San Juan Island Food Co-op

It’s an exciting week for local and regional foods—check ‘em out!

FROM ELEANOR:

FRESH GREENS THIS WEEK:

No more forlorn faces peering into the produce cooler—Robin reports that we’ll have various greens (kale, chard, mizuna, collards, parsley) plus broccoli, cabbage, carrots, garlic, and possibly some brussels sprouts from Nootka Rose, Blue Moon, Full Belly (Heritage), Talking Horse, and Willowood Farm on Whidbey Island.

FARM FRESH EGGS: 
Anna says we may not need to order anonymous eggs for a while. We now have four farms providing us with farm fresh eggs: Chatty Chicks, Imagine Organics, Synergy, and Thornbush.

THE LOCAL FREEZER:

Look in the double-door display freezer for new meats and fishes. Recent additions are Roasts and large cuts, Quail Croft Goat meat, Jones Family Farm’s Pork Sausages and their Chorizo and Ground Pork, Lacrover Farm’s Lamb Link Sausages to pair with Mitchell Bay Farm’s Bulk Italian Lamb Sausage, and there’s a Farmers’ Sale Bin. Lately in the fish section Scallops, Smoked Salmon, and Lox have been added. And High Seas Tuna will bring Tuna Loins this week!

Too bad: the new donated freezer doesn’t work, so for now our hopes to liberate the ice cream and have more space are on hold, but I’ll work at making things more visible in the Local Freezer. Please pull the bins forward so you can see what’s in ‘em!

BURGER ANGEL:

It’s hard to believe that Guard Sundstrom gets up way before the chickens to deliver BURGER to our freezer! I got an email from him at 5:48 a.m., after he had done the deed, and that musta been after he had finished feeding his sheep. His brother Michael raises the beef and his brother Kim raises the grain for organic flour that’s milled at Fairhaven in Bellingham. Guard is a lamb chop person.

DELIVERED FROM BELLINGHAM by Katie:

Organic Cascadia Mushrooms = $10 per pound; newborn—very fresh and tender
Four flavors of Bellingham Pasta = $4.50 per package—excellent quality

CHEESES & FARMSTEAD BUTTER this week:

From Golden Glen in Bow: Feta, Fresh Mozzarella, Old Gouda, plain Farmstead Butter, Winter Sunrise Butter = cranberry-orange butter.
Bulk Cheese: Deb Nolan is a packaging whiz (a “Cheese Whiz”); she gets big blocks of Monterrey Jack and Raw Milk Sharp Cheddar out fast. It vanishes fast too, so hurry!
Samish Bay Cheese in Bow: Deb stopped by for a cheese tasting and has brought some Gouda.
Cada Dia Raw Milk Cheese from Oregon: Christina of Heritage Farm says the farmers might visit here this week; if they do, they will bring us some raw milk Cheddar and Parmesan and maybe host a Cheese Tasting Friday! Look for an announcement at the store.

OUR FRIEND AT SALUMI:

When people tell me how happy they are that we have Salumi at our Co-op, I tell them about Denise, the person who, after I begged for a year, granted us our very own account. Last week I told her that some shoppers speak of this good fortune with hushed awe, as if they think there’s a mysterious Salumi angel who floats above our skylights, smiling down through the rafters on our little co-op and secretly bringing us goodies! She replied: “Ooh, I like the idea of having a floating doppelganger that lives in the San Juans!  But they should know I am often mischievous, so if they find a picture upside down or something out of place, they can attribute that to Denise as well!” She promptly sent us the very best selection of “chubs” including a few rare flavors—Thank you!

*FROM LOPEZ: *

So near and yet so far! I finally met Randall Waugh whose Chicaoji Sauce I’ve been ordering for the co-op for more than three years. Many of you saw him at Saturday’s Farmers’ Market. Chicaoji = chile + chipotle + cacao + goji.

HONEY:

I’ll be headed over to Big Lake to fetch our Skagit Honey on Thursday—240 quarts and 10 gallon buckets! I’m picking up Farmer Georgie’s greens too—will it all fit in my car???

FROM ANNA-THE-MANAGER:

Important Notice: When sending email messages to the Co-op, please be sure to start a new email instead of replying to the newsletter or other large mailings, and don’t forget to CLEARLY specify the subject in the subject line.  If you DO NOT start a new email, Gmail has a “smart” function which will nest your reply between other emails in that string, which could result in your email being hidden from plain sight.  So PLEASE, start a new email; this is especially important if you are placing a special order, inquiring about a volunteer position, or have a question or concern that needs action.
 
