Port Townsend Food Co-op Commons Newsletter

THE CO-OP COMMONS Port Townsend Food Co-op

September/October 2011

Food Revolution

Join the

Revolution!

Will Allen speaks

The Good Food Revolution: The Power of Community Agriculture

Saturday September 17 7:00 pm

McCurdy Pavilion Fort Worden State Park Will Allen, photo courtesy of growingpower.org

Sponsored by the Food Co-op $10/$12 tickets available at the Food Co-op proceeds benefit the Northwest Earth Institute

Hungry for Change The Food Revolution DEBORAH SCHUMACHER , Staff Writer

Revolutions have their heroes and the food revolution has several worth mentioning including farmer and writer Wendell Berry, journalist Michael Pollan, mad farmer Joel Salatin and Will Allen, urban farmer and CEO of Growing Power in Milwaukee. These last three are featured in the film Fresh, presented by The Food Co-op on August 28 at The Rose Theatre in support of the Jefferson County Farm to School Coalition and the J.C. School Gardens program. At the Port Townsend Food Co-op we’re celebrating Organic Month in September, International Cooperative and Fair Trade Months in October and World Food Day on October 16. We celebrate because the food revolution is coming. continued on page 2

“We celebrate because

THE CO-OP COMMONS a bi-monthly newsletter of PORT TOWNSEND FOOD CO-OP established 1972

www.foodcoop.coop 414 Kearney St. Port Townsend, WA 98368 Store 360-385-2883 OPEN DAILY Mon-Sat 8 am - 9 pm Sun 9 am - 8 pm

MISSION STATEMENT

Seeking to uphold the health of our community and world, The Food Co-op, a consumer cooperative, serves our membership by making available reasonably priced whole foods and other basic goods and resources by means of our life affirming democratic organization.

PRINCIPLES 1. Voluntary & Open Membership 2. Democratic Member Control 3. Member Economic Participation 4. Autonomy & Independence 5. Education, Training & Information 6. Cooperation Among Co-ops 7. Concern for Community MEMBER-OWNED no annual fees one time $5.00 sign up fee $2 payments every month you shop until $100 capital investment achieved, a paid-in-full membership! info@foodcoop.coop

EDITORIAL STAFF Brwyn Griffin, Managing Editor Deborah Schumacher, Copy Editor Mindy Dwyer, Graphic Artist editor@ptfoodcoop.coop SUBMISSIONS of interest to the community are gladly accepted.

Please drop off articles for consideration at the Co-op c/o The Co-op Commons.

Include your contact information. Submissions may be edited for length or content. writer@ptfoodcoop.coop The CO-OP COMMONS is printed by The P.T. Leader using recycled paper and vegetable-based inks.

Opinions expressed in this newsletter are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect Co-op policy or good consumer practice.

“One of the most interesting social movements to emerge in the last few years is the “food movement,” or perhaps I should say “movements,” since it is unified as yet by little more than the recognition that industrial food production is in need of reform because its social/environmental/public health/animal welfare/ gastronomic costs are too high.” –Michael Pollan, “Food Movement Rising.”

Looming crisis

Like any good revolution, the food revolution started on the fringes, in recent times with the back-to-theland movement in the 1960s and 1970s, when food cooperatives sprang up around the country and organic farming rose up in repudiation of chemical farming. But awareness of the failures of industrial agriculture is growing as we collectively experience a looming health and environmental crisis. We know that much of the food we eat is making us sick: The Centers for Disease Control estimates that fully three quarters of US health care spending goes to treat chronic diseases, most of which are preventable and linked to diet: heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and at least a third of all cancers. The health care crisis probably cannot be addressed without addressing the catastrophe of the American diet, and that diet is the direct (even if unintended) result of the way that our agriculture and food industries have been organized. (Michael Pollan, “Food Movement Rising”)

good, healthy food. If you want to hear what Will Allen has to say (mind you, he says “To truly change our food system, we must have 50 million new people growing food in their local communities”), he’ll be in Port Townsend on September 17. See We are also learning that the way cover for more about this event. we grow our food is contributing to the degradation of our planet: “… The Jefferson County Farm to School rapidly expanding energy use, mainly Coalition is trying to revolutionize driven by fossil fuels…explains why the food kids are fed at school. We humanity is on the verge of breaching all know about cafeteria food— planetary sustainability boundaries it’s usually something between through global warming, biodiversity unpalatable and just plain gross. You loss, and disturbance of the nitrogen- don’t think fresh and healthy when cycle balance and other measures you think of cafeteria food. But the of the sustainability of the Earth’s food we feed our kids at school has ecosystem” (“The World Economic to do better and in Jefferson County and Social Survey 2011”). Farming, parents and teachers and others in the one of the most energy-intensive of community are moving schools, some human activities, is contributing to with surprising alacrity and some damage of our ecosystem. with resistance, towards cafeteria The players—local and not-so-local options that incorporate fresh and The food revolution is increasing in local foods into the menu. The force in response to the health and Jefferson School Gardens program, environmental crisis and is being which has been struggling this past fought on many fronts by people who year to stay solvent, is teaching kids at are well known and by the folks who an early age the value of healthy food. are in the dirt every day working to School kids learn how to plant seeds, bring healthy food to their families tend gardens, make compost, harvest and their communities. Will Allen’s and then prepare the food. Truly efforts in this food fight are focused revolutionary. on food justice. He believes “that all people, regardless of their economic Coops have a role to play circumstances, should have access to Food cooperatives like ours are fresh, safe, affordable and nutritious part of the food revolution just foods at all times.” His urban farming like we were back in the early days in Milwaukee demonstrates that of the cooperative movement. The if you’re willing to get your hands documentary Food for Change, dirty, everyone can have access to continued on page 3

“Revolution, n. In politics, an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment.” - Ambrose Bierce 2

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

www.foodcoop.coop

the food revolution is coming.“ Organic

Vision

GARY HIRSHBERG

coming out next year to coincide with the United Nations designation of 2012 as the International Year of the Cooperative, looks at how food co-ops manifest principles like education, participation, independence and cooperation in their day-to-day operations. The film takes a contemporary and socialhistorical look at cooperatives in the United States and explores three periods of cooperative expansion: the first wave following the financial collapse of 1929; the second wave in the 1970s, driven by a counterculture desire for whole and organic foods; and the third wave, they say currently underway, aimed at both concerns. (See the film’s trailer at www.foodforchangemovie.com) The Food Co-op is one of 64 co-ops in 25 states that have contributed towards the making of the movie.

