8158
Board of Directors:
Deborah Craig, Chair
360-738-9015
Steven Harper, Vice-Chair
360-441-2728
Brent Harrison
360-398-7509
Brooks Dimmick
360-758-7610
Matt McBeath
360-510-6908
Megan Westgate
360-592-5325
Michael Elkins
360-305-4952
Rosalinda Guillen
360-381-0293
Beau Hilty-Jones
360-318-7517
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Store hours:
Open 7 days a week
Cordata—7 am to 9 pm
Downtown—7 am to 10 pm
Co-op Deli hours:
Cordata—7 am to 8 pm
Downtown—7 am to 9 pm
Visit us on the Web at
www.communityfood.coop
Cooperative
Principles
• Voluntary and open
membership
• Democratic member control
Thursdays: December 1 and December 15, 7–9 pm
Roots Room, Cordata Co-op
Farm Fund
2
The group concluded the meeting with a
report from Board director Matt McBeath
on the Provender Alliance Conference.
Matt shared information from the conference workshops about innovative marketing, social media, and effective methods of
conveying the Co-op’s value to shoppers
and to the community. Matt also passed on
information from a conference presentation on wheat, focusing on current efforts to
decentralize the process of grain growing in
Washington.
• Member economic
participation
• Autonomy and independence
• Education, training, and
information
• Cooperation among
cooperatives
• Concern for the community
Third Thursday
Local Music Series
Mike & Nakos Marker
Dixie Blues and Folk
Thursday, December 15, 6–8 pm
Downtown Co-op Swan Café
“Doc” and “Nak” play folk and blues with some old jazz stuff mixed in, featuring
banjo, dobro, and guitar. Bellinghamsters have enjoyed many wonderful performances
by Mike Marker performing solo and with other local artists over the years. Now he is
joined by his son Nakos, and as a duo they are mixing up fantastic tunes, songs, and
musical styles with musical virtuosity that you won’t want to miss.
Photo by Joanne Plucy
is a monthly publication
produced by the
Community Food Co-op
Megan Stilp (left) began her Co-op
career six years ago in produce, did
some part-time work for the Farm Fund
and the Co-op Board, and recently
moved to the position of Cordata assistant produce manager. Cordata
Produce Manager Wynne Marks (right)
also started as a produce clerk, moved
through the ranks to manager, and in
the process, trained Downtown Produce Manager Dave Sands.
Photos by Joanne Plucy
In 2000, Kimberly Johnson (left) began working as a Co-op cashier, then
worked in the deli, moved to Wellness
where she worked her way to assistant manager, and has now become
the Cordata Wellness Manager. Five
years ago, Christy King (right) started
as a cashier, moved into the job of
Wellness clerk, and today holds the
position of assistant manager in
Wellness.
The Co-op Grows Its Own
Renee Hover, Co-op Human Resources Manager
Over the years the Co-op’s staff
clerks, deli clerks, etc. They
size and management structure has
worked their way up by applying
adapted to meet the needs of the
for positions as they became availbusiness as it grows and changes.
able and taking advantage of all
Starting with just a few staff and
the training opportunities offered
managers, we now have 200 staff
to them. We measure their success
and 32 managers in two locations.
by their ability to run a thriving
When we were planning for the
and financially secure department
new Cordata Store, the manageand by the ongoing feedback we
ment team realized it needed to
get from their staff.
create a succession plan that would
One of the biggest benefits to
allow us to train managers long
growing our own managers is
before the store was ready to open.
that we already have experience
We did this by creating assistant
working with them and can demanager (AM) positions for all of
velop training based on our existour operating departments a few
ing knowledge of the individual
years before the prohired. This expedites the
jected opening date.
We are also
process of helping the
This proved to be
lucky that we
manager get to a place
very successful for the
of doing what’s best for
have so many
Co-op since almost all
employees who their team and the Coof the AMs became
want to move to op much more quickly.
department managAnother benefit is that
positions with
ers (DM) when we
internal candidates tend
became a two-store
more responsito have a very broad
operation. We went
bility—there is
knowledge of the Co-op’s
from having one locanever a shortage culture, values, products,
tion, six departments,
and customers. Staff
of internal
and 12 managers, to
members who move into
applicants.
having two locations,
management positions get
with 13 departments
the satisfaction of knowand 26 managers. Although we did
ing that their talent is noticed and
hire two external DMs, most of
appreciated, and that the Co-op is
our managers grew into their posiwilling to invest in their skills and
tions from first working in their
abilities as a leader. It promotes a
departments as assistants, stocking
deep sense of loyalty and stability
clerks, or customer service repamong our staff.
resentatives. Since then we have
Although we post externally for
kept the same structure of a DM
our open management positions,
and an AM for each department to
there has to be a pretty compelling
maintain a viable succession plan.
reason to hire an external candiAnd it turns out it was good that
date for a management position
we did.
at the Co-op, assuming we have
2011 saw another big change in
strong internal candidates. That is
our management group. Ten mannot to say that we haven’t successagement positions opened up this
fully hired external candidates, but
year and we have filled them all
often we find that the best person
internally. We were able to do this
for the job is an assistant manager
because of our commitment to proor team member who has learned
viding ongoing opportunities for
the business and shown the motigrowth for our staff, and providing
vation to do more. A lot of success
them the training they need to be
has come from promoting within
successful in their new manageand we receive lots of interest
ment positions. We are also lucky
from our employees.
that we have so many employees
Our Co-op is proud to employ
who want to move to positions with
200 employees and pay $4 million
more responsibility—there is never
in local wages. We routinely hire
a shortage of internal applicants.
for entry level positions, welcome
Of all the current managers at the
all applicants, and appreciate the
Co-op, 78 percent of them were origisupport from our community to
nally hired in entry-level positions—
fill open positions when we have
they started as cashiers, grocery
them.
Time to Change Our Change
In early October, Co-op cashiers
at both stores began offering $1
coins as change instead of paper
bills. We will make them available
for a six-month trial period to see
how well they are received. We
still offer $1 bills as change for
those who prefer them.
A Co-op staff member suggested
this idea as a good thing to do
for the environment and a way to
save the government money. Our
research showed that the environmental benefits of these coins fit
with our Co-op values. After gathering input from Co-op cashiers,
we arranged to get coins from our
local credit union, WECU, and
launched the program.
There are many benefits to using
these coins:
• The lifespan of a $1 coin is
about 34 years, while the $1 bill
has an average life span of two
to three years.
• The $1 coin is recyclable. Each
year 3 billion dollar bills are
shredded and sent to landfills.
• The U.S. is one of the few large
countries that still have bills at
such a low denomination.
• The conversion to the $1 coin
could save the U.S. government
$184 million dollars a year.
The only downside we have
found so far is that the $1 coins
are not accepted by the City of
Bellingham parking meters and
pay stations.
We hope you’ll give them a try
and encourage your friends to try
them. We would like to continue
offering these coins after our sixmonth trial period. It will be fun
to see where they end up around
town.
Sources: www.gao.gov/products/
GAO-11-281 and dollarcoinalliance.org.
Volunteer Thanks
We want to express our gratitude to our volunteers. These folks helped
out with various tasks in the stores, newsletter distribution, Owner
Appreciation Day Cordata, nut farm harvest, and participated in the
Member Affairs Committee. We appreciate you.
Adam Garman
Erika Jett
Alex Strandberg
Gabriella Andrews
Lisa Dykstra
Grant Renee
Nadene Gurule
Laurel Raposa
Nathan Chapman
Judy Prestella
Robin Hammond
Carol Waugh
Ginger Oppenheimer
Carrie Rolfe
Joanne Kearney
Dan Hauer
John Lawler
Carolyn Miklavic
Katie Chugg
Cynthia Ripke-Kutsagoitz
Diane Blake
Ellen Murphy
Kate Birr
Mike Straus
Nancy Steele
Richard Stout
Shirley Jacobson
Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World
That’s the theme for the International Year of Cooperatives 2012.
Here are some ways that food co-ops
help build a better world.
• They provide healthy food.
• They support the local economy,
help preserve family farms, and
help keep small farmers and ranchers in business by sourcing locally.
The Nutritionist
Is In
Tuesday, December 13
11 am–1 pm
Downtown store
Wednesday, December 14
9:30–11:30 am
Cordata store
Bring your questions on
nutrition and health to the
Co-op’s nutritionist, Tom Malterre.
Available at a table near the front of
the store, he'll be ready to answer your
questions about nutrition,
healthy eating, and diet.
• They keep money within the community.
• They use environmentally sound
practices including recycling and
reduced packaging and energy.
• They are committed to consumer
education about food and food issues.
• They are community gathering
places and, in many rural areas,
community focal points.
• They have direct relationships with
and buy from Fair Trade producers.
• They provide satisfying jobs with
good pay and better benefits than
most retail jobs.
• They hire and train local people
and promote from within.
• They give to the community: they
make contributions to local causes
and many food co-ops have cooperative community funds that support local non-profits.
Courtesy of the Cooperative Development Foundation, www.cdf.coop.
3
December 2011 Community Shopping Day Organization
Transition Whatcom
Robin Elwood, CCN Staff
Given the complexity of the issues,
I took the opportunity to speak with
two representatives of TW: Kate Clark,
a member of the founding Initiating
Group, and Warren Miller, part of the
current Operating Committee. Their
descriptions of TW’s structure and
work helped guide me to a better understanding of December’s CSD group.
