March - Willy Street Co-op

Transcription

Reader
A PUBLICATION OF WILLY STREET CO-OP, MADISON, WI • VOLUME 33 • ISSUE 3 • MARCH 2006
IN THIS ISSUE
Making an Impact with Our
Food Choices; Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Information; Participatory
Management; Annual Farmer
Appreciation Dinner Wrap-up;
and more!
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
1221 Williamson Street • Madison, WI • 53703
POSTMASTER: DATED MATERIAL
PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
MADISON, WI
PERMIT NO. 1723
IN THIS ISSUE
3
4
CUSTOMER COMMENTS
Questions, comments and concerns from our customers. Answers
from Co-op staff.
GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT
Anya Firszt answers a customer comment about expansion at
length.
5
BOARD REPORT
Doug Johnson discusses the Co-op’s performance.
6-7 HEALTH & WELLNESS NEWS
Lisa Stag-Tout gives us a department update.
8
9
COMMUNITY ROOM CALENDAR
10
DELI NEWS
11
OFF-SITE KITCHEN NEWS
12
PRODUCE NEWS
Classes and events happening in the Community Room.
GROCERY NEWS
Lucas Barraza demystifies the high price of locally-raised organic
meat and poultry.
Dan Moore offers food suggestions for March Madness.
Josh Perkins details his delicious new entrée selections.
Andy Johnston wraps up the Fourth Annual Farmer Appreciation
Dinner.
13-16SPECIALS PAGES
See what’s on sale this month at the Co-op.
17 PRODUCER PROFILE
Leah Buysse profiles Enzymatic Therapy.
18-19HUMAN RESOURCES NEWS
Sarah Dahl discusses Participatory Management.
21-21 MAKING AN IMPACT
Kathy Humiston shows us how the foods we choose can make an
impact.
22-23COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA)
REDEFINES THE CONNECTION BETWEEN FOODS, THE
ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH
Laura Brown and Abby Bachhuber from MACSAC explain CSA.
24-25RECIPES & DRINK RECOMMENDATIONS
Recipes from friends of the Co-op; drink recommendations from
our neighbors, Star Liquor.
26
27
NEWSBITES
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Local events around town.
Reader
Published monthly by Willy Street Co-op
1221 Williamson Street, Madison, WI 53703, 608-251-6776
www.willystreet.coop
EDITOR & LAYOUT: Liz Wermcrantz
ADVERTISING: Liz Wermcrantz
SALE FLYER DESIGN: Amber McGee
SALE FLYER LAYOUT: Chris Hoffman
COVER ART: Amber McGee
ILLUSTRATIONS: Amber McGee
PRINTING: Wingra Printing Group
The Willy Street Co-op Reader is the monthly communications link among the Co-op
Board, staff and members. It provides information about the Co-op’s services and
business as well as about cooking, nutrition, health, sustainable agriculture and more.
Views and opinions expressed in the Reader do not necessarily represent those of the
Co-op’s Directors, staff or membership. Acceptance of advertising does not indicate
endorsement of the product or service offered. Articles are presented for information
purposes only. Before taking action, you should always consult a professional for
advice. Articles may be reprinted with permission from the editor.
SUBMISSIONS
All advertising and editorial submissions must be reserved and arranged with the
editor by the 10th of the month previous to publication. All advertisement copy
must be submitted by the 15th of the month. Submissions should be emailed to
[email protected] or mailed to Willy Street Co-op according to submission requirements.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: 608-251-6776
BUSINESS OFFICE: 608-251-0884
FAX: 608-251-3121
GENERAL E-MAIL: [email protected]
GENERAL MANAGER: [email protected]
EDITOR: [email protected]
PREORDERS: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.willystreet.coop
BOARD E-MAIL: [email protected]
STORE HOURS: 8:00am to 9:00pm, everyday
Juice Bar: Monday–Friday: 8:00am to 7:00pm; Saturday–Sunday: 8:00am to 6:00pm
Deli: 8:00am to 9:00pm
Seafood Center: Monday–Saturday: 10:00am to 7:00pm; Sunday: 10:00am to 5:00pm
MISSION STATEMENT
To operate a financially sound store; To hold cooperative philosophy and values as
an essential part of our enterprise; To give equal consideration to members needs;
To recognize workers’ rights to participatory management and a humane work
environment.
WILLY STREET CO-OP BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Doug Johnson, President 241-5667
Dan Frost 245-9384
Renée Lauber, Vice President 251-0227
Buck Rhyme 345-0215
Megan Christiansen 255-3606
Tamara Urich-Rintz 442-8822
Steve Silverberg 258-8289
Ann Marie Waterhouse 839-3229
Debra Shapiro 238-4368
On the cover
EATING GREEN DESIGN BY AMBER MCGEE.
2
Willy Street Co-op Reader, March 2006
BOARD MEETING SCHEDULE
March 20th (if needed)
April 24th: Approve budget for FY07
May 15th (if needed)
June 19th
July 17th (if needed)
August 10th: Annual Membership Meeting
September 18th: Special Membership meeting
October 16th
CUSTOMER COMMENTS
Write Us!
We welcome your
comments and give each
one attention and serious
consideration. Send them to
[email protected]
or fill out a Customer
Comment form at the
Customer Service desk.
Each month a small
selection is printed in the
Reader. The rest can be
found in the commons or in
the binder near Customer
Service. Thank you!
Local yogurt
Q: I would appreciate yogurt
from Wisconsin. It is disappointing to see yogurt from City of
Industry, CA.
A: We carry Sugar River Brand
yogurt from Albany, WI. We carry
all four of their flavors in 6 oz. sizes
and vanilla and plain in 24 oz. sizes.
We also carry 24 oz. plain and vanilla organic yogurt from Whispering Meadow. They are based out of
Ridott, IL, which is considered local.
-Jesse Jensen, Grocery Supervisor
Corn, lime and salt
Q: I would like to get all-natural tortillas. Some brands only
have three ingredients: corn, lime
and salt. Others contain preservatives like the ones sold here. Organic would be great, but the only
organic tortillas I’ve ever eaten
were brittle and didn’t stuff well.
I would be satisfied with preserva-
tive free, like the Milagro brand
makes. What do you think?
A: Thank you for your suggestion. I’ve decided to bring in a new
product from Food for Life. It is
a sprouted corn tortilla with four
ingredients: Organic sprouted corn,
filtered water, sea salt and lime.
Hopefully it will be on the shelf by
February. Thanks. -Jesse Jensen,
Grocery Supervisor
Vegan granola bars
Q: The Co-op’s granola bars
look so yummy. Why do you not
make any vegan granola bars?
A: Thanks for writing. So far
we’ve tried to make batches of these
but are having difficulty getting them
to set. We’ll keep working on it.
-Dan Moore, Deli Manager
Gluten-free product
listings
Q: I’ve recently learned that
I’m gluten-intolerant so I’ve been
exploring this new eating lifestyle
change in terms of ingredients,
recipes and shopping! I’m wondering if Willy St. has given this much
attention—products available, a
list, labeling a section? I noticed in
LaCrosse at People’s Co-op they
have a great section in one aisle
(cereals, flour, crackers, cookies, etc.), which makes it so much
easier for me. Also, Whole Foods
uses a color-coded ‘gluten-free’
label to help with quick finding of
products. Such things really help
the gluten-free shopper. Thanks
for the opportunity to comment. I
love Willy St.!
A: Thanks for taking the time
to comment. Yes—we have a listing in the Member Resources area
across from the Customer Service
desk. Individually identifying those
products that are gluten-free has posed
a problem for us. When manufacturers change their labeling or ingredients, we would not be happy to have
purported it as gluten-free. Many of
our gluten-free items are congregated
in the same areas where you’d find
similar products. Please check out our
listing and read labels as much as possible—or ask one of our staff to direct
you to those we’re certain of. -Lynn
Olson, Cooperative Services Manager
apologize if this didn’t happen. You
shouldn’t have to ask; I’ll remind
them to ask. Many of our shoppers do
not want their receipts and enjoy that
we can recycle them here for them.
If you think you might return something it would be easier with your
receipt, but we will look it up for you.
It should be quick and easy if you
know what day you shopped. Thanks
for asking. -Becca Schill, Front End
Manager
Special diet assistance
Q: Much, much better job giving
bag credits. 100% of the time and
100% accurate on number of bags
since I put a note in ~2 months ago.
A: Thanks for noticing. Change
takes time and is especially hard
for those of us stuck in a routine for
many, many years. We’re all trying to
remember to ask everyone everything
all day, but it is a challenge. We’re so
glad you’ve noticed a big improvement and let us know. I’ll pass it along
to the cashiers. -Becca Schill, Front
End Manager
Q: I often send clients here who
are incorporating wheat-free/dairyfree foods into their diets for the
first time. They need help finding
all the great alternatives that exist...
and tell me your staff is very willing
to walk with them and point out alternatives. Thanks! It makes dietary
changes and healing so much easier.
A: Thank you for that positive
feedback! I’ll share your comment
with our staff. I agree, our people do a
great job every day to assist shoppers
above and beyond our expectations.
Please also see our gluten-free listing
in the Member Resources area. -Lynn
Olson, Cooperative Services Manager
Required receipts
Q: I think it would be a good
idea to automatically give every
customer the receipt for his/her
groceries. I usually don’t ask for
one, unless I buy meat or eggs, but
when I returned wilted spinach
several weeks ago and hadn’t gotten a receipt for it, it took the main
desk person ten minutes to locate
the date of my purchase of it. An
inconvenience to all.
A: The cashiers should always
ask you if you’d like your receipt. I
Accurate bag credits
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3
GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT
A Customer Comment About Expansion
by Anya Firszt, General Manager
Customer comment
The following customer comment dated February 12th begged an
answer.
“I’d like the following letter to
be published the Reader:
“I am so tired of hearing about
‘expansion.’ If the coop is making so
much money, why not consider the
following instead:
1. lower mark-up margin (i.e. lower
prices)
2. donate money to other local cooperative, struggling businesses (e.g.
Mifflin)
3. increase the amount given to the
Community Reinvestment Fund
4. raise staff salaries and benefits
“I am deeply saddened that Willy Coop is becoming so mainstream
and corporatized, with the sole goal
of ‘expansion’ and with ‘management’ making all business decisions.
Nowadays, it seems to be almost a
misnomer to call the store a cooperative. With ‘expansion’ constantly
on the mind, it feels to me like the
‘management’ of Willy Coop is trying to make the store the Wal-Mart
of the cooperatives. Please, no!! As
a member-owner, I ask you, the
‘management,’ to remember the
store’s roots. No more talk about
‘expansion.’ Please. -Lorry Bond,
Member”
A member-directed
decision
Your comments brings up several
interesting questions: the decision
to expand, who makes the decision
and why. The decision to expand is
ultimately placed in the hands of the
membership, and it is through ongoing dialogue that management and
the Board learn the will of the group.
And, while I think I understand your
sentiment, for the good of the business
we must continue to evolve and talk
about long-range planning options to
maintain and sustain the organization.
Your saying stop talking about expansion is on a certain level like saying
stop evolving.
What we learn with pleasure
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4
The notion that Willy Street Co-op
is turning into Wal-Mart couldn’t be
farther from the truth—two retail sites
do not recreate the Wal-Mart corporation model. Two sites may offer
members an alternative to driving from
other areas of town to purchase groceries. A second retail site may relieve
pressure at the current Williamson
Street location. Two retail sites may
mean that management can meet the
growing needs of the membership.
BUT management is not necessarily
leading the discussion of expansion
and whether or not to open another
retail—management has been asked
by the Board and members to research
options for the location of a second
retail site.
I realize I may not be addressing
your comment—my point is management is not just talking about expansion because we have nothing better to
do—management is talking expansion
primarily to consider a means to continue to address OWNER needs and to
sustain the business, but certainly not
to model Wal-Mart.