The latest in the cooperative revolution is the rejection, by students at the University of California, Berkeley, of a planned opening of a Panda Express Chinese fast-food outlet. Students “not only defeated the chain but also took their victory one step further by raising $100,000 to replace the proposed Beijing Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp and Kung Pao Chicken joint with a student-run co-op carrying fresh, local, healthy, sustainable and fairly produced food that would be sold at affordable prices” (“Across the Country, Food Co-ops by the Students for the Students”).

Berkeley students also founded the Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive (CoFed) with a launch committee that included Michael Pollan, Bill McKibben of 350.org and Slow Food USA president Josh Viertel.

In January 2011, “30 students from 10 campuses across the country—in Oregon, California, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts—gathered in Sebastopol, California for 10 days of leadership training” with plans to be on 25 campuses and have 100 trained leaders by the end of summer (“Across the Country”). Young energy coupled with wise counsel leading the cooperative movement into college campuses brings great promise to a food revolution that’s gaining force.

Paleolithic analog, it’s smaller and quicker and will survive long after its larger cousins have collapsed under their own weight. If we’re fortunate and if the food revolution achieves its goals, changing the way we eat, the way we grow food, how it’s distributed and who has access to it, the next generation will enjoy the fruits of a sustainable agriculture that produces healthy food and that supports and honors the complex natural systems that sustain us all.

Sources: 1. “Across the Country, Food Co-ops by the Students for the Students,” The Atlantic at www.theatlantic.com (2/2011).

A new agricultural animal 2. “Food Movement Rising,” Michael Pollan. New York It’s the harvest season, the season Times (6/10/10) of food, one that humanity has 3. “The World Economic and celebrated during the fat times (and Social Survey 2011: The lamented during lean times) since Great Green Technological we first picked up a stick to scratch a Transformation,” UN living from the earth. In some parts Department of Economic of the country, combines the size of and Social Affairs (reported small towns are rolling across acres by the Environmental News of corn and soy, bringing in a harvest Service, July 2011) of chemical-laden and genetically modified feedstock for the food industry that will emerge as packaged food products in a grocery store near you.

CEO of Stonyfield Farm People say organic isn’t proven.

It’s actually the chemicals that aren’t proven. We’ve been on this experiment with our bodies and our air and our water and our soil for about 70 years. All food, until somewhere between World War I and II, all food through humanity was organic. That means every famous person you know from history ate only organic food. Jesus Christ ate only organic food, George Washington, Mozart, Joan of Arc. It was fine for them. We think that this is a big, bold visionary new thing, but really, we just got off track.

To get to 50 plus percent organic, let alone back to the hundred, there are a lot of concerns. There’s research dollars—we have to retake our share of the research dollars.

There’s Ag extension—we have a whole generation of Ag extension agents who’ve been trained by Monsanto and Dow. We also have to level the playing field in terms of subsidies. I’m not arguing for organic subsidies. I’m arguing to get rid of the subsidies for other commodities. Let’s level the playing field and give organic a fair shake. www.bioneers.org

But let me say now that these are the lumbering dinosaurs of our time and they are nearing the end of their time on Earth. A new agricultural animal is emerging, and just like its

“The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.” - Che Guevara www.foodcoop.coop

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

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Board calendar All meetings are held in the Co-op Annex at 2482 Washington Street unless otherwise noted.

Committee meeting dates/times are posted on our website and on our bulletin board in the store.

Sept 6* Board of Directors Meeting Sept 8 Member Relations Committee 11:00 am Clay Street office Sept 14 Product Research Committee 3:00 pm

Why a Co-op? food you can trust

SAM GIBBONEY, Board President As an organization, we have chosen to subscribe to the Rochdale Principles. These principles were articulated by those same weavers and artisans and form the basis on which cooperatives around the world operate today. An updated version known as the Cooperative Principles was adopted by the International Consumer cooperatives are business enterprises owned by Cooperative Alliance in 1966 and reads as follows: consumers and managed democratically. While one could 1. Open, voluntary membership argue that the very basis of agrarian society and civilization is based upon the principle of human cooperatives, most 2. Democratic governance historians recognize the cooperative movement as having 3. Limited return on equity its roots in the industrial revolution. As masses of people migrated to cities to work in factories, they became reliant 4. Surplus belongs to members on store owners for their food and frequently had little choice as to quality, selection or price. The most famous of 5. Education of members and public in cooperative the early cooperative pioneers were the Rochdale Pioneers. principles The Food Co-op is a consumer cooperative. We sell whole foods and basic goods. Ours is a retail store owned by our members. But what does it really mean to be a consumer cooperative and what does it mean to be a co-op member?



Oct 4* Board of Directors Meeting

*Check the Board’s board in the store or our website at www.foodcoop.coop for Board meeting time.

Contact the Board at coopboard@foodcoop.coop

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers was a group of 28 weavers and other artisans in Rochdale, England. These trades people decided to open their own store selling food items they could not otherwise afford. On December 21, 1844, they opened their store with a very meager selection of butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and a few candles. Within three months, they expanded their selection to include tea and tobacco, and they were soon known for providing high quality goods.

6. Cooperation between cooperatives 7. Concern for community So what does all this have to do with the food in our store? At the end of the day, we hope it means food you can trust. Food that has been grown, produced and distributed in a way that takes into account not just one bottom line but three.