First, TW isn’t a nonprofit. Rather, it
is a grassroots movement, and part of
an international Transition Towns template. The global movement is aimed
at helping communities prepare for climate change and finite fossil fuel supplies. In structure, it’s akin to a localized, action-oriented Facebook; more
than 1,000 Whatcom County residents
have joined, and they share discussion, event listings, and knowledge on
a decentralized user-driven web space.
User-organized events happen all the
time…often several events a week are
posted on the website.
According to Warren and Kate, the
web-based interactions are in service
to greater goals: connecting us to one
another as we build community, share
skills, and communally find solutions
to the potential disasters of climate
change and the end of affordable oil.
TW’s history involves several episodes. They are the Transition Whatcom Initiating Group (TWIG), the
Great Unleashing, and the Transition
Whatcom Operating Group (TWOG).
The TWIG did the initial organizing
and structuring of the effort. Then they
launched the movement at the Great
Unleashing. In effect, they got the
community involved and handed it off
to a new committee of organizers, the
TWOG.
Kate was a founding member of the
TWIG. I asked her what drew her into
the issue and she explained, “I like
how squarely the Transition movement
focuses on the issue of energy resource
depletion. Once one really lets the
impact of ‘the end of cheap oil’ sink
in, everything you took for granted is
called into question—the future you
In the spirit of building community, TW supporting the Center for Local Self-Reliance,
a group working to revitalize an historic Fairhaven site to offer space for community
members to practice and teach gardening and food preservation skills.
What are Community Shopping Days?
Each year the Co-op invites organizations to apply for a Community
Shopping Day (CSD). This year
organizations were selected for
their service to our community in
the following areas: Community
Health and Social Justice, Ecological Issues, Education, Food &
Sustainable Agriculture, Health and
4
Well-Being, and Peace and Human
Rights. The Co-op’s Member Affairs Committee (MAC) reviews
and recommends 12 organizations,
and the Board of Directors gives final approval. For more information,
contact Laura Steiger at 360-7348158, [email protected].
Photos courtesy of Transition Whatcom
Transition Whatcom (TW) exists to
ease Whatcom County into a future
where an ever-expanding, petroleumbased economy is no longer possible.
Its members work to promote “Local food
supply, sustainable energy sources, a
healthy local economy, and a growing
sense of vitality and community wellbeing.”
Transition Whatcom provided funding and volunteers to assist in expanding the downtown
Bellingham Food Bank garden plot. This project was part of the Transition U.S. and 350.
org-sponsored Home and Garden Challenge in May 2011.
imagined, your financial security, and
the many large and small luxuries we
enjoy simply because in most of our
lifetimes we have always had the benefit of cheap oil. It is frightening, but
it is also suddenly very liberating. For
me, it was like finally feeling my feet
on solid ground.”
To Kate and others on the initial
committee, the Transition model
seemed like a good template to start
from. The group began their initial
work in 2008 and then organized the
Great Unleashing in April 2010. That
wildly named and well-attended event
was also a time for the initial organizers to let go of their project in order to
put control in the hands of the wider
community. Participants chose eight
people to comprise the new Operating
Group—with a balance of representation including urban and rural, male
and female, elders and youngsters.
The current leadership organizes
periodic public planning meetings,
oversees the website, and facilitates
the work of more than 40 volunteer
workgroups, each working on a particular issue. They are also compiling
an overall plan for the county. Warren
provided more details saying, “Once
you have a critical mass of people who
are really thinking about these issues,
you need to come up with a plan. Our
workgroups are addressing different
aspects of what’s called an Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP).”
In keeping with TW’s decentralized
democratic goals, the form of the final
EDAP is quite open; Warren told me it
could be a document, a website, or an
informal state of preparedness. “If the
EDAP is always a work in progress,
that’s OK. What’s important is the real-
ity; we’re building networks of neighbors and fostering skills.”
“TW is not intended to be a progressive, liberal nonprofit,” Warren
told me. “We’re trying to reach out
to a broad base. Peak Oil is definitely
not an issue that one party has all the
answers for, and the more people involved in the process, the better we’ll
do.”
Kate described how the rising costs
and decreasing supplies are likely to affect everyone. Communities, businesses, and individuals who have worked
to anticipate the challenges will be
well-placed to transition gracefully and
peacefully to whatever comes next.
“It’s not that the world will run out
of oil,” she said. “But the price will
rise beyond what our current economy
can absorb; either it won’t be profitable
to drill for that oil, or oil will become
a luxury. We’re just trying to set our
community on solid ground. The future
will be different from today, but if we
prepare purposefully, we will benefit;
we’ll be closer to our neighbors, more
in control of our lives, and the experience can be rewarding and fulfilling.”
Transition Whatcom
Meeting
Sunday, January 15, 3–5 pm
Roots Room, Cordata Co-op
To get more involved with
Transition Whatcom, see www.
transitionwhatcom.org or attend the
next membership meeting on
January 15 at the Cordata Co-op.
2011 Community Shopping Day Schedule
January 15
February 19
March 19
April 16
May 21
June 18
July 16
August 20
September 17
October 15
November 19
December 17
Amy’s Place (Old Town Christian Ministries)
River Farm of the Evergreen Land Trust
Rainbow Recovery Center
Traditional Foods and Plants Program (Northwest Indian College)
Appliance Depot (ReUse Works)
People For Puget Sound
Food To Bank On (Sustainable Connections)
Hearing Loss Association of Whatcom County
Whatcom County Library Foundation
United Blind of Whatcom County
Local Food Works!
Transition Whatcom
Year-Long Celebration of
Cooperatives
The October 2011 Hors d’Oeuvres with Directors Forum offered participants stimulating
conversation, interesting information, and tasty food.
Co-op Owners Envision a
Resilient Future
Co-op owners teamed up with
the Board of Directors last month
at the Hors d’Oeuvres with Directors Forum, to consider how
we can plan for a resilient Co-op
future. The Co-op Deli provided a
gourmet feast, highlighting locally
grown foods. After savoring meltin-your-mouth marinated portabella mushrooms, roasted beef brisket, potato pakoras, maple-glazed
squash, and other delicacies, the
group heard an update from board
member Megan Westgate, chair of
the Strategic Planning Committee,
and proceeded to delve into seven
strategic questions posed by the
Board.
As table groups
engaged in conversation, a number
of strong themes
emerged. In looking
toward the future,
there was strong
agreement that we
want more people
in Whatcom County
to be eating local,
healthy food, and that
the Co-op can play a
strong role in education and advocacy. Members felt that the Co-op
was well-positioned to facilitate
investment in the local food economy—securing farmland, supporting farmers, and getting the
storage, processing, and transport
systems in place. Another major
theme was access for low-income
families. We want to make sure
that everyone can get the food
they need in changing times.
Members noted that we are already doing a lot of things right,
and we just need to make our
programs more visible and expand
them—the Farm Fund, the green
features of our stores, and signage
to help shoppers make informed
product choices. Looking ahead,
members wondered whether the
Co-op could have a role in promoting alternative currency and
barter systems, and helping support the formation of more types
of local co-ops. The question of
how to increase access for people
living in greater Whatcom County
was also a topic. Members want
their Co-op to continue reducing
waste and packaging,
and to reach out to more
diverse groups about the
benefits of local foods,
good nutrition, and the
power of investing in
cooperatives.
Throughout this winter and early spring, the
Board will continue to
seek member input for
the strategic plan, using
member forums, vision
boards, surveys, focus groups and
key informant interviews to build
a long-range strategy that reflects
the interests and inspiration of
Co-op owners. Stay tuned for
more opportunities to contribute
to the strategic planning process
over the winter, and thanks to
everyone who participated in the
Hors d’Oeuvres with Directors
Forum for your enthusiasm and
great ideas.
Photos by Joanne Plucy
Volunteer Opportunities
Members who volunteer for Co-op activities or events receive one $5 coupon
each time they volunteer for 1/2 hour or
longer. We have very limited openings
for ongoing volunteer jobs. Sign up for
volunteer email alerts, look for volunteer
sign-up sheets for special events, or stop
by the service desk to fill out a volunteer
application.
Newsletter Routes Available
We have two newsletter routes available: Lettered Streets/Fountain District
and North Meridian. This is a once/
month commitment with some schedule
flexibility. Contact Laura for details.
Getting the newsletter out in the community is a vital job as it is our most
effective communication and education
tool. Help spread the word…Co-op!
Get On Our Volunteer Email List
If you’re not already on the volunteer
email list, please send your preferred
email address to lauras@community-
food.coop. When you’re on the list,
you’ll get an occasional update on
volunteer activities with the Co-op. It’s
a great way to get involved with your
Co-op and meet other members.
Mailing Party Email List
If visiting with other interesting Coop members while stuffing envelopes
sounds like a fun way to spend a few
hours, contact Laura to add your name
to the mailing party email list. This
group gets together once every two or
three months at the Cordata store, usually on a weekday.
Join the MAC
The Member Affairs Committee
(MAC) meets every month, usually
on the last Wednesday from 5:15–7:15
pm, to consider questions raised by our
members and to work on board and
community-based activities. If you are
interested in joining the MAC, please
call Jean Rogers at 360-734-8158.