Money questions
answered
The Co-op budgets for approximately 1% profit of gross sales on
an annual basis—this is not a large
amount of money, especially when
compared to other grocers that target about 4%. The operations budget includes promotional programs,
donations, sponsorship, physical plant,
utilities, governance, and personnel to
name few general sub-categories. We
actively manage the areas you name
through the following methods:
Lower mark-up margin (i.e.,
lower prices). The Co-op maintains
several promotional programs to offer
goods at a reduced margin. These programs are built on the goal to increase
purchases to then increase discounts.
Margin on these items is less than
regularly priced items in the store.
Donate money to other local
cooperatives, struggling businesses
(e. g. Mifflin). Donations (tax deductible charitable contributions) are made
by WSGC to non-profit organization
with 501(c)3 status. Your suggestion
that WSGC offer funds to other local
cooperatives—for example Mifflin
Street Community Co-op (MSCC)—is
not as easy as you may think. MSCC
is a “for profit organization,” therefore
any potential tax benefit to donate
monies to MSCC could not be realized. BUT, WSGC has found alternative ways to offer support to MSCC.
In 2002, WSGC loaned monies to
MSCC to hire CDS (cooperative
consultants), and to prepare a marketing plan. In 2004, WSGC ordered and
paid for a market study to be prepared
specific to the MSCC to aid them in
their discussion about expansion.
Increase the amount given to the
Community Reinvestment Fund.
The Board voted again this year
to increase the pot of monies to be
distributed to Community Reinvestment Fund grant applicants from the
traditional $7,000 to $12,000.
Raise staff salaries and benefits.
The Co-op has budgeted each year for
the last eight an annual cost of living
adjustment or overall rate increase in
wages to staff, as well as maintained
or increased benefits for health and
dental care, retirement, and the cafeteria plan for staff.
BOARD REPORT
Performance
by Doug Johnson, WSGC Board President
O
ne of the responsibilities of
the Board of Directors is to
hire the General Manager,
who is in charge of the
operations of the store. Our principal
task at our January Board meeting
was to do our annual evaluation
of the General Manager’s performance. The Board reviews a variety
of things in making this judgment,
including feedback from the staff
and other co-op and community
leaders; a report from the Finance
Committee; and her self-evaluation.
The primary basis for our evaluation,
however, is compliance with the
policies that the Board has set.
Policy governance
The Board uses a system of
policy governance to do its job.
What this means is that we don’t get
involved in the day-to-day activities
of the store but instead set policies
about various things. These policies
vary as needed from broad statements
(like what we are trying to accomplish
here) to more detailed guidelines.
The Board’s policies aren’t directions
about how to do everything, but rather
they establish the boundaries within
which the staff works to run the store.
The different policies are monitored
for compliance on an ongoing basis
and we also review the policies themselves to see if they are achieving the
ends that were intended, so that we
can change them if necessary.
Good performance then, of the
General Manager or of the Board,
or of the business as a whole, can be
judged in how well we have figured
out what you want from this business,
on the policies that we set about how
we operate it, and on how well we
have succeeded in satisfying those
needs.
Let us know how we are doing.
5
HEALTH & WELLNESS NEWS
Department Updates
by Lisa Stag-Tout, Health & Wellness Manager
T
his column is a bit overdue as
there have been many changes
in our department over the
past year. Mostly the changes
have been older products being replaced by new or reformulated ones.
Many items have been discontinued
by their manufacturer, some are just
not popular enough to warrant keeping
on our limited shelf space. There are
also a few new product lines and two
new distributors.
Distributor changes
Last year, Select Nutrition (SN),
which distributes mostly supplements and body care products, was
purchased by United Natural Foods
Incorporated (UNFI). Some products
that we used to receive from UNFI’s
Iowa warehouse will now be available only from SN’s Pennsylvania
warehouse, so we will not be able to
receive these items three times a week
like we always have, only once every
seven-to-ten days. This does provide
us with a larger selection, however,
and so far we’ve added Dynamic
Heath’s goji, mangosteen, pomegranate, black cherry and cranberry juices;
Masada’s line of skin and foot care for
diabetics, DiabEase; Imperial brand
Siberian ginseng; and Sensua, a homeopathic line of personal lubricants.
Avalon changes
Avalon has been reformulating
and replacing their products for over
a year now. Here’s a statement from
their website:
“We reformulated our entire Bath
& Body product line to exclude the
use of parabens, the most widely used
category of body care preservatives.
This move has been applauded by The
Breast Cancer Fund. We continue to
exclude sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates,
which are known irritants and we use
natural cleansers that clean the skin
and hair gently and effectively. We
use organic essential oils for fragrance
and reject mineral oil, petrolatum,
propylene glycol, artificial colors and
synthetic fragrances. Our products are
free of all toxic synthetic preservatives,
petroleum-based ingredients, formaldehyde donors and other proven harmful chemicals.” Their efforts are to be
commended as they are setting a new
standard in the industry. (It should be
noted, however, that there are companies that have different points for
you to consider. Please see the list of
informative websites at the end of this
article.)
Natural Factors now
available
Natural Factors, a supplement line
popular in the Pacific Northwest where
I’m from, landed on our shelves in
early fall. Their Vitamin C Chews that
we have on our ESP special were my
kids’ favorite when they were younger.
Dr. Michael Murray, ND is the director
of product development and education
for the company, and we now carry
several of his formulas and books.
CRAN%OSACRA(
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Nutraceutical
supplements
Our most exciting addition is
Nutraceutical, as they offer over 1800
quality supplements and some brands
that customers have been asking for.
We have more than 30 new products
from Solaray, Kal, Nature’s Life and
VegLife. A few products worth mentioning are a chewable (and tasty!)
Vitamin D-1000mgs, a vegetarian Joint
Formula, Peaceful Planet’s Supreme
Meal which is made from rice and pea
protein isolate instead of soy; Soytein,
a fermented soy protein powder; and
we finally have Kudzu, Cat’s Claw,
Butcher’s Broom and Pumpkin oil
capsules!
Changing diapers causes
dilemma
TenderCare has replaced their
Original “gel-free” diaper with the
“Plus” diaper line, which means they’ve
added the polymer gel much to the
dismay of parents who were buying this
brand solely to avoid the gel. Based on
the number of comments I have been
getting, I’ve decided to replace this line
with Tushies because they appear to be
the only disposable diaper that does not
use this gel.
My staff and I are hearing many
comments about the “new and improved” Seventh Generation diapers as
well. The sizes have changed, they fit
more snugly, (some say too snugly),
but they’ve added a larger size to the
line. The absorbability is also not quite
what it used to be. Incidentally, while
on the internet I found a blog about the
new Seventh Generation diapers that
includes this reply from the company
stating that there are no adverse reactions from the polymer gel used in
Cast Iron Cookware
on sale now!
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nearly all diapers:
“We have yet to find a scientific
study that can support claims on the
Internet and elsewhere that the gel
is hazardous or toxic in diapers. We
invite every consumer who contacts
us to let us know of any creditable
studies to the contrary, since we would
be very interested in learning about
them.” (http://www.bloggingbaby.
com/2005/12/29/seventh-generationrevamps-diapers-for-better-or-worse/
#comments)
They’ve also stated that their
diapers used to be manufactured in
Germany, but in 2005 they moved the
manufacturing to the U.S. If you’d like
to give them your opinions, please call
their customer service line at 800-4561191.
Look for Tushies on our shelves
soon so that we can still have a modicum of choice in this arena and put this
matter behind us, so to speak.
Odds and ends
Tom’s of Maine continues to discontinue some old favorites, but they
are also introducing new items. We’ve
added a few of their new Long-Lasting
deodorants and their Cinnamon-Clove
Whole Care toothpaste.
Last summer we added a very pure
skin care line called Suki. These products are formulated by Suki herself,
who is sensitive to many common
cosmetic ingredients. She makes these
products in small batches without
harsh preservatives.
Sweetleaf brand liquid stevia is
now available in different flavors. We
carry the three most popular: lemon,
vanilla cream, and chocolate raspberry.
World Organics liquid supplements: their chlorophyll, vitamins and
minerals are being replaced by products that don’t contain parabens.
In March we should be seeing the
repackaged Nature’s Gate shampoos,
conditioners and lotions. They have
permanently discontinued the Rosemary and Awapuhi conditioners in the
gallon size. Their “Petal Fresh” line of
facial care is also gone and we may replace it with their new offerings soon.
We’ve extended the locally made
Trillium line to include the larger size
of body scrubs, body oils and tins
of shea butter creams that are quite
handy to keep in a pocket.
Recently we’ve made some shelf
space in the shaving section (by moving the witch hazel to the facial care
shelves) for a selection of men’s facial
care products. Zia’s five new products,
including a shaving gel and cream,
just arrived to add to Aubrey’s Northwoods products; Herban Cowboy’s
vegan line of soaps, shaving items and
aftershave; and Indigo Wild’s (aka
Zum’s) aftershave, lotion and cologne.
Additions to the New Chapter line
include a new woman’s multivitamin, Every Woman’s Inner Beauty,
multi-formulated for skin, nails and
hair; Zyflamend in the 120 size and in
liquid form for vegetarians wanting to
avoid gelatin. One caution about the
liquid: you may want to add this to
rice or other bland starchy food, the
rep told me, as it is so ‘spicy!’
A word about controversial ingredients
We try to keep aware of product
ingredients that may be harmful so
that we can answer your concerns.
Sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates
(SLS) are irritants and are used in
varying strengths in many different
cleaners—from toothpaste to laundry
detergent to engine degreasers. If you
find that your skin or scalp are itchy,
dry or irritated, you may be sensitive
to SLS and therefore choose to try
products that do not contain it.
Parabens are preservatives found
in most lotions, shampoos, deodorants
and topical pharmaceuticals. They
are also used as food additives. They
are linked to breast cancer because
they have been found in breast tumor
samples. There has been no proof to
date that they cause breast cancer.
They can also be irritating to people
who have sensitive skin.
Some people are not so much
bothered by these types of irritants
as they are irritated by the higher
prices of pure and/or organic body care
products. So we do our best to keep
a varied product mix and encourage
everyone to do the research needed to
find what best suits their individual
needs.
We have many books to reference at the Wellness desk as well as a
new computer program that replaces
HealthNotes. This new program is
called A.D.A.M. and will also be available on our own website for you to
reference. We are happy to show you
how to find the information you need.
You can even print what you find on
A.D.A.M. to take with home with you
or to your health care provider.
Some informative websites with
varying views: Tom’s of Maine has
fact sheets about many of their ingredients including SLS (http://www.
tomsofmaine.com/toms/ifs/); Aubrey
Organics’ opinions on SLS (http://
www.aubrey-organics.com/about/
articles/shampoo.cfm); a bit about
parabens from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Parabens); and this website
has done some investigating into truth
vs fiction (http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/household.asp and
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/toxins.asp).
My team and I are dedicated to
bringing you a well rounded selection in our limited space and are also
motivated to locate the products that
you request by looking through our
catalogs. We are sorry if any of these
changes affect you negatively. If we’ve
discontinued a favorite product of
yours, it might still be available for
us to get for you. Filling out a special
order form is quick and easy and we
are happy to provide this service to
our co-owners. And if the product you
want is carried by our main distributor,
UNFI, it will likely be available for
you to pick up within a few days.
7
Mentoring program. Barbara will also
provide information about Continuing
Education courses, personal development workshops, and Windemere’s
Student Clinic. This lecture is free.
Please pre-register by stopping in or
calling customer service at 251-6776.
Introduction To Ki and
Heart Practices
CLASSES AND EVENTS
Wellness Wednesday Free
Lecture: Windemere Institute of Healing Arts
March 1st, 6:00pm–8:00pm.
