NL.April.May 2008web.indd - Port Townsend Food Co-op

April/May Spring Issue 2008
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THE CO-OP COMMONS
Newsletter of The Food Co-op, Port Townsend
April/May Spring Issue 2008
read us online www.foodcoop.coop
printed locally on recycled paper
CO-OP 101: DEFINING FOOD LABELS
First in an educational Series
BRwYn GRIFFIn, Outreach administrator
Choices, choices, choices!
tion. The Food Co-op, in collaboraHere at The Food Co-op we
tion with NAI, will bring this innovaare increasingly asked to protive program to our members as the
nutritionist approved inc.
vide more useful information
initial beta-test for NAI. Daniella, the
to guide our member-owners
author of many health-related books,
Wine & Mental Clarity
in making decisions about the
will be on-hand to answer member’s
foods we sell. In this age of innutrition and health
Moderate wine intake appears to keep us
formation overload, how can
questions on April
we easily chart an educated
10, from 3-7 pm
sharp by increasing blood flow to the brain
course through this pea soup
and again on
and decreasing blood pressure
of written words? In respondMember Appreing to demand for more inforciation Day, April
NutritionistApproved.com
mation about the origin and
UPDATE 8/08
B&W17622
16, from noon-3pm.
This is not medical advice and should not replace consultation with your doctor.
content of our foods, savvy
marketing gurus have added
Look for these new labels throughout the store in April. This signage is a The USDA Organic Seal
words to their packaging
product of Port Townsend residents Linda Landkammer and her daughter Many food packages contain an
Daniella Chace, a nutritionist with a master’s degree from Bastyr University. abundance of labels and seals that
that often confuse real meaning. Words such as “100%
ers” from Nutritionist Approved, Inc. (NAI), have different levels of legitimacy. The USDA
Natural” or “Naturally Flavored” are not a new feature debuting this month, provides Certified
subject to governmental controls and are shoppers with important information about Organic seal is a product of the U.S. Department
basically useless words on packaging. the food they buy. (See the Feb/Mar Co-op of Agriculture and guarantees that foods carryCommons for details about C.O.O.L.)
ing the seal were produced and handled using
Our goal is to better assist our memberorganic practices. The organic seal indicates
owners with deciphering the important Nutritional “Shelf-Talkers”
the food producer is certified by one of the USconsiderations of food. Member-owners Starting in April, look for the bright green DA’s independent accredited certifying agenhave expressed concern about product ori- NAI labels in our store’s aisles. These cies, such as Oregon Tilth. Independent certigin, ingredients, animal, environmental and “shelf-talkers” will provide important fying agencies perform on-site inspections to
worker-quality-of-life questions, methods nutritional information to help you make assure the food is produced in accordance with
of production, nutritional value, and other good food-buying decisions. Linda Land- the following standards: the grower/producer
factors. The key is education. Knowing kammer and daughter Daniella Chace cre- must pass a three-year period when no prohibhow to read what is already contained on ated Nutritionist Approved, Inc. and the ited materials (synthetic fertilizers, pesticides,
the label is a start. Supplementing package medical nutrition signage program, the NAI or genetically modified organisms) are applied
labeling with additional information, such Nutrition Wellness Tour ™. Their mission is or used; no use of prohibited substances while
as C.O.O.L. (Country of Origin Labeling) to empower shoppers to improve their health certified; no sewage sludge; no irradiation. The
on the bulk bins and nutritional “shelf-talk- through science-based nutrition informacontinued on page 3
nAI
nAI
nutritionist approved inc.
nAI
nutritionist approved inc.
FO
CO
OD
OP
Remember to vote May 1-14! Look for your ballot in the mail!
THE CO-OP COMMONS
Newsletter of
The Food Co-op,
established in 1972.
The Co-op Commons is
published bimonthly.
Editorial Committee:
Deborah Schumacher
Brwyn Griffin
Carol Anne Modena
Mindy Dwyer
Loran Scruggs
Submissions of interest to the
community are gladly
accepted. Please drop off
articles for consideration
at the Co-op
c/o The Co-op Commons.
Include your contact information. Submissions may be
edited for length or content.
Opinions expressed in this
newsletter are the writer’s
own and do not necessarily
reflect Co-op policy or
good consumer practice.
The Commons can also be
viewed on line at
www.foodcoop.coop
Questions/Comments
The Co-op Commons:
[email protected]
Membership or our store:
memberservices@
ptfoodcoop.coop
Board of Directors:
[email protected]
Store Location and Hours
Open Daily
Monday-Saturday
8 a.m.- 9 p.m.
Sunday 9 a.m.- 8 p.m.
The Food Co-op
414 Kearney St.
Port Townsend, WA 98368
Store 360-385-2883
Business line 360-385-2831
FAX 360-385-0654
Mission Statement
Seeking to uphold the health
of our community and world,
The Food Co-op, a
consumer co-operative,
serves our membership by
making available reasonably
priced whole foods and other
basic goods and resources
by means of our life affirming
democratic organization.
The Co-op Commons
is printed on the
Olympic Peninsula using
recycled paper and
vegetable-based inks.
from the board
EMPOWERING THE MEMBERSHIP
Thank you!
janet welch, Board President
Our co-op is a cooperative of memberowners; all Board decisions must be
made on behalf of and in accordance with
the wishes of our membership. At times,
members are empowered to approve (or
disapprove) the actions of the Board of
Directors. Our current Board recognizes
that this should also be true for changes
to our Co-op’s fundamental documents.
For years, our Co-op’s Boards have discussed the need to either re-affirm or
modify The Food Co-op’s Mission and
Principles. These documents haven’t
been changed since they were adopted,
in 1983 and 1994 respectively. When
they were written there were no GMOs,
no multinational organic labels, and no
organic food flood from China! A good
review was due. This past winter, with
the help of several active members, the
Board updated and revised both documents. The changes were drawn from the
values expressed at the Listen Like Crazy
forums, Wisdom Councils, member meetings, and many other sources of member
feedback. The feedback mostly affirmed
the values expressed by the original documents, but some were added that hadn’t
been on the horizon decades ago.
The Board recognized that changing
those fundamental documents, even if the
changes were relatively minor, must not
be taken lightly. In a unanimous decision,
the Board decided to bring the revisions
to the membership for approval.
We Need Your Correct Address
In April we will be mailing active members a ballot for elections to the Board of
Directors, a request for member approval
of the revisions to the Mission and Principles, and notice of the Annual General
Meeting of the Membership (AGM). We
want to be sure you can participate in
this process. Please make sure we have
your current address! If you have moved,
please fill out an address update form at
THE CO-OP COMMONS
any register or at the Member Services
desk.
Included in the mailing will be text of
the original and revised Mission and
Principles. We know this revision isn’t
perfect, but we believe they more accurately reflect the essential purpose of our
cooperative in this time of change and
challenge in the food industry.
The Board also unanimously agreed that
by-law changes warrant member approval. We are working on a by-law revision that will require that changes to that
very essential document receive member
approval. We want to be sure that members have a clear and strong voice in any
changes to these documents!
Call For Active Members
The Board’s workload has been eased
through the efforts of many active members. Thanks go to members who have
served on committees, worked with the
Board at “third Tuesday” Board meetings, drafted our boycott policy, provided outreach, and organized forums and
member education events.
There are countless others who have
slipped suggestions into the Board box
at the front of the store, sent letters to
the Board, expressed support for the financially scary step of implementing the
Coke/Odwalla boycott, counted election
ballots, nudged us forward in labeling
country of origin (COOL) on our bulk
bins, and helped the Board think outside
the box. Please know that the Board has
greatly appreciated all your help! If you
would like to get more involved, fill out
a volunteer form at the Member Services
desk, or give us a call.
Have You Moved?
Please Update Your Address
for Ballot Mailing.
2
Thank you to the following memberowners for volunteering valuable
time to Board-related events and
committees:
Alex Bryan
Andrew Reding
Bobby Jenusaitis
Brenda McMillan
Cathie Wier
Cindy Wolpin
David Goldman
David Heard
Doreen Snyder
Dorn Campbell
Gigi Callaizakis
Joanie Beldin
Joe Breskin
John Barr
Judith Alexander
Julie Jaman
Kathleen Hudson
Larry Lawson
Lisa Crosby
Marcia Goldman
Otto Smith
Peter Bonyun
René Tanner
Sara Mall Johani
Scarlet Rogers
Susan Langlois
Terry Wagner
And to all who attended our events!
BOARD CALENDAR
APRIL
1 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
5:15-8:30 Co-op Annex
16 PRODUCT SELECTION
GUIDELINES COMMITTEE MEETING
5:30-8 pm Co-op Annex
MAY
6 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
5:15-8:30 Co-op Annex
21 PRODUCT SELECTION GUIDELINES
COMMITTEE MEETING
5:30-8 pm Co-op Annex
April/May 2008
from the manager
LABELS from page 1
producer must practice proactive soil
building, conservation, manure management, and crop rotations systems.
