La Montanita Coop Connection January, 2007

coop p j a n u a r y 2005

connection

H e a l t hy F o o d fo r a H e a l t hy Ye a r

free

La Montanita Coop Pays a Living Wage

By C. E. Pugh a Montanita Coop is pleased to announce the implementation of our living wage program.

Beginning January 3, 2005 La Montanita will pay all staff members who have been employed for six months and completed all of our required training and orientation sessions a minimum wage of $8.13 per hour. Research for this program began over a year and a half ago and included dialogue with and input from staff at a series of storewide meetings.

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In determining this living wage rate we reviewed several living wage calculation methods including; Albuquerque Bare Bones Budget Study, The Universal Living Wage Organization Model, Economic Policy Institute Living Wage Guide and Acorn’s Living Wage Guide among others. We selected the “Co-op Living Wage Model” developed by a panel of sixteen natural food cooperatives. This model uses the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development fair market rent calculation for specific cities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s moderate food plan. Of the models we reviewed, it is by far the most comprehensive and the calculation includes the following monthly living costs for a single individual:

La Montanita has over 125 staff members who provide the high quality food and service that we have all enjoyed and supported for over 28 years. We have many long-term staff members and our average staff tenure is currently four years, with three of our staff either at twenty years of service or soon to celebrate that milestone. We currently have 56 full time and 71 part time staff members, but as is detailed below, all staff members who work at least twenty hours per week receive the same level of benefits with the only exceptions being a one year of service requirement for part time health care coverage and vacation accrual. Our part time staff consists of many students, parents, and artists who find advantage in the flexibility that part time employment provides.

We have written job descriptions and pay grades for each of our staff positions, and we compare our pay grades annually with the New Mexico Department of Labor’s annual wage survey for Albuquerque. Our current average hourly rate for the entire staff including the administrative salary positions is $11.75 and our current average for the store staff is $10.60. The wage disparity that exists among the store staff between the living wage and the highest staff rate is 3.41 and the disparity between the living wage rate and the general manager is 5.91. In other words the highest paid store staff member earns 3.41 times the living wage rate.

dedicated helpful staff

We have published a complete listing of our average wage rates by position and this listing is available for co-op staff and member review at each store’s information desk.

• Staff discount on co-op purchases of 18% for all staff members.

• Free employee assistance program providing information and counseling by Unum Provident on a variety of work-life balance issues.

• Medical insurance is currently provided through Great West and is a comprehensive PPO plan. La Montanita pays 80% of the cost of this plan for the staff member and 50% of the cost of dependent coverage. Staff members currently pay $50.42 per month for single coverage and $289.68 per month for family coverage.

• Dental insurance is currently provided through United Concordia and La Montanita pays 80% of the cost of this plan for the staff member and 50% of the cost of dependent coverage. Staff members currently pay $5.03 per month for single coverage and $41.65 per month for family coverage. continued on page 3

Our current wage grid is as follows for staff members who have been employed for six months and completed their training assignments: Position Clerk Cook Lead Clerk Front End Coordinator Asst. Department Team Leader Department Team Leader Computer Technician Administrative Team Leader Store Team Leader

WAGE GRID Albuquerque fair market rent: $450.00 USDA moderate food plan: $200.00 La Montanita’s staff health and dental care plan: $277.24 Out of pocket medical and dental expenses: $57.04 Transportation: $137.80 Telephone: $28.00 Entertainment: $39.71 Miscellaneous personal care items: $118.98 Savings: $50.00 Sales tax: $20.00 Income tax: $288.83 Total: $1,667.60 The model then deducts the portion that La Montanita pays for the health and dental plan and the staff discount on co-op purchases. These benefits total $257.79 per month leaving a total monthly living cost of $1,409.81. When we annualize this and convert to an hourly rate based on working forty hours per week, we arrive at $8.13 per hour for 2005. We will adjust the wage annually for inflation each year.

STAFF BENEFITS Our staff benefit package consists of the following and all of our staff benefits and policies are detailed in our staff manual and a copy of this is also available at each store’s information desk for co-op member review.

Again please note that these benefits are for both full time and part time staff people • 401k plan available to all regular staff members after one year of service who average at least twelve hours per week.

• Monetary service awards for all regular staff members of $10 per year awarded at three year anniversary dates. (3 years: $30, 6 years: $60, 9 years: $90, etc.)

• Annual paid bereavement leave for all regular staff members for the death of a member of their immediate family: Full time staff: 24 hours and Part time staff: 12 hours.

Minimum $8.13 $8.25 $8.50 $8.50 $9.00 $12.00 $8.50 $12.00 $15.00

Maximum $10.50 $11.00 $12.00 $14.00 $15.00 $20.00 $15.00 $25.00 $30.00

NM Wage Survey Midpoint $8.39 $8.50 $10.46 $10.61 $13.73 $20.13 $16.16 $27.77 $28.87

cooperative living A Community - Owned Natural Foods Grocery Store La Montanita Cooperative Nob Hill 3500 Central S.E. Albuq., NM 87106 265-4631

Co-ops Helping co-ops internationally

by Robin Seydel In mid November the national Cooperative Grocers Information Network (CGIN) listserv posted an Action Alert on behalf of CONCACADO cooperative in the Dominican Republic. On September 15th, the cocoa cooperative suffered severe damage as Hurricane Jeanne swept through Haiti and the Dominican Republic, causing widespread damage and flooding and leaving hundreds of thousands of people in desperate need of food and clean water.

Valley 2400 Rio Grande Blvd.

Albuq., NM 87104 242-8800 Wild Sage 226 W. Coal Gallup, NM 87301 863-5383 Administrative Staff: General Manager: C.E. Pugh 265-4631 x323 ce@lamontanitacoop.com Store Team Leaders: Michelle Franklin/Nob Hill 265-4631 John Mulle/Valley 242-8800 Accounting/Toni Fragua 232-4026 Computers/Info Technology/ Ahmed Elmaghlawi 232-8202 Human Resources/Sharret Rose 265-4731 Marketing/Edite Cates 268-8357 Membership/Robyn Seydel 256-4594 Co-op fax line: 266-3703 or 265-6470 Co-op Board of Directors: President: Martha Whitman Vice President: Marshall Kovitz Treasurer: Ken O’Brien Secretary: Julie Hicks Lonn Calanca Roger Eldridge John Kwait Tamara Saimons Andrew Stone

The fair trade organization Equal Exchange, whose coffee and cocoa products we sell at La Montanita, hoped to raise $10,000 to provide the CONACADO cooperative with emergency food, such as canned goods and cooking oil; tools, such as machetes and files; clothing, and basic medicines for the affected farmer families.

Once these immediate needs are met, additional funds will go toward longer-term reconstruction efforts, such as rebuilding farms and repairing cacao processing equipment.

families are likely to lose up to 30% of their income during the coming year, and the hurricane related flooding damaged at least 25% of member farms and displaced about 13,000 people.

Christopher Durkin of the Harvest Co-op Market in Cambridge, Mass writes “on the CGIN network we post questions, share information ranging from finances to physical plant, ask advice, and just generally make our co-ops stronger and better by working together. Can you imagine the advantage of asking 200 people, who are running the same type of business you do, what their policy is in a certain situation, or maybe you have to replace a freezer and want to know what the best one is? It's a great group of people.”

Like so many other coops La Montanita donated $100 to the effort. In the first two days after the action alert went out coops around the country collectively donated $6,000. In the days and weeks that followed we handily closed in on that $10,000 goal.

The power of cooperation, and

Co-op manager Abel Fernandez says that CONACADO member

The power of cooperation, and our dedication to the principle of coops supporting coops has never been so clear. Bravo to coops all over!

Store hours at both locations: Mon. thru Sat.: 7am to 10pm Sunday: 8am to 10pm Membership Costs: $15 for 1 year $200 Lifetime Membership

our dedication to the principle of coops supporting coops has never been so clear. Bravo to coops all over the country.

Co-op Connection Staff: Managing Editor: Robyn Seydel memb@lamontanitacoop.com Layout and Design: foxyrock inc Covers & Centerfold: Edite Cates Advertising: Robyn Seydel Printing: Vanguard Press Membership information is available at the Co-op, 3500 Central S.E. (Nob Hill location), or 2400 Rio grande Blvd. N.W. (Valley location) Membership response to the newsletter is appreciated.

Address typed, double-spaced copy to the Managing Editor, memb@lamontanitacoop.com email: bod@lamontanitacoop.com website: www.lamontanitacoop.org Copyright © 2005 La Montanita Co-op Supermarket Reprints by prior permission.

The Co-op Connection is printed on 65% post consumer recycled paper. It is recyclable.

The Co-op Connection is published by La Montanita Coop Supermarket to provide information on La Montanita Co-op Supermarket, the cooperative movement, food, nutrition, and community issues. Opinions expressed herein are of the authors and are not necessarily those of the newletters or the Co-op.

CO-OP YOU OWN IT

Conacado Cooperative provides the chocolate for Dagoba's Conacado bar, Equal Exchange's line of cocoa products and chocolate bars, and Rapunzel Organics.

If you personally love chocolate, and who doesn’t, and want to make a tax-deductible contribution, please write a check to Red Tomato (marked CONACADO/DR Hurricane Relief Fund) and send to Equal Exchange, 50 United Drive, West Bridgewater, MA 02379, Attention: Phyllis Robinson.

For more information on CONACADO and the Hurricane Relief effort go to Equal Exchange's website at www.equalexchange.com or call or write them at 581 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 , phone 617661-1580 x 132.

