The ComPost - Just Food's bi-monthly Newsletter by Just Food Coop

s t o P m o C The

February/M arch 2 016

Fertiliz er Fo r

The Min d

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Now? Page 3

A Fond Farewell

Page 6

CRWP Wild and Scenic Film Festival Page 9

Contents From the Board ��4 A Fond Farewell ��6 Board of Directors 2016

Free Coffee Exits ��8

Dirk Peterson - President Penny Hillemann - Vice President Clark Ohnesorge - Secretary Adam Hoffman - Treasurer Matt Berg-Wall Dan Forsythe Doug Hiza Ann Iijima Kathy Zeman

Wild and Scenic Film Festival ��12

board@justfood.coop

Counting Chickens! ��14 Support Local - CSA Day! ��18

Management Team

Patrick Neily, General Manager Stephanie Aman, Marketing and Member Services Manager Amy Collette, Finance Manager Sara Payne, Human Resources Manager

Membership Benefits

• Supporting a locally-owned, sustainable and socially responsible business • Subscription to The ComPost • Profits returned to members as patronage rebates, at the discretion of the Board. • Member-only prices on Co-op classes • Check writing for up to $20 over the amount of purchase. • Member-only specials on selected items throughout the store • 10% case discounts, some exclusions apply. Membership application on page 19.

About The ComPost

Fertilizer For The Mind

Editor: Stephanie Aman

The ComPost is a bimonthly publication of Just Food Co-op and is published for the benefit of our membership and the community. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Just Food Co-op or its members. For information about submissions, contact Stephanie Aman at 507.650.0106 or outreach@justfood.coop. Letters to the editor are welcome and may be sent to the same email or 516 Water St. S., Northfield, MN 55057. Just Food Co-op is a proud member of the Twin Cities chapter of the National Cooperative Grocers (NCG).

The ComPost

What’s Now In Grocery: •

Peas Please Pea Puffs

•

Lundberg Rice Cake Flats

•

Jackson’s Honest Chips

•

Stoneyfield Greek Whole Milk Yogurt

•

Nature’s Best Thin Mint Cookies

•

Rebbl Herbal Drinks

In Produce: •

Citrus - eat and drink the range of fresh citrus now!

•

Local Lunch Box Carrots from Open Hands Farm

In the Deli: •

Housebaked Scones

•

Delicious Breakfast offerings changes daily!

Meat & Cheese: •

Grassfed Beef Roasts

•

Smoked Cheddar Cheese makes a tasty grilled cheese sandwich with creamy tomato soup

In Wellness: •

Wheatgrass juice - Check the Freezer!

•

Vitamin D and C

•

Elderberry Juice

February / March 2016

Board Update

General Manager Pat Neily Leaving Just Food Co-op News travels fast in a small town like Northfield, so many of you may already have heard that Pat Neily, Just Food’s General Manager, is leaving. If you haven’t heard, then we’re sorry to be the bearer of that news. Pat’s last day will be Friday, January 22.

Dirk Peterson Board President Doug Hiza Past Board President Co-op Members

Coffee with the Board 10:00am-12:00pm February 13 March 5

Pat and his family moved here from Enfield, New Hampshire – where they had lived all of their lives – in October 2012, after Pat was hired as Just Food’s General Manager. Now, due to difficult family circumstances, they feel they need to move back to New Hampshire to be closer to family and friends. While the Board understands their need, we are disappointed to lose Pat’s leadership. Pat has accomplished so much in three short years. He has helped the store grow from $5 million in sales in 2012 to $6.2 million in 2015. Just Food is now free of long-term debt, which still totaled more than $129,000 when Pat arrived. We had about 2,300 owners in 2012 and now have more than 2,900 owners. Pat has increased the staff pay scale, furthering the goal of paying employees a decent wage. We now have no full-time staff making less than the Rice County Living Wage for a single, full-time employee, which is about $1.31 above Minnesota’s minimum wage. The staff has grown from 48 to 59 employees, and a high percentage of employees are now eligible for benefits. Pat has prepared the way for expansion, working with NCG Development Co+operative (DC) to evaluate our management and staffing and align it with the needs of the future larger store. He acquired additional space in our current building in anticipation of our impending growth. The store is in a great finan-