The United Nations General
banking, services, and travel. In its
Assembly has declared 2012 the
2008 Global 300 report on the largInternational Year of Cooperatives,
est cooperatives in the world, the
in recognition of the
International Cooperative
“Cooperatives
contribution of coopAlliance, a non-profit
eratives. The objectives are a reminder to
group with 260 member
of the year are to raise
organizations from 96
public awareness of the the international
countries representing
invaluable contribucommunity that it some 1 billion individutions of cooperative
als, indicated that the top
is possible to pur- 300 cooperatives alone
enterprises to poverty
reduction, employment sue both economic had an aggregate turnover
generation, and social
of $1.1 trillion, compaviability and social rable to roughly one tenth
integration. The Year
will also highlight the
of the gross domestic
responsibility.”
strengths of the cooperproduct (GDP) of the U.S.
ative business model as
Most of the 300 largest
–United Nations
an alternative means of Secretary-General Ban cooperatives are found in
doing business and fur- Ki-moon
the developed economies
thering socioeconomic
of France, Germany, Jadevelopment.
pan, Netherlands and the
Cooperatives are business enU.S., with 30 percent engaged in
terprises owned and controlled by
the agriculture and food sectors, 23
the members that they serve. Their
percent in retailing, 22 percent in
member-driven nature differentiates
insurance and 19 percent in bankthem from other forms of business
ing.
in making decisions balanced by
the pursuit of profit with the needs
For more information, see the UN
and interests of members and their
website at social.un.org/coopsyear,
communities.
the International Cooperative AlliCooperatives are spread across a
ance websites at www.ica.coop/alspectrum of sectors, such as agriculica, www.2012.coop, and usa2012.
ture, fisheries, housing, insurance,
coop.
USDA Pushes Veggies But Subsidizes
Meat
The Washington Post recently ran a story pointing
out that the USDA’s nutrition
guidelines are seriously out
of step with food subsidies.
The government recommends people eat fruits and
veggies as nearly half their
daily intake, and protein as
less than a quarter—but they
subsidize meat in totally
different proportions. Their
graphic compares what they
think people should eat with
what they encourage farmers to
produce.
On Myplate, the federal food
diagram published in June to show
Americans a healthful diet, half of
the plate contains fruits and vegetables, while roughly a third is made
up of grains and about a fifth is
reserved for “protein”: meat, eggs,
Volunteer In the Community
Co-op members who volunteer with
the Bellingham Food Bank, Small
Potatoes Gleaning Project, Whatcom
Land Trust, Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, or The Food
Bank Farm are eligible for a $5 Co-op
coupon. These organizations determine how to distribute the set amount
of coupons they receive each month.
Check directly with the organization
you’re interested in before
volunteering.
Contact Laura Steiger at 360-7348158, ext. 129 or [email protected].
beans and nuts. A separate, smaller
circle is designated “dairy.”
The designers of Myplate hope
it will help lower obesity and related illnesses such as diabetes,
high blood pressure and cancer.
Animal fats contribute to these diseases and make up a much larger
percentage of the diet in America
than in other countries. “The chart,
thankfully, shows very clearly
what people should aim for,” says
Marion Nestle, a professor of food
science and public health at New
York University.
The food plate looks healthful
enough, but federal incentives to
farmers reflect an entirely different
agenda. In large part, the government pays farmers who grow food
for animals that become meat.
For the full story, see www.
washingtonpost.com/national/
health-science/us-touts-fruitand-vegetables-while-subsidizing-animals-that-becomemeat/2011/08/22/gIQATFG5IL_
story.html
5
Eating Local for the Holidays: A Tasty Challenge
Sara Southerland
Those of us living in Whatcom
County are a hearty bunch. This time
of year when the days are dark and the
rain runs sideways, we carry on—perhaps caught up in the holiday bustle,
picking up the last essential ingredient
or gifts on our list. The first thing that
comes to mind for me this season is
the food. Dreaming about the fresh
harvest I’ll find at the Farmers Market
each week and what savory or sweet
concoction I will create from the
bounty.
These dark, cold days also mean
more wood on the fire and warm
apple cider in our mugs. Lots of
soups, hearty foods, and sweet baked
goods and we know the full swing of
the holidays is here. Though holiday
meal planning can be a daunting task,
incorporating local ingredients into
your dishes is not. Whether you’re
pulling out all of grandma’s recipes
or just starting from scratch, there are
so many ways to include more local
foods, and the holidays are a great
place to start.
Local foods don’t have to be more
expensive. A co-worker and her
husband recently took the Hunger
Challenge, which meant eating on
a food stamp budget, around $5 a
day/each for a week. Vowing to use
only local and organic ingredients,
she embarked on a week’s worth of
delicious organic meals using whole
foods and local ingredients. Sourcing from their Community Supported
Agriculture (CSA) box, staple foods
like rice and beans, gleaned apples
from a neighbor’s tree, and enjoying fresh, local, and organic eggs
and chicken, they were successful.
To do so, though, they had to commit to cutting items they considered
luxuries like sugar, alcohol, and even
reduced their cheese and nuts for the
week. All in all, they said they ate
nutritiously and enjoyed their meals.
With some practice, you’ll learn to
maximize your money while supporting local farms and your values. Start
with a few local ingredients and keep
an open mind to creative cooking.
Here are some easy tips to get started
eating local for the holidays:
• Get more local in your shopping bag.
There is a bounty of local foods available, from baking ingredients like flour,
butter, eggs and other dairy products, to
harvest vegetables like winter squashes,
root vegetables like potatoes, carrots,
beets, and parsnips; from heritage pasture-raised meats like turkey, chicken,
duck, beef, pork, and fresh seafood to
locally produced wines, beers, cider,
and more—there is much to choose
from that is grown, raised, or caught in
Whatcom County.
• Build your menu based on what foods
are in season and locally available from
locally owned grocery stores, or just
stick to your standby menu plan and
add a local ingredient or two to each
traditional dish. • Let your ingredients guide conversations around the table. Let your guests
know where your ingredients came
from, and that your purchases support
local farms and the economy as well as
having great taste and value.
In our northwest corner of Washington, we are lucky that we have so
many local farms, food purveyors,
and artisans growing and producing
an abundance of healthy and delicious
foods—just for us.
So during this holiday season, challenge yourself to include more locally
grown and produced foods. You will
taste the difference and know that you
are contributing to a stronger local
economy and supporting local farms.
Here’s to a healthy and happy winter
with your loved ones and family—
from our local farmers to your holiday
plate. Salut!
For more information, check these
resources: www.pugetsoundfresh.org/
eatlocal, www.slowfoodusa.org, eatlocalfirst.org, www.localharvest.org,
www.eatinseason.wordpress.com.
Sara Southerland is the Food &
Farming Outreach Coordinator at Sustainable Connections. She loves to talk
and write about, prepare, and preserve
local foods.
Sweet Potatoes Are Back
Fall
is sweet
potato time,
which makes me
very happy. The sweet potato is one of
my favorite vegetables and often my
dinner. I’ve made more meals out of
sweet potatoes than I can count, and I
mean really simple ones: a sweet potato with tangy goat cheese or a pool
of melting butter, smoked salt, and
plenty of pepper. That plus a salad is a
frequent winter meal. I’m relieved to
know that sweet potatoes are considered nutritional powerhouses because
I’d be hard pressed to give them up.
Sweet potato time is also when people
start asking about the difference between
sweet potatoes and yams, a confusion
that persists. The yam is a starchy, dry,
tropical vegetable that grows in West
Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia. Sweet
potatoes grow here and are related to
the morning glory. If you see them side
by side you can see that they’re different, but the word “yam” has crept into
the sweet potato nomenclature not only
because of misuse, but also because there
are two basic kinds of sweet potatoes.
There are those that are “firm” (or dryfleshed) and those referred to as “soft”
(or moist-fleshed). The firm, dry types
were the first to be grown in the U.S.,
6
Deborah Madison
so when the soft ones were introduced,
growers decided to use the word
“yam” to distinguish their moist
sweet potatoes from the others.
This probably shouldn’t have happened, but it did, and the habit still
persists. People have candied yams
on Thanksgiving and Garnet and
Jewel sweet potatoes are typically called
yams, even though they’re not.
My local co-op sells five kinds of
sweet potatoes at any one time, but sadly,
most shoppers see but two or three varieties—and only the soft kinds. So here
are the names of some other varieties to
look for and try.
Dry Fleshed (Firm) Sweet Potatoes
In general, Asian and East Indian
cultures favor dry sweet potato varieties. Since they resemble chestnuts, their
cooked flesh can be used where chestnut
purees are called for. Being nuttier and
less sugary than the moist varieties, I find
the dries more versatile: good in a salad,
compatible with curry spices, happy to
be glazed with honey, ginger, and soy
sauce, transformed into velvety custards
or sweet potato pies but also delicious
roasted. In Japan I’ve encountered vendors selling hot, roasted sweet potatoes
as a snack—and what a great snack on a
cold day!
Kotobuki: A long, golden-skinned tuber with dry, straw colored, nutty-tasting
flesh.
Hanna: These are short, stubby tubers
with pointy ends, slightly darker skin and
golden flesh. The chestnut flavor in this
tuber is especially rich and good.