Special thanks to Chris Durkin of Harvest Coop in Massachusetts and Jeanne Lasko of Linden Hills Coop in Minnesota for info and quotes used in this report.

Our deepest thanks,

You are the Best!

Once again, you, our fabulous Coop Community, have come forward to show just how great you are. Thanks to you, 450 children in need in our community had their holiday gift wishes come true. Your caring and concern created a little mountain of gifts for special children in the care of 4 New Mexican agencies and organizations: New Mexico Department of Children Youth and Families, Enlace Communitario, Parent Child Resources, Peanut Butter and Jelly Day School. You made the holiday season a little brighter for all involved.

From the bottom of our hearts we thank you for your support of this program again this year.

We are proud and honored to be able to serve a community with such a generous heart. You are the best! Thanks again for your cooperative spirit. We would especially like to thank volunteer Gail Lyons who for years has helped prepare the ornaments and Steve Watts and Steven Alderete (of Coop Meat Dept. fame) for help with gift transport.

We hope this new year is one of peace and fulfillment, good health and great food for you all.

- Your Membership Department

cover photo Edite Cates

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january 2005

living cooperatively Co-op Pays its Staff a Living Wage Continued from page 1 • Modest life insurance coverage is currently provided through Great West and is provided at no cost to all staff members who work at least twenty hours per week. • Hourly staff members who work on Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, and New Year’s Day receive time and one half pay. • Sick pay is earned quarterly by all regular staff members based on the hours worked during the previous quarter at the following rates: 10 – 19.99 average hours worked = 2.5 hours of sick time 20 – 27.99 average hours worked = 5 hours of sick time 28 – 34.99 average hours worked = 7.5 hours of sick time 35 – 40 average hours worked = 10 hours of sick time

high quality service

• Vacation pay is provided to all staff members who work at least twenty hours per week and is earned based on the number of hours worked. The plan provides staff members averaging forty hours per week the following paid time off:

at your

COOP

First two years of employment: 1 week Years three and four: 2 weeks Years five through nine: 3 weeks Ten years and more: 4 weeks All of our stores’ services are provided on behalf of our membership by our staff. We have an extremely talented, dedicated, and productive staff at La Montanita, but, as a consumer owned cooperative, we only exist to serve you, our members. The relationship between our staff and our members is one of our greatest assets, yet there also exists a natural tension in this relationship as we attempt to offer high levels of service at competitive prices and provide our staff with good wages and benefits.

While there are state and municipal agencies that pay a living wage, La Montanita Coop is taking a leadership role in the Albuquerque community as we voluntarily implement this program. Taken in conjunction with our benefit package and progressive personnel manual we strive to provide a caring and supportive work environment.

We gratefully acknowledge that it is your support of La Montanita that makes this possible and we fully understand that it is your patronage and membership that has created and sustains our cooperative. Please don’t hesitate to let us know how we can be of greater service to you.

C.E. Pugh, General Manager

www.ovationseries.com

LIFT YOUR SPIRITS. BE INSPIRED. SEE A SHOW!

Jazz Legends: James Moody & Ahmad Jamal Sunday JANUARY 16 • 7pm

Flamenco y Fado

Saturday JANUARY 22 • 8pm

Bonnie Rideout Trio

& City of Washington Pipe Band

Saturday JANUARY 29 • 8pm

Mardi Gras! Queen Ida & the Bon Temps Zydeco Band

Š Littlestar

Tuesday FEBRUARY 8 • 7:30pm

This enchanting, hilarious musical features some of ABBA’s best-known songs including “Dancing Queen,� “Money, Money, Money,� “The Winner Takes It All,� “Take a Chance on Me� and “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do.�

Tuesday • MARCH 15 • 7:30pm Wednesday • MARCH 16 • 7:30pm Thursday • MARCH 17 • 2 & 7:30pm Friday • MARCH 18 • 8pm Saturday • MARCH 19 • 2 & 8pm Sunday • MARCH 20 • 2pm Season Sponsors

THE FULL MONTY, Broadway's smash hit musical about six good buddies whose desperate plan to get their lives back together requires them to triumph over their fears, their nerves and their clothes.

Nominated for ten 2001 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. (Recommended for mature audiences)

Friday FEBRUARY 18 • 8pm Saturday FEBRUARY 19 • 2 & 8pm Sunday FEBRUARY 20 • 2 & 7:30pm TICKETS AVAILABLE AT:

UNM Ticket Offices, unmtickets.com and tickets.com outlets or call 925-5858 or (800) 905-3315 Groups of 20+: 344-1779 january 2005

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member benefit!

All current Coop Members can take one free week of classes at Silent Thunder Center for Asian Studies.

Just show your current Coop membership Card Choose from: Tai Chi: Tuesday 7:30pm, Sat 11am • Meditation: Mon-Thurs 9-10pm • Taekwondo: Mon/Wed/Fri 6:30pm • QiGong: Mon/Wed 10am, Tues/Thursday 5:30pm 265-3112 www.silentthunder center.org

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think

globally

Winter and the Importance of Locally Grown Food

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n a recent visit to a supermarket, the increasingly plastic condition of the vegetables and fruits was sobering. Clearly, the value of eating fresh, organically grown food is of more and more significance. At the same time, the cost of gas is rising exponentially, and corporate transport of large quantities of products long distances is becoming less and less cost-effective. We are in the midst of a very basic level shift in our society, in that, as National Geographic has put it, “we will never again see cheap gas.” This may be beneficent and necessary, ultimately, in bringing us ‘back to earth,” survivors of an era of pollution and rife chemical degradation. When we eat food that has utterly no relation to where we are, and has been gassed and chemically treated in order to make it to our table at the highest possible profit to the ‘manufacturer’, we distance ourselves more and more from the earth, and on that very real level, from ourselves and others.

As Rafael Kellman discusses in Gut Reactions, our ancestors had a better sense of the meaning of food than we do today. Most ancient

supported continues to produce yet more commercialized and plasticized products.

So if we choose to eat with respect for the plant or animal we eat—with consideration for where and how it was grown; with some connection to its wholeness, life cycle, even its grower; with regard for its vital energy and for the nutritional value of freshness—how are we to find healthy, fresh produce after the short summer growing season in our area ends?

Elliot Coleman’s answer is to provide locally grown vegetables in Maine in the winter. His premise is that while the growing season may be chiefly limited to the warmer months, the harvest season

While the growing season may be chiefly limited to the warmer months, the harvest season has no such limits. religions and cultures perceived the spiritual aspect of food as well as its ability to nourish physically. Peoples’ lives were interwoven with a reverence for the plants and animals that provided them nourishment, as well as with an awareness and valuing of the vital energy that whole foods contain. Food was seen as a symbol of interconnectedness and sharing, rather than a commodity of greed and profit. In our times, with the promotion of fast food, endless variety, glitzy packaging, and immediate gratification, eating has become for our society a matter of consuming what is easiest and most immediately attractive. Kellman suggests that “mindless eating” is the number one health problem in the western world, and is the root cause of many metabolic problems, illnesses and diseases. “If you don’t think about what you put in your mouth, you are at the mercy of the strategies of the food supply” and thus the food supply system when

OUTPOST Performance Space 210 Yale SE

has no such limits. Vegetables can be harvested through the winter by the practices of succession planting and crop protection. Succession planting involves sowing winter-hardy vegetables in the ground at 2-3 week intervals during the latter part of the growing season, so as to extend the summer crops as long as possible. Crop protection involves using simple protective structures such as vented cold frames or plastic covered tunnels. (By contrast, attempting to extend the growing season e.g. with a heated greenhouse, would pose a great deal more expense and technological challenge; and all the pests in the world would gravitate toward the cozy tropical warmth inside.) Winter crops are naturally quite hardy: one winter I witnessed a volunteer chard plant growing through the snow here in Albuquerque. By eating what survives during the season we are in, we maintain connection with nature, we eat what best fills the needs of our body in current conditions and the menu is ever interesting with seasonal variations.

During the coldest months, the winter crops maintain aliveness, in a dormant state – i.e., winter food is not dependent on warm weather because it is already grown. As long as the temperature in a cold frame during the day is above freezing, the plants will be OK (freezing a little at night while in the ground will not kill them). For those who prefer a more protected environment and more variety, an unheated greenhouse is an option.

So how could locally grown food become more available in Albuquerque in the winter? A few farmers in the area have begun to extend their harvest; for example, Ron Breen has provided

locally grown

winter produce spinach for sale at the Co-op during October and November. We can encourage winter harvesting by local farmers by choosing these crops when they are provided at local markets. We can ask for locally grown produce in winter at stores that sell organic/local produce and request it of local growers at Growers’ Markets. And we can grow winter crops ourselves through the colder months.

If you would like to try cold-season growing, now is an optimal time to study the very simple concepts of how to grow during the cold season (highly recommended is Elliot Coleman’s Four Season Harvest). It is also a good time to acquire or make the equipment you will need; to add to your compost; to choose and buy seed; and to plan. A small site, perhaps an area the size of a tablecloth, planted with several of the more hardy plants, can yield a respectable crop. One or two rows of winter hardy crops started each week as summer crops complete their cycle will mature successively. During the coldest months there will be almost no work (no weeding, no watering, etc.) except to pick the vegetables for your meal.

The most cold-tolerant vegetables to plant in the ground include carrots, parsley, onions, chives, arugula, escarole, endive. Also winter hardy, if somewhat less so, are beets, cabbage, chard, some lettuce, spinach, kale, peas, kohlrabi, radishes, dandelion, radicchio, broccoli, sorrel, and parsnips. The flavor, color, and quality of many of these are enhanced by the cold.

Tender baby thinnings can be added to salads.