Barbara Neebel-Meier, founder and
director of Windemere Institute of
Healing Arts, will be discussing the
variety of personal and professional
opportunities offered at Windemere in
a short discussion followed by a question and answer session. Windemere’s
Practitioner of Healing Arts Program
enables graduates to become eligible
for state and national certification in
massage therapy, as well as the Soul
8
Sunday, March 5th, 10:00am
–12:00 noon. Can you imagine having a calm mind, a relaxed body and
being full of energy? It is our human
nature to experience both positive and
negative states. It is also possible to
increase the amount of time we spend
being in a positive state. The training
in Ki and Heart is derived from traditional Eastern practices designed to
increase and strengthen the universal
life energy known as “ki” in Japanese,
and “chi” in Chinese. It offers opportunities to awaken the power of intention and determination and strengthen
the “heart.” Fee for this class is a
donation of canned goods. Please
pre-register by stopping in or calling
customer service at 251-6776.
“L’Allegra Tavolata:” The
Happy Table: Polenta!
Tuesday, March 14th, 6:00pm
–8:30pm. Chef Camillo Castelnuovo
shares instruction on classic dishes
and tips for good eating from his
native northern Italy. With an emphasis on simple recipes and authentic
ingredients, members of this class
will learn to prepare: Polenta uncia
del Lago di Como (rustic polenta with
butter, sage, garlic, onion, cream and
Parmesan) and La polenta accontenta
con salsicce, porcini e verdure (the
“happy polenta” with sausage, porcini
and vegetable stew). Cost for members is $20.00 and non-members is
$23.00. Please pre-register by March
12th by stopping in or calling customer service at 251-6776.
Free Chair Massage:
Breathe, Relax, & Balance
Sunday March 12th, 10:00am–
1:00pm and Thursday March 30th,
10:00am–12:30pm. Tasha Bynum
welcomes you for a free 10 minute
Tui Na Chair Massage. Tui Na (Chinese Therapeutic Massage) involves
many movements and techniques that
are flowing yet vigorous and penetrate
deeper into the body both physically
and energetically. This event is free,
however please pre-register a session
by stopping in or calling Customer
Service at 251-6776.
Seed Starting
Sunday, March 19th, 9:00am
–11:30am and Tuesday, March
21st, 6:00pm–8:30pm. Instructor
Charles Dykman will share the proper
techniques for starting tomatoes and
eggplants from seeds through a handson experience in our Community
Room. Starting over 350 tomato plants
from seed each year, Charles has been
raising vegetables on Madison’s east
side since 1967 and shares a wealth
of knowledge in this class. Additional
information provided will include
finding the seeds you want, seed saving, how to plant and water the seeds,
keep them warm, propagation mats,
damp off control, initial and garden
transplanting, and artificial light.
Class participants will go home with
their own tomato and eggplant starters. This class is limited to 14 students
per session and is a perennial favorite,
so sign up early! Cost is $5.00 for
members and $7.00 for non-members
—includes all materials and instruction. Please pre-register by March
17th at the Customer Service Desk or
by calling 251-6776.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
Class participants are
prohibited from bringing or
consuming alcohol in any
Community Room class unless
served by the instructor as
part of the demonstration.
Community Room
Information
The Community Room is
available to you! Do you need a
space to hold your next meeting or
gathering? Are you an artist who
would like to exhibit in our gallery
space? Do you need a room with
a kitchen to hold your kid’s next
birthday party? Would you like to
teach a class and have it be available to our 11,000 members? The
Community Room is available for
gallery space, private rentals, as
well as public functions and classes. If you would like to submit a
class proposal, or for information
about fees and availability, please
contact Lynn Olson, Cooperative
Services Manager at 251-0884 ext.
320 or [email protected].
Refund Policy
If we must cancel a class for any
reason, we will contact you by
phone and refund your tuition. If
YOU must cancel a class, notify
us at least 5 days in advance for
a full refund. There will be no
refunds less than 5 days prior to
class.
GROCERY NEWS
Edible Landscape Planting with Anne Walker
Saturday, March 25th,
11:00am–1:00pm. Join Anne Walker, owner of Home Land Garden
LLC, for this instructive session on
planting an edible landscape around
your yard or potted on your patio.
Anne has been an organic professional landscape gardener for over
20 years providing consultations, design, installation and maintenance. A
variety of ideas will be presented on
how to plan for and plant common
(and uncommon) vegetables to create
practical and aesthetic effects. Cost
for members is $10.00, non-members, $13.00. Please pre-register by
March 23rd by stopping in or calling
Customer Service at 251-6776.
New Owner Orientation
Thursday, March 23rd, 6:00pm
–7:00pm. Owning your own business is hard work and Willy Street
Co-op members are encouraged to
attend New Owner Orientation. Included in the orientation is a full tour
of the Co-op, inside and out (depending on the weather). New Owners
have a right and the privilege to see,
first-hand, their own locally owned
business and gain a better understanding of how it works. Led by
Member Services Manager, Lynn
Olson, New Owner Orientation will
start in the Community Room, please
register by calling customer service
at 251-6776.
IN THE GALLERY
Larry Price
Through March. Artist Biography: “I have always been an artist.
As a child, I was fascinated by my
visual perceptions. I have always
been interested in light, shadow and
color... I have gravitated towards
drawing and was thrilled when my
teachers encouraged my exploration
of art. However, I am largely selftaught. I did not have the option of
going to art school after high school
but I am self-motivated and think
independently. Throughout my life
I have drawn inspiration from many
sources, dreams, music, a single
word or phrase and I feel a natural
urge to create art.
“I work primarily with watercolors and ink. When I create larger
pieces, I often choose acrylic paints
and canvas. However, I like to explore and I also like to make mobiles
and try new things with a fresh approach.
“I also show my artwork at cafes,
which is convenient because I love
coffee and spend a lot of time in
them.”
The High Cost of Organic Meat
by Lucas Barraza, Grocery Merchandiser
C
ommitted to supporting local,
organic farmers but experiencing sticker shock at the
meat counter? There are many
reasons that locally raised, organic
meat and poultry products are more
expensive than their conventional
counterparts—let us take a look into
some of them!
Smaller farms carrying
big costs
Small family farms produce much
of the organic meat that is available
here at the Co-op. Corporate factory
farms and feedlots produce the meat
available at most supermarkets. Small
farmers usually turn out a superior
product—it’s almost as if you can
taste the extra time and attention that
they put into their work. And make
no mistake, raising organic meat and
poultry is definitely work! Much of
the meat you find here at the Co-op
is hand-delivered by the farmer. And
this is just one of the costs that isn’t
absorbed by a parent corporation.
Not only does a local, organic farmer
have to pay for the transportation of
his/her meat or poultry to the store,
but he also has to pay for the packaging, pastureland, feed, advertising,
and so on. These farmers, more than
likely, don’t have the big bucks to
buy their own slaughterhouses or feed
companies like big agri-business does.
Most organic farmers have close,
daily contact with the livestock they
raise; feeding animals, rotating stock
to fresh pastures, checking for signs
of illness, and dozens of other chores.
This is a labor-intensive job and good
workers, earning a fair wage, also
increases costs.
High costs of certification
Organic certification costs can be
thousands of dollars a year. In order to
maintain organic certification, farmers must not only use organic feed
but also provide the animals access to
pastures for grazing. Pasture-raised
animals have significantly lower stress
levels than factory-farmed animals,
making them less susceptible to illness, and eliminating the need for
the constant use of antibiotics. The
organic farmer also must maintain meticulous records involving all aspects
of production, which is a time-consuming job in itself.
Super-size farms get
super-size handouts
Industrial farm systems today generate 74 percent of the world’s poultry
products. Concentrated animal feeding
operations, or CAFOs, account for
more than 40 percent of world meat
production! These owners, or “megaproducers,” receive price premiums
and preferential access to markets
or credits because of the size of the
facility or the contract signed with one
particular corporation. It doesn’t help
that the companies that own/control
the CAFOs also own the feed company, slaughterhouse, and final stages of
production. Large corporate producers
also receive most of the agricultural
subsidies handed out by the government. Additionally, mega-producers
can spread their expenses out over a
far-larger number of items sold than a
small farmer can. Big companies pay
less for feed, due to quantity and quality, and ship their stock to slaughter
at a younger age, allowing for more
animals to be raised each year. They
are also better able to afford high land
costs for their operations. According to the Environmental Protection
Agency, 3,000 acres of farmland are
lost every day to development in this
country, making it more and more difficult for small producers to hang on
to their farms.
Outsourcing your dinner
Factory farms emphasize high
volume and profit with less regard for
human health, safe food, the environment, humane treatment of animals,
or the rural economy. Regulations and
costs in the production of meat and
E
poultry have become ever more strict.
As environmental and labor regulations in the European Union and the
United States become stronger and
more prohibitive, large agribusinesses
are moving their animal operations
overseas. Places like Asia, Africa,
and Latin America have less stringent enforcement on the guidelines
that need to be followed for sanitary
production. In addition, the standard
living wage is lower in those countries than it is here, so the companies
can pay their workers less, saving
it huge amounts of money not only
in employment, but feed, production, transportation, and advertising.
Operations like these employ as few
workers as possible and typically
purchase supplies, equipment, and
building materials from outside the
local community.
Think globally, eat locally
Factory farms are breaking the
cycle between small farmers, their
animals, and the environment. Factory farms have made farm animals
more of a commodity than living,
breathing beings, damaging not only
local businesses and communities,
but also creating collateral damage
to human health. Local farmers often
do the opposite while having substantially more expenses with fewer
payoffs than mega-producers. You
are not only helping your community
by buying local but helping the farmers immensely by being supportive
of their hard work. Support local,
organic meat producers and be a part
of this great community that we have
tried so hard to restore.
Ian Colin
MacAllister
Second Sight
Psychic Readings:
Spirit Medium, Clairvoyant, Energy/Aura,
Tarot & Psychometry Readings,
Pet & Animal Communication, Reiki Master
Astrology: Natal (Birth Chart),
Transits (Future Trends), Relationship Synastry, Relocation/Astrocartography,
Child’s Charts & Reports for Parents
(608) 204-0324
Over 20 Years Experience O Gift Certificates
Friendly Faces
Neighborhood Places
www.danebuylocal.com
Available O All Readings Are Confidential
[email protected]
9
DELI NEWS
March Madness
by Dan Moore, Prepared Foods Manager
F
Deli Platters
See willystreet.coop/Departments/deli.html
for photos. Order forms available at the Deli.
$40.00 + tax
Fruit & Cheese Platter
A selection of seasonal organic fruit perfectly complimented by our
favorite cheeses from around Wisconsin and around the world.
Southwest Platter*
$45.00 + tax
A collection of soft tortillas filled with southwestern-inspired dips
and spreads, surrounding our own freshly made salsa.
Domestic Cheese Platter
$30.00 + tax
This combination features Wisconsin-made cheeses including mild
yellow cheddar, Colby, Gouda, and goat cheese.
Imported Cheese Platter
$40.00 + tax
An exquisite display of imported cheeses including Brie, chèvre, and
other seasonal specialty cheeses from our own delicious selection.
Middle Eastern Platter*
$35.00 + tax
A sampler platter highlighted by our versions of the Middle Eastern
classics —tabouleh, hummus, and baba ganouj—arranged with sliced
cucumbers and tomatoes accompanied by lightly toasted pita bread.
Spinach Bowl*
$40.00 + tax
Freshly baked La Brea bread stuffed with Willy’s Own amazing spinach
dip. Served with plenty of bread and veggies for dipping.
Meat & Cheese Platter
$30.00 + tax
A pound of Lange’s Farms ham and roast beef as well as Applegate’s
oven-roasted turkey share top billing with Wisconsin-made Swiss,
provolone, and cheddar.
Crudités Platter*
$40.00 + tax
Arranged into a colorful mosaic, this mouth-watering array of veggies
is hand-selected from our own exceptional produce department and
accompanied by the Deli’s own veggie cream cheese or spinach dip.
Willy’s Wrap Platter*
$40.00 + tax
An assortment of ham, turkey, and veggies rolled into a four tortilla
with lettuce, tomato, and cream cheese. A hit at any party.