Okinawa or Hawaiian: These tubers
are generally small and, with grayish
skin, not too attractive—at least on the
outside. Their flesh, however, is a gorgeous magenta and the flavor rich and
sweet. Try it as a base for ice cream or a
custard.
Yellow Jersey: Grown in the MidAtlantic states, these have orange skins
and dry, sweet, yellow flesh.
Moist (Soft) Sweet Potatoes
In contrast to the dry sweet potatoes, the soft varieties are intensely
sweet—essentially ready-made desserts
(although we do eat them as vegetables).
But if you’re going the dessert route, you
can simply drizzle molasses and cream
into their mashed flesh, or turn them
into luscious winter puddings and pies.
When making candied sweet potatoes
for Thanksgiving, I like to use different
varieties, with their skin on and sliced
lengthwise and layered so you can enjoy
their different shades of orange.
Garnet: Deep purple skin, dark orange
flesh, very sweet, well-balanced flavor.
Grown in California, Garnet is usually
widely available.
Diana: Purple skin, orange flesh, moist
and exceptionally sweet. Diana was developed to replace the Garnet because of
shipping and storage problems due to the
Garnet’s thin skin.
Jewel: Another sweet, super-moist
orange-fleshed sweet potato with a coppery, rather than red-orange skin. Jewel
accounts for 75 percent of all the commercially produced varieties and can be
held in storage (under controlled conditions; not your home refrigerator) for up
to fifty weeks, which explains why it’s
nearly always available.
Beauregard: Similar to Jewel, with
purple-rose skin and orange flesh, it matures early, but sweetens only after two
months in storage.
The sweetness of these vegetables can
be tempered by pairing them with horseradish, ginger, cumin, curry spices of all
kinds, coconut milk, coriander, chile, and
so forth. If you fry leftover sweet potatoes
in a little butter or oil, their sugars will
caramelize and balance their sweetness as
well; plus they’re really good this way.
(continued on page 11)
Note:
The Co-op produce departments
frequently have many of these
varieties of sweet potatoes when
they’re available. We also carry
a dry fleshed (firm) variety called
Japanese. For more information,
ask any of our produce staff—they
really know their spuds!
Wine Notes
Sherries and Ports—Specialty Wines for the Holidays
Vic Hubbard, Downtown Co-op Wine Buyer
In the selection of wines available for the holidays, don’t
overlook sherries and ports. They are well suited for rich holi-
day foods and desserts, and make unique and practical gifts
for wine lovers. These are strong, ripe, and concentrated wines
that represent the power of the sun in these dark and cold
months of the year.
For this month we highlight some sherries and ports, however, be sure to check out the many fruit wines, meads, dessert
wines, sparkling wines, and others from our specialty wine
shelves at both stores.
Hijos de Rainer Perez Marin, “La
Guita” Manzanilla Sherry, Spain,
$6.99 375 ml. or $11.95 750 ml.
Dry sherry is not on most people’s
shopping list. Its flavors are peculiar
to our palates, and it’s not a classic
match with most foods. Being fortified,
people associate sherry with heavier
style wines like port. However, what
other category of wine can world-class
examples of the best the world has to
offer be purchased for $20 a bottle or
less? Its flavors are stimulating, unique,
and represent new tasting experiences
bordering on ethereal when paired
with certain foods, and it shines as an
aperitif to whet the appetite. As to being heavy, sherry runs the gamut from
light, fresh, and dry to thick and sweet,
bordering on syrupy.
Made from the traditional sherry
grape, Palomino, the “La Guita” manzanilla is a light, fresh, dry style of
sherry. Alcohol level is only modestly
higher than table wines. Protected from
oxidation by a layer of yeast (called
flor) while stored in large casks of
American oak, manzanilla is famous
for its clean, saline character. The briny
air of the hot coastal region of southern
Spain where all sherry comes from is
said to imbue manzanilla with the taste
of the sea, and this clear-colored dry
sherry certainly conveys plenty of saline character.
In Spain, where sherry is king,
the lighter-style sherries—fino and
manzanilla—account for most of the
sherry consumed. Traditionally it accompanies light appetizers, especially
olives, cheeses (especially good with
bleu cheeses), and salty fish such as anchovies. For us here in the Northwest,
there is no better way to enjoy manzanilla than with oysters on the half shell.
The mineral-sea flavors of oysters
resonate with the chilled dry freshness
of this sherry.
Lustau Dry Amontillado Sherry,
Spain, $14.95, 750 ml.
Amontillado sherry develops higher
alcohol content, dissolving the protective yeast cap, allowing this style of
sherry to come into contact with air
to become oxidized. This results in a
sherry with more color and a nutty,
caramel character. As with all sherries, a system of blending called solera
combines the youngest wines with a
series of casks holding progressively
older sherries to make a consistent
non-vintage style that shares a portion
of all vintages dating back to the oldest
original vintage.
Although considered dry, this amontillado does show some sweetness. It
is also more “weighty,” with plenty
of caramel, tobacco, and walnut-like
flavors and aromas. It’s good as an
aperitif, but also with a light repast of
nuts, chicken, or cheeses. For an ideal
pairing, try this wine with caramelized
walnuts and bleu cheese.
Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port
2006, Portugal, $22.95, 750 ml.
The hub of port wine production is
located in Northern Portugal’s Douro
Valley where 30,000 farmers grow
grapes such as Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesca, and Tinta Cão in ancient terraced hillside vineyards along
the Douro River. These traditional varietals are blended into the various styles
of port, mostly designated as ruby or
tawny ports.
Ruby port is protected from oxygen;
its purple color belies its similarity to
red wine in terms of flavor profiles.
It is fortified with neutral brandy-like
liquor, fermentation is stopped, sweetness is preserved, and alcohol levels
are elevated to the 20-percent range.
This Late Bottled Vintage from
Dow’s is a ruby port from a 200-yearold iconic port producer. It is a reasonably priced, good introduction for the
novice port drinker, or a fine quality,
well-balanced port for the seasoned
port drinker. Bottled unfiltered from
casks at maturity, it has striking acidity
balancing the sweetness, preventing the
wine from being heavy or syrupy. Look
for fruit aspects, bright cherry flavors
seem to dominate, cola and chocolate
powder provide more earthy tones.
Consider this a dessert-style wine;
traditionally it is matched with Stilton
cheese after a meal. It’s also good with
dark chocolate.
Porto Rocha Fine Tawny Port,
Portugal, $9.95, 375 ml.
Tawny port is made in a similar manner to ruby, but is exposed to oxygen,
turning brown or tawny, much like an
apple exposed to air. Flavors are less
fruity and more resemble caramel or
nuts.
The hand-stenciled label on this
bottle hints at the traditional style of
this old port house founded in 1850.
While others may try to modernize the
staid reputation of port, Rocha seems
to cling to it. Their ports, coming from
low-yielding 80-year-old vineyards,
remain unchanged.
This tawny represents the most basic
and least expensive port. With its nutty
sweetness and fine grained acidity, plus
long shelf life after opening, it’s easy
to see why tawnys are supplanting ruby
ports as the most popular style of port.
While vintage ports may be too
heavy to serve before a meal, the
lightness of a tawny makes it also
suitable as an aperitif, perhaps
served with figs, nuts, or cheeses.
Don’t forget, for holiday gift giving, the 375 ml. half-bottle size
makes a great stocking stuffer.
Wine Questions?
Co-op Wine Buyers Vic Hubbard
and Tim Johnson invite your
questions or comments. Send email
to [email protected] or
[email protected].
Sustainable
Gift Ideas
Have you seen our
exciting “delicious
revolution” logo? You
can get it now on our
own durable “revolutionary” stainless steel pint-size cup. It’s
BPA-free, stackable, and dishwasher safe. Great for iced tea or
coffee, juice, beer, or smoothies.
Grab a new 100% recycled cotton shopping bag—also with
our “delicious revolution” logo. This bag is from Ecorite—leaders in green thinking with environmentally friendly products.
Join us in choosing products that help make our world a better, safer, and healthier place.
Co-op Gift Cards
In addition to being a handy way to pay for regular purchases,
our Co-op Gift Cards make great holiday gifts. Do you have a family
member or friend locally who would love to have some extra money
to spend on good, healthy, nutritious food? Gift cards are an easy,
no-frills way to give a gift that everyone appreciates. Call or stop
by the service desk at either store to arrange for a gift card. We can
mail them to your recipient for easy gifting.
Happy Holidays!
7
Healthy Connections
Cooking, health, and well-being classes
offered by the Community Food Co-op
All classes (unless noted) are held at either the Downtown Co-op’s Connection Building (on the south side of the parking lot on Forest Street) or the Local Roots Room, which is upstairs at the Cordata Co-op. Registration requires payment in full. Some classes are
co-sponsored with Whatcom Community College. To register for these classes, call 360-383-3200 or go online to www.
whatcomcommunityed.com For all other classes stop by the service desk at either store location, or call
360-734-8158 (credit card payment only). See each class listing for location and registration. For any other class
information, contact Kevin Murphy at 360-734-8158 or email [email protected].
Robert
Fong
the body, and is therapeutic for the
back, spine, and neck. Ruby will
guide you through a dynamic blend
of postures, breathing, mantra,
music, and meditation. A mat and
blanket will be provided, if needed,
but bring your own if possible. For
more information, see www.kokoroyoga.com.