Do we always get it right? Of course not—this is an organization run by humans after all. Do we always agree on the best way to live up to our ideals and principles? No again, democracy has always been and always will be a messy business. But in a world dominated by a food system that seems devoid of any intention of sustainability, it’s a pretty darn good alternative.

From these humble beginnings, an entire movement was born. But the basic tenet remains the same: by working together, we can obtain the goods and services that we need and want in a manner that serves our values and principles.

We are not beholden to an anonymous set of shareholders to provide the highest profit and financial return on their Once again I say: The Food Co-op is much more than a grocery capital investment. We are, however, beholden to our owner- store. Just like that group of weavers and artisans, we are engaged members. in a different way of doing business. So add your voice as we cocreate this together.

“Suppose we were able to share meanings freely without a compulsive urge to impose our view or conform to those of others and without distortion and self-deception. Would this not constitute a real revolution in culture?”

- David Bohm 4

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

www.foodcoop.coop

ORG

ANIC

since

1972

Thinking Like a Weed robust and thriving we are holding our ground

KENNA EATON, General Manager foods when they weren’t available elsewhere. We saw the opportunity and seized the moment. And now, 40 years later, we have a thriving, robust business that employs over 90 people and meets the needs of over 5,500 owners. The need to seize opportunities still exists, yet with that increase in robust business comes also the need to plan more carefully The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, and consider all stakeholders. More consideration, certainly, is usually considered the first successful cooperative enterprise than in 1972 when stakes were smaller. and is used as a model for modern co-ops. Co-ops evolved in the 20th century as mostly farmer-owned businesses such As we begin our strategic planning process, we recognize that as Land O’Lakes, Sunkist and Ocean Spray that eventually we will be looking for such opportunities and unmet needs became household names. During the depression, co-op of our community. We may not be able to take advantage of grocery stores opened, and as the need for electricity and all the suggestions we hear, but we will welcome them as we phones grew, rural ranches in the west formed electrical co- determine the future of this business together. ops to bring those services out to their homes.

Some things won’t change: trust, loyalty and cooperation Later, in the 60s and 70s, co-ops were formed to bring natural will still matter. Our actions will still be local and people will foods to the new wave of hippie homesteaders in places rediscover the value of cooperation on all economic levels. like Port Townsend. In our community we also formed a And as the market changes and as our members’ needs change, shipwright’s co-op, a construction co-op, a credit union and so we need to be able to stretch to reconnect and to continue even an employee-owned propane co-op. Thus the structure to be relevant. It’s a dialogue and a conversation. of equitable ownership has stretched and been used to accommodate many different types of businesses world wide. There will be constraints but nothing should be sacred. We need to plant seeds, encourage creativity, hold unconventional The other amazing thing about co-ops is that they work so conversations, learn from each other and stretch ourselves so well in times of economic uncertainty. They embrace business that we can continue to serve our members for another 40 innovation and can change to reflect the needs of the owners years. Please be sure to look for invitations from the Co-op or the marketplace. The other day someone described us Board of Directors to come play with us as we search for as “opportunists,” a word I normally associate with weeds, opportunities and strategically create our future together. which do such a great job of seeing a bare patch of earth where nothing else wants to grow and taking over.

October is Co-op month and it’s time for us to once again recognize our rich history and celebrate our successes.

Cooperatives are business organizations owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit. But that doesn’t begin to tell the whole story.

As I thought more about it, I began to see the correlation.

Take our own example of opening a store selling natural

from the GM’s desk Shopper Survey

We will be conducting a shopper survey sometime in the fall. It’s been over six years since we last asked our shoppers to tell us a little bit about themselves. Thank you for taking the time, when asked, to participate.

We look forward to seeing how much our membership has changed—or stayed the same!

Construction Project

Thank you for your patience during our construction project—we also want to thank all the people who helped make it go so smoothly, especially our local crews: Nordland Construction, Craighead Electric, Bob Brown Plumbing, Hope Roofing and Sunshine Propane, as well as all our staff. We are so excited to be better able to serve you.

Look for our new grab ‘n’ go case in our deli—it’s filled with some pretty amazing and yummy new food.

“Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us.

The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one.” - Marianne Williamson www.foodcoop.coop

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

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ood fCO-OP THE

all the news

that wouldn’t fit

PORT TOWNSEND

www.foodcoop.coop www.facebook.com/TheFoodCoop

October 16 World Food Day! www.worldfooddayusa.org

@ptfoodcoop join our email list memberservices@ ptfoodcoop.coop

CO-OP CLASS

sign up for a class see the updated class schedule in the store

October is Fair Trade Month

To view an Equal Exchange video celebrating the month go to www.equalexchange. coop/10-days-in-peru-10years-later In a message from Equal Exchange to Port Townsend Food Co-op, the following words were shared: “Building decade-long relationships between farmers and store managers wouldn’t be possible without the support of your shoppers.“

BIRTH DEFECTS CONNECTED TO PESTICIDES

The conclusion of a new report authored by a group of international scientists and researchers, (“Roundup and birth defects: Is the public being kept in the dark?”) reveals that industry’s own studies (including one commissioned by Monsanto itself) showed as long ago as the 1980s that Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate causes birth defects in frogs and chickens at concentrations much lower than those used in agricultural spraying. The study shows the pesticide industry and Europe’s regulators have jointly misled the public with claims that glyphosate is safe. As a result, Roundup is liberally used by home gardeners and local authorities on roadsides, in school grounds, and other public areas, as well as in farmers’ fields. Many independent studies, summarized in the report, show that glyphosate and Roundup cause birth defects, cancer, genetic damage, endocrine disruption, and other serious effects, often at low, realistic doses. “The inside story on Monsanto and the glyphosate birth defect data,” by Claire Robinson and originally printed in The Ecologist (6/13/2011) is available on our website (follow the Co-op Reading Room link on our home page).

PARKING

Thank you for parking in the appropriate spots. Handicapped is only available to those with permits.

Please don’t park where it says you can’t!