Outdoor access for livestock is mandatory as well as access to pasture for
ruminant animals. Organic management for poultry must be practiced
from birth to hatching. No use of antibiotics or hormones is allowed and
no commingling or contamination of
organic products may occur during
processing. Finally, all producers are
required to keep records of their operation.
PACKAGING, PACKAGING AND MORE PACKAGING
How to Get it Home Without
Creating More Garbage!
Deb Shortess, Merchandising Manager
All of us buy or put our food into
some kind of packaging to transport it from the store to home. We
may use a basket, a bag–cloth, paper, plastic, cellophane–or glass
or plastic containers. We may buy
bulk or products already packaged.
Single-ingredient foods like fruits Because most foods today are sold
and vegetables are labeled in the pro- in some kind of packaging, we ofduce department on the box or bin.
ten get suggestions regarding the
For products like eggs, cheese, meat,
milk, and other single-ingredient packaging we use. I would like to
foods, look for the USDA Organic address some of these suggestions.
seal on the package. Products containing multiple ingredients are less
straightforward. A box of cereal, for
example, may contain organic oats
and corn but non-organic raisins and
almonds. When a product is labeled
“100% Organic,” all ingredients are
certified organic and may display the
USDA Organic seal. Products containing at least 95% organic ingredients (by weight) are labeled “Organic” and may carry the USDA Organic
seal. Products containing 75-94% organic ingredients are labeled “Made
with Organic,” may list up to three
ingredients on the front of their packaging, but
will not bear
the USDA
Organic
label.
Labels that Make Promises
Shoppers have many and different
concerns when they shop for food:
animal welfare, worker rights, sustainable farming practices. Products
may now contain a number of certification seals and “eco-labels” that
make a variety of promises. Knowing their value and what exactly they
mean, though, is not always self-evident. Products with the “Certified
Humane” seal promise that livestock
continued page 13
We will also
be testing cellophane bags
and flat sheets
for packaging
our deli sandwiches.
The
packaging will
be either cellophane or cellophane laminated with polypropylene. Both
of these ideas for sandwich wrap
There are many aspects for us to have come from other co-ops and
consider about packaging: the en- may help us reduce our use of
vironmental impact, both in manu- plastics.
facturing and at the end of its life
cycle, our health, regulations we If you notice a change in any prodneed to comply with (e.g. health ucts packaged in these new matedepartment), cost, and ease of rials, please give us feedback. We
use. Food Co-op staff is research- are hopeful that our tests will show
ing issues regarding water bottles. product quality is maintained so
The Product Selection Guidelines we can switch to packaging matecommittee is asking manufacturers rial that’s better for our health and
questions about the materials used the environment.
to line canned foods cans. Today
I wanted focus on research we are We often get requests for biodecurrently doing to upgrade packag- gradable deli packaging and utening used in the Deli.
sils. “Biodegradeable,” though,
isn’t the same as “compostable.”
Our Food Services department is I always have to ask the question,
currently testing a non-PVC plastic what does it biodegrade into?
wrap manufactured in Switzerland
for wrapping cheese in our cheese Let me contrast two products we
case. The use of non-PVC plastics sell in our paper goods section,
helps us address the issue of migra- Bio-Bag and Stalk Market plates.
tion of plastisizers into our food. Bio-Bag packaging reads, “100%
For more than 10 years we have biodegradable and compost-able,”
been searching for this type of wrap “made from the material Materin a food service size. If you pur- Bi,” “contains no polyurethane
chased deli-wrapped cheese dated plastic,” “GMO free,” and “prodFebruary 29 to March 11, you got uct of Norway.” The box also has
some of the test wrap. Let us know a disclaimer: “biodegrades rapidly
if you noticed a difference.
and safely when composted in a
municipal or commercial facil-
THE CO-OP COMMONS
3
Artwork by Mindy Dwyer
ity.” A Bio-Bag is not something
I’m willing to try to compost at
home. The Stalk Market package says, “100% biodegradable &
home compostable,” “made from
sugar cane fiber,” and “made in
China.” I am currently composting
several of these plates. It will be
a few months more before I know
how well this product breaks down
at home.
I have for many years composted
the cellophane bags we use for repackaging raisins. We also have
cellophane bags available in the
bulk herbs and bulk foods areas.
These bags are 100% cellulose
and are manufactured in Portland.
They degrade within 3-4 months
in a home compost bin.
Every packaging option suggested
by a member or by a supplier takes
time, research, and perhaps composting to assess. Thank you to
those of you who have shared your
research on products. We are talking with other co-ops to see what
is working for them. We continue
to research and evaluate the options for truly compost-able and/or
recyclable packaging.
April/May 2008
food for thought
Industry Push to Censor Dairy Labels
Deborah Schumacher, Staff Writer
In his 2006 book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan introduced the notion that food labels
and packaging are a kind of literary genre using
elements of poetics and imagery to sell products.
This isn’t really such a new idea—words and images combined strike us at an emotional level
and prompt us to buy all kinds of things we don’t
need.
What’s in That Package—or Not
Food labels are different, though. They both sell
us the product and educate us about what it contains or what its benefits (or dangers) might be.
The mandatory ingredients list tells us what’s in
the food we’re buying. It’s usefulness is limited;
it contains a list of words, many of complex construction meant more to confound, I think, than to
inform. (See the next issue of The Co-op Commons
for more on ingredients definitions.)
These days labels can also tell us what’s not in the
product. A dairy that doesn’t inject its cows with
Monsanto’s
genetically
engineered
growth horThis is nothing (recombinant
mone rBST
bovine somatotropin)
short of
will benefit
from labelcensorship,
ing its milk
“rBST-free.”
Even though
suppressing rBST was approved by the
FDA in 1994,
the
freedom
of
some studies show a
link between speech of dairies certain types
of cancer in
and farmers... humans and
elevated levels of insulin
growth factor (which
is present in
milk
from
cows that have been injected with the hormone).
Do food eaters have a right to this kind of information on the labels of the food they buy? Or is this
kind of labeling misleading?
What’s Pennsylvania Doing—or Not
Dennis Wolff, Agriculture Secretary of Pennsylvania, announced in October 2007 that the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture “would crack
down on what it viewed as misleading labels on
dairy products, including claims that milk was
made from cows not treated with artificial growth
hormones” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). The PDA
claims there aren’t reliable tests to show the hormone is present in milk, so labeling milk “rBSTfree,” they claim, is misleading. It’s also true that
THE CO-OP COMMONS
Local cows NOT injected with synthetic hormones.
Photo by Julie Jaman
Monsanto has a powerful interest in stopping such
labeling because, as more and more consumers
look for milk from cows that aren’t treated with
their genetically modified hormone, the more reluctant dairy farmers may be to inject it into their
cows.
In January, Ed Rendell, Governor of Pennsylvania,
delayed enforcement of the rule after reviewing
the PDA’s decision. A new ruling resulted allowing
the labeling of milk using phrases like, “produced
without the use of rBST” or “the farmers who supply this milk have pledged not to use rBST.” Dairies can’t, however, label their milk “rBST-free”
and the label must contain a disclaimer (required
to be at least half the size of the claim) stating that
“no significant difference has been shown between
milk from cows supplemented with rBST and milk
from cows not supplemented” (Farm and Dairy).
Chris Ryder, a spokesman for the PDA, calls the
new ruling a compromise between farmers, consumers, and industry groups. It’s good news, certainly, that “industry groups” didn’t completely
squelch efforts to promote what many would agree
is a healthier product. Even though the disclaimer
undermines the message for less-informed shoppers, it provides information for those who already
know what they don’t want in their food. We’ll be
waiting, I guess, for an honest evaluation of the
effects of rBST on human health by the agencies
charged with keeping our food supply safe.
4
Who Else Is Labeling It—or Not
Even though Pennsylvania has come to a compromise, there are efforts in other states to stop dairies from informing consumers their milk doesn’t
contain rBST. Rick North, Project Director for the
Campaign for Safe Food, likens Monsanto, the
primary push behind these efforts, to a wounded
animal, “Judging by the amount of effort that Monsanto, their lobbyists and friends are putting in to
enacting state bills or rules restricting rBST-free
type labeling.” Monsanto might have reason to be
worried: 37 of the 100 largest dairies in the country
have gone completely or partially rBST-free. Foremost Farms USA, the 13th largest processor in the
country, announced recently that they’re starting a
line of rBST-free products, partially motivated by a
Wisconsin hospital chain that signed onto the Care
Without Harm pledge.
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture held
meetings discussing labeling in November and
December 2007. The Ohio Department of Agriculture also held meetings with plans to set rules in
February 2008 that restricts labeling and makes the
FDA disclaimer mandatory. In January and February Indiana introduced a bill to ban rBST-free labeling that was temporarily stopped. In Kansas a
similar bill was introduced with hearings upcoming. Vermont’s bill has been assigned to committee.
The Utah Department of Agriculture held meetings
early this year to draft rules that restrict labeling.