Being with life through the darkest months keeps awareness of the miracle of life’s persistence despite all adversity and tribulation.

Trees grow in Brooklyn because life loves to stay alive. Throughout history people have adapted whenever current resources began to run out. That time may be upon us again.

by Mary Grube

for more info call 268-0044

SPRING 2005 HIGHLIGHTS Tom MacDermott-Evan Christopher Duo Vinicius Cantuaria Tomasz Stanko Cecil Taylor Brooklyn Sax Quartet Vishwa Mohan Bhatt Eric Taylor & Vince Bell Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali Luciana Souza: Brazilian Duets Creative Soundspace Festival The Holmes Brothers Ruthie Foster and more HAPPY NEW YEAR & HASTA LUEGO

visit our website—www.outpostspace.org 4

january 2005

eat

locally

How now, industrial cow? using nature as a model

by Francis Thicke, Prairie Writers Circle s a dairy farmer, I use nature as my model.

But most dairy farming today — and farming in general — ignores nature. This should concern not only farmers but also consumers, for the sake of their health and Earth’s.

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Nature produces no real wastes, because the “waste” of one species is food for another. Also, nature does not use up resources. Its ways are efficient and sustainable.

The typical industrial dairy is a much different matter.

First, consider the cows’ diet. It is typically high in corn. Growing corn requires nitrogen fertilizer,

whose production uses up a lot of nonrenewable fossil fuel.

Not all of this fertilizer stays on the field. Typically more than half of it is lost, polluting groundwater or flowing downstream through the Mississippi River basin to feed a process that sucks out oxygen and drives life from a New Jersey-size patch of the Gulf of Mexico.

Most corn producers also use pesticides, which further poison the landscape. And because corn must be replanted annually, it promotes soil loss through erosion from fields left bare to wind and rain much of the year.

Waste is another problem with industrial dairies, where cows are confined to feedlots or barns. Manure accumulates in lagoons. Eventually it must be hauled to crop fields. With thousands of cows in a typical industrial dairy, it often is difficult to find enough fields close by to accommodate the manure, which can end up fouling the air or spilling into streams.

ecological dairy

farming

In place of this industrial model, I run my farm based on ecology, an understanding of the interconnection of living things and their environment. The most striking feature of a dairy farm designed and operated on ecological principles is that the land around the milking facility is pasture of perennial grasses and legumes covering the ground year-round. It does not erode. It does not require pesticides.

The cows harvest their own feed by grazing on these plants. The environmentally costly process of growing corn and transporting it is avoided.

There is no need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. As the animals move about, they deposit manure, a natural fertilizer. This manure is not concentrated, so it breaks down quickly and is thereby less likely to pollute air and water.

Pasture dairies make sense financially. Milk production per cow is less, but milk production per acre, when acres used to grow feed crops are included, is comparable. Studies at the University of Wisconsin show that grazing dairies are as profitable, or more profitable, than industrial dairies.

What’s more, cows on pasture are healthier and live longer than those on a high-corn diet, which is not their natural food. And research is beginning to suggest that milk from grazing cows is more healthful because it has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, beta carotene and conjugated linoleic acids — substances that may be useful in helping to prevent heart disease or certain cancers.

Given all these benefits, it is time we get serious about focusing our agricultural research, education and government policy on farming that uses ecology as its guide. And we should begin requiring industrial agriculture to pay for the environmental costs that it imposes on our planet — costs now borne by society as a whole or charged to future generations.

Francis Thicke and his wife, Susan, have an organic, grass-based dairy near Fairfield, Iowa. He has served as national program leader for soil science for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Extension Service. He is a member of the Land Institute’s Prairie Writers Circle, Salina, Kan.

Terra Madre: World Meeting of Food Communities

by Isaura Andalu eginning in 1996, Slow Food biannually sponsors the “Salone de Gusto,” the Salon of Tasting. This event encourages food biodiversity by featuring high quality, artisan foods from around the world. It also demonstrates how endangered foods or gastronomic traditions can be revived through a Slow Food economic model called Presidia.

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With over 190 Italian and 50 international Presidia projects now participating, this past October Slow Food sponsored Terra Madre in conjunction with the Salone. This historic meeting united food producers, artisans, and small farmers from 130 different countries. The aim of Terra Madre was to explore ways for communities to approach food production in a manner attentive to environmental resources, global balance and product quality.

The commitment to these goals was demonstrated through the generosity of the sponsors. Raising more than three million euros, Slow Food paid for all expenses of Terra Madre participants in Italy. Other sponsors included the Italian Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, the Piedmont Regional Authority, the City of Turin and the Association of Friends of the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Locally, the Rio Grande and Santa Fe Slow Food Conviviums raised funds for airfare from the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, Cuatro Puertas and individual donors.

The communities from New Mexico represented farmers’ markets, livestock raisers and cheese makers, seed savers, wine producers and piki bread makers. This included Fairfield Farmer, One Straw Farm, Sweetwoods Dairy, the New Mexico Seed Library, Tesuque Pueblo, Gruet Winery, Pollo Real, and Shepherd’s Lamb. Participants nominated but unable to attend were Sparrow Hawk Farm, Cloud Cliff Bakery, the New Mexico Wheat Project, and Sage Bakery.

The participants’ experiences will be shared on our website at www.slowfoodriogrande.org.

january 2005

Food Communities: The Grassroots Production Base Entering the meeting hall on the first day, one was greeted by a cacophony of languages, colorful ethnic dresses, hats, and a few elbows accompanied by polite expressions. According to Carlo Petrini, President of Slow Food, these five thousand images represented the “intellectuals of the earth”. Communities represented the entire spectrum of food producing from seed savers to value-added food producers.

Wandering around one saw that it was not only people that had journeyed, but also samples of their respective harvests. Upon closer inspection, a checkerboard of browns, oranges, yellows and blacks revealed fresh dates. This was followed by yak cheese, sugared fruits, aged crumbly cheese in a vase-shaped crock, and crunchy, crisp fried insects followed by a course of striped black and white caterpillars with a woody texture. The colorful Andean corn, odd-shaped squashes, rare grains such as kañiwa and a suitcase full of hay continued to impart Earth’s original gifts.

Over several days, participants had the opportunity to meet food communities from around the world to discuss projects, problems and solutions. Sometimes only snippets of information were provided, but it opened the door to exposure. Many communities are isolated, lack basic infrastructure, or face daunting obstacles resulting in rising suicide rates. Yet, Terra Madre helped to create networks uniting grassroots communities to strengthen all of their work.

“Salone de G u s t o“ New Mexico Presidia With the New Mexico participants’ experience and exposure to Slow Food Presidia projects, Cuatro Puertas, a non-profit organization, will work to create New Mexico’ first Presidia. With funds from the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, producers will plant endangered, traditional crops. Food products from these crops will be featured through farm tours and tastings this fall. Through crops grown in a sustainable manner, farmers and consumers will learn about the reciprocal benefits of a local food system tied to a healthy ecosystem that preserves our food biodiversity.

Over several days, participants had the opportunity to meet food communities from around the world to discuss projects, problems and solutions.

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co-op news LOCAL SALE ITEMS SHOP LOCAL & SAVE TIJERAS ORGANIC ALCHEMY Albuquerque, New Mexico Daily Clary Sage & Cucumber Shampoo and Conditioner: 12 oz for $7.99

HERBS, ETC. Santa Fe, New Mexico Phytocillin: 60 softgels for $13.49 • Phytocillin: 1 fluid oz for $7.99 • Singer’s Saving Grace Throat Spray: Serious Cinnamon, Extra Strength Original, Honey Lemon and Cool Mint 1 oz for $7.99

505 ORGANICS Albuquerque, New Mexico Organic Salsa: Mild, Medium, Hot, and Chunky Chile 16 oz for $3.29 • Organic Green Enchilada Sauce: Mild, Medium, and Hot 16 oz for $3.29

MONROE’S Albuquerque, New Mexico Stewed Green Chile Enchilada Sauce: 16 oz for $3.19 • Salsa: 16 oz for $3.19 • Red Chile Enchilada Sauce: 16 oz for $3.19

HATCH CHILE CO. Deming, New Mexico Green Enchilada Sauce: Mild, Medium and Hot 15 oz for $2.29 • Red Enchilada Sauce: Mild, Medium and Hot 15 oz for $2.29

january 2005 6

Co-op Governance

by Marshall Kovitz As we have seen in previous articles, the Board's governance of the Coop must be consistent with State law and with bylaws approved by the membership. In this and the next several articles, we'll look at the rules the Board imposes on itself in order to oversee the business.

In earlier articles about decision making, we have briefly mentioned Policy Govern-ance as the system used by La Montanita's board in fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities. From the Board's point of view, one of the most important aspects of this system is that it differentiates between management/operational issues and board policy matters. Although the Board is free to decide what is policy and what is management's prerogative, once it does make up its collective mind, it must avoid interfering with operations and base its assessment of the GM upon his/her ability to remain in compliance with policies called Executive Limitations and to achieve the Board's stated goals, (called Ends in PG terms).

SPECIALS GOOD DURING THE MONTH OF JAN.

But Policy Governance is more than just how the Board relates to the General Manager. Many policies deal directly with how the Board views itself and the performance expectations it has for itself.

Let's begin our examination of Policy Governance with this section, called Board Process.

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The first section in Board Process is B1; it describes the Board's governing style. As stated in the preamble, it is the duty of the Board to govern in a way that emphasizes future vision and strategic leadership while providing clear distinctions between its role and that of management's. As an important aspect of any democratic process, the Board is committed to deliberating in many voices but governing with one.