Fall 2011 Class schedule

CO-OP CLASS

NON-GMO MONTH

If you happen to be on the other coast in October, join the GMO Right2Know March from 10/1-10/16.

The walk, organized by the NonGMO Project, features daily events between New York and Washington, D.C. Marchers are expected to walk part or all of the 313 miles from the UN Headquarters to the White House. More info is available at www. righttoknow.org And don’t forget— October 16 is World Food Day!

CHILD-SIZED SHOPPING CARTS

Some of you have been waiting, and now they are coming...Learn-To-Shop carts! They will be available on a trial basis. The Co-op is a crowded place, so we ask that members be mindful of their children and that other shoppers welcome this opportunity for children to learn healthy shopping habits

SUMMER SALMON SALE

Just in time for the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, all Cape Cleare salmon sold in our meat case, from our favorite fisherman Rick Oltman, will be on sale for the month of September. You’ll also have a chance to sample Rick’s delicious salmon—he’ll be outside the Coop grilling salmon every Monday in September from 3-5:30.

PEANUT BUTTER NEWS

Drought is affecting the supply of organic Valencia peanuts, the variety of peanut used for making peanut butter. Domestic organic peanuts will continue to be available in the bulk section as long as we can get them, but we will no longer be able to stock our hopper with domestic locally roasted organic peanuts from CB’s Nuts. The price may go up as the supply dwindles and/or when only imported organic peanuts are available.

ood fCO-OP THE

PORT TOWNSEND

eat well be well

NEW FALL CLASSES

New classes have been added to the Coop Class schedule with new teachers!

Dr. Dale Fountain will be holding a free seminar on Resistive Weight Loss on Sept. 14, 6:30-7:30pm including free Nutritional Response Testing. We also have Julie Abowitt back with her series on stress management. Sherry Fry will also offer her Nutritutional Response testing again in Sept. See calendar page 19 for more info and pick up a class schedule addendum today.

GARLIC POWDER NEWS

Frontier’s organic garlic powder was recently honored on American Public Media’s “The Splendid Table.” In a comparison of garlic powders from various spice companies, Frontier’s garlic powder came in 1st place: “Bulk garlic powder from local co-op. This is the standout. Where all the other powders tasted toasted and/or metallic, or simply awful, this one tastes clearly of fresh garlic.” Try it out yourself in our bulk spice section!

NEW SUPPLEMENTS

Liz Lindstrom, our Supplement Buyer recommends VEGA Optimizers. a new product in the Wellness Department.

VEGA products are all-in-one, natural plant based powdered supplements that are an excellent source of protein, fiber and antioxidants They provide 100% recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals and contain omega 3 and 6 EFAs, enzymes, probiotics and phytonutrients in a vegan formula.

“In a revolution, as in a novel, the most difficult part to invent is the end.” - Alexis de Tocqueville 6

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

www.foodcoop.coop

Staff Picks

Staff Spotlight

Brendon O’Shea Produce Buyer DEBORAH SCHUMACHER, Interviewer Deborah: Can you please describe your job for our readers?

Brendon: I coordinate purchasing through distributors and local growers for Produce and Floral & Garden. I also work with Derek (Produce Manager) on merchandising and I work with marketing to, among other things, create the weekly produce ad. In September I’ll be presenting with Brwyn in Outreach/Marketing at the Northwest Earth Institute conference at Ford Worden.

DS: What’s your favorite part of your job?

BJO: Working with growers and staff. I feel like I have the best job in the world—I work with fruits and veggies, sharing the sustenance of life with people.

DS: What part do you think you play in the food revolution?

BJO: Modestly…I play a small part in our little Port Townsend world with the day-to-day functioning of our food system while at the same time shifting to meet future food needs for our customers.

DS: Describe your life in 25 words or less.

BJO: I am a born and raised East Coast boy who knew at a young age that the West was for me.

DS: If you were a fruit or vegetable, what would it be?

BJO: As of this morning [July 26], I’d like to be a blueberry. I like blueberries. I’m sad that Rick Eason won’t be able to supply us with blueberries this year—the November freeze, a wet cold spring, mold, disease, lack of pollination (he saw 1/3 the number of bumblebees this year) has resulted in a very poor crop this year.

DS: What’s your favorite food, and why?

BJO: Kelly’s (Brendon’s partner) homemade spanakopita—‘cause you never know what kind of green you’ll find in it. Because spanakopita isn’t just for spinach anymore, Popeye!

DS: If you could play on any baseball team in the world, which would it be and what position would you play?

BJO: The Red Sox and I’d be the bat boy, the guy that picks up after everybody and gets to interface with each player in a dreamy, madeup world.

DS: What one thing do you absolutely have to do before you die?

BJO: Live in another country, a country that has a lot of agricultural roots. I’d like to experience another culture’s food palate.

DS: What one thing do you want our readers to know about you that I haven’t asked you?

BJO: I want to be like Walter!

Debbie Vanderbilt KIND Healthy Snacks “Nuts & Fruit - tasty, easy to eat, nutritional snack. My favorite is Apricot-Almond. Great for car trips or camping.”

Located across from the dairy case.

Anniversaries Sept & Oct

10 years Loran Scruggs, POS

Estelle Giangrosso Hempler’s Natural Uncured Beef Pepperoni “Don’t eat much of it but this meat makes my mouth happy. Delicious and not too greasy.”

Next to the meat case.

Hearty Thank You Awards

9 years Melodie Thompson, Food Services 8 years Mark Verheecke, Produce

July Mario Gonzales

7 years Andrea Dahdah, POS Scott Marble, Facilities Eric Rymer, Grocery 6 years Marcia Atwood, Operations Annie Cleveland, Front End

June Eric Rymer

5 years Josh Madill, Food Services Sheryl Little, Food Services 3 years Phil Blair, Food Services Anita Jahoda, Grocery Jan Tobin, Wellness

Way To Go!

1 year Hadley Nye, Food Services Anniversaries are calculated from date of most recent hire for paid employment and may not reflect previous years of employment or years of work as a volunteer.