cial position to proceed. The course is set, the DC is ready to become more engaged, and we are poised to move forward. Just Food has also become more involved in the community, donating over $7,000 in 2015 to nonprofit organizations, including the Community Action Center’s Food Shelf and the Northfield Area Family YMCA. Through the Round Up and Planet Patch programs, our owners were empowered to contribute over $10,000 in 2015 to nonprofit Community Partners. Just Food has also supported many activities through advertising or in-kind donations, including Northfield Public Schools’ after-school PLUS program, the Eat Local Farm Tour, Greenvale Park Health Fair, Northfield Healthy Community Initiative’s Growing Up Healthy, a CSA Day to promote our local farmers, and others. Pat’s tenure at Just Food could be easily summarized with the motto seen on t-shirts staff wear around the store: Sell More Good Food, Create More Good Jobs, and Do More Good in the Community. In all regards, Pat was dedicated to our Co-op and the Northfield community it serves. We will miss his leadership, creativity, and energy in making Northfield a healthier place to live. When you have a chance, please wish Pat well as he enters this next phase of his life. Over the next several months, the Board will be searching for Pat’s replacement as General Manager. We will be fortunate to find another candidate of Pat’s caliber to bring our Co-op to the next level.

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Best Wishes on your next Adventure - Go out and Change the World!

February / March 2016

From the General Manager

A Fond Farewell!

Patrick Neily General Manager Co-op Member

It’s with mixed emotions that I’ve announced my leaving Just Food as your General Manager. As the Board and staff are aware, personal reasons necessitated this decision. While my family and I have a new adventure planned in our future, I’d like to share some of my memories of Just Food from the past three-plus years with you, and some things that, if I may say, I’m pretty darned proud of! My first impressions of Just Food beyond what I’d experienced during my brief visits during the Boards search process can only be summarized as a small, still relatively new Co-op ready to break out of its shell. When I arrived at Just Food, the Co-op had just recently come through a difficult few years of uncertainty, reaching profitability for the first time the prior year and issued member patronage dividends for the first time that fall. It was an exciting time to step into this role and begin planning for the next phases of Just Food’s history. The store had recently installed two new refrigerated cases and a new computer server- two of the largest capital purchases made by the Co-op since opening, and many of the first conversations I had with staff and the Board centered on the stores need for more space and systems for a growing business. Coming from a much larger Co-op the physical size of Just Food was definitely an adjustment for me. The amount of staff and resources available took some getting used to, too. But those were adjustments that I was very much looking forward to. Having spent years in the sales and merchandising end of cooperatives, the opportunity to share new ideas and experiences with staff, to tackle the space and systems issues and continue the recent successes of the store, has been rewarding and helped position the store to expand. I’ll admit openly that I don’t easily subscribe to the notion that ‘we’re out of space’, having been part of a team tasked with creating merchandising strategies to grow sales in a space that was a) containing some of the wonkiest obstacles (too many poles in the wrong place, odd corners, and stair cases in the middle of the sales floor, for example) that I’ve ever encountered, and b) about a decade past the point in which a major remodel should have taken place. This store was doing approximately 40% more sales per square foot than the $1,100 per square foot that Just Food was doing at the time I started here. Over the past three years we’ve accomplished a number of small moves that have allowed us to maximize our space and grow sales, without having to acquire additional retail space (last year, we achieved approximately $1,400 in sales per square foot). So began the process of Just Food coming out of its shell, growing from a still new, barely adolescent Co-op to what I and many have considered to be a steady, maturing business playing an increasingly important role in our communities. Here are some of the accomplishments our Co-op has made over the past three years that I’m most proud to have been part of: • Growing sales by almost 25%, to $6.2 million- C.E Pugh from the National Cooperative Grocers announced at the 2015 Annual Meeting that Just Food has been in the top 10% for sales growth over the past three years for all NCG member stores, out of more than 140 individual Co-ops. • Increasing our staff level by 23%, from 48 to 59, many more of whom are eligible for benefits.