KINNA’S Espanola, New Mexico Kinna’s Laos Chile Paste: 2 oz for $2.29 Kinna’s Laos Chile Paste: 6 oz for $4.49

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FRESH DELICIOUS & ORGANIC

The first policy in this section explicitly states that the Board will direct La Montanita with written

policies as opposed to deciding on an ad hoc basis about what criteria to use. The intent is to create a systematic and predictable means for the Board to monitor the Coop and itself. Another policy in this section acknowledges the need for regular training and education.

Policy B1.4 states that the Board shall establish a clearly defined system to hold itself accountable to the member/ ownership and the community for its performance.

Section B2 is the Board's job description.

According to this section, the Board's outcomes should be: 1. A shared vision (Ends policies) that is strategic in nature; 2. Effective linkage with the member/owners; 3. Hiring and monitoring the GM; 3. Self perpetuation.

Section B3 is a detailed description of how the Board is to run its meetings. Included here are such matters as agenda writing, deadlines for submission, advance notification, recording minutes, the use of a calendar for recurring events, who may participate and expected outcomes. The point here is that we try to keep our meetings tightly structured in order to save time and be productive.

In keeping with the democratic nature of the Board, the President's role, as explained in B4, is tightly defined so as not to usurp the authority of the Board as a whole. Thus, the President's job is primarily to see that the Board follows its own rules with regard to Board Process and Board-GM relations. Our policies explicitly prohibit the President from unilaterally interpreting policies on Ends and Executive Limitations. Much of the President's day-to-day efforts are directed to ensuring that meetings run smoothly.

In the next article, we'll look at more Board Process policies. You can find the complete Board Policy Manual at La Montanita's website or at the information desk at either store.

Board of Directors Election Results Listed below are the final numbers tallied in the November 2004 Board of Directors and By-Law Amendment election.

Tamara 260 • Andrew 255 • Roger 216 • Eric 172 • Will 172 • Tom 14 • Stephen 133

SHOP Y O U R CO-OP

Member of International Society of Arboriculture and Society of Commercial Arboriculture ISA Certified, Licensed & Insured

232-2358

www.EricsTreeCare.com “Your Professional Team of Arborists” “ISA” Certified Arborist Certified Tree Workers on Staff All Employees First Aid & CPR Certified “Care About Your Air” We use B20 Biodiesel Alternative Fuels in our truck and chipper

Services • Fruit and Shade Tree Pruning • Technical Removal • Planting • Cabling & Bracing • Pest Management • Prescription Fertilization • Tree Root Rehabilitation Services

Amendment 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Yes 408 383 360 413 396 422 376 392 346 401 415

No 27 30 54 14 21 9 34 37 92 16 12

Total Valid Ballots: Nob Hill and Mail In: 354 • Valley: 131

January member benefit!

Your Coop and Silent Thunder Center for Asian Studies have teamed up to help Coop members shape up mind, body and spirit. All current Coop Members can take one free week of classes at Silent Thunder Center for Asian Studies. Just show your current Coop membership Card Choose from: Tai Chi: Tuesday 7:30pm, Sat 11am • Meditation: Mon-Thurs 9-10pm • Taekwondo: Mon/Wed/Fri 6:30pm • QiGong: Mon/Wed 10am, Tues/Thursday 5:30pm

Silent Thunder Center is located at 136 Jackson NE. Information call 265-3112 or www.silentthunder center.org, e-mail-silentthunder@planet-save.com

Silent Thunder

Center for Asian Studies

co-op news

january 2005 7

Local Product Spotlight: Super Salve heals...

Super Salve for Super Skin Care s the daughter of Phyllis Hogan, a nationally known herbalist, Denise Tracy was introduced to the world of healing plants at a young age. Her mother would take her and her sister to the Gila River outside of Coolidge, Arizona where they would search for medicinal plants. During her childhood, she also spent a great deal of time visiting on the Hopi and Navajo Reservations with family members and has fond memories of going out with the Grandmothers to herd sheep and to look for dye plants for their beautiful Navajo rugs. On the Hopi mesas, she attended Kachina dances and learned about plants used in basket making.

A

At the age of nineteen she decided to apprentice in her Mother's herb store and after three years felt ready to attend Michael Moore's Southwest School of Botanical Medicine, graduating in 1988 as a clinical herbalist. With the completion of her education her family entrusted her with the management of their 22 year old herb store The Winter Sun Trading Company, Inc., located in Flagstaff, Arizona. She worked there for nine years, practicing the art of clinical herbology.

During this time she became a founding member of the Ethnobotanical Research Association.

This Foundation documents the beneficial plants used ceremonially and medicinally by the Native American people.

In 1990, Denise was asked by her husband, a Grand Canyon River Guide, to formulate a salve that would prevent and heal foot fungus, which debilitated a large portion of the crew and passengers on extended Grand Canyon river trips.

The salve, named simply enough Super Salve, was such a success that the Super Salve company was created to meet the demand.

The Super Salve Company is now located near the ghost town of Mogollon, New Mexico. Using only responsible sources of organically farmed herbs, oils, essential oils, butters and waxes, they manufacture an extensive line of 100% natural herbal salves, lip balms, lotions, oils, creams, cleansers, toners, exfoliants and sunscreens.

Calendar of Events 1/18 1/22 1/22 TBA

winter

skin!

Board of Directors Meeting 5:30pm Super Salve Demos, 10am-12pm Valley Super Salve Demos, 1-3pm Nob Hill Finance Committee Meeting, 5pm Co-op Annex

Shop your COOP...

COMMUNITY OWNED!

Their natural ingredients include: aloe vera, alpha lipoic acid, shea butter, echinacea, coq10, dmae, arnica, beeswax, sunscreen, witch hazel, calendula, comfrey, jasmine flower, jojoba oil and others.

Denise’s dedication to purity of ingredients is clear when she says: “Remember, if you can't eat it, don't put it on your skin! We are not suggesting that you eat our products, just that there is nothing in them that would cause you harm.”

The Super Salve Company's goal is to produce the highest quality products with the finest ingredients at a reasonable price, using only recyclable, earth-friendly packaging. Without a doubt one of the finest skin care products on the market is their Power Repair Body Lotion. It works wonders on deeply damaged, dry cracked skin. Look for Super Salve products at both Coop locations.

Meet Denise Tracy and sample some of the amazing Super Salve products Saturday, January 22 from 10am-12pm at the Valley store and from 13pm at the Nob Hill store.

Local Product Spotlight

505 o rganics

True Southwestern Green Chile Flavor New Mexico based, 505 Southwest, producer of Green Chile Sauces and Salsas, has introduced the first Certified Organic Green Chile Sauce under the 505 Organics banner. The organic green chiles harvested from the Hatch Valley in Southern New Mexico are blended with other organic ingredients to create an authentic taste of the southwest that enhances the flavor of many mealtime favorites. They are certified organic, kosher, gluten free, fat free, made with peppers from the Hatch Valley and no preservatives.

What does 505’s "Certified Organic" mean?

• Grown with NO synthetic pesticides or genetically modified ingredients • NO artificial flavors, colors or preservatives • NO irradation • Gluten-Free • LOW sodium and LOW carbs • NO antibiotics or growth hormones in meat and dairy products. The USDA Organic Seal may appear only on products with 95% or more certified organic ingredients.

Coming Soon!

16th Annual Celebrate the

earth fest!

herbalists &plant lovers Central New Mexico American Herbalist Guild Chapter Cordially invites you to an Open Meeting Monday January 17th, 2005, 6:30PM At Foundations in Herbal Medicine 112 Hermosa S.E

Its only mid-December as I write this and already we are getting calls for organizations that are working on their 2005 calendar and want to know when this year’s Celebrate the Earth Festival will be. It’s early, Yes I know, but mark that shiny new calendar and save the date!

Enjoy an Herbal Slide Show, Herbal Tincture Tasting, And Dialogue with some of our area’s noted Herbalists

As always a day of dedicated community activists, farmers, artists, musicans, dancers, local foods, friends and fun, dancing in the streets to Celebrate the Earth. Don’t miss it! Reserve Your Booth Space Early! Watch upcoming issues of the Coop Connection for more information or contact Robyn at 256-4594.

Donation: $5 for AHG members and $10 for the general public.

For more information call 247-HERB (4372)

save the date: April 17th!

April 17th

at the Nob Hill CO-OP!

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W O W ! T a s t e t h o s e n a t u r a l & o r g a n i c m u f f i n s & p a s t r i e s . The Nob Hill Co-op deli i s b a k i n g mu f f i n s w i t h t h e b e s t n a t u r a l , o rg a n i c f l o u rs a n d sw e e t e n e rs ava i l a b l e . Y u m m i e . . . t a s t y . . h e a l t h y !

the art of bread making Looking for yet another good reason to go to the Valley store?

You've found it in Jerry! Originally from New York City, he's an accomplished organic gardener and actor when not baking his signature French and Sourdough loaves at the Co-op, and he's been known to lead bike tours in Yellowstone National Park. Among his many hobbies, brewing his own beer and playing bass guitar stand out as particular crowd-pleasers. He's the creative force behind your daily cookie bar, muffin, or scone, and the one who makes fresh Challah for your Friday evening table.

His breads are something you have to taste to believe, and soon you'll be able to get "Jerry Bread" fresh every day, including Rye, at the Valley deli.