Thanks to the Food Services staff for providing great service during construction!

“When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right.” - Victor Hugo www.foodcoop.coop

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

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Eat Your Greens Algae That Is!

Green superfoods Astaxanthin, Chlorella, Chlorophyll & Spirulina JAN TOBIN, Wellness Manager

The use of algae for health benefits can be found as long ago as the 9th century. The health benefits of consuming green superfoods are well documented for all four of the algae presented here. All four have amazing properties for balancing the body and providing support for many conditions by providing super nutrition to the body. And, they have many healing properties in common. Today, they are recognized good manufacturing practices for growing and processing algae for human and animal consumption.

Spirulina algae is a nitrogen-based blue-green mico-algae with a coil-like shape residing in alkaline fresh water lakes and ponds. It’s used as an immune enhancement, as a protein supplement, for allergic reactions, and for liver disorders and oral and skin problems. Spirulina provides significant amounts of blue-green algae nutrients, vitamin B12, amino acids, trace elements, chelated minerals, and enzymes. Additional benefits of spirulina include: protection of the liver and kidneys; improvement of blood quality and prevention of anemia; removal of heavy metals from the body; control of allergic rhinitis.

Chlorella, an oxygen-based green algae used widely in Japan, has bio-chelated vitamins and minerals and is easily cultured. The chlorella cell is made of indigestible cellulose similar to green grass and can be considered a complete protein as it has all eight of the essential amino acids. Used for digestion, detoxification, and to support the immune system, chlorella has been touted as the perfect whole food.

Aside from being a complete protein, it contains all the B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, and the major minerals (with zinc and iron in amounts large enough to be considered supplementary).

Chlorella has been found to: improve the immune system; improve digestion; detoxify the body;

accelerate healing; protect against radiation; aid in the prevention of degenerative diseases; aid in the treatment of Candida albicans; relieve arthritis pain; aid in the success of numerous weight loss programs.

Chlorophyll is a porphyrin ring, a molecular arrangement that allows for free electrons to remain available to help new plant cells grow.

Chlorophyll is the result of photosynthesis, when the sun’s energy is absorbed by a plant and water and carbon dioxide is converted into oxygen and glucose. Researchers have found that chlorophyll is similar to human blood except that its main atom is magnesium (in human blood it’s iron). Additional benefits of chlorophyll: aids in gastrointestinal problems; promotes formation of hemoglobin and red blood cells; treats bad breath; detoxifies the body of toxins that cause cancer; beneficial in assimilating calcium and other heavy minerals; fights infections.

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid (like beta-carotene), a long-chain molecular pigment that is extracted from a tropical micro-algae strain called Haematococcus pluvialis. A molecule that gives color to salmon and some crustaceans, it has 10 times the activity of beta-carotene and 500 times the antioxidant potency of vitamin E. Benefits associated with Astaxanthin: • Inhibits lipid peroxidation at the cell level, thus protecting the cell membrane and the mitochondrial membrane within the cell.

• Crosses the blood-brain barrier, which makes it available to the eye, brain and central nervous system to alleviate oxidative stress that contributes to ocular and neurodegenerative diseases such as glaucoma and Alzheimer’s.

• Provides significantly more antioxidant capacity

• •

• • •

• •

than other carotenoids and antioxidants such as beta-carotene and vitamin E. Entraps free radicals by adding them to its long, double-bonded chain rather than donating an electron.

Stabilizes the cell membrane like a bridge because its polar end groups span the cell membrane, increasing its rigidity and mechanical strength.

Neutralizes (de-charges) singlet and triplet oxygen generated by UVA and UVG radiation and other sources.

Binds to a lipoprotein, an efficient transport vehicle, making it more bioavailable.

Increases immune system function including heightened production of antibody-secreting cells and Interleukin 2 and suppression of Interferon-gamma. Inhibits reactive oxygen species that cause inflammation.

Enhances the antioxidant actions of vitamin E and vitamin C and encourages the release of vitamin A from the liver when needed.

Very likely increases cell gap junctional communication, a mechanism thought to inhibit cancer.

With today’s modern cooking techniques and the decrease in nutrition in foods in general, adding super nourishing and protective green foods will enhance your health and well-being.

References: Nutritional Supplements Health Guide (internet) Healing with Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford Vitamin Bible, Earl Mindell Staying Healthy with Nutrition, Elson Haas, M.D. “Potential Health Benefits of Spirulina Microalgae, “ Bob Capelli and Gerald R. Cyewski (2010)

“It is impossible to predict the time and progress of revolution.

It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws.” - Vladimir Lenin 8

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

www.foodcoop.coop

Menopause Women’s Mid-Life Revolution

Raw Food Revolution for Your Pets DR. ANNA GARDNER, MA Vet. MB Owner-Member & Holistic Veterinarian There has been a dramatic shift in the pet food industry in recent years: feeding a raw food diet to cats and dogs. It’s been revolutionary in many ways and has caused a lot of controversy amongst vets and pet owners.

Cats and dogs evolved to eat in the wild. As wild cats and dogs evolved towards domestication, they would have been fed scraps from human foods, also meat-based. The digestive tracts of cats and dogs are short and acidic and suited to eating meat (not to digesting complex carbohydrates like grains). Their teeth, with sharp incisors to stab and catch prey and shearing molars to eat meat, are also suited to a meatbased diet.

Modern pet food was introduced in England in 1890 and was made from ingredients like wheat, vegetables, beets and meat. Beets and wheat are not natural foods for cats or dogs and they tend to be allergenic. As the profit-driven pet food industry developed, preservatives like BHA and BHT, which can cause liver damage and possibly cancer, were added as well as artificial colors and fillers like soy, bran, and sorghum. Wheat and wheat glutens became common ingredients in pet foods, and continue to be so today, even in so-called “prescription” diets. It’s no surprise, with the use of harsh chemicals and multiple vaccines, as well as an increasingly toxic environment and genetic problems due to selective breeding (primarily for looks), that the health of pets began to decline.