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• Awarding staff with more than $150,000 in organizational performance bonuses, based on Just Food exceeding budgeted profitability goals. We also have been fortunate to have been able to declare more than $300,000 in member patronage and the maximum allowable dividends for members that have preferred shares. • The MANY new partnerships created in our communities, including, but very much not limited to: elementary school afterschool education and snack programs; partnering with Community Ed and the YMCA with educational classes and workshops; community building programs such as Community Cooking Night, Young Chefs and the Carleton student Food Alliance. • Supporting Northfield’s opportunities for health and wellness by contributing $25,000 to the new YMCA. • Paying down ALL debt- in the past year we’ve paid off all member loans and financed debt. • Re-merchandised many areas of the store to offer members more of the items they’ve requested, as well as new items to help attract new members- including expanded Deli, Wellness and Bulk departments, added promotional display spaces at the front of the store and in the Frozen department, and many individual category resets in the aisles. • Added more than 600 new members- that’s 600 more households participating in a cooperative enterprise and investing in Northfield’s locally-owned, community oriented grocery store! • Grown to contributing more than $2.5 million annually to our local economies. • Created the monthly community partner Round Up program- cer-

February / March 2016

tainly not to be confused with the ‘other item’ by the same name…… • Celebrated our 10th year in operations, our best sales year ever, including two record breaking sales days- both over $50,000, almost 50% more than the previous record day- and our best sales weeks yet! • Updated the cash registers and added express lanes to help eliminate waiting times and additional customer traffic. • Repainted the building- it seems like so long ago now that we had that bland, sandy brown building with the brown awning, but it’s been only 4 ½ months. As I write this and reflect on what Just Food has accomplished in the past three years- and this is just a sampling- I’m left with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and pride to have been part of such progress. The Co-op has an able and committed staff and a Board of Directors committed to the direction that your Co-op has progressed these past three years, and for the future plans already in motion. I’ll continue to be part of the cooperative community and look forward to seeing Just Food continue to grow and serve the Northfield communities. Each members investment in Just Food is a show of confidence and support for your Co-op- thank you! In Cooperation, Patrick Neily

Free Coffee Makes an Exit

Stephanie Aman Marketing and Member Services Manager Co-op Member

Just Food has been pleased to offer free coffee to our customers over the past three years. We recognize that this has been a perk to many of our shoppers, however, it is not a sustainable part of our business. In addition to the actual cost of the coffee, other factors have to be considered in whether or not this is good business practice to continue. We have asked our membership, received feedback on comment cards and through conversation and have determined that free coffee needs to make an exit. The staff hours that are utilized to ensure that coffee, creamer, cups and sugar were always available for this perk were significant expenses to our business.

now, we certainly will take that feedback into consideration in the future. Just Food is pleased to announce the roll out of our new coffee sampling program! This program will allow us to share many different varieties of coffee with you, including local, shade-grown, organic or fair trade. The new sample station, when available, will offer a 4 oz sample cup for our shoppers which will be conveniently located next to our bulk coffee. We hope you enjoy the new program and enjoy the 4 oz fuel up while you shop with us!

We have received other feedback that shoppers are supportive of the move away from free coffee, but would like to still have coffee for sale in the store. We appreciate that feedback and while it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fit within our model of business right

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Department Update

Probiotics For Your Family With the new year upon us, it’s time to take a look at our health and well-being for 2016. I believe probiotics can help people with their wellness journey. Probiotics help move food through your gut and are naturally found in your body. You can also find them in some foods and supplements. One of the newest probiotic supplements in the industry is Get Real Nutrition, a dietary supplement company launched by Garden of Life founder and New York Times bestselling author, Jordan Rubin. While there are many great probiotics on the market, Jordan has taken the probiotic industry to a whole new level for the process of creating a probiotic. The whole foods, juices, herbs and spices in Get Real Nutrition formulas are hand-cultivated and powered by fermentation technologies designed to “unleash the power of nature.” These smallbatch processes feature powerful, living cultures to pre-digest and premetabolize real food nutrients. “When we consume organic fermented botanicals rich in secondary and fermentation metabolites we are inheriting the very wisdom of nature and in turn receiving a powerful boost to our health,” Rubin stated. He also states “Consumers want a brand they know and can trust. That’s why we’ve created our 10 Promises. We promise: Real Food, USDA Certified Organic, Non GMO, Gluten Free, Vegan, Sprouted, Fermented, Allergen 8 Free, HandCultivated and Eco-Regenerative

February / March 2016

Packaging.” Those are very difficult promises to make to a consumer, but Jordan has seen the power of a quality probiotic lifestyle first-hand. Jordan suffered a severe case of Crohn’s disease that nearly ended his life. When conventional and alternative medicines failed and left him wheelchair bound with little hope for survival, he took matters into his own hands. By incorporating a whole foods diet regimen and studying its effects on the digestive system, he was able to totally reverse the symptoms of Crohn’s disease.