Volunteer Opportunities:

Painting:  We’d like our “new to us” bookshelf to look its best before we stock it with books and what not.  Perhaps you have time within the next couple of weeks  to take the bookshelf home, give it a top-coat of semi-gloss black paint, and then bring it back to the co-op.

Anacortes Produce Pickup: Farmer Georgie of Willowwood Farm on Whidbey Island makes produce deliveries to Anacortes every other Thursday, and a volunteer is needed to pick up her boxes. This week is covered, but a regular person is needed every other week after that, at least for a couple of months.

If you are interested in either of these volunteer opportunities please contact Simona, Volunteer Coordinator at sanjuancoop@gmail.com with volunteer as he subject.
 
Product Information:

Our new Bulk Bins have arrived!  And now we’re waiting for the new shelf that will house them. Don’t forget to share your bulk product recommendations with Anna by emailing her at sanjuancoop@gmail.com.  Be sure to start a NEW email, and use Bulk Bins in the subject line.

Valentine’s Day shopping:

Shop locally for Valentine’s Day at the Co-op. We have chocolate, coffee, candles, pottery, jewelry, hats & scarves, books, cards, and MORE.

Thanks for supporting your Co-op!

Editor = Eleanor
Publisher = Maureen
Contributors = Anna & Simona

Newsletter: January 30, 2012

BOARD MEETING: The San Juan Island Food Co-op Board of Directors will meet at the Library on Friday February 10th at 5:30 – 9 p.m. All Co-op members are welcome to attend.

FROM ANNA-THE-MANAGER:

IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT EMAILS TO THE CO-OP:
When sending email messages to the Co-op, please be sure to start a new email instead of replying to the newsletter or other large mailings, and don’t forget to CLEARLY specify the subject in the subject line.  If you DO NOT start a new email, Gmail has a “smart” function which will nest your reply between other emails in that string, which could result in your email being hidden from plain sight.  So PLEASE, start a new email; this is especially important if you are placing a special order, inquiring about a volunteer position, or have a question or concern that needs action.

PRODUCT INFORMATION:

• Check out the new selection of Dried Beans that just arrived from Azure; you’ll find them across from the pasta.

• Remember, our new Bulk Bins should arrive in early February, which means we’ll have room for double the Bulk offerings. Please share your bulk product recommendations with Anna by emailing her at sanjuancoop@gmail.com with “bulk” in the subject line.
   
• Try Jane Buck’s Tofu Nugget Breading, you’ll find it in the cooler next to the tofu or on the long display counter. It’s perfect for an after school snack, a fun pot-luck dish, or even a light dinner. Delicious with tartar sauce.

• We have Farm Fresh Eggs, supplied by Imagine Organics and Synergy Farm.  Hobbes Buchanan, Imagine Organics, will be supplying the co-op with 3 dozen per day on an on-going basis.  Julie and Josh, of Synergy Farm will be supplying us with several dozen per week while their supply lasts.

• Chorizo has joined the sausages from Jones Family Farm on Lopez, both in links and bulk; the bulk are in a basket of white packages mixed in with packages of ground pork—check the labels.

Shop locally for Valentine’s day at the Co-op.  We have chocolate, coffee, candles, pottery, jewelry, hats & scarves, books, cards, and MORE.
 
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• The Co-op is now officially OPEN on Tuesdays & Thursdays until 3:00 pm!  Shoppers, come on in, and enjoy the newly extended Open Hours Schedule.

• TAKE A MOMENT TO FEEL OUR APPRECIATION: dear Volunteers, the Co-op is overfilled with tiny little cards of appreciation…please take one, there are plenty for all of you!  Thanks, Simona

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:

• Open Hours:  We would like to extend the hours of operation on Saturdays until 3:00 pm.  Would any of you like to join the team of Open Hours Hosts and host the 1:00 pm-3:00 pm shift on Saturdays?  If you are not available every week, why not split this volunteer opportunity with a friend (you take two or three Saturdays and your friend takes the remaining Saturdays of the month).

• Weeding:  Please help us start the process of beautifying the outdoor area surrounding the Co-op by doing a thorough weeding job. This will include some pulling weeds by hand as well as using a weed-eater. This is one of those “supply your own tools” volunteer tasks as the Co-op currently does not own gardening tools or a weed-eater. The schedule for this volunteer opportunity is flexible.
    
• Painting:  We’d like our “new to us” bookshelf to look its best before we stock it with books and what not. Perhaps you have time within the next couple of weeks to take the bookshelf home, give it a top-coat of semi-gloss black paint, and then bring it back to the co-op.