Bread making Tips: - you can’ be rushed when baking bread-it’s a meditative process the flavor needs to develop slowly for 24 hours - don’t be intimidated - enjoy the process - use the best organic ingredients - use filtered water - be flexible- you are working with a living organism - it’s a meditative process- your mood can affect the taste and texture of the bread

low fat &

healthy

& soups

january 2005 10

chowder. Simmer chowder additional 20 minutes over medium-low heat. For each serving, portion 1 1/2 cups soup into shallow bowl. Garnish with tortilla corn chips, if desired.

stews

teaspoon rosemary and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer covered for 30 minutes. Remove 4 cups of the vegetables and puree in a blender or food processor.

Return to the pot and stir to mix well. Heat thoroughly.

Garnish with parsley and parmesan cheese.

White Bean Veggie Stew Mulligatawny Soup

Low fat and healthy doesn’t mean boring.

Sample some of these great soups from around the world while staying warm and cozy in your very own kitchen.

Adapted from www.cooks recipes.com www.homecooking.about.com www.tgcmagezine.com www.vegparadise.com www.fatfree.com www.vegkitchen.com Quick Cod Chowder with Black Beans and Corn 1 onion, halved and sliced 1 can diced tomatoes in juice 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 can corn, drained 1 cup diced green chilies 3 cups chicken or fish broth 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 2 teaspoons chili powder 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and crushed 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1 pound Alaska cod, or other white fish cut into 1-inch pieces 1 tablespoons vegetable oil In large stockpot or steam-jacketed kettle, combine onions, tomatoes in juice, black beans, corn and chiles. Add broth, lime juice, chili powder. Bring to boil; reduce to simmer and cook 10 minutes. Pan-sear cod in lightly oiled non-stick skillet about 3 minutes; add cod to

1/2 cup dry white beans 15 cups water, divided use 1 onion, unpeeled 2 whole cloves 4 carrots, scrubbed, trimmed and sliced - divided use 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided use 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed dried thyme, divided use 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary, divided use 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided use 2 turnips, peeled and diced 2 potatoes, scrubbed and diced 2 celery ribs, chopped 1 leek (white and light green parts), cleaned and sliced 1/4 cabbage head, shredded 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Combine dry white beans and 5 cups water in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours; drain, leaving beans in pot.

Stud onion with whole cloves; add cloved onion, 1 carrot, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon rosemary and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Cover with another 5 cups of water and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender. Drain, discarding whole cloves.

Meanwhile, in another stockpot, combine turnips, potatoes, celery, remaining 3 carrots, leek, and cabbage in 1 cup water. Cook, covered, over low heat for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the drained bean mixture, the remaining 4 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon thyme, 1

Los Poblanos Organics

3 tablespoons butter or margarine 2 small yellow onions, peeled and minced 1 medium-sized carrot, peeled and diced fine 1 stalk celery, diced fine 1/2 green pepper, cored, seeded, and minced 1/4 cup unsifted flour 1 tablespoon curry powder 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 3 cloves 2 sprigs parsley 1 quart broth or stock 1 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1 cup chopped tomatoes 1 cup diced cooked chicken (optional) 1/2 cup heavy cream or non dairy alternative 1 cup boiled rice Melt butter in a large saucepan, add onion, carrot, celery, and green pepper, and stir-fry 8 to 10 minutes until onion is golden.

Blend in flour, curry powder, and nutmeg; add cloves, parsley, broth, salt, pepper, and tomatoes, cover, and simmer 1 hour.

Strain broth; pick out and discard cloves and parsley, puree vegetables with about 1 cup soup liquid by buzzing 20 to 30 seconds in an electric blender at low speed or 15 to 20 seconds in a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade. Smooth puree into broth, return to heat, add chicken and cream, and heat, stirring, 5 to 10 minutes to blend flavors. Add rice, heat and stir 2 to 3 minutes longer, then serve.

Nutty Beet Borscht 1 C. water 3 small tomatoes, coarsely chopped 1 medium beet, peeled and coarsely chopped 1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped 10 raw Brazil nuts 1 small clove garlic Juice of 1 fresh lemon Juice of 1 fresh Valencia orange 1/2 t. salt Garnish Tofu Sour Cream Crushed raw pistachio nuts

www.LosPoblanosOrganics.com

681-4060 We offer Organic fruits and vegetables delivered to your home in Albuquerque, Placitas, and Santa Fe.

Combine all ingredients, except garnish, in a blender, starting on low speed. Gradually increase to high speed. Process until completely purĂŠed, about 1 minute.

Adjust seasonings if needed, and pour into bowls. Garnish each bowl with a dollop of Tofu Sour Cream and a sprinkle of crushed pistachio nuts. Makes 2 to 3 servings.

low fat &

healthy

Tofu Sour Cream 1 pkg. extra firm silken tofu 1/4 t. salt 4 T. lemon juice 1/2 t. rice vinegar Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Makes 11/2 cups.

Caribbean Vegetable Stew 2 cups chopped onions vegetable broth or white wine 3 cups chopped cabbage 1 fresh chile, minced or 1/4 tsp. cayenne 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root 2 cups water 3 cups diced sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes salt to taste 2 cups undrained fresh or canned tomatoes 2 cups fresh or frozen sliced okra 3 tbls. fresh lime juice 2 tbls. chopped fresh cilantro sprigs of cilantro (optional garnish) In a nonreactive pot, saute the onions in the broth/wine on medium heat for 4 or 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and the chile or cayenne and continue to saute, stirring often, until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the grated ginger and the water, cover the pot, and bring to a boil. Stir in the sweet potatoes, sprinkle with salt, and simmer for 5 or 6 minutes, until the potatoes are barely tender. Add the tomatoes, okra, and lime juice. Simmer until all of the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and add more salt to taste.

Galician Garbanzo Stew 2 cups dried garbanzos (chick peas), soaked overnight and cooked in 5 cups vegetable stock or water 1/4 cup vegetable stock 1 onion, cubed 3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed 1 carrot, cubed 1 stalk celery, cubed 1 bay leaf 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp dry mustard large pinch saffron, crushed 1/2 cup peas 1 tomato, diced 1 Tbls red wine vinegar salt and pepper to taste

january 2005 11

adding more stock as necessary to keep from sticking. Add to the pot with the pureed and whole garbanzos, add spices and cook for 1 hour. 10 minutes before serving, stir in tomato, peas, vinegar, and salt and pepper. . If the soup is too thick for you, thin it with a bit more stock.

Serve with crusty wheat bread.

Spanish Menestra 1 - 2 onions (1 1/2 - 2 cups sliced 3 garlic cloves 2 medium carrots (about 1 1/2 cups sliced) 1 large potato (about 2 cups diced) 1 tablespoon paprika 2 bay leaves pinch of cayenne 2 cups hot water (use liquid from canned artichokes and add water to make 2 cups) 1/2 cup dry sherry 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste 1/2 pound mushrooms 1 red bell pepper 5 artichokes (1 - 14 ounce can, water pack) 1 cup fresh or frozen green peas Halve and thinly slice the onion, then cut the slices in half. Mince or press the garlic. In a pot, saute the onions and garlic in 1 - 2 tablespoons water or sherry. Peel the carrots and cut in half lengthwise, then slice crosswise to make half circles, add to the pot. Peel the potato if you like and cut into 1/2 inch dice Add potato, paprika, bay leaves and cayenne to pot and saute for a minute or so, stirring to prevent sticking. Pour in the water, sherry and salt. Cover pot and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer. Wash the mushrooms, and cut off and discard the stems. Leave any small ones whole, cut large ones in half or quarters. Chop the pepper into 1 inch pieces. Add the mushrooms and peppers to the pot. Cut the artichoke hearts in half. When veggies are just tender, stir in the artichoke halves and peas, simmer 3 - 4 minutes. Add salt to taste.

soups

&

stews

Cook the garbanzos until tender. Puree 2/3 of the garbanzos with cooking water until smooth, then stir back into the pot with the whole garbanzos. While beans are cooking, saute the vegetables in the stock until tender,

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health & healing

january 2005 12

Save your Skin

by Denise Tracy ur skin is the largest organ of the body. It's a breathing, porous and permeable two-way suit that will absorb nutrition from the outside, as well as from the inside. Overall the skin holds 14 pints of water. One square inch of skin contains 65 hairs, 100 sebaceous glands, 650 sweat glands, 78 heat sensors, 13 cold sensors, 1,300 nerve endings that can record pain, 9,500 cells, 19 yards of nerves, 19,500 sensory cells, and 165 pressure apparatuses for stimuli (touch).

O

The nervous system is a close neighbor to the skin, thus making the skin "emotional." Emotional stress or anxiety can cause chronic conditions such as hives, psoriasis, herpes, acne, and eczema. Massaging the skin can help reduce anxiety, energize the lymphatic system and relax the body, while encouraging normal function of the skin.

Winter weather taking a toll on your skin?

There are two types of skin aging. One is true aging which happens very slowly, with time. Good diet, plenty of water, exercise, relaxation, positive thoughts, good relationships and big smiles help to counter or slow down the true aging process. The other type of aging is photo, the result of ultraviolet radiation and inadequate protection from the sun, heat, cold, and other environmental elements. Sun damage is the most important cause of skin deterioration and wrinkles. Aging of the skin happens to everyone! Of course, genetics and environment play a big part in how slow or fast the skin ages.

Incomplete particles, injured cells or parts of cells are called free radicals. Free radicals cause cross-linking with the genetic material in neighboring cells, which, in a chain reaction-like process reproduces more and more injured cells. Wrinkles, pre-cancerous lesions, brown and white spots, blemishes, little warts and sagging skin are a result of cross-linking cells.

Everyday, we are exposed to free radicals which come from environmental pollution, radiation from TV's, microwaves, radio waves, cellular phones, computer terminals, high tension wires, and also pesticides, industrial waste, auto exhaust, petrochemicals in skin products and ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Oxidation and free radicals from the cold, dry environment, synthetic chemicals in skin care products and poor diets take a toll on skin, drying it out and prematurely aging it!