$12 members/$14 non-members/
Downtown Co-op/register at Co-op
Manual Ligament Therapy
with Arik Gohl
Saturday, December 10, 1–3
pm
Make Your Own Herbal Gifts
with Sajah Popham
Thursday, December 1, 6:30–8:30 pm
Join herbalist Sajah Popham in a fun
and practical class. Sajah demonstrates
how to make wholesome herbal salves,
lip balms, bath salts, tinctures, teas, and
vinegars. Everybody knows the gifts you
make yourself are the best—especially
when they promote immunity, stress reduction, relaxation, deep dreaming, and
general good health. Sajah is a Bastyr
University graduate and is the owner of
Organic Unity. For more information, see
www.organic-unity.com.
$19 members, $22 non-members/Downtown
Co-op/register at Co-op
Manual Ligament Therapy
(MLT) is a cutting-edge clinical
manual therapy developed by Arik
Gohl, LMP, of Tacoma. Arik will
demonstrate how MLT can be used to
resolve both simple and difficult injuries
and pathologies. With his learning, experience, and vision, Arik is working to
create training programs that will change
the face of bodywork. He hopes to empower therapists by providing tools to
increase their longevity, productivity, and
effectiveness, while enhancing clients’
health and healing.
Free event--registration requested/Downtown Co-op/register with Susan Guttzeit
(360-738-9800)
Introduction to Ayurveda
with Christian Czingula
Wednesday, January 11, 6:30–8:30 pm
Annie, Kerri, and Marilyn offer a
chakra adjustment using sound healing
with crystal bowls and guided meditation. Ground your energy and de-stress
so that you can enjoy the holiday season.
For more information, see illuminatedgrowth.com. All proceeds will be donated to the Food Bank.
Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old philosophy of healing from India—literally it
means “the science of life.” Ayurvedic
therapist Christian Czingula discusses
how the principles of Ayurveda can be
applied to a wide range of psycho-physiological issues. He will discuss the energetic qualities of food and how different
approaches to diet are appropriate for different constitutional types. Christian will
also relate Ayurvedic philosophy to contemporary modalities such as quantum
physics and the work of Deepak Chopra
and Dr. Emoto.
$5 suggested donation/Downtown Co-op/
register at Co-op
Free event—registration requested/Downtown Co-op/register at Co-op
Make-Ahead Holiday Party
Deep Winter Comfort Food
Dazzle your holiday guests with festive foods you can prepare ahead of time.
Registered Dietician Lisa Dixon demonstrates how to make smoked salmon pizza, bruschetta bars topped with garbanzo
beans and served with Tuscan greens,
and for gluten-free guests—polenta coins
with mushroom sauté. Lisa is a recent
graduate of Bastyr University’s Dietetic
Internship program, and is the co-owner
of Nourish RDs, a nutrition communications and consulting company that has
the mission to inspire and teach others to
eat and enjoy real food. A wine option is
available at the door for $7.
Are the dark days getting you down?
Cozy up with chef Charles Claassen
from the Book Fare Cafe with some
off-season comfort food preparations.
In this class we’ll prepare dishes with
what’s available from our local farms and
larders: Garlic & Leek Bisque, FennelCider Braised Chard & Kale, Roasted
& Mashed Potatoes & Rutabagas, and
Blackberry Buttermilk Biscuits. You can
still eat locally in the deep winter. A wine
option, payable at class, is $7.
Seasonal Chakra Adjustment
with Annie Reynolds, Kerri
Burnside, and Marilyn Rinn
Saturday, December 3, 10–11:30 am
with Lisa Dixon
Wednesday, December 7, 6:30–9 pm
Let Go of Holiday Stress with
Kundalini Yoga
with Ruby C. Koa
Thursday, December 8, 6:30–8 pm
Give yourself the tools to deal gracefully with the stress of the holidays with
Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan.
This practice benefits all the systems of
8
with Charles Claassen
Thursday, January 12, 6:30–9 pm
Year of the Black Dragon
with Robert Fong
Tuesday, January 17, 6:30–9 pm
Ring in the Year of the Dragon with
celebratory Chinese New Year dishes:
Sichuan fragrant duck, scallops & shrimp
rice noodles, Beijing hot sour soup, and
Coconut Almond Pudding. Bring your
appetite for this fun, educational event. A
wine option, payable at class, is $8.
$45 members and non-members/Downtown
Co-op/register at WCC (360-383-3200)
Hawks, Eagles, and Falcons
of Winter
Improve Your Sleep Naturally
Birds of prey or raptors are a diverse
group of animals, ecologically important and prominent in popular imagination. Collectively, they help maintain
a functioning energy flow and rich
ecosystem in the farmlands and forests
of the Northwest. Learn more about
their natural history in this exciting
multimedia presentation by David
Drummond, Merlin Falcon Foundation
raptor biologist. Bring your stories and
your questions.
So many of us are chronically sleep
deprived. This can lead to low energy,
depressed or anxious mood, sugar, carbohydrate, and caffeine cravings, and
weight gain. Dr. Kimberly Sandstrom
will discuss natural approaches to common sleep problems including nutrition,
exercise, yoga, and calming herbs.
with David Drummond
Wednesday, January 18, 6:30–8:30 pm
Winter Roasting
with Mary Ellen Carter
Thursday, January 19, 6–8 pm
Mary Ellen Carter demonstrates
shrimp roasted on rock salt served with a
roasted romesco sauce, as well as stellar
recipes for roasted vegetables, including
roasted root vegetable salad with ginger
vinaigrette and toasted pumpkin seeds.
Fill your kitchen with the sweet smells of
roasting. A wine option, payable at class,
is $7.
$35 members and non-members/Cordata
with Kim Sandstrom, ND
Wednesday, January 25, 6:30–8:30
pm
Choosing Childcare
with Darcie Donegan, MA
Thursday, January 26, 6:30–8:30 pm
This workshop is designed for parents
looking for quality child care for their
young children. We will talk about the
types of care available, the pros and cons
of each, and, most importantly, how to
identify high-quality care. Licensing and
accreditation, local resources, defining
individual child and family needs, and
advice on how to identify the key quality
indicators will be also be covered. Darcie
Donegan is a former child-care center
director, current parent, and early childhood education instructor with 30 years
experience.
Fire up Your Willpower with
Kundalini Yoga
Make Your Own Soft Cheese
Make sticking to your New Year
resolutions easier by working on your
third chakra; the center of will power,
energy, and commitment. You’ll be
challenged and inspired through a dynamic sequence of ab strengthening
movements, breathing, mantra, and a
special meditation to help you overcome addictions. A mat and blanket
will be provided if needed, but bring
your own if possible. For more information, see www.kokoroyoga.com.
Join Seattle cheese maker Mark Solomon for a hands-on class. We’ll make
yogurt cheese, ricotta, mozzarella, and
burrata in class. We’ll also discuss how
to make at least three other cheeses—
chevre, quark, and cream cheese. You’ll
learn the basics, be introduced to simple
soft cheese-making equipment, troubleshoot common mistakes, and discuss
how to get the best results in your own
kitchen. Samples of all varieties will be
served.
with Ruby C. Koa, RYT
Thursday, January 19, 6:30–8 pm
with Mark Solomon
Saturday, January 28, 1–4 pm
Ethiopian Cuisine
Thai Classics
Join Mulu Belay of Ambo Ethiopian
Cuisine as she makes Ethiopian favorites including doro wat (a spicy chicken
stew), gomen (stewed kale), ibe (cottage
cheese made from buttermilk), and, of
course, injera, the sourdough flatbread
that accompanies traditional Ethiopian
menus.
Robert serves classic Thai dishes
including tom yum goong, lemongrass
shrimp and young coconut soup, red
curry galangal duck, lightly fried fish
cake with a sweet and sour peanut sauce.
A wine option, payable at class, is $8.
with Mulu Belay
Monday, January 23, 6–9 pm
with Robert Fong
Winter Soups
Mulu Belay
with Karina Davidson
Join Karina for a lively evening
cooking warming winter soups. On the
menu: Senegalese chicken and peanut soup; an Italian wild mushroom,
marsala, and wild rice soup; a robust
butternut squash bisque; and a healthy,
hearty Cajun-inspired red bean and
chicken sausage soup. And as a bonus
soup, Greek avgolemono, a luscious
and simple lemon scented chicken and
rice soup. Come hungry.
Debit Card vs. Gift Card:
Choose Your Plastic
You’re probably trying to save money on your household food expenses—
most of us are. But did you know you
can save yourself money and hassle
and, at the same time, save the Co-op
money by using a Co-op gift card for
purchases versus using your bank debit
or credit card?
Co-op shoppers have increased their
use of credit and debit cards substantially over the years. In fact, this year
the Co-op will process considerably
more than 500,000 debit and credit
card transactions. Each debit card
transaction costs the Co-op approximately 40 cents, and for credit cards
the average is 83 cents. Because the
Co-op tracks gift card transactions with
our own internal system, our gift cards
cost the Co-op only 5 cents to purchase
and no fees to process when they are
used.
For example, if you loaded a gift
card (using cash, check, debit or credit
card) each month and then used the gift
card to shop once a week, you would
save the Co-op more than $15 a year.