If you are interested in any of these volunteer opportunities please contact Simona, Volunteer Coordinator at sanjuancoop@gmail.com with “volunteer” in the subject line.
 

FROM ELEANOR:

WHO DECIDES? People sometimes ask if we have something, and if not, why not? In fact it’s the shoppers who ultimately decide what our store will carry through suggestions and sales. If there’s something that we don’t have, you can put a note in the Suggestion Box on the desk or email Anna with “product suggestion” in the subject line. Please include details about the item so that the Manager can order it, for example, a brand name and size or a product number from UNFI or Azure, our two distributors, or information about the producer or another source. The Manager determines whether this is something people would be interested in and whether she can order it along with our regular supplies. We try it. If it sells it becomes part of our regular offerings; if it doesn’t sell, it is not reordered—members vote with their dollars.

WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA? The San Juan Island Food Co-op’s Mission is to establish an alternative food distribution framework—a community based, democratically managed, cooperatively owned grocery store that supports local and organic production, fosters conscientious consumption, and builds community connections. This suggests local and regional sourcing when possible, responsible production methods, healthful and high quality foods, participation in selection of foods and management of the store and its relationships. Because we share a small community and because we need to cover expenses but not earn a profit at our store, our intention is to be non-competitive while creating a possible one-stop-shopping experience for members. In order to keep our costs down and offer attractive pricing to members, we rely on volunteers to do much of the work of staffing the store and maintaining the facility.

MICHELLE: She’s the best truck driver ever—she can really manage that rig! Michelle has been delivering our UNFI order since our little co-op opened in 2007. We love her—we celebrated her joy when she became a grandma a couple years ago. You might have heard a jackknifing version of why she didn’t get here on Wednesday two weeks ago; Anna said UNFI dramatized the story. When she got here the next day on Thursday Michelle told us what really happened: All the other big trucks got stuck in one big mess getting off the ferry. The Ferry people directed Michelle around to the little road that goes off to the right (Anna said they used to call it Lover’s Lane) which turned out to be a dead end with no turnaround. Michelle was jockeying the truck around o.k.but finally slid into the ditch. The Sheriff and tow drivers were appalled that the ferry folks sent her down there, but they got her out. This week she told us about her trip home after that delivery: She had a harrowing ride home in foul weather, arriving late at the Auburn warehouse. Everyone was gone, she was locked out, there was a foot of freezing water all over the parking lot, and she couldn’t unhitch the trailer from the rig because it was frozen tight. She just parked the truck and left, which is totally against the rules; the truck has a built in computer that reports her every move to the boss who then “investigates.” When she got to her own truck it was covered with three inches of ice and a blow torch was needed to let her in; then when she got home the power was off for several days. She was nevertheless cheerful about the whole thing.

Thanks for supporting your Co-op!

Editor = Eleanor
Publisher = Maureen
Contributors = Anna & Simona

NEWSLETTER: January 23, 2012

SNOW DAZE! Please accept our deepest apologies for any inconvenience you may have experienced because of the weather last week which prevented many Open Hours Volunteers from getting to town to open our Co-op. Thank you for your patience and understanding during snow days; we’re sorry for the frustration many members must have experienced after struggling to get to our store and finding it closed.
— Anna & Simona

FROM ANNA-THE-MANAGER:

AZURE DELIVERY: Our monthly Azure order will arrive Thursday or Friday, weather permitting. We hope to have some fresh oranges and grapefruits, a variety of Azure’s dried beans in household size packages, hulled barley (whole, as opposed to “pearled”), oat groats (which are a non-gluten grain, excellent as a cereal, side dish, or addition to hearty soups), and the pumps for our bulk dishwashing and laundry soap. If you placed a special order we will let you know on Wednesday when it will be available for pick-up. 
 
PRODUCT INFORMATION: Our new Bulk Bins should arrive in early February, which means we’ll have room for double the Bulk offerings. Please share your bulk product recommendations with Anna by emailing her at sanjuancoop@gmail.com. 

THANK YOU!

• Elizabeth Clark donated a bookshelf that’s been on our Wish List for several weeks!
• Lori Raab has rounded up a storage fridge that will house overstock that needs to be chilled; we’ve needed this for some time.
• And Tasha Frey has donated a freezer unit that will house ice cream, berries, apple sauce, etc., liberating the glass-front freezer for our ever-growing selection of local meats, fish, cheese, and pizza.

Thanks ladies, it’s like Christmas in January!