Anti-oxidants truly prevent degenerative skin disease while fighting free radicals at a steady rate; the skin's dream come true! Anti-oxidants are essential for the healthy skin cell reproduction.

Conventional cosmetic industries use synthetic chemicals like petroleum derivatives, aluminum and coal tar dyes. When you apply these products to your skin, perhaps for awhile there will be a honeymoon period of the skin feeling smooth and moist, but in the long run, the skin is actually made dry! Excellent selling technique: the drier your skin gets, the more product you use and buy.

Chemical manufacturers are in love with exotic sounding, hard-to-find chemicals so they can corner the market and have no competition. One example is the substance called squalane, found in the liver of a rare species of shark called the Aizame. These sharks are hunted and murdered, the squalane is extracted and sold as a medicinal cosmetic. But squalane has always existed in wheat germ, rice bran, and olive oil.

Chemical manufacturers' biggest aim is to replace natural substances with cheaper, synthetic substances, which they claim are just as good, although many analytical chemists have found otherwise. Avoid synthetic or petrochemicals in skin products. These chemicals have adverse and aging effects on skin.

soothe winter skin

naturally Good skin care is very simple. Just look in your refrigerator and cabinet, many of the ingredients are there! Go find your favorite vegetable oils that contain anti-oxidant properties like avocado, almond, apricot, and olive oils, then add a few drops of anti-aging essential oils, like neroli (orange blossom flower), rose, lavender, rosemary, sweet orange, lemon, lime, oregano, myrrh, or fennel. Now you have a wonderful, nutritious, anti-aging oil splash for the entire body!

Dreamy yogurt facelift, fruit juice skin tonic, celery soother, cucumber cooler, oatmeal scrub,

A Few Important Anti-oxidants: Vitamins A and Beta Carotene destroy carcinogens and promote germ killing enzymes.

Vitamin C stimulates healthy free-radical fighting cells.

Vitamin E\looks after the lipids in your body and helps to prevent fats from becoming rancid.

Gama-Linoleic Acid (GLA)\a T-lymphocyte regulator that protects the immune system, found in blue green algae, evening primrose oil, black currant seed oil and borage oil.

L-Cysteine\a powerful detoxifier and promotes muscle building and burning of fat.

Anti-oxidants are a group of vitamins, minerals and enzymes that work together to protect, energize and stimulate healthy skin cells.

Superoxide Dismutase (SOD)\an enzyme produced in the body that protects against damaging effects of unstable oxygen species and may possibly prevent growth of cancer cells. Foods containing SOD are blue green algae, barley grass, wheat grass, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage and most green plants.

Classical Homeopathy Visceral Manipulation Craniosacral Therapy

MARY ALICE COOPER, MD St. Raphael Medical Center 204 Carlisle NE Albuquerque, NM 87106

505-266-6522

Balancing Hormones Naturally

L-Glutathione\helps the body to detoxify itself from blood and liver disorders.

Selenium\a micro-nutrient that helps to preserve the skin's elasticity.

Specializing in Consulting Mid-Life Women

Joanne Williams, CNP co-creator of Feminine Balance® Progesterone Gel

Saliva Testing Available Anti-Aging Therapy PMS Through Menopause Natural Hormone Choices Holistic Lifestyle Choices Osteoporosis Prevention & Treatment Stress & Nutrition Management Unique Weight Loss Program

Avoid using skin products that contain drying agents like cetyl and stearyl alcohol, or petrochemicals. All types of synthetic chemicals cause damaging cross-linking to occur.

Be aware of what kind of products you use on your skin. Read the ingredients, would you want to eat Propylene Glycol (a petroleum derivative used in anti-freeze and hydraulic brake fluid), Triethanolamine (amino alcohol made from ammonia and ethylene oxide), Dimethicone (a silicone fluid), Stearyl Alcohol (fatty alcohol found in whale, porpoise and dolphin oils)?

Do your skin a big favor by avoiding these kinds of synthetic chemicals, especially petroleum jelly and all petrochemicals used in skin products.

Petroleum derivatives are not good for your skin.

They are allergenic, smothering your skin, causing irritation and acne. Most importantly, they do not absorb well into the skin! Beautiful skin has existed for centuries without synthetic chemicals. So remember, "If you can't eat it, don't wear it!"

For succulent skin, water is your most important asset. Drink enough water to plump your inner skin and keep your outer skin moist. Seal in your juices with Mother Nature's finest tropical oil splashes, nutritious natural creams and lotions, herbal salves, mineral mists and scented floral water baths. Herbs such as calendula flower, comfrey leaf, horsetail, coltsfoot, slippery elm, echinacea, borage, elder flowers, immortal and yarrow are just a few herbs that help topically with cellular regeneration.

yeast (which stimulates), vegetable oils (which add emollients), honey and egg (to hydrate), lemon (cuts through oil), potato peel (rich in vitamins and minerals), and rosemary (which revives). These are just a few great moisturizing and nutritious foods for the skin.

Reduce the signs of aging naturally. Use herbal packs, poultices and salves, clay masks, floral steam baths, fruit and vegetable moisturizers, massage and exercise.

Bibliography Hampton, Aubrey\Natural Organic Hair & Skin Care, Organic Press, 1987, pp. 131-166.

Busch, Julia\Treat Your Face Like A Salad, AntiAging Press, Inc., pp. 45-552.

Bittman, Mark\Natural Health Handbook, Boston Common Press, Ltd., 1995, pp. 101-109.

Worwood, Valerie Ann\"The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy", New World Library, 1991, pp. 111-116.

Busch, Julia\"Treat Your Face Like A Salad", AntiAging Press Inc., 1993, pp. 230-235.

Alexander, Ann\"Natural Health Handbook", Boston Common Press, Ltd., 1996, pp. 61-64.

Denise Tracy is a clinical herbalist, and formulator for the Super Save Company. She is a founding member of Arizona’s Ethnobotanical Research Foundation.

For Appointments: (505) 797-1944 joanne@womenshealthconcepts.com

Women’s Health Concepts,

Editors Note: In “Before You Give a Gift of Fragrance” in the December 2004 Coop Connection, editorial changes may have inadver-

LLC

tently altered the author’s intention on the use of essential oils in relation to MCS. For information regarding the therapeutic effects of essential oils or if you have sensitivities, MCS, an interest in this topic or would like to read the original text of that article, please contact Karen at 265-0227 or king_kb@aps.edu.

health & healing

january 2005 13

This year... succeed in lifestyle goals I

by Onah Whalen f you are like me then the new year is a time to change your life radically, and make a “Big Plan” for Self Improvement that includes intimidating, vigorous regimens—or nothing. And if you are really like me then that enthusiasm usually wanes by February.

After many years of failed New Year's resolutions I realized that fitness and a healthy lifestyle is a lifetime goal and not something you can accomplish in a few weeks. If you believe that vigorous, sweat-producing exercise is the only way to stay fit, think again.

Just commit to be moderate and sensible in your eating, and to MOVE MORE. According to the Mayo Clinic, as little as 30 minutes of low to moderately intense physical activity daily can increase your fitness level.

The key is to incorporate physical activity into your lifestyle and maintain it. Adopt a new mind-set and think of exercise as a simple, routine and enjoyable part of your day.

• Wake up early. Try getting up 30 minutes earlier than you normally do and use the extra time to walk on your treadmill or take a brisk walk around the neighborhood.

Some research suggests that people who exercise in the morning are more likely than are others to stick with it over the long term.

If you're too stiff in the morning, however, wait to exercise until later in the day.

• Make household chores count. Mop the floor, scrub the bathtub or do other house-

work. The stretching and lifting involved are good exercise. Work at a fast pace to get your heart pumping. Also, try working in the garden, doing yardwork or mowing the lawn. Gardening can burn up to 300 calories an hour and is a great way to build strength. Raking and hoeing strengthen your arms and back, while digging works your arms and legs.

• De-stress with a quick walk after work. Exercising before dinner may also suppress your appetite, helping to reduce your total daily calorie intake.

• Get your dog into the act. Take two quick walks with your four-legged friend every day. It's best to build up to about 30 minutes of continuous activity. But two 15minute jaunts are nearly as good.

• Exercise while watching TV. Use hand weights, ride a stationary bike or do a stretching routine. Get up off the couch to change the channel on the TV. • Make family time exercise time. Take group walks after dinner or schedule a family hike for Saturday mornings.

Remember to wait about an hour after you eat before exercising, however.

• Exercise your body... and your spirit. Consider making a habit of finishing the day with a relaxing session of yoga or Tai Chi, perhaps with a partner.

Many tend to make exercise a "thing" requiring a concerted effort above and beyond the daily life inside our homes.

Often this takes the form of joining a gym or getting oneself out on the running track or on our bicycles and setting grandiose goals. Meeting these fitness goals becomes something we are either “Doing or

Duality Takes a Holiday

by Mokurai

A

mysterious-looking man knocks solemnly on the huge wooden doorway of the Shaolin Temple in China. The Buddhist Monastery, well known for it's martial arts and meditation disciplines, will probably have an abbot sympathetic to his unusual request. But for the man, called Kwan, there is no doubt. He knows.

Arrangements are made. Kwan moves into a hermitage hut nearby. Monks will bring food and check on him once a week. His great work assigned to him by his spiritual master will be undisturbed. He begins by going to sleep, and dreaming.