Recently, pet owners have begun questioning the ingredients in many commercial pet foods and some have turned to raw foods for their pets. They either prepare a raw food diet at home or they buy commercially available pre-made frozen pet food. At the very least, they are looking for pet foods made with food-based ingredients and without preservatives or artificial chemicals or fillers.

While not all animals are strong enough to eat exclusively raw foods, most animals thrive and become healthy and vibrant on a raw food diet. Their coats will be healthier and they should have more energy and fewer health conditions. After all, it’s what they’re supposed to eat!

Anna Maria Gardner MA Vet. MB is a holistic veterinarian based in Brinnon.

Dr. Gardner uses nutrition, homeopathy, acupuncture, flower essences, and other holistic modalities to bring holistic health care to the animal kingdom. She can be reached at 360-796-3749 or drgardner@petsynergy.com or for more information visit her website at www.petsynergy.com

CO-OP CLASS

Saturday, Sept 10 2-4 pm Living Gluten Free

Saturday, Oct 8 2-4 pm Natural Kitchen Medicine $25 owners $30 guests

MOLLY FORCE, N.D.

Owner-Member & Naturopathic Physician

Menopause is a time of change. As a woman, your body will stop having periods because your estrogen and progesterone levels naturally decline. Like most women, you may start to experience perimenopause in your 40s with symptoms lasting into your 50s. This is a normal and natural process. Unfortunately, for many women, the menopausal transition can be an uncomfortable one. Fortunately, the menopausal discomforts you may experience respond very well to natural medicine and natural approaches.

What can you expect? The way you experience menopause will be unique to you and your body. Some of the changes you may notice include menstrual cycle changes, hot flashes and night sweats, mood changes, headaches, weight gain, dry skin, cold hands and feet, loss of libido, memory problems, loss of bone density, insomnia.

Consistent exercise decreases hot flashes, benefits mood stabilization, and improves bone density. Focus on eating seasonal and fresh foods that support your specific constitution. Whenever possible, buy organic and local foods. Calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D support healthy bone density, immune function, and sleep. Vitamin E reduces hot flashes and vaginal dryness by improving blood supply to the vaginal wall. Herbs such as sage, black cohosh, licorice, alfalfa, wild yam, and St. John’s wort may be appropriate.

Some plants contain phytoestrogens, chemicals in plants that mimic estrogens in your body, that can help reduce menopausal symptoms. Soy is the most well known phytoestrogen-containing food. The use of soy is controversial because of its link to increasing estrogen-sensitive cancers. I recommend fermented forms of soy (tempeh and miso), which are easier to digest for menopausal women not at high risk of having breast cancer.

Flaxseed is my favorite phytoestrogen plant because it contains anti-inflammatory oils as well as fiber. I always recommend grinding the whole seeds fresh and keeping them in the refrigerator, as their delicate oils go rancid quickly, especially after they have been ground.

How you decide to manage the challenges that may arise during menopause is one of the most difficult healthcare decisions you will face as a woman. Conventional hormone replacement therapy with pharmaceutical estrogens and progesterone has many known risks and side effects. With my patients, I advocate an effective, integrated and natural approach to menopause. I often suggest hormonal testing to focus treatment on their specific hormonal imbalance. It is critical that you are individually evaluated to help you determine the optimal approach for you.

Dr. Molly Force is a family practice naturopathic physician who specializes in combining natural healing with conventional medical diagnosis and therapy. Her practice Prosper Natural Health is located in Port Townsend. She can be reached at www.ProsperNaturalHealth.com or 360-385-5375.

“The seed of revolution is repression.” - Woodrow Wilson www.foodcoop.coop

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

8 9

Revolutionary Diet Changes LAURA LAWLESS, Grocery Buyer One of the most enjoyable aspects of my job is helping our customers. Sometimes they just can’t find the tofu or the coffee, but other times they come in with a serious diagnosis or illness and are looking for nutritional support with dietary changes. More and more folks are being told they have an allergy to wheat and/or gluten and need help finding substitutions for all of the things they previously had eaten.

As we rearrange products in the store, I’ve tried to group gluten-free items together whenever possible for your shopping pleasure and convenience. We’ve added GF shelf labels next to the items that are gluten-free. Find something great you’d like us to carry? Please write me a suggestion and I’ll see if we can’t squeeze it in!

t s a f k a bre cereal

Sonoma

Ivory Teff tortillas bottom shelf in the frig

Udi’s gluten-free

pizza crust top shelf in the freezer

Nature’s Highlights

brown rice pizza crust top shelf of the freezer

Food for Life’s brown rice tortillas in the freezer

Erewhon

crispy brown rice cereal

Nature’s Path

best selection of gluten-free cereal Mesa, Mesa with Raisins, Cornflakes, and Envirokids

pizza s a l l i t r to lunch

Glutenfreeda vegetarian and chicken burritos in the freezer

s e l f f a w Van’s

totally natural and blueberry

Nature’s Path

Mesa and Homestyle waffles in the freezer

Udi’s gluten-free bread Rudi’s gluten-free bread in the freezer

bread

“We used to think that revolutions are the cause of change. Actually it is the other way around: change prepares the ground for revolution.” - Eric Hoffer 10

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

www.foodcoop.coop

! m o d e e r f gluten

New! Crunchmaster multi-seed crackers

New! Glutino gluten-free crackers

My new favorite crackers are Jovan’s. They are made in Blaine, WA by a small company and offer whole food nutrition. Made from garbanzo bean four and whole organic dehydrated veggies, they are the healthiest cracker option we carry, hands down!