Mediterranean Platter*
$35.00 + tax
Feta-stuffed pepperoncinis, kalamata olives, big juicy grapes, and chunks
of Asiago cheese surround a trio of the deli’s own Mediterraneanthemed dips.
*Vegan options available
All platters serve 10-12 people. 48 hours notice is required for all
platter orders. 50% deposit required on orders over $75.
10 Willy Street Co-op Reader, March 2006
or me “March Madness”
refers to the period of time
between when I think spring
should be here and when it
actually arrives. This is generally a
period of about two months. For others, I’m told it refers to a basketball
tournament. Either way, it’s a good
time for a party. So what are we going to serve?
Deli platters
The obvious answer is deli platters. Whether you’re throwing a dinner party or having a bunch of sports
fans over to drink beer and watch
the game, we’ve got platters that
fit the mood, and it’s an easy onestep process. The meat and cheese
platter features Lange’s Farm ham
and roast beef as well as Applegate
oven-roasted turkey (a pound each),
surrounded by Wisconsin’s finest
Swiss, Provolone and cheddar cheeses. It’s the perfect start to a perfect
sandwich. Or you can try the Willy
Wrap Platter, a variety of meats and
veggies wrapped up in a tortilla with
our own cream cheese blends. Not
a meat eater? No problem, this one
can be made vegetarian or vegan
for you upon request. The Mediterranean platter centers on a steamed
artichoke and features feta-stuffed
pepperoncinis, kalamata olives, and
our Mediterranean-themed dips like
kalamata tapenade and artichoke
pate. The hit of any party is the
Spinach Bowl, though. As a matter
of fact, at one of mine our Basset
Hound, Maisy, leapt from the floor
to the Spinach Bowl at the center of
the dining room table and proceeded
to wrestle my wife for the right to
retain her conquest. You’ll never
find a more entertaining floorshow
at a party than that, and seriously,
Maisy won’t jump for just any food.
Platters can be ordered at the Deli
counter; all we ask is a couple of
days’ notice so we can make sure we
have all the ingredients.
Your own party menu
But let’s say you want to design
your own party menu. What makes
a good menu? What types of appetizers, main courses, side dishes,
etc. should you choose? I have three
rules of thumb. First, make sure
there’s something the kids will like.
Pizza, wraps, veggies and dip, and
nachos are all great party food for this
reason. Not only are they recognizable
to the kids, but you can also be pretty
sneaky and make them relatively
healthy without anyone noticing. Rule
number two is that you must be able to
eat with your fingers without embarrassing yourself. Finger sandwiches,
stuffed mushrooms or peppers, and
cheese/sausage and crackers make
the cut under this rule. Rule number
three is that if the food is good enough
rules one and two don’t count. Chili,
ribs, Buffalo wings, and anything
deep-fried are not usually healthy, are
messy, and are beloved by anyone at
a party.
Make it easy
The key to planning your menu
is to make it easy enough so that you
can enjoy your party as well. If you
choose to cook your own meal, plan it
so that you can start a few days ahead
of time. For example, you can prepare
sauces or dips that can be refrigerated
or frozen, cook off a barbecued beef
or tofu to be heated up the morning of
the party, or stuff your mushrooms the
day before so they can just be tossed
in the oven—don’t forget to preheat
starting about 15 minutes before you
want to start your first dish, and know
how long each dish will need. Identify
which items on the menu have to done
the day of the party, and gather them
the night before. Set aside a bowl for
each veggie you’ll need to prep and do
them all at once the day of the party,
as opposed to prepping each recipe
individually. Another option is to
make the final food preparation part
of the party. Put together the pizzas
with your guests with a prize for the
most creative and have the kids help
smoosh avocados for guacamole. To
save time for myself I always provide
a knife for cheese and sausage so I
only have to slice a little of it myself,
and sandwiches are always done buffet style. Keep the work you have to
do to a minimum and you’ll have a
much more stress-free get together.
There is a fourth rule of thumb I
neglected to add above. It involves
the probability that one of those little
paper plates will have insufficient balance for a full plate’s amount of food.
Another reason finger food makes
clean up much more palatable.
OFF-SITE KITCHEN NEWS
A New Selection of Entrée
Offerings
by Josh Perkins, Kitchen Manager
A
s a restaurant chef for most of
my working life, one of the
challenges I met upon beginning work at the Willy Street
Co-op Off-Site Kitchen (OSK) was
how to translate my hard-wired sensibilities about creating food into a
totally new environment. Composing
menus in the past has usually meant
looking over wine lists, sales reports
and past menus to inform the creative
process, with a strong emphasis on the
cosmetic aspects of a single plate of
food. I wanted to bring some of these
experiential strengths to bear on the
Willy Street Co-op Deli, and we began
a discussion on how to do that.
In the days when I was but a lad,
there was a pretty clear division among
butchers, greengrocers, fish and cheesemongers, wine merchants, etc. Shopping for the day, you might necessarily
visit two or three shops to get what you
needed for a full meal or two. Already,
though, larger grocery stores were incorporating these formerly smaller and
separate specialty trades into their businesses. Often, this might take the form
that is now evident in fresh seafood
at the Co-op, offered by The Seafood
Center—that of a small franchisee
maintaining their own inventory and
conducting business on store premises.
It was recognized that in an increasingly car-rich and time-short society, it
would be attractive to food shoppers to
be able to get what they needed for the
day in one or two places and get home.
Today, of course, this approach to
selling food has become the norm, to
an extent that an independent butcher
shop or fishmonger has become a rarity
outside the largest cities. People expect
that when they go to a grocery store,
they’ll be able to leave with all they
need for the day or even the week, all
the way down to fresh bread and wine.
Even more, many people are shopping for full prepared meals outside of
restaurants, for one reason or another.
Cost, time, convenience—these are
all powerful factors in determining
our eating and shopping habits. And
while TV dinners may have once been
enough to satisfy a majority of the
American public, those days are long
gone. The food revolution is in full
swing in America and people demand
prepared foods high in nutrition and
flavor.
Pork Rotolo with MarjoramScented Tomato Sauce with
Stuffing
Filling in the missing piece
At Willy Street Co-op, I realized
I had a tremendous leg up in trying
to offer members the opportunity to
shop for a full meal out of the Deli. A
varied catalog of excellent salads and
sides had already been established and
a fresh green salad bar is maintained
just opposite the Deli counter. The raw
product in use at the OSK was already
of the highest quality, much of it certified organic. What was needed to flesh
out the picture (no pun intended) was a
menu of entrée offerings, allowing Deli
shoppers to compose a full meal out of
a range of options that could be taken in
at a glance. We wanted to make it possible for the shopper needing dinner in a
hurry to go straight to the Deli counter,
put together the evening’s menu, round
the corner for a loaf of fresh bread and
be on their way to our bakery for
dessert.
A fresh start on entrées
I drew on my lifelong experience
with Italian cuisine to help shape the
identity of the opening entrée menu
which includes dishes such as Chicken
Saffron Lasagna, Maple-Glazed Acorn
Squash Stuffed with Risotto, Honey
Mustard Salmon and more. The flavors
of Italo-American cuisine are vivid and
clear, dependent on things Co-op members know and love—fresh herbs, excellent produce, wholesome and minimally
processed meats and cheeses. I didn’t
want the Deli to look like a salumeria,
so there are a mix of flavors and traditions present, but it made sense to start
from the heart and in a style everyone
can enjoy and be comfortable with.
We’re excited about getting this
latest piece of the puzzle figured out and
it should open up a whole new range of
possibilities for members of the Co-op
who love good cooking but don’t always
have the time to do it themselves. There
will be about 15 new, exciting dishes for
you to try with six being available at a
time. Tell us how you like the food and
buon appetito.
Vegetables!
Flavorful
Chemical-free
Grown With Care
Become a member at Two Onion Farm:
Receive vegetables from June to Dec.
Pick up produce in your neighborhood
Choose size and frequency of deliveries
Receive helpful recipes and cooking tips
Two Onion Farm • Belmont, WI
[email protected] • (608) 762-5335
www.twoonionfarm.com
11
PRODUCE NEWS
Annual Farmer
Appreciation Dinner
by Andy Johnston, Produce Manager
for their excellent coordinating and
organizational skills.
Talkin’ the talk
T
he 4th Annual Farmer Appreciation Dinner for the 2005 growing season was held February
7th at the Wil-Mar Center.
Historically, this event has included
farmers supplying the Co-op’s produce
department. This year, vendors from
the Eastside Farmers’ Market were invited also, and it seemed to be about the
perfect amount of people for the venue.
Lynn Olson, our Cooperative Services
Manager made that call. Nice work,
Lynn!! Lynn has been coordinating the
Eastside Market since its birth and is
doing a great job of making sustainable
foods available to the Eastside community. Altogether, about 20 farms were
represented at the dinner.
Event coordinators
With the help of a lot of people, the
event went off without a hitch. Josh
Perkins and his crew at the OSK provided us with an awesome lasagna dinner, and Dan Moore made us up a great
veggie and cheese tray. Amber Mcgee
designed our invitations, and Crystel
tallied up the RSVPs. Anya and Wynston pitched in by getting supplies and
goodies together and over to Wil-Mar,
and Produce staff helped set up tables
and chairs for the event. Things went
very smoothly. An extra big thanks to
Brendon Smith and Crystel Wienandt
This was the first Farmer Appreciation Dinner for me as the Produce
Manager, and I must say I had some
butterflies. I began in the Produce
department in the middle of the local
season, and although I have talked to a
lot of farmers on the phone, I actually
had never met them. This event was a
great opportunity to put the business
aspect aside and get a chance to meet
and talk to folks. As a farmer myself,
I have one thing in common with the
farmers I
work with;
we all love
to talk farm
talk! Tractors, tools,
dirt, seed
selection,
bugs, and
the weather;
what’s not
to love?
We all had an opportunity to chat with
farmers who’ve been at it all their
lives, and others who are just getting
into it. Everyone had a good time!
Thank you
The Co-op thanks all of its farmers
and Eastside Farmers’ Market vendors
for helping supply our community
with the finest foods available. You
contribute to our growth and help us
build a strong, healthy community.
Together, supporting local economies
and sustainable practices, we strive for
a better life for ourselves, and those to
come. Thank you all!!
PRODUCER PROFILE
Enzymatic Therapy, Inc.
AN INDUSTRY LEADER
by Leah Buysse, Health & Wellness Staff
T
he core values and vision
of Enzymatic Therapy, Inc.
(ETI), makers of over 50
products found in our Health
and Wellness department, along
with their mission to improve consumers’ health and well-being, have
made this company a leader in the
dietary supplements industry.
Located in Green Bay, WI and
employing 350 people, Enzymatic
Therapy incorporates FDA pharmaceutical quality standards in everything from raw material evaluation
to supplier selection. The company,
founded in the early 1980s by a
health store proprietor, an MD and
two NDs (naturopathic doctors), is
the first dietary supplement manufacturer that is an FDA-registered
drug establishment and also a certified organic processor.
ETI follows the strict quality
control procedures that are outlined
in the FDA’s current pharmaceutical
“Good Manufacturing Practices.”
These standards include, but are not
limited to, employee training, facility cleanliness, documentation, and
quarantine/release procedures. ETI
voluntarily regulates their dietary
supplement manufacturing by these
guidelines to ensure uniformity and
guarantee consistency in their products. Their commitment to verifying
the purity, potency, and bioavailablity of each formula is carried out
by a staff of 25 quality assurance
and quality control professionals
with backgrounds in chemistry,
microbiology, and related sciences.
They have successfully incorporated FDA pharmaceutical quality
standards into everything from
raw material evaluation to supplier
selection. ETI professionals conduct
over 30,000 individual tests on their
ingredients over a year to ensure the
effectiveness of each.