Kwan has been imbued with special powers by his meditation master - the power to manifest a flesh-and-blood being out of his dreams. His task is to create a great healer from his dream world. This dream-being, who will have fabulous healing abilities, will live and die as an ordinary man but for one exception.

Because of the yogic technique used, fire will not be able to injure him.

Kwan spends most of his time sleeping, and dreaming. He spends a week on the feet and legs, a month on the expressive hands, six months on the heart and nine months of the brain.

After two years, the dream-being awakens, as if from a deep sleep, in the physical world. Far removed from Kwan, unaware of his origin, he answers a strange compulsion to begin a profound sojourn of salvation.

exercise your body & your spirit Not at All.” Thus it becomes another extracurricular activity over which to worry and fret. Sometimes we end up sweating more worrying about exercise than doing it.

Routine, sustained exercise on a regular basis is an exciting alternative to the usual grand New Year's resolutions. Who knows, start with small steps this year and next year you may be hiking La Luz.

UNM offers course in Nutrition and Public Policy

UNM will be offering a class called Nutrition and Public Policy during the Spring 2005 Semester. Using the arena of policies related to nutrition (food guide pyramid, food irradiation, bio-engineered foods, and others), the first objective of the course is to familiarize participants with public policy issues related to nutrition and health. The second objective is to teach the student to use the an evaluation model called the “logic model” as a first step in policy analysis.

The model is currently widely used to evaluate public programs. Two features of the structured format of this model give it utility for the purpose suggested here, to more fully understand stakeholders: 1. the required identification of the assumptions underlying how the problem at issue is defined by stakeholders and 2. the separate analysis of the problem, context (legal, political, financial, environmental, etc.), intervention, outputs, outcomes, and impact.

For more information on the model or the course contact :Dr. Falcone, Associate Professor, School of Public Administration, University of New Mexico 505-277-4934 or falcone@unm.edu.

that if we don't control our own minds, a stronger mind will. By learning to act without thinking of reward, our thoughts, actions and dreams become more clear, conclusive and closer to the Source of Becoming - God. This "connected-to-the-Source" consciousness is designed to be as electrifyingly dynamic as a whirling bobcat but due to enslavement to the ego, most peoples' consciousness remains as a stranded whale.

There are many paths to help awaken this universal MIND: Breath control, spiritual devotion, raja yoga, tai chi, some martial arts, meditation. The

important thing is that the chosen path reveals the limitations of the ego, and culminates with resplendent light of Divine origin flooding one's being.

Master Mokurai is a Buddhist priest and a University of New Mexico faculty member. For twenty five years he has given instruction on various esoteric disciplines at the SILENT THUNDER CENTER FOR ASIAN STUDIES, including Tai Chi, meditation, Qi Gong, Tae Kwon Do and Sacred Chanting. Mokurai can be reached at 265-3112 website: www.silentthunder center.org.

Notes from the Beach

Body-Centered Counseling

Paintings by Scott Kuykendall

Kwan remains in his hermitage, resting from his great task.

Occasionally he hears stories from the monks about a new sage's miraculous cures and apparent immortality as this sage, alone amongst many, survived a great fire catastrophe.

Kwan is deeply satisfied and prepares to return to his master.

Just then a great earthquake, common in that part of China, shook the hut tremendously and caused a wooden beam to collapse from the roof and pin him to the floor. An overturned oil lamp sets the hut on fire, and Kwan realizes that he will soon be dead. The hut, and everything inside, is completely burnt.

Except Kwan.

The universe is essentially MIND. As we grow more comfortable with abandoning our egos, the magnificent richness and incalculable creative potential of this universal MIND become not only more apparent, but more available. We come to realize

January 3 – 28 Reception: Friday, January 7 • 5 PM to 8:30 PM HARWOOD

ART CENTER

1114 7th Street NW at Mountain Road for more information, call 505-242-6367

Integrated Counseling, Therapeutic Bodywork and Movement

Penny Holland M.A., L.P.C.C, L.M.T.

505-265-2256 LPCC Lic. 0494, LMT Lic. 1074

the environmental

consumer

january 2005 14

EPA Allows Rat Poison Manufacturers to Kill Kids

I

n 2001, without public comment or knowledge, the Bush led EPA struck a deal with chemical companies to remove two important rat poison regulations designed to protect the safety of children. Specifically, the safety measures had required rat poisons contain an ingredient that makes the candy-like pellets taste bitter to kids and a dye to make it more obvious to adults when a child has ingested the poison.

As a result of no longer requiring those safety additives, the nation is now seeing a record number of children poisoned by the toxic pellets. The Novmeber 14, Los Angeles Times writes: “This year, more than 50,000 children in the U.S. ages 6 and younger were sickened by eating rodentcontrol toxins, three times as many as in the first full year after the safety measures were adopted, according to the American Assn. of Poison Control Centers.” The children suffer internal bleeding and anemia, among other maladies, and can fall into a coma. Several hundred required hospitalization last year. According to the same LA Times article, the EPA met five times behind closed doors with representatives of the chemical industry, which ultimately resulted in the removal of the safety regulations.

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The Washington Post reports that “for the past six years, the pesticide industry has fought off or stalled regulatory initiatives designed to protect children and wildlife from becoming unintended victims of rat poisons, and public health and environmental groups charge that the industry had unusual access to block federal action.” At the behest of the industry, the EPA made broad changes to play down the dangers posed by rat poison, including rewriting a section describing the fatal poisoning of seven deer. While refusing to meet with consumer and environmental groups, the agency held five closed-door meetings with members of the Rodenticide Registrants Task Force, whose members include Syngenta Crop Protection, Bell Laboratories Inc. and LiphaTech Inc. Wildlife organizations, meanwhile, charge that dozens of endangered animals die every year after ingesting rat poison spread to protect crops.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and West Harlem Environmental Action filed suit against the EPA, criticizing the agency for harming children by revoking safety measures on rat poisons in 2001, at the request of industry. The groups say this shift puts thousands of children at risk of serious harm — particularly poor African-American and Latino kids, whose public-housing projects and schools may be littered with pastel rat-poison pellets. West Harlem Environmental Action works in conjunction with Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health to monitor medical issues and reports that in New York state, 57% of children hospitalized for rodenticide poisoning are black, although 16% of the population is black; 26% of hospitalized children are Latino, yet Latinos make up 12% of the population.

The Washington Post also reports that “the Natural Resources Defense Council seems to have the goods. The group has documents showing that Bush's EPA not only worked hand-inhand with the industry, but also complied when manufacturers wanted the risks associated with rat poison downplayed in EPA assessments.”

Aaron Colangelo, a staff attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, who obtained the EPA's internal documents for the environmental advocacy group under a Freedom of Information Act request, said the documents highlight how the agency mishandled its effort to protect humans and animals.

Sign Petition to Reinstate Rat Poison Safety Measures!

Go to www.organicconsumers.org or send your comments directly to: Mike Leavitt EPA Administrator U.S. EPA, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20460 leavitt.michael@epa.gov Fax: 202-501-1450

actionalert

NM Students, AID Farmers and Organics What can one do for the organic movement in India?

Despite being thousands of miles away, the New Mexico chapter of the Association for India’s Development (AIDNM) recently found a small but significant answer to this question by supporting an organic food stall in the west Indian state of Gujarat. The eatery, named Apana Dhaba, is run by former workers of a chemical factory who were fired for demanding safer working conditions. These workers have not only decided to lead a chemical-free livelihood, but also help support local farmers and cooperatives by purchasing groceries from them. One such cooperative is the Mozda Collective – a collective of adivasi (indigenous) women from a nearby village that supplies dal (lentils).

From the beginning, AID’s vision has been holistic, spanning areas such as healthcare, child and adult literacy, women’s empowerment, and alternative livelihood generation. And now AID’s attention has widened to include building solidarity with social and peoples’ movements such as those demanding environmental justice, fighting against water privatization and commodification, as well as protecting the rights and lands of adivasi (indigenous peoples) communities.

Apana Dhaba aims to connect the organic food and workers’ rights movements throughout the country, serving as a model for alternative livelihood generation. Consequently, Apana Dhaba is part of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, which acts as an environmental watch group in Gujarat – one of the most polluted industrial belts of India.

In 2004, the NM chapter organized a series of events to connect the struggles against water privatization and for environmental justice in India with similar movements here in New Mexico. Partnering with the Southwest Network for Environmental & Economic Justice (SNEEJ) and local community groups, AID-NM has brought together activists from India and New Mexico who represent the low-income and people of color communities that most severely bear the brunt of environmental and economic injustices.

The Apana Dhaba project is featured in AID’s year-end, online fundraising campaign called “One For India – making every one count”. Bringing people together on the web, the campaign website showcases the many sustainable-development projects that various AID chapters have supported in 2004. AID hopes to top the 2003 mark by raising $101,000 to support similar projects in 2005.

Since the NM chapter was founded in March 2003, it has supported three projects in India, including Apana Dhaba.

With funds raised through the “One for India” campaign, the chapter will continue supporting these three projects, and begin reviewing other proposals such as establishing a crisis center for sexually-abused women and children in Mumbai (Bombay).

With 40 chapters nationwide, AID has grown tremendously since it was founded 13 years ago in College Park, Maryland. Yet it remains an entirely volunteer-run organization. Over the years, AID has supported more than 300 projects all through India, but not by acting as a charity.

Rather, AID volunteers learn and spread awareness about the social and economic problems throughout rural India, while also raising funds for the community groups that are addressing local needs.

To make a contribution to AID-NM through the “One for India” campaign, go to www.oneforindia.org and follow the “Donate” links. The fundraising drive ends January 20, 2005. For more information about AID-NM, visit their website (aidnm.unm.edu), email aidnm@unm. edu, or call Sachin Patkar (Chapter Coordinator) at 505385-2561.

by Sharayas Jatkar

community forum Tricklock: Theatre Festival Revolutions!