Gina Love Wellness Assistant Manager Co-op Member

Probiotics can be given to all people of all ages and stages of their life. Whether you are suffering from Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), infectious diarrhea, irritable bowel disease (IBD), and even less serious problems such as skin conditions, immune boosting, vaginal and prostate health. Stop by the Just Food’s wellness department to talk to one of our associates. We’ll help you find a probiotic that might work for you and your family!

REGISTERING FOR CLASSES Pre-registration is required for classes. You may register online or at our store at our customer service desk. Class fee(s) are due at time of registration. Registration closes 48 hours prior to the class. Visit justfood.coop for more information and to register.

Classes

Cooperative Cooking

Join us in a fun community cooking class with community partner, Growing up Healthy. We’ll cook together and feast together. We simply as that you register so that we know how many to plan for. All are invited to this great inter-generational class. Adults and kids alike have a blast cooking and chatting together while the meal is prepared. Come and connect with the community and join in the fun! Monday, February 8 Monday, March 14 �� 5:30-7:30 p.m. Free!

Botanical Self-Care

Join herbalist Jessie Belden for an afternoon exploring simple and sacred self-care rituals for body and spirit. We will be using ingredients that are easily obtained at the Co-op and discussing fun self-care ceremonies such as ritual baths, herb-infused body oils, salt soaks, salt and sugar scrubs, tinctures, elixirs, and syrups. You will bring home notes, recipes, and a herbal body care preparation!

Health, Balance, Love & Coconut Oil Tired of taking supplements and pills to cover up your symptoms? In this class you will learn about how to regenerate your cells and get to the root of the issue. Join us February 16th at Just Food Co-op to receive guidance from certified holistic health coach, Karri Abbott, to learn about wholesome eating and nutrition. The challenges we face can feel complicated, but the solution is simple. Karri will also focus on coconut oil: when to use it, how to use it, where to use it. Karri Abbott is a certified holistic health coach and a certified detox specialist. She has been a massage therapist for more than 13 years and offers individual health coaching through her company Health Balance Love. Nourish your body, balance your life, feel the love. Tuesday, Feb. 16 ��6:00-7:30 p.m. Cost: Member, $10; Non-Member, $15

Jessie Belden is a community herbalist offering plant-infused goodies and eight month herbal apprenticeships through an in-home apothecary called Herban Vagabond Apothecary, The Medicine Tree Herbal Pharmacy, and The ColorWheel Gallery in Minneapolis. Saturday, Feb. 6 �� 1:00-3:00 p.m. Cost: Member, $15; Non-Member, $17

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Nuturing Your Health and Creativity

Real creativity is about living a daily life of innovation.To be human is to be inclined to create and we are all imagining and innovating every single day. In this class you will learn more about what you can do to focus on your health in order to nurture your body, mind, and spirit so that you can best support your ability to envision, focus, adapt and create. You will learn very simple and practical, yet also powerful, steps toward better health and creativity. Bekah Rieke is a certified Integrative Nutrition Coach trained at the Institute for Integrative Nutritionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cutting edge Health Coach Training Program and holds a Masters in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Bekah coaches clients in the Twin Cities to achieve their health goals (e.g., weight loss, digestive concerns, emotional eating) through real food and sagely rediscovered body intelligence. She uses her passion for whole foods and her expertise in the kitchen to help intelligent, creative, beautiful, and in-need-of-nourishment folks to transform their health and care for themselves by turning on the stove and learning to cook wholesome healthy food.. Tuesday, March 1...........6:00-8:00 p.m. Cost: Member, $12; Non-Member, $15

Learning to Live Waste-Free

The average U.S. citizen sends roughly 1600 pounds of garbage to the landfill each year, where trash is buried and eventually rots, releasing toxic sludge into the ground and spewing toxic gas into the atmosphere. As more and more people learn about the reality of this unsustainable cycle of waste, more are looking for ways to rely less on packaged materials, becoming empowered to break free of this cycle. In this FREE class you will learn how to make your own products such as toothpaste, deodorant, air freshener, all-purpose cleaner, mouthwash, etc., by using simple, natural, and safe ingredients. You will learn how to navigate Just Food Co-op when looking for bulk, package-free ingredients, while shopping on a budget. You will also leave with a few goodies made in class to bring home, and recipes to try on your own! Tuesday, March 22..........6:00-7:30 p.m. Cost: FREE!