Embracing
sustainability
High on ETI’s list of priorities
is also to embrace sustainability in
every aspect of their production and
practices. Beyond using certified
organic and non-GMO products,
ETI has committed themselves to
sourcing only those species that
have been sustainably cultivated and
ethically harvested. Plant poaching
in rain forests is a growing problem
that, like animal poaching, damages
an ecosystem and will eventually
result in extinction. The Peruvian
Unicaria tomentosa ETI uses in its
Saventano, for example, is specially
cultivated and its growers must go
through a rigorous process of registering each plant, collecting no more
than one-third of each plant to allow
regrowth and must not harvest in
that area again for ten years. In addition, the first on their list of core
company values is “sincere respect
for people.” To that end, they work
toward creating enriching relationships with indigenous people by
compensating tribes with a portion
of the sales, by ensuring protection
of sensitive ecological systems, and
by providing needed resources to
the native communities where their
ingredients are grown, in places such
as India, Brazil, Ghana and Siberia.
Other good deeds
In keeping with their values,
Enzymatic Therapy is also involved
in a variety of other humanitarian
initiatives, among which are four
annual Red Cross blood drives; a
winter holiday program that adopts
a needy family each year; quarterly
food drives for a local food pantry;
matching donation programs for
selected charities their associates
are interested in; a day off donation program that helps any of their
associates struck by tragedy that
requires them to be absent from
work beyond their earned time off
allotment; on-site free health screenings and lifestyle management for
staff; charitable support of specific
disease organizations, such as the
Parkinson’s Disease Foundation; and
support of Gifts in Kind International
Program (donations are redistributed
to over 200,000 not-for-profit agencies worldwide).
Quality leadership
In 2005, ETI was named “Manufacturer of the Year” by Nutrition Industry Executive (NIE) Magazine for
leadership and innovation in product
development and education and for
its marketing programs. This quality of leadership charged Enzymatic
Therapy to create a Scientific Advisory Board. This initiative introduced
more rigorous scientific protocols to
complementary medicine. The advisory board, which includes PhDs
with backgrounds in food science,
biology, nutrition, and immunology provides expertise, guidance,
and educational support for the
development of ETI products such
as Acidophilus Pearls, Whole Body
Cleanse, Earth’s Promise, FlexAgility Max, and their entire line of
multi-vitamins, just to name a few.
Earth’s Promise
Randy Rose, the company’s
President and CEO, spoke recently
to a group of Health and Wellness
retail representatives at a companysponsored training at their facility. The former UW Badgers wide
receiver and one-time Green Bay
Packer shared relevant information
about their company and formulas
as well as some of his favorite ETI
products, one of which is Earth’s
Promise. This green drink provides
20 vitamin-rich clean ingredients,
more vegetables and fiber per serving than other leading green drinks.
It is a convenient, easily absorbable
drink for those of us who could use
more vegetables and fruits in our
diets.
For more information
To find out more about this
exciting company, you can log onto
their website at www.enzy.com or
call their consumer service department at 800-783-2286. Stop by the
Wellness department to check out
their product line.
17
HUMAN RESOURCES NEWS
Participatory Management
by Sarah Dahl, Human Resources Manager
The Co-op difference
Many of our members know that
shopping at Willy Street Co-op isn’t
the same as shopping at just any grocery store. The reason lies in part in
our structure-we are incorporated as a
consumer cooperative, not a corporation. That means that we are owned by
our members rather than shareholders.
However, there are many other factors
that go into making our Co-op unique,
including how we operate the day-today business.
under a hierarchy, with direct reports
flowing from the General Manager on
down through stockers, cashiers and
other service and administrative staff.
However, with this kind of traditional
structure generally comes a method of
associated decision making—namely
that decisions are made at the top of
the hierarchy, then communicated to
the rest of the organization and implemented. This is where the Co-op, and
our ideal of participatory management, breaks from the mold.
Corporate decision
making
Participatory
Management
Many businesses today are structured in what most people would think
of as the standard corporate hierarchy. There is a CEO at the top, one
or a group of high-level executives,
perhaps a line of middle managers and
on down to the front-line staff. In this
regard, the Co-op is no different than
your standard business. We do operate
What is participatory management
(or PM)? At its core, PM suggests that
staff are able and encouraged to give
their input on management decisions.
This is not to say that it is necessarily a collective decision-making
process, where all staff members have
the same authority to make decisions
collectively, or on a consensus basis.
But participatory management means
that all staff, not only the designated
managers, have input on and influence over the decisions that affect the
organization, and particularly those
that affect their jobs. Phil Bartle PhD
defines it this way in Participatory
Management: Methods to Increase
Staff Input in Organizational Decision Making:
“In participatory management,
the designated managers (or manager) still have (or has) the final
responsibility for making decisions
and answering for them, but members of the staff who are affected by
those decisions are actively sought to
provide observations, analysis, suggestions and recommendations in the
executive decision-making process.”
Why bother with
participatory
management?
The underlying reason is that our
The many
faces of
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1014 Williamson St.
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 255-1239
A full service
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THE MADISON TIMES
THE PAPER THAT’S MORE THAN BLACK AND WHITE
by-laws, which are voted on and approved by our membership, charge
the Co-op to, “Manage the Cooperative in an open, democratic manner
which respects the needs of workers
to participate in decision making.”
So, in part, creating avenues for PM
is following the directive the membership has charged us with in the
operation of the Co-op. However,
there are other reasons that the Coop, as well as any business, might
consider implementing methods of
PM.
The first is the old adage that
“two heads are better than one.” This
is certainly the case when decisions
are being made at a level that is far
removed from the impact. Though
an upper-level manager could have
an idea for how to increase the speed
of customers through the checkout
line, no one knows more intimately
or probably cares more about this
than the cashier who is working with
the customers every day. Knowing
the details of how such a decision
would affect their work, they could
contribute that many customers seem
to appreciate the one-on-one interaction with the cashiers, and would
not find quicker interactions to mean
better customer service. Taking this
feedback into account, a balance
could then be struck.
Another reason why the Co-op
would pursue PM is to help make
the decision-making process much
more transparent for those who will
ultimately have to live with it. When
employee input is given on a decision, that leads the decision maker
to respond to that input—either by
taking the advice, or explaining that,
though it was considered, it was not
taken, and why.
Overall, the main reason to engage with PM is to give all employees a voice regarding the jobs they
are performing and conditions they
are working in. Encouraging this can
help employees to understand that
every person’s unique set of knowledge, experience and perspective
can contribute to the greater whole.
And, while requesting and incorporating input from up to 150 staff
members can make a project take
longer than it would at a corporation,
the resulting ideas can save a lot of
time and money in the end. Of course,
not everyone’s ideas can be used, but
soliciting suggestions (and using them
when possible) also helps maintain
morale.
How the Co-op uses PM
Despite any of the potential pitfalls, the Co-op still strives to employ
PM. We currently attempt to meet this
charge in multiple ways, including:
• Personnel committee: This group
consists of elected staff and Board
members, which meets monthly
to discuss changes in policies that
affect staff, and generally advocate
for staff concerns. Staff surveys
regarding employee perception and
suggestions frequently come from
this committee.
• Ad hoc committees: The Co-op creates ad hoc committees of the staff
at large from time to time to gather
focused staff input on a particular
topic. Recent examples include a
committee to recommend the process for a performance award, and
another to research and recommend
changes for organizational restructure.
• Hiring of management: Any management hire decisions are made by
a committee consisting of staff in
the department or at large, as well as
a manager from another department.
• Open Door Policy at all meetings:
Any staff member has the opportunity to air concerns and make suggestions at department head meetings, team meetings, and all-worker
meetings, as well as the Board of
Director and its sub-committee
meetings.
• The All-Worker Logbook: This provides an informal channel of communication between all employees.
• Evaluations: The Co-op uses a 360degree feedback method, where any
staff member is free to give their
input on anyone else’s evaluation.
• Grievance Procedure: It entitles any
worker to discuss an issue with their
Department Head, GM, and Grievance Committee (in this order) to
find satisfaction for their issue. This
decision of the Grievance Committee can ultimately be appealed to the
Board of Directors.
So the next time you talk to the
bulk stocker, deli counter clerk or
produce buyer, feel free to ask them
about any of the changes in the store
that are going on. They might just be
the person who came up with the idea
in the first place, or a member of the
committee that was pulled together to
make that change happen.
STAFF PROFILE
BRAD LIVINGSTON
DELI/JUICE BAR
Q: How long have you
worked at the Co-op and
what positions have you
held?
A: I’ve worked at the Willy
for about a year and a half
attending the Deli, Juice Bar
and cleaning floors.
Q: What is your background
or expertise?
A: I have a decent understanding of nutritional biochemistry
and its relation to optimal
neurochemistry.
Q: What is your favorite
meal made with Co-op ingredients?
A: Fresh orange juice and a
vegan, wheat-free, sugar-free
muffin.
Q: What is your favorite
thing about Willy Street
Co-op?
A: I enjoy working in multiple
departments. It reduces monotony plus when the hammer
falls, I’m never around since I
don’t stay in one place for too
long.
Q: What do you like to do
when you’re not working at
the Co-op?
A: Grow plants, relax with
animals, and keep the peace.
Q: What one question do you
get asked a lot at the Co-op
and what’s the answer?
A:What are the health benefits of wheatgrass juice? Too
many to list or adequately
comprehend.
19
MAKING AN IMPACT
by Kathy Humiston, Newsletter Writer
H
istorians estimate that
humans have been farming
for about 12,000 years. As
recently as the 1950s most
of the food eaten in American cities, including fruits and vegetables,
was grown on farms on the outskirts
of those same cities. Today, most of
the food we eat travels at least 1500
miles—some of it much farther. All
this globetrotting consumes huge
amounts of fossil fuels, packaging
materials, and refrigeration, creating
enormous amounts of waste and pollution.
According to Brian Halweil of
the Worldwatch Institute, farming is
probably the human endeavor most
dependent on a stable climate, but current methods of food production and
transport are one of the biggest causes
of climate change. Perhaps most
amazing is that many countries import
some of the exact same commodities
that are being exported! To facilitate
all that storage and transport, most of
our food supply contains heavy doses
of preservatives and additives.
tasting foods. Local foods immediately reduce the amount of chemical
additives and potential toxins we
consume, while at the same time,
their very freshness increases the
nutrients we take in. Studies indicate
that folks who eat a wide variety of
locally grown crops are healthier and
live longer, regardless of income and
education levels, than people who
choose less diverse products shipped
long distances. Fewer miles to market
results in cleaner air and reduces fuel
consumption. Creating a typical meatand-potatoes-style “Sunday dinner”
from locally grown foods rather than
conventional supermarket products
uses 17% less petroleum and reduces
carbon dioxide emissions by the same
amount. Foods that are mass-produced
for international consumption often
tend to be heavily packaged to help
preserve appearance and nutrition;
local foods do not require as much
packaging, saving landfill space. Food
scraps and packaging account for onethird of space in U.S. landfills today.
Eat locally
Every living thing
breathes, but in the past fifty
years or so, air quality has
deteriorated everywhere on
the planet. Even polar bears in the
Arctic and penguins and seals in
the Antarctic are suffering health
problems due to manmade pollution that drifts on the air and through
the oceans. Asthma rates are on the
increase worldwide, due in part to air
quality problems. Some of these problems result from industrial pollution
and many are attributable to vehicular
emissions. The manufacture of chemical inputs, machinery and packaging
materials release all sorts of particulate and chemicals into the atmosphere. More pollution occurs
when those items are shipped to
their sales and use points. When
we buy foods that are locally and
organically produced, we help to
reduce emissions every step of the
way. By definition, organic foods
are grown without the toxic
chemicals that are approved for
conventional farming. Sustainable farming methods often
require much more hands-on work
and can use less machinery than
conventional methods.
Early in U.S. history, it took one
There are many
negative impacts resulting from the conventional
production of food—and
there are ways we can help
to lessen those impacts in our
daily lives. If all of us were able
to grow every morsel we eat, the
planet would obviously be a cleaner, healthier place, but we depend
on farmers with their special skills
and talents to do that for us. Short
of growing your own, the best way
to reduce the environmental impact of dinner is to make sure that
as much of it as possible comes
from local family farms.