FROM SIMONA-THE-VOLUNTEER-COORDINATOR:

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:

TEAM TIDY needs several volunteers. Cleaning jobs must be done when the Co-op is closed and mostly empty of shoppers, early-ish in the morning or late-ish at night. All cleaning supplies are provided and well organized in the cleaning closet.

Mopping Floor: We need one person on the 5th Tuesday of every month and one person on the 5th Friday or Saturday of every month. This is the ideal opportunity for you if you like working when no one is around. Don’t slip on the wet floor! (Note: not all months have five Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays—look at your calendar.)

Vacuuming: If the broom just doesn’t do it for you and chasing dust bunnies with a vacuum is what rocks your world, we have a job for you. Weekly. Trouble is we don’t have a vacuum….

Washing Doors: The doors, especially the “yellow” one, are getting “nudged by foot” quiet a bit. It’s a sign that so many of us head out of the Co-op with heaps of food, both hands and arms full which is good, and…well, we kick the door. Some day we might get an actual kick plate. Meanwhile we would be super grateful for a volunteer willing to wash ALL the doors of the Co-op, in and out as needed. (Weekly? Twice a month?) 

Deep Cleaning:  If you love to scrub and tidy and putter and make everything really squeaky clean, please help us by getting into those crevices and little corners, under and behind and up above where it is too tall, sucking down cobwebs, and scrubbing cleeeeean until you are happy. The frequency would probably be once a month, but you could divide it into weekly projects. 

Cooler Care:  Polishing the glass and cleaning the insides of the coolers once a month might just be the thing for you. 1. We need someone to take care of the pop cooler, the red cooler, and the three-door cooler (Tuesdays are best when they are most empty, the day before the Wednesday UNFI delivery). 2. We need another person to thoroughly clean the milk cooler once or twice a month, a job best done late Friday or early Saturday BEFORE the milk delivery Saturday morning.

Bathroom Cleaning: Well, this is pretty straightforward. Key points: the bathroom is nice and small and “lightly used”; the cleaning products are environment and people-friendly. It’s a super important job to do because EVERYONE LOVES a clean bathroom.

If you are interested in any of these volunteer opportunities please email Simona: sanjuancoop@gmail.com.

FROM ELEANOR:

VEGGIES IN WINTER! In the midst of all that weather last week our farmers delivered green vegetables—braising mix, leeks onions, potatoes, squash, cauliflower, cabbage, collards, carrots, broccoli, celeriac, and more. As I filled my bag I imagined Thursday’s boat trip from Waldron Island and thought of words like ice and sleet and whitecaps and hail and biting winds to add to the famous inscription on the New York City Post Office: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Thank you, our faithful farmer friends!

HOW OFTEN IS SALUMI DELIVERED? I order it about every two weeks on Mondays, whenever the supply dwindles or vanishes; it usually arrives in time for me to price and display it by Thursday afternoon. Denise sends flavors that are available that week, but a few people have made special requests and she actually included what I asked for.

Have a good week, folks!

NEWSLETTER: January 16, 2012

Thank you for supporting your Co-op and San Juan County producers.

FROM ELEANOR:

2011 LOCAL & REGIONAL SALES: In the ten months since the doors opened in our new space, the Co-op’s local and regional sales continue to grow. The 2011 percentages are 24.8% local, defined as San Juan County, and 16.6% regional—mostly Puget Sound region but including Washington and Oregon with a bit from British Columbia. This compares to 20.1% local and 10.7% regional a year ago in 2010. The total transaction amounts for 2011 are more than double last year’s, reflecting the larger volume of sales in the new space with double the membership. Please note that the regional amounts reflect items procured directly from producers; however, we also get regional goods through our big distributors—dairy and grain products, for example, making the totals even greater. Eat well! Eat local! Support the Co-op’s Mission! Put your food $$ right back in our own economy!

LOCAL PRODUCE: What a lucky winter so far this year—Thursday our produce coolers and display baskets were filled to the brim with all kinds of fresh and delicious greens and roots and squashes and cauliflowers and broccoli from our local farms. It all tastes so good because it’s totally fresh and hasn’t suffered nutritional losses from storage and shipping. As of today, you’ve eaten most of it up and are waiting for the next delivery. Thank you, Waldron and San Juan farmers, for making it possible for us to eat well even in January. I wonder how red those noses are and what kind of clothes the farmers wear to keep warm outdoors as they harvest, clean, and package all those good things for us in the cold and wind and rain. I bet they wear funny woolly hats and hats on top of hats!