YMCA Healthy Kids Day!

Organic Essential Oils & Spring Cleaning Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that time of year again to revitalize our homes and do some Spring cleaning! Come learn about how to make your own cleaning products using Veriditas Botanicals Organic Essential Oils. We will also be covering the wonderful medicinal uses for detoxing the body and building immunity with our French Medical Aromatherapy. Spring is the time to clean and clear the home space, welcoming in the beauty of the season. www.veriditasbotanicals.com Monday, March 7.....6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Cost: Member, $12; Non-Member, $15

February / March 2016

Join us for Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 30 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Bridgewater Elementary. Join us for great morning complete with fire trucks, safety vehicles, other local organizations and of course - Just Food! We will have a healthy snack and an interactive activity for the kids. Stop and see us!

Wild & Scenic Film Festival, 2016

Kristi Pursell CRWP Community Engagement Coordinator Co-op Member

February in Minnesota can be frigid, dark and dreary. An affordable escape that benefits one of Northfieldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most beloved non-profits will take you far away from the winter doldrums, at least for a couple of blissful hours! Travel to Fiji, Kenya, Colorado, the Arctic, California and then return you to your own backyard through beautiful and engaging films in the 2016 Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour hosted by the Cannon River Watershed Partnership this winter. CRWP will host this nationally-travelling festival the for a second year and proceeds will help CRWP continue its 25-year mission of inspiring people to act on behalf of the environment. Seven short films ranging in length between 4 and 40 minutes will be shown at both locations in Red Wing on February fifth and in Northfield on February twenty-first, each of which speaks in a different way to the environmental concerns and celebrations of our planet. CRWP will also include the only public screenings of a documentary short film made by St. Olaf College film students sponsored specifically by Just Food Co-op. The Wild & Scenic Film Festival was started in 2003 by the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL), a California watershed advocacy group. This traveling film festival builds a network of grassroots organizations connected by the common goal of using film to inspire activism.

Wing Minnesota, 7:00pm Friday February 5th, 2016. Doors open at 6:00 for Silent Auction, door prizes, beer and wine for sale. Tickets for the Red Wing showing can be purchase at the Sheldon Theatre box office in person or online: www.sheldontheatre.org/events/CRWP or at the door on the night of the event (additional fees apply). Weitz Cinema, Weitz Center for Creativity, Carleton College, Northfield Minnesota, 2:00pm Sunday February 21st, 2016. Doors open at 1:30, a limited number of tickets will be made available online at crwp. net, in person at CRWPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Northfield office or at the theater the night of the event if any tickets remain (this event is free for Carleton students, faculty and staff with ID). The Wild and Scenic Film Festival is co-sponsored by Take Back the Tap, student organization at Carleton College. Tickets are limited due to the priority given to the Carleton community and this being the culminating event of Climate Action Week. Arrive early to learn more about CRWP and what you can do locally to improve the health of our watershed! CRWP is thrilled to have Just Food Co-op as a local sponsor of this event. Come and get inspired!

EVENT DETAILS: $10 for students, seniors and members of CRWP, $15 for general public. Historic Sheldon Theatre in Red

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Friday, February 5th

Sheldon Theatre in Red Wing 7:00pm Beer and Wine, Silent Auction Fundraiser Tickets are $10 for CRWP members, seniors (65+) and students. $15 for general admission (plus box office fees)

Sunday, February 21st

Weitz Cinema in the Weitz Center for Creativity, Carleton College in Northfield 2:00pm Tickets are free for Carleton students/staff/faculty, $10 for CRWP, seniors (65+) and students. $15 for general admission More information at CRWP.net Door prizes, world-class short films and fun. Come and get inspired!