Speaking for the Campaign for Safe Food, Rick
North calls Monsanto’s efforts “one of the most
serious challenges we’ve ever faced. This is nothing short of censorship, suppressing the freedom of
speech of dairies and farmers and their ability to tell
the truth on their labels.” Although we haven’t seen
such actions yet in our state, we should be watchful. As food eaters become more discerning, companies like Monsanto are pushing back, promoting
the strange idea that the truthful labeling of food is
misleading. Labels that tell the truth and inform,
they know, diminish the persuasive power of packaging that utilizes the potent vocabulary of nostalgia and desire that’s been so successfully used to
sell us food that isn’t good for us.
Sources:
Malloy, Daniel, “PA Diary Label Rule Shelved,”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (11/28/07).
North, Rick, Project Director, Campaign for Safe Food.
(Statements to the wsffnet listserve.)
Rathke, Lisa, “Ben & Jerry’s in Fight Over
Labeling,” Associated Press (2/5/08).
Skrinjar, Janelle, “PA Softens its Stance on Dairy
Labeling,” Farm & Dairy (1/24/08).
April/May 2008
local
NALA WALLA’S 50-MILE DIET
Experimenting with a “Pre-Industrial Diet”
WHAT’S IN SEASON
Mid-Spring
DeBORah SchuMacheR , Staff writer
Interview with nala walla, co-op Member-Owner
Eating local has become a national phenomenon.
We talk about “localism” and some of us call ourselves “locavores.” Books have been written about
the subject and they’re talking about it on the evening news. The “100-Mile Diet” and other local
foods issues have been featured in the pages of the
Commons and last year The Food Co-op initiated
an Eat Local Challenge. It all amounts to a growing concern about the fragility of our global food
system and the consequences of our huge carbon
footprint.
Sometimes, though, a trend begins to seem, well,
trendy. In an article published in Metropolis, James
Howard Kunstler (The Long Emergency), “riffing
on localism,” writes, “the ideas bundled under
the rubric of ‘localism’ are regarded as a lifestyle
choice, which is to say a fashion statement of
environmental concern, practiced by those with the
time and means for following fashions.” Kunstler
finishes that thought by saying, “Meanwhile, the
rest of America keeps driving to the Shop Rite
for tubes of frozen ground-round, jugs of Pepsi,
and bags of Cheez Doodles made (grown?) Godknows-where.”
Kunstler makes a good point. But pushing “eating
local” past sloganism and making it real in our
world is probably going to be part of a larger
conversation we have with each other when the
food system that makes Cheez Doodles and other
agrobiz confections so ubiquitous begins to falter.
Eating local will then move pretty quickly from
“lifestyle choice” to necessity.
The people who eat local today are like pioneers
leading us into unfamiliar territory. One of these
GROWING CO-OPS
SATURDAY APRIL 19 & SUNDAY APRIL 20
Northwest Cooperative Development Center
“Grow Your Own Food Co-op” Workshop
the Food co-op hosts nwcDc’s andrew Mcleod. Starting a coop is a long and involved process. learn the overview of the
development process, examine the steps to starting a co-op
and organizational and financial issues facing co-op creation.
For more information, please visit www.nwcdc.coop or contact
andrew Mcleod at 360-943-4241 or [email protected]
THE CO-OP COMMONS
Nala Walla stayed closer to home with her 50-Mile Diet.
Photo from the 100-Mile Diet website at www.100milediet.org
new pioneers is Nala Walla, a young woman on
a mission to redefine her relationship to food and
shift from activities that revolve around shopping
for food to one resembling the provisioning of
a pioneer family. Nala calls her slightly more
restrictive 50-Mile Diet a “pre-industrial diet.”
For six weeks, through those difficult winter
months from January to mid-February, Nala set
aside focused time to think about food. She also
committed herself to eating only foods grown or
raised within 50 miles. She told me, “This has been
an expensive venture for me, definitely.” She also
said she’s found, 23 days into the month of January,
“it’s doable—I won’t starve.”
What has she found to eat? Soaked and sprouted
barley with stewed apples and milk for breakfast.
Eggs, kale and mushrooms sautéed in butter for
lunch or dinner. For dessert: baked apple with
honey and butter, “luscious.” Even though it
was winter she enjoyed winter salads made with
arugula, mizuna, cabbage, and grated carrot topped
with homemade sauerkraut. And don’t forget about
stored and preserved foods, meat, fish and shellfish,
dairy and eggs. Nala explained that she was able
to locate all the staples she needed to eat well. She
talks about winter abundance rather than winter
deprivation.
But it can be expensive—a gallon of raw milk costs
more than $8. Even a generous bunch of kale is more
than $2. Eating local also takes time, planning, and
work that most of us aren’t used to devoting to food.
Nala described the research involved in finding
local barley and her challenges finding local butter.
She finally bought Golden Glen Dairy butter (from
Spring is well underway—time to enjoy
all the healthy green leafies growing in
our gardens and in the farmers’ fields.
This is the time for crunchy salads and
lightly cooked leafy vegetables like spinach and chard. Add some spring bunching onions and fresh herbs for flavor to
cleanse our bodies of the heavier foods
eaten over winter and into the cool
northwest Maritime spring.
Food for the soul: flower bouquets
Artichokes
Arugula (baby)
Asparagus
Beets w/green tops
Bok choy (baby)
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Chard
Collard Greens
Garlic greens
Herbs
Kale
Leeks
Lettuce
Mesclun
Mushrooms (oyster, shiitake)
Onions (green bunching)
Peas
Potatoes (new)
Radishes
Rhubarb
Spinach
Stir-fry mix (kale, chard, etc.)
Turnips w/greens (baby)
Source: Puget Sound Fresh Farm Guide &
Food Co-op Produce Department
continued on page 10
5
April/May 2008
store shelves
well baby
news
Doggie Tie-Up Station
Ever see a Co-op dog patiently waiting outside the
door for their beloved? We love our Co-op dogs!
We’ve recently installed tie-up stations on both
sides of the Co-op and are asking that all co-op
dogs visiting our store be secured for their safety
(and ours). At the North Entrance you can secure
your four-legged friend on the northeast pole in the
bike rack area. At the South Entrance (water side),
look for a secure station by the bike racks. Coming soon…hitching posts for horses? (Read about
it on page 15.)
Grocery Team Visits UNFI
United Natural Foods Inc., based in Northern
California, delivers many of the products on our
shelves. In February, Layne, Cory, and Eric from
the grocery team joined seven other Northwest
co-ops to tour the UNFI warehouse in Auburn,
Washington. In a word, the place is HUGE! The
dry storage area is 201,000 square feet, the freezer
and chill storage areas are 40,000 square feet, and
product is stored on 20 foot storage racks.
Special Order Changes
The UNFI Buyer’s Club catalog and sales catalogs were recently replaced with a photocopied
“desk copy” (available at Member Services) for
in-store ordering. Neither catalog is available any
longer for us to sell to our customers. To get your
own copies, print or download from our website
at www.foodcoop.coop (look for the link on our
homepage).
FDA Approves Cloned
Animals For Food, NCGA
says “No Way!”
Cloned animals for food? No way. The National
Cooperative Grocers Association has firmly rejected the FDA’s recent approval of cloned animals and their offspring for food. As a member
of NCGA, a “cooperative of cooperatives,” The
Food Co-op supports this decision. Meat and dairy
products from cloned animals, when it makes its
way into our food stream, will not be sold on our
shelves. Many other organizations have rejected
the FDA’s decision including the Organic Trade
Association and Organic Valley.
THE CO-OP COMMONS
SAFE BABY BOTTLES
NEW LINE OF BABY BOTTLES
It might be time to reconsider plastic baby bottles filled with prepared baby formula. We continue to learn about the health effects of some
of the chemical toxins that leach into our
food from plastic food containers, water
bottles, and plastics-lined cans. Check
out the tips below to help you limit your
baby’s contact with these chemicals.
• Use clear silicone nipples. Latex
rubber nipples can cause allergic reactions and can contain
impurities linked to cancer.
• Use glass bottles. Plastic bottles
can leach a toxic chemical called bisphenol
A (BPA) into formula. Avoid clear, hard
plastic bottles marked with a 7 or “PC.”
• Don’t use plastic bottle liners. The soft plastic liners may leach chemicals into formula,
especially when heated.
• Choose powdered formula. BPA can leach
from the lining of metal cans and lids. Liquid formulas have higher levels. Avoid all
ready-to-eat liquid formulas in metal cans.
• Warm bottles in a pan of hot water. Microwaving can heat unevenly and cause chemicals to leach from plastic bottles into formula.
Source: Environmental Working Group
(www.ewg.org/babysafe)
plastic BPA-free baby bottles from “Green
to Grow” are available by special order
in the UNFI Buying Club catalog
HEALTHY, NUTRITIOUS
HOMEMADE BABY FOOD
Making your own baby food is probably easier
than you think. And the benefits are worth it:
complete control over what goes into your baby’s
food and your baby gets the freshest fruits and
vegetables. You’ll save money too! The KidCo
Food Mill (available in our baby section) is a
handy basic food grinder that was developed by
a pediatrician. It requires no batteries or electricity—just a little elbow grease—and features a four
oz. capacity serving cup, serving spoon, strainer
and medical grade stainless steel blade.