That may not sound like a lot for one
person, but with more than a half million debit or credit card transactions
each year, it adds up quickly. Too many
costs are out of our control—here’s one
that each of us can help control for ourselves and for the Co-op.
There’s another benefit too—the
Co-op reuses all of our gift cards. They
aren’t thrown in the landfill after each
use as many other retail stores do.
All it takes is one simple step at any
checkstand or at the service desk to
“load” your Co-op gift card bi-weekly
or monthly for the amount you typically
spend during that period—it makes
handling each shopping transaction
quick and easy. It may even help you
stay within your planned budget—and
you don’t have to worry about having
the right amount of cash. Your receipt
shows the amount of the purchase as
well as the remaining balance on the
card.
Co-op produce department worker,
student, and part-time graphic artist
Habiba Sial says, “I love using my Coop gift card. It helps me stick with my
budget for in-store lunches and I eat
healthier. When my card balance gets
low, I focus on buying veggies instead
of something prepared.” Cordata Coop cashier Crista Aberle-Devine loves
the convenience of her gift card. She
added, “It keeps me from spending
over my budgeted amount in addition
to saving the Co-op money.”
The savings in processing fees for
the Co-op really add up. Review this
list of benefits for using a gift card and
see if this idea might work for you.
• Easy to load
• Saves having cash available
• Makes checkout quicker
• Saves processing fees
• Helps with budgeting
• Cards are recycled
Tips from a SNAP User
A follower of Elizabeth Archerd’s
(Wedge Community Co-op in Minneapolis MN) recent “What If” Food
Challenge shared her strategies for
thriving on a limited food budget.
Having exhausted unemployment
benefits and still jobless, she receives
the monthly maximum SNAP for
one person ($200) as her only
“income.” During the decades
that she was employed, she
shopped for raw ingredients,
cooked and saved up, so she
was already a budget shopper.
But now she’s honed it so that
many months she has money left
over. Her strategies may sound familiar. See which ones you might adopt
for your situation.
Shop the sales and stock up.
Think in terms of the entire year
(taking into account space limitations.) Buy lots of what’s in season.
Clean, chop and put in a zipper bag.
Store enough in the freezer to last the
year—this is the cheapest, freshest,
most flavorful way.
Cook from scratch. Everything gets
cheaper each step closer to cooking
from scratch, and the ingredients in
your recipes are totally wholesome
and without added chemicals.
Cook up large quantities of food
on your days off. Portion out serving
size containers, label and put them in
the freezer. On days you come home
late, tired or hungry you can simply
choose a meal from the freezer.
There is no such thing as freezer
burn. Try your own experiment. Thaw
out meat with freezer burn and cook it
up. See if the freezer burn doesn’t disappear (rehydrate). You seldom need to
throw out frozen meat.
Mostly everything can be frozen.
Bananas can be mashed with lemon
juice, frozen and used later for banana bread or smoothies.
Onions, green/red/yellow peppers, celery, carrots, and more can
be cleaned and frozen (cheese too).
They lose crunchiness but are good
with stews and stir fries.
Carry your own food and drink
whenever you go out, to prevent situations when you might use a vending
machine or be tempted to go out to
eat.
Buy food in as large a quantity as
you have room for storage. It’s most
cost effective. If needed, portion out
useful sizes before freezing.
Even potatoes can be frozen if
they’re mashed first. Don’t be worried when they thaw out watery. They
thicken up again when heated.
For more details on Elizabeth’s
“What If” Challenge, see www.
wedge.coop/food-resources/my-whatif-food-challenge.
Talking Turkey: A Poultry Primer
Nutritious and versatile, poultry is
an affordable staple in many omnivore households. Poultry lends itself
to a variety of cooking methods—
baking, grilling and stir frying, for
example—and flavorings from sweet
and savory to hot and spicy.
As with other foods, knowing
where and how your chicken, turkey,
Cornish game hen, and other poultry have been raised can help you
choose the products that are right for
you and provide information about
animal welfare and environmental
impact.
Understanding some commonly
used poultry-producing terms can
help put you in the know. However,
it’s important to know that some of
the terms are regulated, while others
are not. When in doubt about poultry
terms or what’s offered at your local
grocery store, ask for more information at the meat counter.
Free-range. This USDA regulation means that the animal has been
allowed access to the outside. The
government doesn’t specify that
poultry must go outside, for how
long, or the amount or kind of space
that must be provided, but the idea is
that poultry is free to roam outdoors
and engage in natural behaviors (this
is the way most poultry was raised
before high-density confinement was
introduced in the 1950s). And poultry that exercises produces leaner
meat.
Organic. Poultry that meets the
requirements of the National Organics Program (NOP) has been raised
in housing that permits natural behavior, with outdoor access, has been
fed certified organic feed (including
pasture), has not been given antibiotics or hormones and has been
processed organically. The USDA
organic label requires producers to
follow production and handling practices in accordance with the national
standards; certifying agents ensure
compliance through annual inspections.
“No hormones added” means
just that, but keep in mind that Federal regulations prohibit the use of
hormones in raising poultry, so this
term should apply to all poultry anyway. Regulations also require that if
a poultry label says, “no hormones
added,” it must also say, “Federal
regulations prohibit the use of hormones.”
Natural. USDA allows this label
to be used when a product contains
no artificial ingredients or added
colors and is only minimally processed. The label must explain what
“natural” means, so be sure to read
on. It might say “no added colorings
or artificial ingredients; minimally
processed,” for example.
“No antibiotics added” means
that the producer has provided documentation to the USDA that the animals were raised without antibiotics.
Cage-free. Poultry that’s cage-free
is allowed to roam, but not necessarily outdoors. This allows poultry to
engage in some natural behaviors,
such as walking, nesting, and perching. However, this term is not regulated by USDA nor by third-party
certifiers for poultry, though it is
regulated for eggs.
Pastured poultry. This is a term
coined for chickens raised on grass
pasture all of the time after the initial
brooding period. However, this term
does not guarantee that poultry feeds
only on pasture.
Fresh. A “fresh” poultry label
means that the temperature of the
raw poultry has never been below
26 degrees F. (Frozen poultry, on the
other hand, has a temperature of 0
degrees F or below.) A turkey could
be kept at 27 degrees F for weeks or
even months, though, and then sold
as “fresh.” Buy from a grocer who
can tell you how long the “fresh”
poultry has been in storage.
To locate local poultry sources (including farms and co-ops), check out
the Local Harvest website.
A Little Turkey Tutorial
You might want to keep in mind
when shopping for your holiday turkey that a plump, round shape means
an abundance of tender meat. Other
tidbits that might come in handy:
• Fresh turkeys and heritage or heirloom turkeys cook faster than most
commercial turkeys and turkeys
that have been frozen.
• A hen is a female turkey (smaller)
and a tom or gobbler is a male turkey (larger). Neither is more tender
than the other.
• Brining (soaking) a turkey before
cooking adds flavor and moisture.
Sometimes brined turkeys have
artificial ingredients, but you can
(continued on page 10)
9
WSU Whatcom County Master Gardener
2012 Training
Application Deadline:
December 30
Applications are currently being
accepted for the 10-week Master
Gardener training beginning February 9, 2012. To become a certified
Master Gardener, applicants must
complete 60 hours of volunteer time
as a Community Educator.
Washington State University
Whatcom County Extension provides
home horticulture training to people
interested in gardening and their
community. In return for this training, Master Gardener Community
Educators volunteer 60 hours during
the same year helping home gardeners.
Dan Pike, Alala Tate,
and Pete Kremen
(l to r).
Master Gardener intern at the Master
Gardener annual plant sale.
The online training sessions and in-person workshops are led by local and
state experts. The sessions cover introductory horticulture and botany, soils,
garden management, weed control, plant pathology, insects, pesticide safety,
landscape ornamentals, pruning, and vegetable and fruit crops.
Cost for this training is $300, which includes materials and DVD, online curriculum, guest speakers and field trips. A rebate of $150 is returned after volunteer hours are completed. Scholarships are available for those who qualify.
For more information contact Master Gardener Coordinator Beth Chisholm
at [email protected] or 360-676-6736. See www.whatcom.wsu.edu and
www.whatcom.wsu.edu/mastergardener.
Bellingham Children’s Theatre
The Wutcraker!
December 15, 16, and 17, 7 pm; December 18, 2 pm
WWU Performing Arts Center
In this 2nd annual staging of “The Wutcraker!” several esteemed public
officials set aside politics and law enforcement to become dungeon mates
and are sentenced to sing and dance. You’ll laugh with them in all their humanness as they participate in this locally written, directed, and acted parody
of that famous ballet. A cast of fifty, ranging in age from 7 to 70 co-star as
“Booger Flung Scaries,” “Ice Gang rappers,” “A Lonely Cheese,” and more.
$12 advance tickets are available at Village Books, the Community Food
Co-op, and at www.tickets.wwu.edu $15 tickets available at the door. For
more information, see www.bellinghamchildrenstheatre.com or call 360-7349999. Last year “The Wutcraker!” sold out! Get your tickets early!
Non-GMO
Progress
Families and the
Farm Bill
Community Food Security Coalition
(CFSC) hosted its 15th annual conference
in Oakland CA in November. Hundreds of
activists from across the U.S. heard from
many inspiring speakers, and had the opportunity to take action on the Farm Bill.