February / March 2016

College Connection

Carleton College Counting Chickens in the Carleton Econ Department Claire Kelloway Policy Science Major - ‘16

What’s the cost of community development? Can we put on a price on the environment? These are the big questions students grappled with in Professor Aaron Swoboda’s “Economics of Cost Benefit Analysis.” As the first applied Academic Civic Engagement course in the Carleton Economics Department, Swoboda’s students ran a Cost-Benefit Analysis of locally sourcing chicken tenders for Carleton’s Sayles Café. Students visited one of Main Street Project’s local chicken farms to see the costs and benefits of the local chicken production first hand. They also worked with Carleton’s dining service provider, Bon Appétit, to understand the different cooking, processing, and financial demands of fresh versus frozen chicken tenders. This project forced students to think beyond a food’s price tag. A true cost-benefit analysis must include the impacts for consumers, producers, the community and the environ-

ment. Students had to factor in the extra time it took to prepare local chicken strips, the environmental impacts of chickens raised in concentrated feeding operations, students’ willingness to pay for local chicken, and much more. Interestingly, even after accounting for the costs that conventionally raised chickens have on the environment, the costs of switching to chicken tenders from Main Street Project outweighed the benefits. The course’s survey found that most students were not willing to pay for the new twice as expensive chicken strip basket. From a societal perspective, this lost “consumer surplus,” or perceived benefit of eating chicken tenders, did not outweigh the social benefits of decreased pollution and stronger local economies that accompanied switching chicken tender suppliers. But these findings helped students understand the larger changes that

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need to happen to support local food systems, and how to create prices that reflect a food’s true social cost. In this scenario, changing the inputs in the existing system was too simple. Swapping frozen chicken strips for local ones was not nearly as easy as it sounds. For instance, one of the major factors contributing to the high price of local chicken tenders was processing. In the end, Bon Appétit’s stated value of non-breast meat did not outweigh the costs of buying, breaking down, and breading Main Street Project’s chickens. This made students realize the true costs of a chicken tender, and all the work it takes to serve one small part of a whole chicken. It also made a lot of students wonder how conventionally raised and pre-breaded chicken strips can be so inexpensive, given their huge environmental cost. In order to make students more willing to pay for chicken with lower societal costs, there needed to be further education and shifts in diets to eat more parts of the bird. Thus, while the books may not have balanced in favor of local food, Professor Swoboda’s Cost-Benefit Analysis class certainly had a major education in the “true” cost of chicken. It really made students think about what needs to change in order to promote food that they feel is better for their communities. And any day more people are thinking about the social impacts of their food choices is a good day. To learn more about Academic Civic Engagement courses at Carleton, please contact Daria Kieffer (dkieffer@ carleton.edu) at the Center for Community and Civic Engagement.

February / March 2016

Coconut Oil: How, When, Where, Why? As new superfoods and health fads come and go, coconut oil has emerged as a nutritional powerhouse that’s here to stay. Why? It’s all about the fat.

Lauren Habermann Outreach & Education Coordinator Co-op Member

Coconut oil is one of the richest sources of saturated fat (90%), containing medium-chain-triglycerides (MCT) which are metabolised differently than average-joe long-chain triglycerides (LCT) found in cheese and beef. Medium-chain-triglycerides have no association with issues like heart disease, because they are metabolised differently than longchain-triglycerides. MCT go straight from the digestive tract to the liver, where they become ketones and are believed to have positive effects on various brain disorders like alzheimer’s and epilepsy. Not only are these MCT good for your brain, but they are also associated with increased energy expenditure. Different sources of calories affect our bodies and hormones differently, and coconut oil is metabolised into a quick energy source, increasing this energy expenditure. Why does this matter? An increased energy expenditure is associated with increased likelihood of weight loss. Furthermore, the ketone bodies that are produced from fatty acids in coconut oil are thought to have an appetite-reducing effect. In short, folks looking to lose weight might find supplementing their diets with a couple tablespoons of coconut oil each day might help with long-term weight-loss goals.