MORE SPACE FOR MORE LOCAL FROZEN FOODS: An additional single door steel freezer is on its way this week to hold ice cream and frozen berries and fruits. This will free the display freezer for its original mission of holding exclusively local and regional foods—meat, fish, pizza, goat cheese, and whatever else comes along.

LOCAL MEAT: Layne has brought goat shanks and ribs and roasts to join her lean and tasty goat burger; Guard has brought lamb roasts, beef chuck roast, lamb shanks, and sweet little tri-tip steaks; and Rob has brought beef roasts. All of this comes from island grown-on-pasture, healthy, happy animals.

LOCAL EGGS: Hobbes Buchanan, Imagine Organics Farm, has offered to share with us his organic farm fresh eggs He said he can bring in three dozen eggs a day. At last!

ANNOUNCING: Deb Nolan has volunteered to serve as the Co-op’s Cheese Executive who will cut/price/wrap bulk cheeses for us. She’s a cheese lover and she knows the food business very well. She has brought her big sharp knife and cut 5 lb. sharp cheddar and jack loaves into 1 lb. lumps which will be handy for smaller households. Next we’ll order a couple of quarter Parmesan wheels to be cut and wrapped. We figure the basic household cheeses for most people are cheddar, jack, parmesan, mozzarella, swiss. There will be others as time goes along. Cutting and wrapping at the store offers members a nice cost savings—thank you Deb! See the wrapped cheddar and jack to the right of the Samish Bay Ladysmiths?

TWIN BROOK DEPOSITS/REFUNDS: There is plotting and planning going on to find a solution to the considerable and alarming daily discrepancies on your receipts, which, according to the Tally Team, are often attributable to failures in reporting and paying Twin Brook bottle deposits or listing returns and credits… Stand by for an easier deposit/return system.

FROM ANNA-THE-MANAGER:

AZURE DEADLINE: Our monthly Azure deadline is this Thursday. Delivery will be late next week, probably Thursday or Friday, January 26 or 27. If your membership is current and you’re interested in placing an Azure order you can do so by signing onto the Co-op website (www.sanjuancoop.org) and following the prompts for special orders. Or you can request a detailed Special Orders directions sheet from the Open Hours Host next time you’re at the Co-op.

NEW DAIRY CLEARANCE SHELF in the soft drinks cooler. Items are marked-down from 15-50% if they need to be sold quickly. Remember most dairy items are good well past their sell-by date, even though they cannot be sold. So occasionally you’ll find items marked FREE, in which case feel free to make a donation on your receipt.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES—The Newsletters are our main route for recruiting volunteers at this time. If you are interested in volunteering at the Co-op, please email us EVEN if you might have already checked-off volunteer interests on the Membership Form. Thanks!

1. OPEN HOURS DEPARTMENT: Join Simona and Anna in their intent and quest to extend the Co-op’s Hours of Operation. The Co-op is currently open almost 40 hours per week, thanks to the remarkable dedication of a group of 40 volunteers. We invite you to join this remarkable team of people and help the Co-op stay open longer hours. The following shifts are available now:

Tuesdays or Saturdays from 1:00 – 3:00 pm, weekly or twice a month.
Wednesdays on alternate weeks from 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Mondays on alternate weeks from 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Wednesdays weekly 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

If you are interested please email Simona: sanjuancoop@gmail.com ; if you have already hosted Open Hours in the past, feel free to pencil your name on the Open Hours Hosts Schedule posted at the Co-op. If you are a new volunteer, please get in touch with Simona first.

2. RESEARCHER—Ingredient Investigator and Labeler: Flexible schedule; some of the work may be done from home.

If you LOVE reading labels, learning more about the food we eat and you are a self-directed, self-starter person who enjoys searching for information, this may be the volunteer opportunity for you! You will support the Co-op by researching our multi-ingredient bulk items and making ingredient signage for those products. Some of the research will be done from the Co-op, but most will be done on your schedule from the comfort of your home. After the research is done comes the fun of organizing it in a user-friendly, attractive, compact, and easily readable label. This is best done on a computer, but can be done in neat and attractive printing. This opportunity may be shared by two volunteers or be done by one volunteer. If you are interested please email Simona: sanjuancoop@gmail.com.

3. CONNECTION TEAM:
Our sweet Co-op could benefit from the help of a people-person comfortable using the phone and interacting with other members. Just let us know if you are interested…and intrigued. For more details please email Simona – Volunteer Coordinator – at sanjuancoop@gmail.com

That’s all folks!

Eleanor = Editor
Maureen = Publisher
Anna = Contributor