If those farms are organic,
that’s even better. The Leopold Center for Sustainable
Agriculture in Ames, Iowa
recently surveyed 144 CSA
farms in nine Midwestern
states and found that 98%
of them farm organically—
luckily for us many of those
farms are found in the Dane
County area and supply our
Co-op with delicious foods!
When we choose locally
grown products, we enjoy benefits that
go way beyond really fresh, great-
A decline in air quality
calorie of energy (mostly of the
muscular variety) to
produce five calories of
food energy. Today eight
to ten calories of energy (usually petroleumbased) are needed to
create a single calorie of food
energy! Transporting food to
local markets hugely reduces
diesel consumption and fumes
and if you pick up your food
directly at the farm, even
fewer pollutants are released.
Research suggests that if 10,000
medium-sized farms converted
to organic operation, it would
reduce carbon dioxide emissions
by the equivalent of permanently parking over one million cars!
Some of this reduction comes
directly from less air pollution
and some is achieved by organic dirt—soil actually acts as
a “sink,” absorbing carbon
dioxide and converting it
to a form of carbon that is
useful to plant growth.
Using chemicals
The use of chemical inputs is a hallmark
of modern conventional
farming. These products
affect not only insects
and weeds, but also
water, soil, air and the
health of humans applying
and consuming them. The insecticidal
potential of DDT was discovered in
Switzerland in 1939; by the early
1950s fungicides were regularly used
on crops and malathion was made
available for farm and garden use.
DDT was approved for use on 34 different crops in the U.S. in 1961 and
pesticide applications in this country
rose dramatically. The following
year Rachel Carson’s seminal book
Silent Spring was published and for
the first time people began to really
question these new “miracle” aids to
farming. DDT was banned for use on
food crops in the U.S. ten years later,
but has been replaced by many newer
products—over 34,000 pesticides,
deriving from about 600 basic ingredients are currently registered for use
in this country. More than 20,000 of
those are available for agricultural
use. Many of them are far more toxic
than older versions were. At this
time there are no national health and
safety guidelines for
long term, low-level
exposure to pesticides,
but it is estimated that
between 10,000 and
20,000 agricultural
workers in the U.S. suffer effects of pesticide poisoning annually. Research indicates that
the average American carries
residues of 13 different pesticides in their body. The production of synthetic pesticides now
uses more petroleum than all the
annual tractor work in America.
Renewing soil
Have you ever driven
through farm country and
thought the dirt looked pale or
grey? You are seeing soil that
is dead—sift through it and
you won’t find sprouting seeds,
worms or beetles. Soil that is
farmed conventionally often
has no nutritive value
left in it and serves
mainly as a prop to
hold crops in place.
When it bakes in the
sun it hardens and
cracks open—rain
runs through without
replenishing plant or
animal life. Pesticides
kill beneficial microbes, as
well as insects that harm crops. With
regular use of synthetic pesticides and
fertilizers, natural nutrients are eventually leached from the soil. Wind
and water take their toll, eroding
topsoil at a fierce rate. Recent studies indicate that topsoil in the U.S.
is being lost at the rate of six pounds
of soil for a single pound of food
produced. At that rate, conventional
farming methods are burning through
soil ten times faster than nature can
renew it! Much of the eroded topsoil
from midwestern farms finds its way
into the Mississippi River and from
there to the Gulf of Mexico. Freshwater habitat is destroyed by the silt
accumulations and silt and residues
of agricultural chemicals are deposited in the Gulf, creating a marine
dead zone that is now approximately
the size of the state of New Jersey.
Organic farming methods renew soil
in several ways: composted plant
material is added back to the earth,
returning nutrients and beneficial
microbes; cover crops are planted to
help prevent erosion—when these
are tilled into a field they contribute
nutrients as well; and organic farmers usually plant a wide assortment
of crops and rotate them through
their fields. Some crops naturally
repel pests and protect other things
growing nearby. Each plant type uses
a particular assortment of nutrients
and each returns a variety of benefits
to the earth. Sustainably farmed soil
supports a variety of life and the
organic matter it contains helps hold
the water that falls on it.
Keeping water cleaner
Clean drinking water is a requirement for human life. The chemicals
used in conventional farming percolate through the soil and are now
found in the groundwater supplies of
at least 38 states. It is estimated that
half the wells in Iowa and Nebraska
have some level of contamination.
Algae blooms, fed by runoff from
farm and lawn chemicals, regularly
choke lakes and streams that were
pristine only a few generations ago.
Huge corporate livestock operations usually store animal waste in
lagoons; if these leak or are flooded
by heavy rainfalls, that waste and the
chemicals and medications it contains end up in groundwater supplies
as well. When we support organic
farmers, we are helping to keep water supplies cleaner. The chemicals
are not used on animals or fields and
waste is composted and cured until it
can be safely returned to the soil as
fertilizer. Organic crop production
often conserves water as well; the
soil retains water more efficiently
and mulches reduce the need for irrigation.
Genetically engineered
crops
In recent years, genetically engineered, or GE, crops have become
commonplace in much of conven-
tional agriculture. It is estimated that
up to 75% of conventionally produced, processed foods in U.S. supermarkets contain GE ingredients, and
at this time there are no requirements
for those foods to be identified or
undergo pre-market testing for safety.
It is not yet known what
the health consequences
of long-term consumption
of GE foods might be.
We do know that pollen
from GE crops migrates
and contaminates neighboring fields. Large agribusiness corporations
have successfully sued
small farmers in the U.S.
and Canada for “pirating” technology that was
actually pollen-drift crop
contamination. Because
GE seeds are sterile,
farmers cannot save
seed from their harvest
to replant the following
season, ensuring their ongoing dependence on just
a few producers of seed.
Strains of “super-weeds”
and resistant insects are
already developing in
response to GE crops and
their attendant pesticide
use and threaten other
species. There are steps
you can take to avoid GE
foods. Products that are
labeled as being “USDA Organic” are
not allowed to contain GE ingredients
or technology. When you purchase
foods from a local farmer, you can
ask specific questions about the type
of seed that farmer uses, as well as
other farming methods. A petition
demanding GE food be tested and
labeled is still pending with the FDA.
You can view this and add your comments online at: www.centerforfoodsafety.org. Let your elected representatives know how you feel about
the genetic modification of our food
supply. To learn more about GE tech-
nology, stop at our customer service
desk and borrow the film The Future
of Food, available in DVD and VHS
formats.
housed, whether an animal is pastured,
does the farmer use growth hormones,
antibiotics or other additives in the
feed.
Livestock issues
Consider the human
impact
The production of livestock has
probably the greatest
environmental impact
of any type of farming. Many people are
choosing to reduce or
eliminate their consumption of meat as
one way of conserving
resources. Rainforest
has been cleared at an
amazing rate in Central
and South America to
create pastureland for
cattle raised for export.
Two-thirds of the grain
exported by the U.S.
feeds livestock rather
than people. It takes
16 pounds of grain to
produce one pound of
feedlot beef and about
2000 gallons of water!
As regulations on factory farming become
tighter in the U.S. and
Europe, many large
producers are moving
operations to developing nations. There,
environmental regulations are usually looser
or even non-existent, allowing these
companies to produce millions of
animals at very low cost and very
high profits. If you eat meat, buy
from a local farmer. Small farm
production is usually more humane,
and there is lower incidence of bacterial contamination when the meat
is processed and packaged. Talk
to your favorite producers at farmers markets, or talk with the folks
that work in our Meat department.
They can answer many questions
about how a particular meat item is
produced locally—how animals are
In addition to the environmental
impact our food choices have, we
can also consider the human impact.
In many developing nations, small
farmers are encouraged to grow export
crop products for richer countries,
rather than the grains and vegetables
that keep their own families and
villages from starving. Water, worldwide, is being diverted more and more
to crop and livestock operations. Federal farm subsidies average $19 billion
dollars each year in this country. Since
1995, three-quarters of that money
has gone to the largest top 10% of
farms and two-thirds of small, family
farmers get none. Many of those large
farms are owned and/or operated by
the same companies that process and
market the crops or livestock. They
pay minimal wages and safety conditions are often terrible in processing
plants and on the farms. When we
choose locally produced foods, we
know that we are protecting our personal health, and that of the planet, but
we are also protecting the livelihood
of many of our neighbors—people we
see everyday in the stores, schools,
and parks in our community.
What you can do
Spring is coming-why not lighten
your environmental impact a bit?
Maybe it is time to consider a CSA
subscription or try your hand at vegetable gardening. No space? You can
plant a salad garden in a window box
or a tomato plant in an empty fivegallon bucket. Visit farmers’ markets
near your home or find those goodies
in our Produce department. Put some
locally grown burgers and brats from
our Meat department on the grill and
raise a toast to our local, sustainable
farms!
I focus my financial planning and investment practice on people who want
environmental and social value sensitivity reflected in their investment
holdings. Free, no-obligation consultation.
21
Community Supported Agriculture Redefines the
Connection Between Foods, the Environment, and
Health
by Laura Brown and Abby Bachhuber,
Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (MACSAC) & Partner Shares Program
I
recently found myself intrigued
by a sociological study of
farmers in India whose understanding of agriculture, the
environment, and human health
seemed to parallel the ethics of the
small, sustainable farmers in greater
Madison who supply me with my
weekly dose of locally grown nutrition. “There is an...intimate relationship between the production of food
and its consumption,” the sociologist
reported on beliefs of Indian farmers. “Living systems are connected
to each other and to the body in an
intricate web in which actions that
influence the quality of the soil have
direct effects on the quality of the
food produced; the food in turn has
implications for the health of the
people who consume it.” The Indian
farmers not only used very similar
terms to describe the health of the
human body and the health of the
environment but found these systems to be physically, linguistically,
and spiritually inseparable.
It struck me after reading this
that Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is perhaps the closest
we’ve come to this connection here
in the West, allowing consumers far
removed from the agrarian lifestyle
to reconnect with the physical and
spiritual source of our food.
A share of the season
Community Supported Agriculture describes a special relationship
between local farmers and consumers in which the farms are supported
by households who become mem-
bers of a farm by paying a flat fee for
a “share” at the start of the growing
season. This entitles member households to a “share” of the harvest
in the form of a box of sustainably
grown vegetables, fruits, meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, flowers or
herbs as well as newsletters, recipes,
and opportunities to participate in the
life and activities of the farm. Boxes
are typically dropped at convenient
neighborhood sites or picked up at
the farm each week.
From a farmer’s perspective, this
arrangement has real, concrete benefits, providing much needed income
at the start of the season and helping
to ensure the economic viability of
the farm. Communities benefit too:
CSA farms maintain environmental
health through sustainable (if not
certified organic) growing techniques; keep local dollars circulating
within the community; and build
social and economic connections
between urban and rural areas. John
Hendrickson, CSA researcher at the
Center for Integrated Agricultural
Systems estimates that CSA farms
contribute over one million dollars to
the greater Madison economy.
A role in the life of a
farm
As most CSA members would
tell you, myself among them, the
most valuable aspect of this arrangement for the consumer is not
simply the joy of eating sweet early
spinach or the mystery of biting into
a sunchoke or kohlrabi for the first
time, but in knowing that we have
played a small but invaluable role in
the life of a farm: one of thousands
of factors that have harmonized to
bring thousands of miniscule seeds
to bountiful fruition. A dinner of
produce fresh from the CSA box
provides a welcome reminder of the
many hands who tended our dinner, the emotions at the end of a hot
afternoon, the smell of the soil and
the breezes, the joy of a drenching
rain in August, or the sounds of the
Sandhill Cranes over the fields. A
friend of mine, a member of a CSA
and of the Co-op, is reminded of
these blessings even as she shops the
Co-op aisles, knowing that some of
the produce on the shelves is provided by the land and the farmers she
knows and trusts.
to more than 34 farms that today
serve an estimated 9,000 local residents—one of the greatest concentrations of CSA farms in the United
States.