San J

black sesame crackers

Mary’s

Gone Crackers

Blue Diamond

Nut Thins crackers original, vegetable not shown

Mary’s Sticks & Twigs Glutino pretzels

snacks

Lundberg rice chips

Ian’s Gluten-free chicken nuggets and fish sticks in the freezer

NEW! Jōvan’s

Zesty Tomato Taste of Tuscany Spicy El Paso (my personal favorite) Garden Pesto

Tinkyáda brown rice pasta Many different shapes and cuts; certified organic and natural options available

Ancient Harvest New! Jovial brown rice pasta

The best I’ve tried! spaghetti, fusili and penne

Amy’s deserves acknowledgement for their effort at bringing tasty gluten-free convenience foods to folks. They make burritos, tamales, enchiladas and pizzas.

quinoa pastas spaghetti linguine, rotelle, pagodas and elbows

dinner

“The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation.” - Woodrow Wilson www.foodcoop.coop

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

10 11

Certified Organic

WASHINGTON ORGANIC WEEK 9/11 – 9/17

eight years and counting!

What’s in Season Sept/Oct

BRENDON O’SHEA, Produce Buyer July 23rd was a celebratory day at The Food Co-op. There were no balloons, streamers, bells and whistles, or cakes. There really wasn’t anything signifying the importance of the day. The Produce Department, though, was definitely aware of its importance as they worked the wet and dry racks. That’s because since July 23, 2003, our department has been the only Certified Organic Produce Department on the entire Olympic Peninsula, eight years and counting.

What does it mean to be a “certified organic” department in a retail grocery store? Retail food establishments don’t need to be certified in order to sell organic agricultural products. However, they’re responsible for verifying and maintaining the organic integrity of those products. It’s this same organic integrity that spurred the produce manager in 2003 to file for organic certification with the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA).

Since then, each and every day, we make a commitment, as a store and as a department, to uphold the integrity of the organic movement from the field to our customers’ shopping carts.

Being a certified organic produce department doesn’t mean we ONLY buy and sell certified organic products. We purchase a lot of locally grown, non-certified organic produce from our local growers and producers. What it does mean is that we have to handle these products a bit differently, in the cooler and on the floor. We have a clearly labeled and separate space in our walk-in refrigerator where non-certified organic items live until they go out onto the floor. Once on the floor, whether in a wet rack (lettuce, carrots, broccoli) or in a dry display (potatoes, onions, tomatoes), we maintain a physical barrier between certified organic and non-certified organic to prevent commingling.

A physical barrier can mean one item wrapped in plastic, for example a 5 pound bag of carrots is placed between a row of non-certified lacinato kale and a row of certified organic kohlrabi. The bag of carrots acts as the physical barrier. We also use separate sinks in our backroom when we rinse our vegetables before stocking them. We don’t stock non-certified organic items above certified organic items in the department to prevent commingling (dripping). To maintain certification, each year, usually in late summer, all our processes are reviewed by a visiting WSDA Organic Inspector.

apples, artichokes arugula, beans beets, blackberries, blueberries, bok choi, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, cilantro, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, dandelion, dill, endive, escarole, fennel, grapes, kale, kiwi, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, melons, mizuna, mushrooms (including chanterelle & lobster), nuts, onions, parsley, pARSNIPS, PeaRs, peppers, plums, potatoes, pumpkins, QUINCE, radishes (Daikon), rhubarb, rutabaga, shallots, spinach, squash (summer, zucchini & winter), strawberries tomatoes, turnips, watercress

garlic,

Fall flower bouquets available through first hard frost!

The integrity of our organic system is very important to us. Helping local growers bring fresh, healthy and organically grown fruits and vegetables to our shelves is our job. See you around the department.

September is National Organic Month!

“If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself.

If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution.

All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.” - Mao Zedong 12

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

www.foodcoop.coop

Delightful Sweet & Savory PERFECT PUMPKIN PIE FILLING makes 2 big pies

6 cups baked mashed Sweet Meat or other prime squash or pumpkin 2-2 ¼ cups eggs (I use duck eggs, but chicken eggs are fine) 2 cups heavy whipping cream 1-3 cups brown sugar, packed down, depending upon the sweetness of the individual fruit 2 Tbs. Carol’s Perfect Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix (16:4:4:1 cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves) 1 tsp. real vanilla powder ¼ tsp. salt

Squash

All the hard squashes make good winter eating because they store well and because their sweet orange and golden flesh is so filling when we crave comfort food. Some hard squashes are so sweet they can be a dessert-like pudding. Drizzle on a little maple syrup and a pat of butter...yum!

Acorn: green, gold and white varieties, compact with defined

ribs. They make an attractive vessel—hollow out the halves after baking and use as decorative bowls for mashed squash, squash soup, rice or stuffing.

Buttercup: squat and green with vertical gray or pale green stripes. Tender orange flesh has a taste similar to sweet potato.

1. Measure and combine the mashed squash, spice mix, vanilla, sugar, and salt in a large stainless steel bowl.

Butternut: creamy-orange gourd with a bottleneck shape.

2. Add the eggs. I use a hand mixer to beat the eggs (on top of the squash mix) for a few seconds, then add the cream and blend everything into a smooth batter. Any strings from the squash end up wrapped around the mixing blades and are thus automatically removed.

Carnival:

Tastes like a nuttier version of sweet potato and can be baked or steamed.

has a festive pattern with brush-like stripes of orange and specks of green. The meat is a golden yellow similar to butternut, even creamier and sweeter.

Delicata:

oblong with lemon-colored skin streaked with green or orange. The meat is a cross between butternut and sweet potato (it’s also called sweet potato squash).