CHILD-SAFE PARKING LOT
WHOA NELLIE! A few concerned mem-
bers have recently observed cars flying through
the parking lot, endangering both adults and children. They’ve asked us to remind our patrons to
please be mindful of those sharing the parking lot
with you and SLOW DOWN!
local
Beans For Bags Donations
Gatheringplace Dog Biscuits
New locally made treats for your 4-legged friends.
These dog treats are handmade by the Gatheringplace’s adults with developmental disabilities, staff
and community volunteers. There are three flavors
(vegetarian, beef & chicken) in two sizes (1/2 lb.
and ¼ lb.). Made with organic grains, broth, seasonings, garlic, flax, honey, smiles and hard work.
The proceeds support this privately funded organization. Find out more about the Gatheringplace at
www.gppt.org
6
Our new Beans for Bags donation program started on January 13 and has been a fun & amazing
success! Members are choosing overwhelmingly
to exchange their 5-cent bag refund for beans
that can be donated to local good causes. January & February donations: Farmer Flood Relief
($258.59), The PT Food Bank ($335.92), LandWorks ($256.74). Donation Recipients for March
& April: The Boiler Room, Jefferson AIDS Service , & Tri-Area Food Bank.
If you wish to recommend a good
cause, please fill out a Member
Response Form.
April/May 2008
store shelves
what’s new
co-op kitchen & deli
NEW FOOD SERVICES
MANAGER
SHILA ZIMMERMAN
SUMMER DINING AT
HOME OR ON THE BEACH
Welcome new
Food Services
Manager Shila
Zimmerman!
Shila is responsible for the Co-op Kitchen
& Deli and the Specialty Foods Department
(meat and cheese). She takes over for Victoria
Wideman, who moved into Human Resources
in late 2007.
Shila is a fresh face with a fresh vision for our
Kitchen & Deli. Some new things you can look
forward to: more variety and a consistent soup
menu with two soups every day plus a Chef’s
Choice. And starting in March we added meat,
seafood and vegetarian entrées: Ginger-garlic
Tahini chicken, Thai sockeye salmon, Tandoori
Tofu to name a few. Shila plans to add sides
to accompany the entrees so you can come to
the deli case and put together a whole meal for
home dining.
In the Grab & Go case (near the Deli counter)
look for new salads, more green salads, and-for picnicking on the beach or at one of our
summer festivals--we’ve introduced ready-togo cut and wrapped cheese, fruit and nut
platters on nifty little wooden trays. For dinner at home we also offer oven-ready meals—
ready to bake seasoned roast with cut veggies or salmon roll with roasted red pepper,
spinach and feta (find these in the meat case).
Fairly Traded
Leaf & Flower
We added several new
fairly traded organic
bulk products to our Fair
Trade repertoire: Earl
Grey tea (decaf), Rooibos
tea, Chamomile & flowers, and peppermint &
spearmint leaf.
Random deli fact: What’s our deli’s best-selling dish? BEET & KALE SALAD!
COOKING AT THE CO-OP
Our recent offering of cooking classes have
been a hit! Arran Stark taught a 7 week “Basic Cooking” class, Marko Colby taught a class
on “fermenting foods,” and Stacy Larson-Stafki
taught us how to make cheese. If you’d lilke to
share your cooking expertise with your community and teach a class, please contact Outreach
Administrator Brwyn Griffin at 360-379-5798
or at [email protected]
CHEESE CLASS MAY 31
RAW FOODS JUNE 5 & 12
Concentrated Clean
Concentrated liquid laundry
detergents from 7th Generation,
BioKleen, CitraSuds, Method, and
Earth Friendly Ecos. All are now a 2x or 3x
concentrate. The 50 oz. concentrate washes the
same number of loads as the 100 oz. That adds
up to less fuel used for shipping, less water use,
and fewer plastic bottles in the waste stream.
store stuff
HELP... WE NEED YOUR
CLEAN EGG CONTAINERS!!!
FREE STUFF!!!
We’re pleased that we can offer bulk white and
brown eggs and clean egg containers to our
members as one more way to cut down on waste.
You can help us by recycling again and returning
your egg containers for reuse. Any PAPER egg
container
will do as
long as it’s
clean and
still sturdy!
Need moving boxes? Mailing boxes? Plastic jugs
and packing material?
THE CO-OP COMMONS
We recycle boxes every day—instead of breaking
them down, we put them in the box bin just outside
the North Entrance of the store. We invite you to
help yourself. Packing material (popcorn bubbles,
packing paper, etc.) is available in the large recycling container at the North Entrance of the store.
And if you have a grease car, we also discard 5 gallon plastic handled jugs that make great vegetable
oil containers. Call our Maintenance Department at
385-2831 x110 for info or to arrange pick up.
7
Beautiful Clean
Honey Girl Organics Face Care
luscious new face care line from
Hawaii. Includes face and eye cream, facial
cleanser, night cream, body cream and super skin
food.
Alaffia Face Care Line – crafted with Fair Trade
shea butter. Joins the Alaffia skin and hair care
lines.
Logona Herbal Cream Hair Color – super clean
hair color that gives your hair radiant color and
glossy good looks.
April/May 2008
from the farm
wsffnet’s GETTING SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
“A SEAT AT THE TABLE”
ellen GRaY , washington State Sustainable Food and Farming network
Many of our early efforts, the seeds we planted,
are blossoming and bringing change. Years ago we
recognized the need for a sustainable and organic
research program at the state level and worked
to establish such a program. We now have
the Biologically Intensive Agriculture and
Organic Farming (BIOAg) program at
Washington State University, funded
at $600,000 a year, to research solutions for our organic and sustainable farmers. We also recognized
that there was no training for organic and sustainable farmers.
We worked with WSU and in
2006 the University began offering their first-in-the-nation
undergraduate degree in organic farming. In 2007 they began
offering a graduate certificate
in sustainable agriculture.
The Washington State Sustainable Food and Farming Network (wsffnet) formed in 1997 to create a
statewide grassroots voice to advocate for sustainable agriculture. We are a nonprofit activistbased network of organic and sustainable
farmers, environmental organizations,
farming organizations, faith-based
groups, farmers markets, anti-hunger
and nutrition advocates, the natural
foods industry, food coops, educators, and others. Membership
diversity is one of our strengths.
Although we primarily focus
on state issues, we participate
in regional and national affiliations to address far-reaching
issues such as the federal Farm
Bill re-authorization.
Growing Mono-Crops and
Mega-Farms
The way we grow, process and
distribute food is key to the
social and economic fabric of
our communities. In Washington
State, as well as nationwide, there
are significant concerns regarding the
sustainability of our current agricultural system. Industrial agriculture, with
its emphasis on mono-crop mega-farms, has
been the trend in agriculture for the past 50 years.
Rooted in synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and
pharmaceuticals, the current agricultural system
has diminished biodiversity, impoverished our
soil, polluted our watersheds, and placed our food
security at risk.
Today, just a few corporations control much of our
food supply. Washington State loses 26,000 acres
of farmland every year and over the next 30 years,
3 million new residents will join our current population of 6 million. This will magnify our state’s
contribution to global climate change, increase demand for petrochemicals, intensify conflicts over
water supplies, destroy and damage habitat for
salmon and other wildlife, and hasten the decline
of family farms. How do we meet the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their needs?
THE CO-OP COMMONS
Art by Mindy Dwyer
A Better Idea
Sustainable agriculture incorporates farming practices that reduce soil loss, decrease pesticide use,
promote biodiversity by protecting wildlife habitat, and encourage efficient use of water. A sustainable farming system ensures that our agricultural
resource land is preserved, sustainable farming
practices that reduce and minimize environmental
impacts are implemented, farmers and farm labor
secure a livable wage, and the next generation of
farmers is cultivated.
Harvesting 10 Years of Effort
For 10 years wsffnet has focused its grassroots advocacy to leverage public investment in programs
and policies that promote sustainable agriculture.
8
As our farmers struggled, we
saw the need to create new markets to help small-scale farmers
and ranchers remain economically
viable. Working with WSDA, we
advocated for the Small Farms Direct
Marketing program to provide technical
and financial support to help start farmers
markets and promote specialty crop sales. In the
last 10 years farmers markets have doubled, sales
have quadrupled, and last year over $50 million
dollars were generated by approximately 115 markets! Since 2005 there has been a 75% increase in
the amount of certified organic crop acreage and
a 44% increase in the amount of organic produce
sales. The sustainable ag movement is growing.