The more than 24 CSA farms
in the greater Madison area provide
ample options for households to find
a farm that best suits their needs and
interests. The Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (MACSAC), formed in the early
1990s by local farmers, promotes
CSAs that follow the traditional
model, grow a wide variety of crops
or other foods, use organic methods
(although not all farms are certified
organic), and demonstrate an ability
to reliably provide members with
high quality foods.
About CSA
For more information
on the farms
The first CSAs in the United
States can trace their roots to the
European biodynamic traditions
articulated in the 1920s by Austrian
Rudolf Steiner. Today the more than
two thousand CSAs across the nation and over 80 CSAs in Wisconsin
uphold this biodynamic tradition
through growing techniques that
encourage environmental sustainability, soil fertility, and attention
to natural farm ecosystems and
habitats. Southern Wisconsin in
particular has proved fertile ground
for the growth of CSAs. In the past
decade the number of CSA farms in
the greater Madison and Milwaukee
metropolitan areas has increased
by more than 400 percent, jumping
from eight farms in the early 1990s
A wealth of information about
each of the farms, maps, links to
individual farm brochures, and websites is available at www.macsac.
org. Households interested in joining
a CSA are also encouraged to attend
the 13th Annual CSA Open House
to be held on Saturday, March 18th,
1:00-4:00pm, at Olbrich Gardens,
3330 Atwood Avenue. The event
allows households to meet each of
the farmers and learn about CSA
through cooking demonstrations,
workshops, and slide shows. Attendees can also participate in a raffle for
a gift certificate toward a share from
the farm of their choice. A printed
list and map of MACSAC farms list
can be found in the February issue
of The Sustainable Times’s special
CSA pullout section.
CSA options for the tight
budget
While CSA shares typically
range in price from $350-$600 for
20-30 weeks of produce, and are
comparable in price to the cost of
foods at natural food stores, several programs make it easier for
households on a tight budget to
take advantage of the benefits of
CSA. Many farms offer payment
plan options that make the up-front
cost of a share more manageable
and two, Harmony Valley CSA and
Troy Community Farm, accept food
stamps as payment for CSA shares.
The Partner Shares Fund, a project of MACSAC, benefits lower-income households by paying 50 percent of the cost of a vegetable share.
Partner Shares pays the full cost of
a vegetable share to the farm at the
beginning of the growing season
and members then design a payment
plan to pay back half of the share
cost over the course of the season,
spread out over as many months as
needed. Partner Shares participants
must meet income eligibility guidelines and funds are available on a
first come first served basis. In 2005,
Partner Shares received a grant from
the Willy Street Co-op Community
Reinvestment Fund to expand community education and outreach. This
funding allowed Partner Shares to
reach hundreds of area residents and
increase the Partner Shares Assistance Fund for 2006. The generous
support of the Willy Street Co-op
has moved the program closer than
ever to reaching the goal of making
CSA a tangible option for all households in greater Madison.
This year MACSAC worked
with the Physician’s Plus Insurance
Company (the Physician’s Plus
Marketing Director herself is a CSA
member) to establish the Eat Healthy
Rebate program, which provides a
cash reimbursement of $100 for individuals and $200 for households off
the cost of a produce share from any
MACSAC farm. More information
can be found at www.pplusic.com.
Choosing a CSA
Choosing the right CSA and the
right share type is important. Here
are some key factors to consider in
choosing a CSA farm:
Location: Consider how often
you want to be involved in on-farm
activities and how far you would be
willing to drive.
Size of Farm: CSA farms vary
in size from fewer 10 to over 500
shares. Some farms grow exclusively
for CSA members while others offer
CSA but also sell at local farmers
markets, or to restaurants, and coops.
Additional Share Options
and Other Food Items: Some
farms offer additional items that are
sometimes included in the regular
share and are sometimes offered as a
separate share or made available for
purchase separately including flowers, herbs, honey, apples and other
fruit, eggs, poultry, beef, lamb, pork,
grains, and wool/yarn.
Length of Season or Number of
Deliveries: The length of the season and number of deliveries varies
among the farms. Most begin in May
or early June ending anywhere from
October to February. Those with
longer seasons utilize season extending devices such as hoop-houses
and also focus in the later months
on storage crops such as root vegetables.
Price of Share: On average, a
typical CSA member can expect to
pay somewhere between $18-$23
per week for a regular produce share.
Households on a tight budget are
encouraged to learn more about the
Partner Shares Fund, which subsidizes 50% of the cost of a produce
share.
Pick-Up Site: Most, but not all,
of the farms have sites in Madison
where the weekly delivery of vegetables are dropped off. Many also
have sites in outlying towns such
as Janesville, Stoughton, Baraboo,
and Dodgeville. These are usually
located at the homes of fellow farm
members or on the farms themselves.
Consider how important it is to you
to have a pick-up site that is located
near your home, school, or work.
Delivery Day: Visit www.
macsac.org for a list of farm delivery
days.
Production Practices: All the
MACSAC farms are committed to
sustainable growing practices, which
exclude the use of synthetic pesticides, although not all are certified
organic.
Opportunities for Involvement: Farms put different amounts
of emphasis on volunteer workdays,
community/celebration events, educational opportunities, involvement
with planning and administration,
and other projects.
Opportunities for Education:
All of the CSA farms offer some
opportunities for education. These
may range from farm tours, canning workshops, herbal workshops,
educational pieces in newsletters,
children’s workshops, and education
through work opportunities.
Special Emphasis of the Farm:
Each farm has its own unique characteristics and emphasis. Some emphasize children’s activities, social gatherings, wool production, artistic and
musical gatherings, rituals, heirloom
and native varieties, farm animals,
prairie restoration, women’s community, etc.
For more information on
CSA
A wealth of information about
CSA is available on the web. General
information about CSA and sustainable agriculture in the United States
can be found at www.attar.org and
www.newfarm.org. The National CSA
Center also maintains a list by state
at www.csacenter.org. The Madison
Area CSA Coalition keeps a database
of farm information about CSA in
greater Madison at www.macsac.org
and 608.226.0300. Several other CSA
Coalitions also exist in Wisconsin. Information about the Milwaukee Area
CSA Initiative, operated by the Urban
Ecology Center, can be found at www.
urbanecology.org, and information
on Twin Cities Area CSA’s at www.
landstewardshipproject.org/csa.html.
23
RECIPES AND DRINK RECOMMENDATIONS
DRINK RECOMMENDATIONS FROM STAR LIQUOR, 1209 WILLIAMSON STREET, 255-8041
Take 10% off recommended beverages… Just show your member card at Star Liquor!
WINE DESCRIPTIONS
St. Francis “Red”
Red, ripe and robust, this is
a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot,
Sangiovese, and Grenache. Delicious!
George DuBoeuf
Beaujolais-Villages
Soft and ripe, this French
red explodes with rich red fruit
flavors and aromas.
Saracco Moscato
Orange zest, honeysuckle,
green apples, and a slight frizzante make this low-alcohol
white perfect for a brunch wine!
Cristalino Extra Dry
Sparkling cava with a sweet
burst of citrus fruit and a nice,
tight frame. Excellent!
Bonny Doon “Heart of
Darkness”
Rich with a massive body,
this red has loads of black fruit
with a finish full of dry, cocoa
powder tannins!
Tolaga Bay Estate
Sauvignon Blanc
Bright and flashy with tons
of tropical fruit and grapefruit
notes and a crisp, dry finish.
RECIPES
All-American “Beefy”
Vegetable Stew
Chard and Onion
Omelet (Trouchia)
Penne with Swiss
Chard and White Beans
Nava Atlas, www.vegkitchen.
com
2 Tbs. light olive or olive oil,
divided
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cups water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 tsp. Mrs. Dash or other salt-free
seasoning mix
1 to 1 1/2 cups trimmed fresh or
thawed frozen green beans, cut
into one-inch pieces
1 1/2 lbs. fresh seitan, cut into
bite-sized pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper to
taste
Directions: Heat half of the
oil in a large soup pot. Add the
onion and garlic and sauté over
medium-low heat until the onion
is golden. Add the potatoes, carrots, water, bouillon cube, and
seasoning mix. Bring to a simmer,
then simmer gently, covered, for
10 minutes.
Add the green beans and continue to simmer for about 15 to 20
minutes more, or until the vegetables are tender. If the potato has
not begun to break up on its own,
use the back of a wooden spoon
to mash enough of the potatoes to
thicken the base of the stew.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a wide skillet. Add the
seitan pieces and sauté over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until most sides are nicely
browned and crisp. Add the seitan
to the stew. Add a bit more water
if necessary. The consistency
should be thick and moist, but not
soupy. Season to taste with salt
and pepper (use salt sparingly, if
at all, since the bouillon cube and
seitan add a salty flavor). Serve in
shallow bowls. Serves 6 to 8.
Deborah Madison, Vegetarian
Cooking for Everyone
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 large red or white onion, quartered and thinly sliced crosswise
1 bunch chard, leaves only,
chopped
Salt and freshly milled pepper
1 garlic clove
6 to 8 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
2 Tbs. chopped basil
2 tsp. chopped thyme
1 cup grated Gruyere
2 Tbs. freshly grated Parmesan
Directions: Heat 2 Tbs. of
the oil in a 10-inch skillet, add
the onion, and cook over low
heat, stirring occasionally, until
completely soft but not colored,
about 15 minutes. Add the chard
and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all the moisture
has cooked off and the chard is
tender, about 15 minutes. Season
well with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, mash the garlic
in a mortar with a few pinches of
salt (or chop them finely together), then stir it into the eggs along
with the herbs. Combine the chard
mixture with the eggs and stir in
the Gruyere and half the Parmesan.
Preheat the broiler. Heat the
remaining oil in the skillet and,
when it’s hot, add the eggs. Give
a stir and keep the heat at medium-high for about a minute,
then turn it to low. Cook until the
eggs are set but still a little moist
on top, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the
remaining Parmesan and broil 4
to 6 inches from the heat, until
browned.
Serve trouchia in the pan or
slide it onto a serving dish and cut
it into wedges. The gratineed top
and the golden bottom are equally
presentable. Serves 4 to 6.
Nava Atlas, www.vegkitchen.
com
1 good-sized bunch Swiss chard
(about 10 to 12 ounces)
10 to 12 ounces penne pasta
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, quartered and thinly
sliced
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine or water
1 1/ 2 to 2 pounds diced ripe tomatoes (or one 28-ounce can diced
tomatoes if good, fresh tomatoes
are unavailable)
16-ounce can large white beans
(cannellini), drained and rinsed
1/4 cup raisins or currants
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Grated fresh Parmesan cheese,
preferably organic, or Parmesan-style soy cheese for topping,
optional
Directions: Remove the stems
from the Swiss chard and rinse it
well. Drain lightly and chop the
leaves coarsely. Bring water to a
boil in a large pot. Cook the pasta
in rapidly simmering water for
10 to 12 minutes (or according to
package directions), until al dente,
then drain.
In the meantime, heat the oil in
an extra-large saucepan or steepsided stir-fry pan. Add the onions
and garlic and sauté over medium
heat until the onion is golden,
about 5 minutes.
Add the wine or water and the
chard. Cover and cook just until
the chard wilts down, stirring once
or twice, about 3 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes, beans, and
raisins or currants. Cook just until
everything is well heated through,
another 4 to 5 minutes.
Combine the cooked pasta
with the sauce in a large serving
bowl. Toss well, then season to
taste with salt and pepper, and
toss again. Serve at once. Pass
around some fresh grated Parmesan cheese for topping, if desired.
Serves 6.
Star Recommends: St. Francis
“Red”
Supplies and prices limited. Not valid with
other offers or discounts.
Please drink responsibly.