ide, called monolaurin, is produced when coconut oil is digested, and is also believed to help rid the body of unwanted pathogens. Basically, coconut oil might boost your body’s ability in treating different bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Um, yes please! Besides eating this delicious coconutty oil by the spoonful, adding a teaspoon to warm drinks like coffee and cocoa, and cooking with it’s high-smoke-point of 350 degrees F (unrefined) and 400 degrees F (refined), coconut oil can also be used as a moisturizer, hair conditioner, hair mask, make-up remover, mild sunscreen, and can be used as a mouthwash in a process called oil-pulling that is thought to reduce harmful bacteria in the mouth while improving dental health. Refined vs. Unrefined Refined coconut oil has been deodorized and stripped of certain nutrients and antioxidants, while unrefined coconut oil maintains a coco-nutty smell and flavor, as well as its complete nutritional character. When it comes to hair/skin care, refined vs. unrefined makes little difference. If you are looking to supplement your diet for all the health benefits of coconut oil, unrefined is the way to go. Sources: www.authoritynutrition. com, www.health.com

I know, I know, how could it possibly get even better? Well. About half of the fatty acids in coconut oil contain lauric acid, which is believed to kill harmful pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. A monoglycer-

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Coconut Oil Waffles Ingredients • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour • 2 tablespoons white sugar • 2 teaspoons baking powder • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1 1/2 cups milk, room temperature • 1/3 cup virgin coconut oil, melted • 1 large egg, beaten

Directions 1. Preheat a waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl; make a well in the center of the flour mixture. 3. Beat milk, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla extract together in another bowl; pour into well in the flour mixture and stir until batter is just combined. 4. Ladle batter into preheated waffle iron and cook until golden and crisp, 2 to 5 minutes. Credit to allrecipes.com

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Coconut Oil Hand Scrub Ingredients • 1 tablespoon Coconut oil • 2 tablespoon raw honey • 1/4 cup sea salt • 1/4 cup organic sugar

Directions 1. Stir together the honey and coconut oil in a medium bowl. 2. In another small bowl, blend the salt, sugar and lemon juice until it becomes crumbly. 3. Pour the salt mixture over the honey mixture and stir until smooth. 4. Store in a small glass storage container

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions for Use

1. Gently massage a marble-sized amount of homemade hand scrub into your hands for 30-60 seconds. (Don’t forget to exfoliate between your fingers!) 2. Rinse with warm water and pat dry. 3. Repeat 1-2 times per week.

February / March 2016

It’s all About the

Local!

Come and meet your farmers! One of the many great reasons to shop your local Co-op is that we know your farmers. We’d like to invite you to meet them too.

On Saturday, March 5 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm., Just Food will host our annual CSA Day. What is a CSA? CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and our community is so lucky to have so many options in CSA shares in this area. A CSA means that you pay a price for a share of seasonal fruits, veggies and even cheese and meat, depending on which CSA you choose to join. You share in the bounty of the harvest, but also assume the risk of a not as stellar growing season. Come and talk with your farmers about how a CSA might work for you and your family. CSA’s are ‘just right’ for individuals as well as for larger families as you have the option to purchase a CSA share at many levels with the farmer. CSA Day - another way your local community owned grocery store is supporting the local community, economy and our farmers!

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Cooperatively Owned by over 3000 Community Members - Join Us! Member Name 1: �� (Other members of the household are welcome to use the member number)

Street address: �� City: �� State: ____ Zip:__________ Phone: �� Email: �� Would you like to receive the bi-weekly email updates? __Yes __No I agree to buy 1 Class A (voting) share for $25.00 and 20 Class B (non-voting) shares at $5.00 each in the Just Food: Northfield Community Co-op (the Co-op) for a total of $125.00. I understand that this application is subject to acceptance by the Board of Directors of the Co-op and that my membership is subject to the Co-op Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and membership provisions. I have received a copy of the Articles of Incorporation and the Bylaws and acknowledge the statement of membership provisions. I am paying for these shares as follows: ____ $125 payment in full with this application. ____ $ 25 down payment + $10 processing fee ($35 total initial payment), with a $25 payment quarterly for a total of $135 (1 year payment option). ____Other terms arranged on request. �� Please tell us how you learned about the Co-op: �� Referred by: �� Member signature: �� Date: �� Please give this application to a cashier or send it along with your payment to:

516 Water Street S Northfield, MN 55057 507-650-0106 justfood.coop

February / March 2016

Membership

Member Name 2: ��

516 Water Street S Northfield, MN 55057 507-650-0106 justfood.coop

Deals and Basics Everyone saves at Just Food!

Cooperatively Owned by our Members. Open to EVERYONE! Member or not, you are always welcome at Just Food Co-op.