Growing Our Future
This year wsffnet has two new exciting programs,
Local Farms-Healthy Kids and the Future of Farming. Last summer the Network began working with
an exciting new coalition of organizations to develop Local Farms-Healthy Kids legislation, which
was introduced in early 2008. If successful, this
legislation will: 1). Establish a Farm to School program that makes it easier for schools to purchase
Washington grown farm products; 2). Create a
grant program to help schools purchase Washington
grown fresh fruits and vegetables; 3). Fund farm to
April/May 2008
from the farm
food bank pilot programs; 4). Provide additional
funding for the WIC and Senior Farmers Market
Nutrition Programs; and 5). Fund farmers market
access to electronic benefits technologies to enable the use of food stamps at farmers markets.
Another new element of our 2008 work is to ensure that sustainable agriculture is well represented in the WSDA’s Future of Farming statewide assessment of agriculture. Recognizing the need for
a statewide vision for agriculture, the state funded
WSDA $450,000 to identify the “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats” to agriculture
and make recommendations on how to keep farming in Washington “competitive and profitable.”
This process is a wonderful opportunity to shape
the face of agriculture. We are working to ensure
that sustainable agriculture has a seat at the table!
If you want to know more about our
organization or want to get involved,
please visit our website at www.wsffn.org
or call us at 360-336-9694.
NEW CHICKEN IN TOWN
June promises the return of locally grown
chicken raised on nature’s green pastures. With the support of Nash
Farms in Sequim,
farmer Theodore
Carlat is back
for a fourth season
growing fresh organic chicken on the
peninsula. He’ll be raising “Freedom Rangers,” a
hearty chicken developed
in France from old-fashioned heirloom poultry breeds in Europe. Look for “Olympic Pastured Rangers” brand whole chicken at your
Farmers Market, Nash’s Farm Store, The
Food Co-op, and in local restaurants. You can
also order directly from the farmer with our
first ever Poultry Meat CSA program. Three
options are available: Standard Share (one
chicken a month through the season), Family
Share (a chicken every-other-week through
the season), and Bountiful Share (a weekly
chicken through the season). CSA shareholders can also order turkey and geese. For
more information contact Theodore Carlat at
360-301-9858 or [email protected]
THE CO-OP COMMONS
be an advocate
for
sustainable ag
clip out for future reference
If you want to support or promote
wsffnet’s efforts contact your state
and U.S. legislators.
Senator James Hargrove (24th Leg. Dist.)
411 Legislative Building
PO Box 40424
Olympia, WA 98504-0424
(360) 786-7646
Rep. Lynn Kessler (24th Leg. Dist.)
339A Legislative Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7904
Rep. Kevin Van De Wege (24th Leg. Dist.)
316 John L. O’Brien Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7916
Congressman Norm Dicks (6th Cong. Dist.)
2467 Rayburn House Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-5916
(202) 226-1176 [fax]
Senator Maria Cantwell (6th Cong. Dist.)
511 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-3441 (202) 228-0514 [fax]
Senator Patty Murray (6th Cong. Dist.)
173 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2621
(202) 224-0238 [fax]
Zach Wailand, Dharma Ridge Farm. Photo Matt Sircely.
INVEST IN YOUR FOOD FUTURE
Join a Local CSA
Over the remaining 2008 issues of The Co-op
Commons, we’re going to introduce our readers to
the eight farms offering CSAs in Jefferson County. You’re
invited to contact the farms featured in this and future
issues to learn more about specific crops and share
costs so you can get in on farm sharing this year or
plan your farm sharing for 2009. Go to our website at
www.foodcoop.coop for a list of all eight CSAs and contact
information (go to the Products section of the website
and select the Produce Department tab in the menu).
CORONA FARM
Port Townsend – 360-379-2688
Farm Shareholders receive a bountiful box of the season’s
fresh-picked farm products every week, at a savings of
15% or more below retail. Shares are available for partial
or full season, with choice of share size, and with an
affordable delivery option. Subscriptions are available
for spring (April, May, June), summer (July, August,
September), and fall (October, November, December).
Home delivery within Port Townsend city limits is
available. A work-trade option is also available. (From
Corona Farm’s website at www.coronafarm.com)
DHARMA RIDGE FARM
Chimacum – 360-732-0178
Each call counts as over ten
thousand contacts!
Farm shareholders receive 20 weeks of a variety of freshlypicked produce each week, along with a newsletter full of
recipes and farm news. Pickup is on Wednesdays either
on the farm or at the Farmers Market from approximately
mid-June to mid-October. A deposit is required when you
sign up. This year’s share of the harvest should be paid
for in full on or before July 1, 2008. (From Dharma Ridge
Farm’s website at www.dharmaridgefarm.com)
To find the legislators in your district go to
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder
FOR COMPLETE CSA LIST SEE THE FEBRUARY/MARCH COMMONS
OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.FOODCOOP.COOP
9
April/May 2008
farmers market
NEWS from the market
Matt Sircely, Market Communications Coordinator
MARKET OPENS MAY 3RD
Meet New Market Manager Wendie Dyson!
New market manager, Wendie Dyson, brings
enthusiasm to the PT Farmers Market as she
prepares for Opening Day on May 3rd. Having
led the successful formation of the Des Moines
Waterfront Farmers Market and now serving
as secretary for the Washington State Farmers
Market Association, Wendie also brings experience. Recognizing the tremendous success
of the market, she plans to focus new energy
on fostering collaborative community partnerships by stepping up the market’s outreach,
education, and volunteer programs.
Dyson will also focus on continuing the trend
of increasing average daily vendor sales at the
PT market. “This market is recognized as a
great success in the farmers market community
across the state,” she says.
In news from farmers, Wildwood Farm in Quilcene says their young chickens and turkeys
are growing quickly, onions and scallions are
coming up, over-wintered beets did well, and
they’ve added a wine grape vineyard. “We’re
doubling raspberry production, the apple, plum
and pear trees are all trimmed, and the peonies
are peeping,” says Mary Brackney.
Elsewhere, Dharma Ridge Farm reports that
warm weather is enabling an early start to
field work. Stormy Ganton of Farm Girl Garden has a new greenhouse and plans to attend
every market this year. Denise Joy at Mountain Spirit Herbals recently planted full rows
of Oatstraw, Valerian and St. John’s Wort and
is enjoying a new solarium. And Pauline Morgan of Morganics offers tastings at The Food
Coop on the second Monday of each month,
including her new pepper jelly and lemon ginger marmalade.
NALA WALLA from page 5
New Market Manager Wendie Dyson. Photo by Matt Sircily
ward to attending the farmers market and selling to The Food Coop. Hanako Myers and
Marko Colby are “right over the fence,” says
Sebastian, at their new Midori Farm. The two
farms plan to help each other in neighborly
fashion.
Aguilar and Gelino are also caring for Theodore
Carlat’s milk cow, Flora, while Carlat moves
from Ananda Hills Farm to launch Olympic
Pastured Poultry. Carlat plans to pasture five
thousand organic chickens, heritage turkeys
and probably geese this year at Nash Huber’s
farm in Sequim, incorporating them into field
rotations. Carlat will offer poultry at the Farmers Market and The Food Coop beginning in
June, along with a CSA program and advance
orders for holiday birds. Responding to food
security concerns and higher feed prices, CarSebastian Aguilar and Kelly Gelino, formerly lat and Huber are devising local blends to meet
of Sunfield Farm, have taken the reins at Frog the birds’ nutritional needs. Carlat is summonHill Farm this year. The two plan to continue ing local investors to support his operation.
Frog Hill’s work-trade program, and will also
manage the Eco-Village CSA. They look for- Finnriver Farm also seeks investors for their
Linda Yakush of Pane D’Amore Bakery in Uptown says high grain prices are spiking. “We’re
trying to cope with crazy flour prices. Every
single price of everything we buy has gone up
here, and some prices have doubled; just last
week our flour prices increased by fifty percent.” Pane D’Amore is actively engaging local solutions by participating in an experiment
in wheat production with Nash Huber in Sequim.
THE CO-OP COMMONS
forthcoming cidery. Keith and Crystie Kisler
are preparing their barn to receive equipment.
This winter, the Kislers hosted a tree-planting
work party. “Over sixty people came out. We
planted nine hundred heirloom apple trees,
and it was one of those events that make you
feel good about the world,” says Crystie. New
farm co-managers, Jeff Horwath and Janet
Aubin, and intern Caitlin Caldwell, have been
mulching and pruning the blueberry field in
hopes of a better berry season.
10
Skagit Valley for $4.75 for ¾ lb.) at the Sno Isle
Co-op in Everett—still within 50 miles, she bought
it only because she was in the neighborhood.
Right now Nala’s life resembles, in many ways, a
pre-industrial life. She lives on five acres in a tiny
cabin that’s off grid. She collects rainwater for home
use and waters her garden by hand. She wakes up
with the sun. She uses a mortar and pestle. She had
a winter garden to help her through the winter, but
“the deer got it all.” Now she’s planning a fencebuilding party.