The conference also helped launch a new
campaign by CFSC called Parent Earth,
featuring videos on food for families. See
how parents are standing up for food and
food policy in three short videos at www.parentearth.com/action/farmbill/.
Materials from the conference, slide shows, handouts, photos, and more
are posted at www.communityfoodconference.org/15/materials. You can help
keep the food system change momentum going by finding the CFSC Facebook page at www.facebook.com/communityfood.
The Community Food Security Coalition catalyzes food systems that are
healthy, sustainable, just, and democratic by building community voice and
capacity for change. The coalition’s diverse membership includes more than
500 social and economic justice, anti-hunger, environmental, community
development, sustainable agriculture, community gardening, and other organizations.
Non-GMO Month was a resounding success from the 46
percent increase in retailer participation to the historic Right2Know March from New York
City to Washington, D.C. Below are some of the Non-GMO Month highlights
by the numbers.
• 1,039 participating retailers
• 54,000 Non-GMO Project Pocket Guides distributed
• 50,000+ followers on Facebook
• 40,000+ visitors to the websites (including the new nongmomonth.org)
• 466,000+ overall “engagements” on Facebook (likes, shares, clicks) during
October
• 3,800+ followers on Twitter
• 2,500+ mentions on Twitter during October
• 8,000 Non-GMO Project tote bags handed out
• 598 products verified in the 90 days prior to Non-GMO Month
• 31 winners of our popular online Daily Giveaway Contest
For more details, see Courtney Pineau’s blog at www.nongmoproject.org.
Courtney is the new Communications Manager for the Non-GMO Project.
Turkey Tutorial
(continued from page 9)
also find turkeys that are brined
with just sea salt, spices, and water. Or you can brine your own.
• Heritage or heirloom turkeys typically have denser, moister and
more flavorful meat than most
commercial turkeys. That’s because they have a higher proportion of dark meat, are customarily
fed more diverse diets and are
more active. It’s also because
they take longer to reach maturity
(about 26 weeks versus 14 weeks
for commercial turkeys) and tur-
10
keys add fat as they age; heritage
turkeys have an additional fat layer
under their skin that keeps meat
moister during cooking. Individual
breeds have specific flavors (chat
with your grower or grocer to find
out more).
• Wild turkeys have more dark meat
and are more intensely flavored
than domesticated turkeys. (Did
you know that a wild turkey—
which weighs half what a domestic
turkey weighs—can actually fly?)
• An “oven-ready” turkey is ready
to cook, while an “oven-prepared”
turkey is fully cooked and ready to
eat.
• Basted turkeys are injected or
marinated with liquid (like broth
or water), fat (like butter), and seasonings. Commercial turkeys often
include artificial ingredients, but
they must be stated on the label,
along with the total quantity of the
injected solution (3 percent, for
example).
• What size turkey do you need?
The rule of thumb is a half pound
of turkey per person (this also allows for some leftovers).
• For vegetarians, consider purchasing a Tofurky or other
“mock turkey,” made from wheat
protein or tofu.
Source: strongertogether.coop.
2012 CSD Organizations
continued from page 1
week of case management, allowing
WDRC to convene mediations and
help more struggling homeowners.
Whatcom Family and Community Network
Since 1990, the purpose of the Whatcom Family and Community Network
(WFCN) has been building the capacity
of our community to support children,
youth, and families to develop the skills
and opportunities they need to lead
healthy productive lives. Building on
a successful pilot summer program in
2011 that linked youth at risk of substance abuse, dropping out of school,
and gang violence with opportunities to
experience and learn about the natural
environment, CSD funds will be used
to supplement program costs for 60 to
70 youth and adult mentors to explore
hiking, climbing, biking, snowshoeing,
camping, and kayaking outdoors this
summer.
Whatcom Food Network
In April 2010, a small group gathered with the goal of increasing
coordination among organizations
working on various dimensions of the
Whatcom County Food System. This
group expanded, became the Whatcom Food Network (WFN) Planning
Sweet Potatoes
continued from page 6
Although they look tough and durable, sweet potatoes are thin skinned
and not great keepers, so don’t buy
more than you’ll eat in a week. For me
it’s hard not to do that, so I end up with
a lot of cooked sweet potatoes, which
end up being very useful, in that mash
for example.
As for cooking, baking is a timehonored method. Scrub them, skip any
wrappings, and bake in a 375º F oven
until utterly yielding when pierced
with a knife, an hour or more, depending on the size. Sometimes very fresh
sweet potatoes can leak their sugar
juices while baking, so you might want
to bake them on a sheet pan. If you
want a sweet potato for supper and
don’t want to wait that long, pressure
cook them for about 25 minutes. After
a fast release of the pressure, check to
make sure they’re soft throughout. If
not, return the lid and cook another 5
minutes. You can also steam them, either whole or cut into chunks, and you
can boil them, although I never like the
idea of diluting their flavor.
Not only are these tuberous vegetables very versatile, easy to like and
prepare, they offer a lot in the nutrition
department. With plenty of fiber, beta
carotene, vitamins C and B6, iron,
calcium, and protein, sweet potatoes
made the Center for Science in the
Public Interest’s top 10 best foods
list—all the more reason for incorporating this versatile tuber into your
repertoire.
See Deborah’s recipes at strongertogether.coop/at-the-market/sweetpotatoes-are-back.
Founding chef of San Francisco’s
Greens Restaurant and author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (and 10
other cookbooks), Deborah Madison
lives, writes, and gardens in Galisteo
NM. She loves her co-op, La Montañita, especially the beautiful, distinctive
produce she finds there—vegetables
that really feel like someone grew them
with care on a small farm.
Committee, and established the goal
of “Working to build common understanding and facilitate collaborative
efforts toward a healthy and equitable
food system for all.” WFN’s CSD
will provide much needed publicity
to this new organization and also help
fund a part-time program assistant to
maintain communication with Food
Network members and the Planning
Committee, develop and maintain
publications and marketing materials,
and plan events.
WSU Cooperative Extension
Community First Garden Project
The WSU Cooperative Extension
Community First Garden Project,
established in 2008, supports neighborhoods throughout Whatcom
County in creating and maintaining
community gardens. CSD funds will
be used to provide supplies—such as
wheelbarrows, tools, seed, compost
bins, or starter kits for schools and
churches—for five to 10 community
gardens, and to print a bilingual garden guide currently in high demand
at three community gardens where
Spanish-speaking families will benefit
from supportive resource materials
for continued success.
Co-op
Community News
Advertising Sign-up Dates
EveryMonthly
Other Month
Ad Sign-up Schedule
Issue
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
Co-op Holiday Hours
Christmas Eve—Close at 6 pm
Christmas Day—Closed
New Year’s Eve—Close at 8 pm
New Year’s Day—Open at 10 am
Sign-up Dates
Nov 5–Dec 26
Dec 5–Jan 25
Jan 5–Feb 25
Ad space is limited. All ads are reserved on a
first-come, first-served basis during designated sign-up times only, and must be prepaid.
For ad forms and more complete info, stop by
the service desk or call 360-734-8158.
Information to place an ad is available
online at www.communityfood.coop/
resources/newsletter.htm.
78 Percent of U.S. Families Purchase Organic Foods
Consumers vote with their dollars despite economic difficulty.
Seventy eight percent—more
U.S. families than ever before—say
they are choosing organic foods,
according to a study published in
November by the Organic Trade
Association (OTA). “In a time
when the severity of the economy
means making tough choices, it is
extremely encouraging to see consumers vote with their values by including quality organic products in
their shopping carts,” said Christine
Bushway, OTA Executive Director and CEO. The finding is one of
many contained in OTA’s newly released 2011 U.S. Families’ Organic
Attitudes and Beliefs Study.
According to the study, four in
10 families indicate they are buying more organic products than they
were a year ago. The findings are
in line with those in OTA’s 2011
Organic Industry Survey, which re-
vealed that the U.S. organic industry
grew at a rate of nearly eight percent
in 2010. Fueled by consumer choice
and demand, the organic sector is
one of the few components of the
U.S. economy that continues to add
jobs.
Nearly half—48 percent—of parents surveyed revealed that their
strongest motivator for buying
organic is their belief that organic
products “are healthier for me and
my children.” Other motivators for
purchasing organic included concern
over the effects of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics on children;
and the desire to avoid highly processed or artificial ingredients.
Nearly a decade after the federal
rules for organic were implemented,
72 percent of parents are now familiar with the USDA Organic seal,
up significantly from 65 percent
in 2009. However, the study also
found that three in 10 U.S. families are new entrants to the organic
marketplace. This figure is consistent with prior years’ findings, and
indicates a need for continued outreach and education on the verified
benefits offered by organic agriculture and products.
For the study, OTA, in partnership
with KIWI Magazine, polled nearly
1,300 U.S. families about their attitudes and behaviors relating to organic foods. The total sample reflects
the target population of U.S. households at a confidence interval of +/-3
percent at the 95 percent confidence
level. This is the third year the study
has been conducted.
For more information, see the
Organic Trade Association at www.
ota.com.
USDA Supports Research and Marketing of Organic Agriculture
Agriculture Deputy Secretary
Kathleen Merrigan recently announced 23 new grants to research
and extension programs working to
help organic producers and processors grow and market high quality
organic agricultural products. The
grants, totaling $19 million in all, are
funded by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
through two unique programs: the
Organic Agriculture Research and
Extension Initiative (OREI) and the
Organic Transitions Program (ORG).