Star Recommends: Saracco
Moscato
Star Recommends: Tolaga Bay
Estate Sauvignon Blanc
Hearty Vegan Chili
Copper Pennies
Willy Street Co-op Deli
3/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 lb. diced yellow onion
2 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. ground chipotle pepper
9 1/2 oz. shredded seitan
1 lb diced zucchini
2 lb diced red bell pepper
1 1/4 lb. diced fresh Roma tomatoes
3 1/2 Tbs. chili powder
1 1/2 Tbs. ground cumin
1 1/2 Tbs. dried basil
1 1/2 Tbs. dried oregano
2 1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/8 tsp. fennel seed
40 oz. diced canned tomatoes
20 oz. tomato sauce
1 cup canned kidney beans
1 cup canned pinto beans
1 cup canned garbanzo beans
2 1/2 Tbs. lemon juice
Directions: In large stockpot, sauté onion in 1/2 cup olive
oil until tender. Add garlic and
chipotle and sauté 5-10 minutes
longer. Add shredded seitan and
sauté an additional 5-10 minutes. Add fresh tomatoes and
spices and continue cooking. In a
separate pot, sauté zucchini and
bell pepper in remaining 1/4 cup
oil until tender. Add to stockpot
with remaining ingredients and
simmer until ready to serve, or
refrigerate for later use. Makes
about one gallon—great for a
March Madness gathering.
D. Jill Mallory,
WSGC member
2 lbs. carrots sliced into rounds
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can tomato soup
1 Tbs. vegetarian Worcestershire
sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
Directions: Slice carrots and
steam lightly with salted water
until firm, but not crunchy. Drain
and cool. Combine remaining
ingredients, pour over carrots,
and marinate 24 hours. Serve hot
or cold (I prefer cold). Will keep
up to 2 weeks in the fridge. This
is an old southern recipe from my
grandma.
Star Recommends: Bonny
Doon “Heart of Darkness”
Star Recommends: George
DuBoeuf Beaujolais-Villages
Oatmeal Pancakes
Carol Weidel, WSGC member
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbs. oil
1 Tbs. honey
1 1/2 cup milk
Directions: Stir the dry ingredients together. Add the rest and stir
until well mixed. Fry in an oiled
pan, turn when edges get firm.
Pull up a chair and join us!
Tuesday, March 28
Star Recommends: Cristalino
Extra Dry
WANT THIS TOTE FOR
FREE?
You could win this great new canvas tote
when you share your favorite recipes with
your fellow Willy Street Co-op members.
We would love to print your recipes and
give you the credit. We will select a random member recipe submission each
month to win a tote. Other submitters
whose recipes we print will also receive
a token of our appreciation. Recipes should be for main dishes
and use a minimal amount of prepared convenience ingredients. Recipes MUST be original! We like to include ideas for
using seasonal, local produce whenever possible. E-mail your
recipes to Kathy: [email protected] or drop them
off at Customer Service. Be sure to include your name and your
member number.
CONGRATULATIONS D. JILL MALLORY, WINNER OF
THIS MONTH’S TOTE BAG
Honorary Chair, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz
Participating restaurants will donate 10% or more of their proceeds to Community Shares
of Wisconsin and 57 other area community groups. Make your reservation today!
The Dardanelles
Harvest
Tornado Club
(608) 256-8804
(608) 255-6075
(608) 256-3570
Quivey’s Grove
Weary Traveler
(608) 273-4900
(608) 442-6207
www.share-a-meal.org
Thanks to our generous sponsors
Master Chef Sponsor
Pastry Chef Sponsors
Media Sponsors
Sous Chef Sponsors
Budget Signs & Specialties, Gordon Flesch Co.,
Independent Insurance Services, Madison
Environmental Group, Willy Street Co-op
25
NEWSBITES
Reprinted with permission.
Broad failures signal
weak future for
irradiated foods
Food irradiation has been marred
by decades of problems, ranging
from chronic food quality problems
to company bankruptcy to weak
consumer sales, and has little chance
of becoming a mainstream solution
for preventing food-borne illness,
according to a new report released
today by two consumer groups. The
groups, the Center for Food Safety
and Food and Water Watch, urged
the government to abandon its costly
support for irradiation, citing the
many failures of this controversial
technology.
Irradiation exposes food to high
doses of ionizing radiation, either
from electricity or radioactive
cobalt-60, a nuclear waste, to kill potentially harmful bacteria and extend
shelf life. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has legalized
irradiation for many types of foods,
including fruit, vegetables, beef,
poultry, pork, eggs, shellfish, spices
and juice.
Efforts to sell irradiated foods
to U.S. consumers over the past 50
years have met with rejection. Not
a single public school district has
ordered irradiated ground beef from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
which has heavily promoted it since
legalizing it for schools in 2003. In
fact, after irradiated ground beef
was approved for the USDA’s meal
program, the public outcry generated a campaign that led to irradiated
foods being banned altogether in 12
school districts across the United
States. Further, four large irradiation
plants shut down in recent years due
to poor sales and public opposition.
-Center for Food Safety
YeeeeHaaaaaw!!
* - or, How I learned to stop worrying and love my computer
Computer service, repair, networking,
internet, programming, databases, security,
you name it…
Locally owned and operated since 1993!
251-5933
Www.geek-world.com
Baby junk food A survey of over 3000 youngsters from 4 to 24 months old found
that even this young age group is
eating junk food. The most popular
vegetable for those between 19 and
24 months is french fries! Twenty to
25% did not eat a single vegetable
on the day of the survey. Soda was
being given to infants in a bottle as
young as 7 months of age. -www.
kidseatgreat.com
Vegetarian teens in
Atlanta win lunch
Widely reported is the news
that Grady High School in Atlanta,
GA is now catering to vegetarian
students with a veg-friendly lunch
line in the school cafeteria. Students demanded the addition two
years ago and now can choose from
a variety of healthy foods daily.
Schools in other health-conscious
cities are considering similar
changes. In related news, researchers at Northwestern University
recently released study results
indicating that 34% of American
teens are physically unfit. This
is a conservative estimate by the
researchers because although 3100
teenagers took treadmill tests, there
was also a large group not allowed
to participate due to risk of heart
attack during the test. -Information gathered from Reuters News
Service, AP, MSNBC and others
Alert update: EPA
ignoring public
opposition to testing
chemicals on kids
Several months ago, the Organic Consumers Association alerted
its readers to an EPA proposed
rule that would allow pesticide and
other chemical testing on children. Over 50,000 comments were
generated to the EPA condemning
this proposal. Despite overwhelming input from citizens, Congress,
and EPA’s own scientists opposing
the proposed rule, the agency’s
administrators have announced
they are days away from approving
the proposal and allowing chemical testing on children. “The fact
that EPA allows pesticide testing
of any kind on the most vulnerable,
including abused and neglected
children, is simply astonishing,”
said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
Even EPA’s own scientists are
speaking out against the agency’s
proposed rule. “I am somewhat
dismayed that this rule was presented in such a complex—and I
would have to say, tricky—way,”
said Suzanne Wuerthele, a regional
toxicologist for the EPA. Earlier in
2005, Congress mandated that the
EPA must ban all chemical testing
on humans without exception, in
order for the agency to be allocated
its full budget. EPA has clearly
failed to do this with this proposed
rule. -Organic Consumer’s Association
LISTING INFORMATION
We welcome your submissions
to the Community Calendar.
Please send via mail or via
the [email protected]
email. Submissions must be
received by the 8th of each
month for inclusion in the following month’s issue. If space
is constrained, priority will be
given to those pertaining to
food and farming, health and
wellness, environmental, and
neighborhood events.
13th Annual Greater
Madison Community
Supported Agriculture
Open House
Saturday, March 18, 1:00pm–
4:00pm. Olbrich Gardens, 3330
Atwood Avenue. A free, family
friendly event to celebrate Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA)! Browse
tables of twenty-four CSA farms in
the Madison Area CSA Coalition,
meet the farmers, and learn about the
benefits of fresh, local foods through
cooking demonstrations, workshops,
and slide shows. The event also
features live music, a kids’ craft area,
and a raffle featuring a gift certificate
toward the cost of a CSA share of
your choice. Raffle will benefit the
Partner Shares fund to support CSA
memberships for low-income households. Raffle tickets are available for
purchase NOW through MACSAC,
608-226-0300. Winners need not be
present. This event is open to the public. CSA farms provide weekly distributions of sustainably grown produce,
meats, flowers, and dairy products to
households who join the farm for the
season. Visit www.macsac.org for
more information, or read the article
on pages 22-23 of this Reader.
Saturday, March 18th, 2:00pm–
4:00pm at Hawthorne Library; Sunday, March 19th, 2:00pm–4:00pm
at Café Zoma. Residents who live or
work in the Schenk/Atwood/Starkweather/Yahara Neighborhood are
invited to come to one of the sessions
listed to paint a canvas square to illustrate “what the east side means to
you.” All materials will be provided,
you need only bring your creativity.
All artwork will be displayed at an
opening exhibit at the Atwood Community Center. Some of the finished
squares will be selected as part of a
permanent art exhibit.
You do not need to be an artist to
participate—all residents and all ages
are welcome
Questions? Contact Kimberly at
244-1950 or [email protected].
Community Art Project
Sunday March 26th, 6:00pm
–8:30pm. Potluck, presentation and
practices in the Willy Street Co-op
community room. Members of the
Tao Sangha and Akanishta Buddhist
Centers in Madison would like to
invite you to share a meal and enjoy
a presentation of slides, videos, and
stories of “adopting” six families in
hurricane-stricken Mississippi. We
also wish to share some meditations
and Buddhist teachings on the giving
heart during the evening. Please call
257-4663 or email usa@taosangha.
com for more information.
Saturday, March 4th, 2:00pm
–4:00pm at Willy Street Co-op;
Attention Mifflin Co-op Members
Openings on Mifflin Co-op Board of Directors
While Mifflin is managed by a true worker collective, Mifflin is governed by elected representatives of the consumer membership. There are
two seats available on the Board right now, and there may be more by our
spring General Membership Meeting in a month or two.
Volunteering as a director of Mifflin involves one or two meetings
per month of approximately two hours each, taking meeting minutes and
facilitating meetings on a rotating basis, and serving on a standing committee. The Board oversees the finances, sets the long range direction and
policy of Mifflin Co-op, and is legally responsible for the co-op.
Make an Impact
Giving and the Gulf
Coast
In cooperation with Willy Street Coop and the Celtic Music Association
of Madison, Marquette Neighborhood
Association brings this renowned Irish
folk band to the smoke-free Crystal
Corner bar. Flook is a quartet of two
Irish and two British master musicians coming together to create what
The Scotsman calls “one of the most
enthralling sounds around.” RUBAI,
the group’s first US release, reflects
a form of Persian poetry, a reference
all the more striking for a band that
records only instrumentals. Benefit
cover is $10.00. Tickets on sale at
Willy Street Co-op and at the door.
Weston A. Price
Foundation Madison
Chapter Meeting
Monday, March 27th, 7:00pm.
The public is invited to attend this
meeting at the Wil-Mar Center, 953
Jenifer Street. For more info, call
Carolyn at 221-8696 or see www.
geocities.com/madison_wapf.
Marquette Neighborhood Association
Benefit: Flook
Tuesday, March 21st, 9:00pm.
As a small, community based co-op one person can make a substantial
contribution and genuinely have their voice heard. Board members may
use the time they put in towards a volunteer discount below member prices
on purchases at the store.
If you are interested in serving on the Mifflin Board, you may apply
to be appointed as an interim director until the next General Membership
Meeting, or run for election at that GMM.
While specialized knowledge and skills in accounting, finance, law,
grocery retailing, organics and food politics are surely needed, the most
important qualifications are commitment to the co-op, willingness to get
involved and follow through, and cooperative communication skills.
Send an email describing experience you have that makes you a good
candidate, knowledge and skills you can provide, and a statement of your
goals and ideas for Mifflin’s future, to [email protected].
For more information including a complete director position description, email [email protected] or call the store at 251-5899.
27
March 1st
is this month’s Wellness
Wednesday. Get 10% off all Wellness items.
Next month's Wellness Wednesday is April 5th.

March - Willy Street Co-op

Transcription

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