The only practical way to get local food on
everyone’s plate, we both concluded, is for all of us
to take food independence personally. Think back a
hundred years—the “pre-industrial diet” was mostly
made up of foods grown on a subsistence farm by a
group of people who pitched in their labor to grow
their food together. Our “pre-industrial” past can
be a useful model for what Nala calls the “postpetroleum scenario” that will almost certainly be
fuel constrained and much more dependent on
things like manual labor and cooperation. Good
thing Nala and other “locavores” are putting ideas
that can seem a little removed from our every day
reality into practice right now. They could just help
us all go back to the future.
For more about Nala’s work, please visit www.
bcollective.org or email [email protected]
April/May 2008
health & nutrition
FEEDING THE BONE MATRIX
BREANNA WALISER, Co-op Wellness Staff & Local Herbalist
Bones are amazing! Sure they break every
now and again and we have to endure the
“growing pains” of maturing bones. Regardless of these small inconveniences,
our bones do a wonderful job of holding
us up. They take us from knee-high-to-agrasshopper to full stature in just a couple decades.
Bone cells (osteoclastes and osteoblasts) work every day building
up and breaking down our bone
matrix. Our bones are composed
of a complex matrix of many
minerals, not just calcium. With
age they lose density, but it’s
also their complexity and quality that’s important. Women in
Japan have a greater loss of
bone density than women in
the U.S., but because of the
greater complexity of minerals in their bone matrix, they
have fewer fractures. Getting
enough calcium is important but will only
prove beneficial if we get the balance of
minerals and vitamins our bones require.
Nettles are a local food source that provide a variety of minerals including calcium, magnesium and iron. Dairy is a great
source of calcium, but because it’s not a
source of magnesium and potassium, it’s
better to have a variety of sources rather
than depending solely on “the great cow/
goat.” Supplement dairy with almonds
or other foods high in magnesium. Dark
leafy greens are a great source of bone
nutrients because they offer a complex
variety of minerals, especially kale, which
contains more calcium than milk and is easier
for our bodies to absorb!
Drinking mineral-rich herbal teas is another way to
supplement our diets without spending a fortune on
supplements. (See sidebar for herbal tea mixes and
also an herbal vinegar recipe.) If you have special
needs, a multi-mineral supplement may be the way
to go. If you take a mineral supplement, chelated
minerals like Cal-citrate have been shown to be the
most effective.
THE CO-OP COMMONS
When we eat acidic foods like meat, most grains,
and coffee (or even get hot-tempered), our bones
will release extra calcium to neutralize our
blood’s pH. If this happens often, it can create stress on our bones. Balancing acidic foods
with alkalizing foods like fruits, veggies, eggs,
unsalted dairy foods, almonds, quinoa, amaranth, millet, flax, and miso may mitigate the effects of this stress.
Most importantly, don’t forget to enjoy
the sunshine! Our bones love the vitamin D that results from a little time in
the sun, and without vitamin D, calcium will have little effect building
bone. You may benefit from a multivitamin with vitamin D, if your diet is
low in animal products, since in our
region we can forget what the sun
looks like for part of the year. And
while you’re outside, you might as
well get some exercise—it’s one of
the most important things you can do
for your bones and your smile.
Bones are truly amazing in all they do. It’s our
job to keep our bones strong by eating plenty
of mineral-rich whole foods, adding mineralrich herbs to our diet, getting a little sun and
plenty of exercise, and when necessary taking
a calcium or vitamin D supplement. Take good
care of your bones and they’ll take good care of
you through youth into old age.
Source: Politically Incorrect Nutrition by
Michael Barbee
BreAnna Waliser, a Co-op cashier and Wellness
clerk, is a graduate of Bastyr University in Kenmore,
Washington, where she received a B.S. in Herbal Sciences. She custom blends herbal tinctures and herbs for
infusions. You can reach BreAnna at b.herbal@yahoo.
com or 360-643-3904.
Slow Food Convivium Call For Volunteers
Needed: demo kitchens, chefs, volunteers
for publicity, set-up, clean-up, and
donations of food, wine and beverages.
For Port Townsend events:
Contact Arran Stark@[email protected]
11
CALCIUM- AND MINERAL-RICH
TEAS, FOODS & CONCOCTIONS
Bone Matrix-Building Tea
BreAnna Waliser
Mix together:
1 Tbsp Nettles (Urtica dioica)
1 Tbsp Oat straw (Avena sativa)
1/2 Tbsp Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
1/2 Tbsp Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) dry, or try
to find a whole/plant flower to root!
1 tsp Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
Preparation:
1. Bring water to boil (enough to fill a quart jar)
2. Add herbs to quart jab, then cover with hot
water. Let sit over night.
This method is called a long cold extraction. It pulls
out more minerals than just brewing tea. You will
notice how dark and rich the tea is in the morning.
You might notice the salty flavor the minerals lend.
Dandelion Vinegar
Concoct this homemade dandelion-enriched vinegar
and use it in your cooking to obtain the calcium,
magnesium and other minerals necessary for strong
and healthy bones.
1. As soon as the ground can be dug in the spring,
dig up some dandelion roots, clean thoroughly,
and fill several jars with the roots and leaves.
2. Pour room temperature apple cider vinegar
over the roots to the rim of the jar, cover and
place in a cupboard for at least six weeks.
3. Strain and use vinegar in salad dressings,
marinades, and sprinkled over cooked greens.
It’s not only delicious, but each tablespoon
contains over 175 mg. of calcium alone!
4. Repeat the process in the fall, after a frost or
two, to have plenty of calcium-rich dandelion
vinegar for the winter months.
Other foods that nourish the bones:
Fish like sardines and salmon, oysters, milk, cheese,
yogurt, burdock roots, dark wild greens, spinach,
bok choy, kale, broccoli, sea veggies like hijiki and
wakame, nuts and seeds (especially sesame seeds
and almonds), and green tea.
Source: “Healthy Bones” by Gail Faith Edwards,
ww.blessedmaineherbs.com/healthybones.html
April/ May 2008
outreach/education
Shoppi n g
Man says
.. .
SHOPPING BAG SURVEY RESULTS
BRWYN GRIFFIN, Outreach Administrator
Thank you to all who filled out
one of our shopping bag surveys in
January (214 received). We’ve tabulated the results and are happy to
announce our current bag, selling
at cost for $6 with logo, made of
100% cotton milled in the US and
sewn in Seattle, is the hands-down
winner, having received 56 votes.
Our most recent bags are silkscreened with artwork by Mindy
Dwyer (see illustration at right).
Our members feel strongly about
“biodegradability,” which received
71 “most important” votes. “Materials” received the second number
of top votes (58) with 17 write-in
votes for cotton. When asked to
rank, in order of importance: cost,
color, materials, origins, and biodegradability, voters offered up
the following as most important,
ranking them #1, with the number
of votes indicated within parentheses: biodegradability (71), materials choice (58), style (54), cost
(43), and origins (36).
The survey also asked members to rank least important factors and came in with the following all
ranking #5: Cost (43), style (35), origins (30), biodegradability (23) and materials (3).
Ranking “origins” last in the top choice does not
indicate a lack of concern for where the bags are
made, however. Many voters indicated they would
not buy a bag made in China, or they indicated they
would prefer a bag made locally. We even received
the name of a local artisan who makes bags from
recycled sails – how perfect for Port Townsend.
Our voters are telling us they want a functional
bag, made of biodegradable cotton, and, based on
the number of drawings and comments received,
voters want bags that are big with a wide side rib,
durable and washable with a flat bottom that folds
easily.
THE CO-OP COMMONS
In January almost 42 billion plastic bags were used
worldwide, according to reusablebags.com;
the figure increases by more than a half a
million bags every minute. A vast majority are
not reused, ending up as waste—in landfills
or as litter. Because plastic bags are light and
compressible, they constitute only 2 percent of
landfill, but since most are not biodegradable,
they will remain there.
In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags;
customers who want them must now pay 33
cents per bag at the register. There was an
advertising awareness campaign. And then
something happened that was bigger than the
sum of these parts. Within weeks, plastic bag
use dropped 94 percent. Within a year, nearly
everyone had bought reusable cloth bags.
In the past few months, several countries have
announced plans to eliminate [plastic] bags.
Bangladesh and some African nations have
sought to ban them because they clog their
fragile sewerage system…Starting this summer, China will prohibit sellers from handing
out free plastic shopping bags…Australia says
it wants to end free plastic bags by the end of
the year.
TALLY OF BAG VOTES
Total number of surveys received: 214
# of votes received
Cotton Grown & Sewn in US 56*
Organic Cotton
40
Recycled Bottle Bag
27
Recycled Cotton
21
Cotton
17 (write-ins)
Green Bag/Clean Bag
14
Chico Bag
8
Mesh bags
5 (write-ins)
*this is the bag we currently sell!
After five years of the plastic bag tax, Ireland
has changed the image of cloth bags, a feat
advocates hope to achieve in the United States.
Vincent Cobb, the president of reusablebags.
com, who founded the company four years ago
to promote the issue, said: “Using cloth bags
has been seen as an extreme act of a crazed
environmentalist. We want it to be seen as
something a smart, progressive person would
carry.”