“As more and more farmers adopt
organic agriculture practices, they
need the best science available to operate profitable and successful organic farms,” said Merrigan. “America’s
brand of organic agricultural goods
is world-renowned for its highquality and abundance of selection.
These research and extension proj-
ects will give producers the tools and
resources to produce quality organic
food and boost farm income, boosting
the ‘Grown in America’ brand.”
The grants include more than $15
million in 2011 grants through the
OREI. Supporting the development of
sustainable agricultural and forestry
practices, including organic farming,
to both reduce negative impacts on
the environment and keep U.S. farmers competitive is a priority of USDA
research.
For more OREI information, visit
www.nifa.usda.gov/fo/organicagricultureresearchandextensioninitiative.
cfm.
The grants also include nearly
$4 million through the ORG. In FY
2011, the ORG focused on environmental services provided by organic
farming systems that support soil
conservation and contribute to climate change mitigation. Practices
and systems to be addressed include those associated with organic
crops, organic animal production
(including dairy), and organic systems integrating plant and animal
production.
More information on the program
can be found online at www.nifa.
usda.gov/fo/organictransitionsprogram.cfm.
Since the late 1990s, U.S.
organic production has seen significant growth. U.S. producers
are increasingly turning to certified organic farming systems as a
potential way to decrease reliance
on nonrenewable resources, capture
high-value markets and premium
prices, and boost farm income.
Today more than two-thirds
of U.S. consumers buy organic
products at least occasionally, and
28 percent buy organic products
weekly.
11
Farm Fund Supports Youth
Garden Project
Photos courtesy of Common Threads Farm
Laura Plaut, Director, Common Threads Farm
What does it take to turn an urban
grass lawn into a fully functioning garden with a market stand in
less than three months? In the case
of Common Threads’ Youth Grown
project, funded this year with a Coop Farm Fund grant, it took a hardworking crew of homeless youth, a
core of dedicated volunteers, and the
combined vision of three local nonprofits.
Common Threads launched Youth
Grown, a garden-based job and life
skills training program, in collaboration
with Northwest Youth
Services and the Whatcom Volunteer Center.
From July through
October, Northwest
Youth Services clients
worked with Common
Threads staff and volunteers to prepare soil,
plant seeds, and bring
their harvest to market. Patrons purchased
veggies at the Youth
Grown Farm Stand on
State Street during the month of September.
The garden isn’t the only thing
that has grown though. Along the
way participants and volunteers
have grown too—finding pride in
constructing an awesome bean trellis, working with a diverse group of
people, or overcoming their fears of
public speaking to help farm stand
customers with a purchase. This successful pilot could not have happened
without the support of the Farm
Fund—look for more
growth of good people
and good food through
the Youth Grown project in 2012.
For more information on this project, see
www.commonthreadsfarm.org or contact
[email protected]. Donations to
the Co-op’s Farm Fund
are accepted at all Coop registers.
Farewell, Co-op Month
Your Co-op staff had a blast hosting a
bevy of Co-op Month events in October
and we hope that everyone joined in on
the fun.
What events, you may ask? Well, there
were the Pickford Film Center documentaries, the fabulous “Land for Food, Food
for People” event co-sponsored with
Community to Community Development
and Kulshan Community Land Trust, the
cute Non-GMO Project-verified product
displays at both stores, a lovely Co-op
Month display at the Bellingham Public
Library, the amazing giant pumpkins
in front of both stores, the Cooperator
Award nominations, and the Owner Appreciation Day prize drawing.
Oh, what else was happening during
Co-op Month you may wonder? Only the
fabulous Owner Appreciation Days that
were hosted at each store. Co-op owners
were treated to a smorgasbord of treats
from our favorite local vendors along
with fun freebies, prize giveaways, and
live music.
We’d like to extend a heartfelt thanks
to everyone who participated in the festivities including staff, vendors, volunteers, musicians, and YOU!
Congratulations to Connie Kelly of
Bellingham, the big winner in this year’s
Owner Appreciation Drawing. Connie won a grab bag of gift cards to local
restaurants and a Co-op gift card, too, of
course. Runners up in the drawing each
won a pair of tickets to the iDiOM Theater: Rick and Lisa Gigo, and David Balfour. Cooperator Award winners will be
announced in the January newsletter.
Photos by Joanne Plucy, Habiba Sial, Laura Steiger
Seaweed: The Forgotten Vegetable
Dan Hauer
Sea vegetables occupy a curious place
in the American culinary tradition. That
place, namely, is the shelf at the store,
because almost no one ever buys them.
With the explosion of sushi into mainstream American culture over the past
few decades, most Americans have come
to be at least somewhat familiar with nori,
the dried seaweed paper used to wrap
maki rolls, but few of us consume any
other varieties. If we even notice the sea
vegetables for sale in the Co-op or elsewhere, we’re likely to pass them by with
either squeamishness (“Ewww, I don’t
want to eat that slimy ocean-goop!”) or
bewilderment (“Hijiki? I think I’ll stick
with good old American lettuce, thank
you very much.”)
It’s a shame, really, because sea vegetables are nutritious, delicious, and, for
those of us who haven’t grown up with
them, an interesting adventure of the very
low-key variety. The Co-op sells four different kinds in the bulk section, dried and
ready to be reconstituted in water. These
seaweed are not the stringy tentacles
that wrap around your toes when you go
swimming at Padden, nor are they the
amorphous glop that you slip on when
scrambling across the rocks at low tide.
Rather, they are varieties of kelp grown
mostly in Asia, and they look not too dissimilar from the other plants we eat, except that they happen to grow underwater.
The four sea vegetables carried in the
bulk section are wakame, arame, hijiki,
and kombu. The first three are great as
salad ingredients, which I’ll detail later,
while kombu needs a bit of cooking. Regarded by many in Japan as something
of a superfood, kombu can be eaten after
soaking and heating, but its most classic
use is in the preparation of dashi. Dashi
is the quintessential Japanese stock—the
basis for nearly all Japanese soups, including the always popular miso. There
are numerous detailed recipes for dashi
online, so I leave it to you to Google
them, but the basic process involves
soaking and then gently heating kombu,
briefly adding a healthy amount of bonito
flakes (fermented, dried, shaved tuna),
then carefully straining the liquid to leave
a clear, fishy, kelpy broth. Very easy. You
can buy dashi in instant granules, too, but
you’ll certainly do more to impress any
forthcoming Japanese houseguests by
telling them the dashi they’re enjoying
was made lovingly by you.
After nori, wakame is probably the
second most familiar sea vegetable to
the average American. Sushi restaurants
commonly serve a wakame salad as a
first or second course. You might notice,
though, that the wakame salad at one
restaurant is suspiciously identical to
that of another. That’s because your runof-the-mill sushi place actually buys a
prefabricated, frozen, bagged salad that’s
already been dressed and seasoned. The
stuff isn’t bad, exactly, but to my taste
it’s over-sweetened and not particularly
Japanese in flavor. You can make a far
better and more authentic wakame salad
on your own. If you
buy the full fronds
at the Co-op, you’ll
want to soak them in
cold water for about ten minutes, then
pull the leaves off the center rib, much
the way you would do with a leaf of kale.
The leaves are a dark, translucent green,
and they have a very pleasant chewiness
about them. Sliced daikon radish (also
available at the Co-op) makes a tasty and
pretty addition to a wakame salad.
One of the beauties of making sea
vegetable salads or any other Japanese
salad is the simplicity of the dressing. You
really shouldn’t try for anything too wild.
Japanese cuisine is meant to be simple,
with just a few choice ingredients standing out at center stage. Here are the basic
ingredients you might use for a dressing:
soy sauce, rice vinegar, miso, dashi, sesame oil, vegetable oil, wasabi, and sugar in
very small amounts. Of course, you could
find other things to include, but this list
will get you started. Once you’re familiar
with the basic taste of each ingredient,
you can mix and match to your liking.
These same dressing ingredients also
work well for my two favorite sea vegetables: arame and hijiki. They are quite similar, although hijiki commands a higher
price. Consisting of short, brownish-black
strands, they could almost be mistaken
for a type of pasta. After soaking for five
to ten minutes in cold water, they will
have a firm but un-chewy texture. They
have a mild, earthy flavor, and I think
they are decidedly the least “oceany” of
sea vegetables. These two would probably be the best to start with if you’re new
to sea vegetables or the best to serve to
skeptical friends and family. My favorite
way to enjoy them is to combine equal
parts seaweed (soaked and drained) with
grated carrot. The carrot should be the
freshest you can possibly find. Japanese
cuisine is all about freshness. Toss the
vegetables well with a dressing of sesame
oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar in
whatever proportions taste best to you.
Serve by itself on a small plate and top
with toasted sesame seeds. The result is
beautiful, nearly effortless, and positively
addictive.
Give sea veggies a try sometime.
They’re an ancient part of Asian cuisine,
and they’re not nearly as weird and scary
as they might first seem.
Local writer Dan Hauer is unapologetic about his healthy eating habits. Vegetables make him happy, and he doesn’t
think there’s anything wrong with that.

Co-op Community - Community Food Co-op

Transcription

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