Tricklock Company brings to Albuquerque its fifth annual Revolutions Theatre Festival, three weeks of the planet’s most revolutionary theatre! The 2005 Revolutions Festival will present cutting-edge theatrical work created by national and international performers from Mexico, Canada, Ireland, Greece, the UK, South Africa, and the United States. With performances and workshops in more than 12 different venues around Albuquerque and (for the first time) Santa Fe, Revolutions 2005 will be the most diverse and far reaching Festival to date. Revolutions kicks off Tuesday, January 11 and runs through Sunday, January 30, 2005.

The Festival’s mission is to seek out and produce the planet's most REVOLUTIONARY theatre and performance art because Tricklock Company firmly believes that exposure to the broad spectrum of

world theatre helps remind each of us in the community of our unlimited potential as active, vital participants in our local society and the global society at large. The Revolutions Festival helps disseminate new forms and ideas on theatrical training and creation to the young artists of our region, and provides the community with a forum for cultural and artistic exchange and dialogue that might not otherwise reach New Mexico.

The Festival will open with a benefit performance for Tricklock and the Albuquerque Poetry Slam Team at the Outpost Performance Space, and continue with performances by Lauren Weedman, actor and correspondent for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”; Sekou Sundiata, an internationally renowned playwright, lyricist and performance artist who has been profiled by PBS’s Bill Moyers

january 2005 15 and featured on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam; Vincent Mantsoe, an Afro-fusion dancer from Soweto, South Africa; The Performance Project, a Northampton, Massachusetts based collaboration of professional artists, men and women in jail, and those who have been released; The Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental theatre company of New York City; Boca del Lupo theatre company of Vancouver, BC, Canada; San Banquito Teatro of Guanajuato, Mexico; Angel Exit Theatre, a Dublin, Ireland based company with international performers; Prop Theatre of Chicago, and Tricklock’s very own company members Juli Etheridge and Kevin R. Elder.

The Festival is co-sponsored by Mayor Martin Chavez and the City of Albuquerque, UNM Department of Theatre and Dance, National Hispanic Cultural Center, Bosque School and Albuquerque Academy. For more information on the performers, guest companies and a complete schedule of events, visit www.tricklock.com.

Hysterectomy Hysteria More than 600,000 hysterectomies are performed each year in the United States, over 90% of which are deemed unnecessary by some accounts. In addition to hysterectomy, hundreds of thousands of pelvic reconstructive surgeries are also performed as treatment for pelvic organ prolapse.

Pelvic organ prolapse is the MOST PREVALENT women’s health disorder of our time, and there is a current EPIDEMIC of prolapse occurring amongst post-partum women.

Although obstetric practices can exacerbate the development of prolapse, these conditions are more the result of modern lifestyles that no longer support the natural design of the female spine and pelvis.

This issue has been shrouded in secrecy and responded to exclusively by surgery for well over a century. If you want to read more, please log onto www.whole woman.com and join the campaign to bring this issue to light.

Please join the Hers Foundation www.hersfoundation.org for a week-long protest in Albuquerque to put an end to unwarranted, unconsensual and unwanted hysterectomy.

The protest begins on January 1 and ends on January 7, from 11 a.m. to 1p.m. every day in front of Presbyterian Hospital. Protesters will meet at 10:50 a.m. at the main entrance to the hospital at 1100 Central Avenue SE. For more information, please contact Christine Kent at 281-0700.

revolutionary theatre!

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What is patriotism? Are you a patriot?

(505) 243-1701 cell 410-3741

What does patriotism mean in the present political environment?

Theatre-in-the-Making, in cooperation with the New Mexico American Civil Liberties Union (NM ACLU) presents “Patriots,” a biting adult satire on the politics of fear and the policies of the current administration. Written by Albuquerque playwright Joe Forrest Sackett and directed by well-known director Paul Ford, “Patriots” will be presented Saturday, January 29, 2005, for one show only, 8:30 p.m. at the historic KiMo Theater, 5th Street and Central Avenue in downtown Albuquerque.

This special production of “Patriots,” which played to sold-out audiences at the Tricklock Performance Space in September, will be followed by a panel discussion on civil liberties in a time of terror and war. The panel will include representatives from the national headquarters of the ACLU, in Albuquerque for a conference. Funny, intense, and moving, “Patriots” questions the meaning of the word “patriotism” and the encroachment on civil liberties in its name. Tickets for “Patriots” are available at the KiMo Box Office, 768-3544 or at Ticketmaster, 883-7800.

Patriots” is suitable for mature audiences.

A New Mexico Office of Peace Virginia J. Miller, NM Department of Peace Initiative New Mexicans have the opportunity to create the first state Office of Peace in the country. During the 2003 Legislative Session memorials supporting the idea of a NM Department of Peace and requesting the state to actively work for peace and promote peaceful and sustainable economic development alternatives were passed in both legislative houses.

A state Office of Peace, proposed by the grassroots NM Department of Peace Initiative, is the next step to fulfilling the legislative intent of these memorials.

The Office of Peace is dedicated to peacemaking, justice and human rights training that will enable the prevention, management and resolution of conflict without violence and the study and implementation of conditions that are conducive to a culture of peace. The Office of Peace will develop a peace education curriculum for all public school levels, supporting and expanding upon programs already in place, organize public dialogues, and build a diplomatic method for addressing controversial issues and conflict.

In addition, the Office will study and promote a sustainable, life-affirming economy as an essential avenue to peace. A Citizens Peace Advisory Council will maintain the grassroots connection with the people of New Mexico. This process is a significant

part of our solution for safety and security. The bill will be sponsored by Rep. Ken Martínez and Senator Cisco McSorley in the 2005 Session, which begins January 18.

Countering Today’s Stealth Draft

Support for the Office of Peace bill is growing among New Mexicans and within state government. Here's what you can do:

The military offers false promises and dreams of a way to go to college to our high school students. Give your students the opportunity to hear about the realities of war, this particular war and learn about other options for financing college and serving their country. As you know, under APS policy, students are entitled to all sides of controversial issues.

• Please sign our petition at the Peace Center or pick up a sample endorsement letter for your organization.

• Visit our web site where you can view a copy of the bill: http://www.thedepartmentofpeacenm.org • Write a letter to the editor in your local newspaper.

• In Albuquerque, contact the Albq. Center for Peace and Justice (268-9557) to volunteer to move the bill forward during the 2005 legislative session.

• During the legislative session, contact your legislators and the Governor's office, (505) 827-3000, and urge them to support and fund this bill. Come to the hearings to speak or for collective support.

In Santa Fe, the NM Department of Peace Initiative meets every Friday from 4:30 to 6 pm at the St. John's United Methodist Church on the corner of Old Pecos Trail and Córdova in the gathering room at the back of the church. All are welcome.

Please contact Virginia Miller (505) 986-8676; email vjmopus@earthlink.net. In Albuquerque call 268-9557.

A program called Another Side, which includes veterans speaking in classes and a potential lesson plan kit with video, for high school and college classes is available.

The program is in compliance with the State Standards and Curriculum Guide, and has prior approval and sanction of the APS Central Office. If you feel that your students need more information, especially from veterans who have returned from Iraq, this will give them Another Side.

For More Information call 268-9557

Meet January 21, 4-5pm • Albuquerque Teachers’ Federation Building 8009 Mountain Place, NE

La Montanita Co-op Food Market 3500 Central SE Albuquerque, NM 87106

Shop the Co-op Fresh Food for a Healthy Year 12 GREAT REASONS TO BE A CO-OP MEMBER: 1. YOUR CHANCE TO SUPPORT A STORE that is committed to bringing you the highest quality organic produce, antibiotic and hormone -free meats, rBGH- free dairy products, imported and domestic chesses, healthiest grocery, bulk foods, fresh deli and juices, natural body care cosmetics, vitamins, herbs and more!

2. Member Refund Program: At the end of each fiscal year, if earnings are sufficient, refunds are returned to members based on purchases.

3. Pick-Up Our Monthly Newsletter full of information on food, health, environment and your Co-op.

4. Weekly Member-Only Coupon Specials as featured in our Weekly Sales Flyer. Pick it up every week at either location to save more than your annual membership fee each week.

5. Easy Check Writing AND CASH ($40) over purchase amount. We also accept ATM cards, VISA and MasterCard.

6. Banking Membership at New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union, with many Albuquerque branches to serve you.

7. Insurance and Financial Counseling: Call Robin Chall 823-9537 8. Free delivery for seniors, housebound and differently-abled people.

9. MEMBER- ONLY DISCOUNT DAYS: Take advantage of our special discount events for members only — throughout the year!

10. Special Orders: You can special order large quantities or hard-to-find items, at a 10% discount for members.

11. General Membership Meetings, Board positions and voting. Co-ops are democratic organizations; your participation is encouraged.

Shop the Co-op

12. Membership Participation Program: Members can earn discount credit through our community outreach committees or skilled member participation program. Please ask at the Info Desk for details.

Now More than Ever: Support Community, Support Cooperation

JOIN LA MONTANITA COOPERATIVE The Only Community- Owned Natural Foods Grocery in the Albuquerque Area MEMBERSHIP: 2 LOCATIONS!

Lonn Calanca, Bulk Department Staff and Co-op Board Of Directors

ONLY $15 ANNUALLY,

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$200 LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP

Nob Hill: Central & Carlisle, 265-4631

Valley: Rio Grande & Matthew, 242-8800