While paper bags, which degrade, are in some ways
better for the environment, studies suggest
that more greenhouse gases are released in
their manufacture and transportation than in
the production of plastic bags.
Source: “Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags,”
NY Times
12
April/May 2008
outreach/education
CO-OP 101: continued from page 3
animals were raised with the welfare of animals
taken into consideration. The “Certified Humane
Raised and Handled” label is a consumer certification and labeling program. Food products that
carry the seal are certified to have come from facilities that meet precise, objective standards for
farm animal treatment.
The “Certified Vegan” seal is
found on foods that contain no
animal ingredients or by-products, use no animal ingredients
or by-products in their production, and are not tested on animals.
The seal is administered by the Vegan Awareness
Foundation, also known as Vegan Action, a nonprofit organization that relies on written statements
and annual agreements.
The Fair Trade Certified™
label represents an independent,
third-party certification process
that guarantees companies have
complied with strict economic,
social and environmental criteria. Fair Trade certification
promises a more equitable and sustainable trade
system for producers. The principal criteria of Fair
Trade certification are: Direct trade with farmer
organizations, bypassing unnecessary middlemen;
fair prices for farmers; decent working and living
conditions for workers; free association of workers and farmers, with structures for democratic
decision-making; access to pre-financing and additional premiums for community and business
development; and sustainable agriculture and farm
management practices, including restricted use of
agrochemicals and no genetically modified
organisms.
The Food Alliance (FA) is a
coalition of farmers, consumers, scientists, grocers, processors, distributors, farm worker
representatives and environmentalists that certifies farmers
for sustainable agriculture practices. The Food Alliance Certified label promises that in the production
of food, farmers have met FA standards for pest and
disease management, soil and water conservation,
and human resource development.
The “Cage-Free” label tells shoppers that birds
are raised without cages. This doesn’t indicate how
crowded the conditions are or whether the birds
were raised on pasture. There is no third-party auditing of the label. “Free-Range” on the package
tells shoppers that animals in livestock operations
(usually chickens but also meat and dairy animals)
aren’t confined like
animals in Confined
Animal Feedlot Operations or CAFOs.
The label doesn’t
signify the animals are handled humanely, how
much of the time they spend outside and what that
“outside” looks like, or that they’re antibiotic- or
hormone-free. This claim is only found on products
regulated by the USDA, which only requires that
the birds have access to pasture during the growing
season (may be only a portion of the animal’s life.)
Cage-Free
Grass-Fed
GE SUGAR BEETS
COMING TO THE
WILLAMETTE VALLEY?
On January 23, 2008, farmers, food safety advocates, and conservation groups filed suit in
federal court challenging the deregulation of
herbicide-tolerant “Roundup Ready” sugar beets
by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Attorneys from the Center for
Food Safety and Earthjustice are representing
plaintiffs Organic Seed Alliance (based in Port
Townsend), Sierra Club, High Mowing Seeds,
and the Center for Food Safety in the lawsuit,
THE CO-OP COMMONS
13
“Grass-Fed” animals have been raised on pasture (the natural diet of ruminants) from birth to
slaughter. Antibiotics may have been given, but
not to promote growth or prevent disease, and no
synthetic hormones. In November of 2007, new
USDA rules for the use of this label became effective, and a new USDA Grass-Fed label is in
the works.
The Demeter Association Inc., a
non-profit organization, oversees
the authentication of biodynamic
foods grown in the U.S. and Mexico. “Biodynamic” labels indicate
a method of agriculture based on
the work of Rudolf Steiner, who believed that all
aspects of a farm should be treated holistically or
as an interrelated whole. Plant and animal foods
are raised without any off-farm inputs including
natural and chemical fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics or synthetic hormones.
Products displaying the American Heart Association’s (AHA) “Heart Healthy” label, a red heart
with a white checkmark, indicate that the food
complies with existing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or USDA requirements for making
a heart-related claim and is defined by the AHA as
a food that is deemed hearth healthy when eaten
as part of a balanced diet.
Sources:
usda.gov
eco-labels.org
certifiedhumane.org
transfairusa.org
demeter-usa.org
fda.gov
vegan.org
foodalliance.org
which seeks a thorough assessment of environmental, health, and associated economic impacts
of the deregulation as required by federal law.
This spring, commercial sugar beet farmers in the
western U.S. will begin planting Roundup Ready
sugar beets. “Contamination from genetically engineered pollen is a major risk to both the conventional and organic seed farmers, who have a long
history in the Willamette Valley,” said the Organic
Seed Alliance’s Director of Advocacy, Matthew
Dillon. “The economic impact of contamination
affects not only these seed farmers, but the beet
and chard farmers who rely on the genetic integrity of their varieties. The government is playing
fast and loose with these farmers’ livelihoods.”
Read more on our website at www.foodcoop.coop
(go to the Food/Health Issues section).
April/May 2008
member spotlight
staff spotlight
LOCAL FOOD AT LEHANI’S
INDI - “LIFE NEEDS TO BE HERE”
Interview by Deborah Schumacher, Staff Writer
Interview by Brwyn Griffin, Staff Writer
I
Indi, Renaissance Dude, gets ready to stock the chill case. LeHam, a contraction of LeMaster and Hamlin the couple adopted for fun when they were first married, evolved (by
mistake) to “Lehani.” Pictured here are owners Lynn Hamlin-LeMaster and Bill LeMaster.
Photo by Loran Scruggs
I
t’s hard to tell from the outside, but it’s a very
big advantage to conscious eaters: Lehani’s
Deli & Coffee House demonstrates their belief in “keeping the first transaction local” by
buying 90% of the raw materials for their deli food
from The Food Co-op. They also make everything
they sell from scratch, from milling curry powder to
preparing soup stock. Having made a conscious decision four years ago to create a new business plan
around sustainable, organic foods, Lehani’s owners
have a “three prong approach” to what they serve:
Carnivore, Veggie and Vegan, offering something
for everyone.
“I love that we’re serving good, nutritious food,”
said co-owner Lynn Hamlin-LeMaster in our recent
interview. “Bill’s the mastermind with the food, he
had a Cajun step-mother and traveled a lot,” Lynn
confided of her husband and co-owner Bill LeMaster, a current member of the Port Townsend Planning Committee. “We would like to be 100% organic,” stated Lynn, who also shared the challenge
this goal presents when keeping prices affordable is
also very important.
Lynn, recently hired as the new fast-pitch coach at
Port Townsend High School and a member of the
PT Education Foundation, and Bill have two kids:
13 year old Brian, a student at Blue Heron Middle
School, and Teslin, a 14 year old attending Port
Townsend High School. When Bill wanted out of
his previous career working in Medical Manufacturing and Information Technology, something that
kept him away from his family too much, the couple decided to move back to the Pacific Northwest.
“Family is the most important thing to us,” Lynn
told me when explaining the reason for making a
THE CO-OP COMMONS
change. The family, who had lived in Edmonds in
the early 90s, felt called to “the rain shadow of the
Olympics” and left Salt Lake City to live in Port
Townsend in 2002.
One thing led to another and soon they had purchased MacKenzies’s, a café which had previously
been Aldrich’s II and Riley’s. When I asked Lynn
about the name Lehani’s, Lynn explained the word
Lehani, a combination of Bill and Lynn’s surnames
(LeMaster and Hamlin), began as LeHam. Misread
as “Lehani” by someone who didn’t realize the future impact that mistake would have on the couple,
the name stuck and now the café has become a favorite hang-out for locals and tourists alike.
When I mentioned having stopped at Lehani’s as
a tourist, Lynn told me of another tourist visit by
Jim Watson-Gove and his wife Eleanor. Prior to
making a decision to move to Port Townsend, Jim
called Lynn with a question: “Would you be willing to host an open mic poetry night at Lehani’s?”
I’m not sure if Lynn’s agreement was THE reason
Jim and Eleanor moved here, but it is a fact that
currently, every Monday at 6 pm for the past four
years, Jim, a published poet, has hosted a poetry
gathering open to all.
Lehani’s, located at 221 Taylor Street, is now in
its sixth year of business. Be sure to stop in when
you’re in the neighborhood and try their handmade
truffles, organic coffee, and delicious organic produce and products procured locally. Have some
free-range chicken soup, a fresh-baked treat, or
one of their lunch specials. Call 360-385-3961 for
hours and a lovely chat with Lynn or Bill.
14
Photo by Loran Scruggs
ndi (aka Karl Nelson), grocery stocker in the
Grocery Department since October, landed in
Port Townsend in 2007 after visiting his family here last May. “Life needed to be here,” he said
when I asked him why he’d decided to move to
Port Townsend from Chico, California.
Since I also moved to Port Townsend from Chico,
we had a little catching up to do. We agreed on best
bar (Stormy’s) and checked in about favorite local
Chico bands. The conversation could have stayed
in Chico for a lot longer, but there’s a bigger story
in the background of Indi’s work here at the Coop.
Indi first visited Washington in 1997 when he spent
a year in Puyallup learning how to blow glass. He
continues with glassblowing, doing (and we had
to work on the spelling together here) borosilicate
lampworking to produce jars, pendants, chess sets,
and guitar slides. He’s also studying bronze casting
at Lateral Line Foundry, a new artistic endeavor
that feeds his creative impulse.
A “fully licensed and degreed” graduate of Chico
State’s culinary program, Indi is also a professional
chef. Even though he says he has no cooking ambitions (“no,” he says, “I don’t want to be the Co-op’s
chef!”), he admits that he still likes cooking (and
eating!)—Turkey Divan is a favorite. For a time he
owned a restaurant in Chico, Bella’s, named after
his seven year old daughter Isabella. Indi also has a
5 year old son, Isaac, both still living in Chico.
I had to ask him about the name—did his mother
name him or had he named himself? He would
only say that it’s a nickname from when he was a
kid, “just a name” he adopted when he was young.
It’s an apt moniker for an interesting and multi-talented guy who clearly gets a lot of pleasure from
his job. With a lot of enthusiasm he declares: “I’m
gonna be at the Co-op for 20 years!”
April/May 2008
member spotlight
HOW BIG IS
WALMART?
1.At Wal-Mart, Americans spend
$36,000,000 every hour of every
day.
2.This works out to $20,928 profit
every minute!
3.Wal-Mart will sell more from
January 1 to St. Patrick’s Day
(March 17th) than Target sells all
year.
4.Wal-Mart is bigger than Home
Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears
+ Costco + K-Mart combined.
5.Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million
people and is the largest private
employer.
6.Wal-Mart is the largest company
in the history of the World.
7.Wal-Mart now sells more food
than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did
this in only 15 years.
8. During this same period, 31
Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy (including Winn-Dixie).
9.Wal-Mart now sells more food
than any other store in the world.
10.Wal-Mart has approximately
3,900 stores in the USA of which
1,906 are Super Centers; this is
1,000 more than it had 5 years
ago.
11.This year, 7.2 billion different
purchasing experiences will occur
at a Wal-Mart store. (The Earth’s
population is approximately 6.5
billion.)
Source: The Wall Street Journal
HITCHING UP
AT THE FOOD
CO-OP CORRAL
DEBORAH SCHUMACHER, Staff Writer
M
adeline Holland-Jackson
is a familiar part of our Co-op community. You’ve probably seen her in
the store or visited with her one of
the times she and her mom Dottie
Holland were in the Alcove selling
homemade dog biscuits and hand-illustrated greeting cards. She’s a nine
year old girl with a vision and a mission to bring horse transport to her
neighborhood.
A Modest Proposal
A unique proposal to The Food Coop to install a hitching post and water
trough for her horse was introduced
to our Outreach Administrator, Brwyn Griffin, who invited Madeline
to present her idea to our Board of
Directors at their February meeting.
She met the challenge and created a
packet of materials for each board
member where she outlined why and
how we should install a hitching post
that could accommodate two to three
horses. Her packet included a handdrawn illustration of the hitching post
and a builder’s rendition of her idea
as well as a map of a proposed horse
path along Kah Tai Lagoon Park to
our store.
What prompted this new-old idea?
“Global warming,” her mom told me.
THE CO-OP COMMONS
Madeline and her miniature horse Willy stroll through
the Farmers Market in 2007.
Photo by Matt Sircely
When Madeline learned about climate change in her homeschool lessons and learned about the possible
fate of polar bears (extinction), “she
kept thinking and thinking about that.
And then she had a vision about everyone riding horses.”
part of the inspiration for this local
movement to bring horses back to
our thoroughfares. Thirteen years old,
Willy came to her from Port Hadlock
by way of the Cenex ad board. At her
home a little outside of Port Townsend
Madeline is able to provide Willy with
pasture and a little barn; sometimes
Problem Solving for the Future
he takes rides in the family van. He
This isn’t backwards-looking nostal- eats grass pellets because he’s allergic
gia—it’s forward-looking problem- to hay. Madeline and Dottie both told
solving. Madeline is convinced that at me that Willy has been their teacher
least one part of alternative transpor- in many things. I’m sure that assuring
tation should be the horse. It worked him of a comfortable and safe place
before; why can’t it work again?
to wait for her while she’s in our store
is at least part of her effort.
She came to her board presentation
armed with answers to some of the A quiet and thoughtful girl, Madeline
reservations folks might have about has done her research through our
parking a horse outside our store. public works department to find out
What about the manure? Her answer: where horses are legally permitted to
compost it and use this valuable fer- walk through town. Madeline has had
tilizer in either the Co-op’s garden adult support in her efforts and is ralor give it away to members for their lying the support of her community
own gardens. What about kicking? with a petition requesting the instalPark the horses backed up against lation of a hitching post here at the
the blackberry bushes where they’re Co-op. If you think that sounds like a
least likely to come into contact with good idea, be sure to sign Madeline’s
people walking into the store. Biting? petition. With enough support, we
The hitching post is designed so that may be able to look forward to the
the horses’ heads are facing the post. day that “parking” old Bess ourside
our Co-op will be as ordinary as parkA Place for Willy
ing the car.
Madeline’s miniature horse Willy is
15
April/May 2008
local, good roots, community & spring!
CELEBRATE EARTH DAY
CO-OP ANNIVERSARY EVENTS
SATURDAY APRIL 12
10am-2 pm - LandWorks Plastics Recycling
Recycle gardening/ag plastics: potting soil bags, plant pots, flats,
greenhouse film, tarps. at the cenex Farm Supply, 9315 Rhody Drive in
chimacum. For more info go to www.ag.jefferson.wsu.edu
SUNDAY APRIL 13
12-3 pm - Jefferson County 4-H Gardening Project
Make mason bee hives from plastic bottles, oragami planting pots from junk
mail and plant seeds. learn how to become a garden project leaser for jc 4-h
FRIDAY APRIL 18
TUESDAY APRIL 15
7:30-9 pm - EarthDay EveryDay Keynote Speaker Rhys Roth
Presenting his lecture, “Practical and Profitable Solutions to Global
warming” at the uSO hall at Ford worden State Park.
2-4 pm - WSU Master Gardeners Plant Clinic
Master gardeners will be on hand to answer all your gardening questions.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 16
SATURDAY APRIL 19
8am-9pm - Member Appreciation Day
10% off almost everything in the story, wheel of Fortune trivia & Gift Giveaway, co-op carrot cake, demos, and more!
12-3 pm - Nutritionist Daniella Chace
Meet Daniella chace, author and founder of nutritionist approved, Inc. , as she
introduces her new nutrition “shelf-talker” program in our store.
Local 20/20 Community Garden Project
DVD & Powerpoint presentation ongoing.
10am-3pm - EarthDay EveryDay E-Waste Round-up
at the Port townsend Boat haven. Sponsored by the local 20/20 Beyond
waste action Group.
SUNDAY APRIL 20
10am-5pm - EarthDay EveryDay Green Living Expo
Stop by the Food co-op Booths at Memorial Field (Quincy at washington
Street in Port townsend) for great food and fun. the first 100 to visit our
booth will receive a free canvas re-useable lunch tote to paint on site!
THURSDAY APRIL 17
9:30am-12:30pm - Noxious Weed Control Board
Volunteers needed for weed Pull. Gloves and tools provided to pull poison
hemlock from city-owned land behind the co-op. Meet in the north parking
lot. Possible planting of native plants to follow.
2-6 pm - WSU Master Gardener’s Plant Clinic
Master gardeners will be on hand to answer all your gardening questions.
3-6pm - “Ask the Seed Experts”
Plant seeds with Seed Dreams, Uprising Seeds and Organic
Seed Alliance. Oatsplanter Farm will demonstrate composting.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
THURSDAY APRIL 10
3-7 pm - Nutritionist & Author in the Store
Meet Daniella chace, author and founder of nutritionist approved, Inc.
as she introduces her new nutrition “shelf-talker” program in our store.
SATURDAY MAY 31
SATURDAY APRIL 19
10:30am - 1:00pm - Cheese Making Class - learn
10am-4pm - North Olympic Fruit Club
Grafting, pruning, and pest control clinic.
to make cheese at home. come prepared to knead mozzerella! class size
limited to 10. Reservation only. call Stacey at 360 510-2424.
SALMON CART RETURNS
Noon-7:30 pm Wednesdays, beginning May 14. join In Season
catering for grilled cape cleare salmon. local greens and local bread.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
MONDAY MAY 20 5:30-9 pm -Members are invited to join us at the jefferson county Fair Ground Dance
hall for an evening of business and pleasure. the evening starts off with wine-tasting hosted by memberowner joe euro (owner of the wine Seller), who will be serving organic and local wines. the co-op Deli will
provide refreshments. Music from the alternators. Meet newly elected board members, hear the General
Manager and Financial Manager’s reports, and celebrate our favorite store in town!
RTON
JESI MO y
Januar
THE CO-OP COMMONS
CONGRATULATIONS HEARTY THANK YOU RECIPIENTS!
16
KATHER
INE IVY
Februa
ry
April/May 2008