Hubbard (blue, golden, green, grey): large and bumpy like 3. Pre-warm the batter by placing the a misshapen teardrop with a wart-covered exterior and peachbowl with the mixed ingredients colored flesh. The flesh is moist but best prepared boiled or inside another bowl or pan filled baked and then puréed. with hot water to bring the batter to lukewarm. When the batter is warm to Kabocha: the word for “squash” in Japanese. Mossy-green the touch, pour it into two pie plates. rind with spotted streaks of gray with a tender, sweet pumpkin 4. I put the pies on the second rack from flesh but without the stringy fibers. the bottom in an oven preheated to 350ºF. It takes about 45 to 55 minutes Red Kuri (Orange Hokkaido): butter-colored flesh to bake the pies. smoother than butternut squash, tear-drop shaped with an intense orange rind. With a distinctive chestnut flavor, it makes 5. Remove the pies from the oven and a unique soup base that lends itself to pairings with many other put them on a rack to cool. During ingredients. cooling, the pie surface sinks down to become ordinary concave pie shape Sweet Dumpling: cream- or daffodil-colored rind boasts and the delicate crust disappears. thick deep ribs lined with green or orange. Sweet and tender, Now, here comes the hard part. Cover it’s a great size for roasting or baking as individual servings. the pies and refrigerate them for a day.

It takes a day in the refrigerator for the Turban or Turkish Turban: shaped like a sultan’s full flavor to develop. turban, color can range from orange, red, green, sometimes a combination of all four. Flavor can be a little like hazelnut; From The Resilient Gardener: Food good size makes a wonderful bowl for serving soup when Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain hollowed out.

Times by Carol Deppe (2010) Adapted from glossary of squashes at Melissas.com

Renegades Shop Bulk Oct. 23 Celebrate National Bulk Day on October 23 this year by trying out the bulk sections in our store. Save money. Save packaging.

Enjoy more variety. For more about shopping bulk visit www.bulkisgreen.org

BULK UP at the CO-OP! 23 varieties of beans 18 types of grains Spices Herbs Teas Water Olives Capers Vegetable Oil Vinegar Vanilla Tamari Stoneground Mustard Honey Molasses Nut Butters Sea Vegetables Baking Powder & Soda Arrowroot Powdered Broth Baking Chocolate Massage oils Shampoo & Conditioner Lotions Liquid Soap Pet Food Dish Soap Laundry Soap (liquid & powder) Soil Amendments Green Sand Bone Meal... and more!

“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”

- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin www.foodcoop.coop

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

12 13

farmers

market

news PORT TOWNSEND SATURDAY MARKET 9am-2pm Uptown at Lawrence &Tyler Over 70 vendors One of the largest small town markets in the nation FARMS, FOOD, ARTS, CRAFTS, MUSIC AND MORE

PORT TOWNSEND WEDNESDAY MARKET 3pm-6pm Uptown, at Polk & Lawrence FARMS, FOOD, MUSIC AND MORE

CHIMACUM SUNDAY MARKET 10am-2pm Chimacum Corner Over 30 local vendors FARMS, FOOD, MUSIC AND MORE jeffersoncountyfarmersmarket.org

Adding Value growing a local food business

L LOCAL

WILL O’DONNELL, Jefferson County Farmers Market Director

One of the most exciting developments at our market over the last five or so years has been the emergence of local food processors and preparers. These are the folks that have created businesses that add value to preexisting local produce. Last month I wrote about Mama’s Harvest, who bought over a thousand pounds of local carrots for pickling. You probably know about Mt. Townsend Creamery, who purchases tens of thousands of gallons of local milk to make award-winning artisan cheese. You know about Bob’s Bagels, who uses local flour in the bagels when he can and gets really creative with local ingredients as toppings, from market greens to eggs to kimchi, cheese, and lots more. Cape Cleare Salmon has spawned two prepared food businesses at the farmers market—the amazing salmon wagon and the InSeason Catering fish taco booth, both featuring Cape Cleare fish as their primary ingredient and both buying local produce for sides and toppings. Rainie Sunshine, Dented Buoy, and Pane D’Amore use all kinds of local too. And of course the Food Co-op kitchen.

I want to see more value-added local food businesses at the market and in our community. They can create jobs, help support local farms and improve our community health and bottom line. There is no downside. Well, except one. It’s not the easiest way to make money—creating iphone apps is likely more profitable, but who among us moved to Jefferson County because we were looking for increased profitability? The cost of our high quality of life has always been an extra dollop of manual labor and perhaps not as much dessert as you could have in Lynwood or Bellevue. But I digress. What I want to do is lay out a few logical steps for starting a local food business.

free time, your extra cash and likely the extra time and cash of some of your friends or family to make it a reality.

Find a source. You need to be able to find your product components affordably and in abundance. Pickling Nash’s carrots is great ‘cause they grow tons. Pickling quail eggs, not so much.

Make sure there’s a market. You need to have a public interested in buying it. This is confusing to some people, who think it’s the job of business to create demand. Not always so. I think you are better off starting with a demand that is unmet—like bagels and pickles. Three years ago there was no supply, but people still wanted them. If no one wants to buy your product then you have two businesses to run: the business of making your product and the business of generating demand.

Create a connection with your supplier (like Mama’s Harvest working a deal with Red Dog Farm to have their own rows of pickling cukes custom grown).

Find a rental kitchen (there are lots all over the county).

Find an outlet. My bias is to the farmers market and the Co-op is a great option as well. If you are making a value-added product from locally grown materials, we likely have a space for you. Hargopal of Mama’s Harvest calls his farmers market stand their retail store, and it is. It’s a retail store with very little overhead and only a one- to three-daya-week commitment. Even more valuable is the marketing opportunity it provides.

On Saturdays, the budding entrepreneur has the chance to connect with up to 2,000 customers a day, to tell the story and sample the product face-to-face. That’s a value that Find your passion. Any good business idea almost no other retail outlet can offer. needs to excite you enough to give up your

VALUE ADDED FOODS TO CONSIDER SELLING AT MARKET (Per Will. . .)

Charcuterie: sausages/ cured meats. We have consistent and reliable high quality local meats right now, especially pork and beef.

Ravioli: I love the idea of a business that can take advantage of the seasonal nature of local food.

Ravioli, or any stuffed pasta, can be frozen or fresh, providing some flexibility in marketing.

Lots of variations on this theme (empanadas, Middle Eastern savory pies...).

Stock or soup bases: meat or vegetable or fish stock can be the offshoot of a business that uses a lot of local foods.

To avoid: gooseberry juice. No point starting a business based on a crop that you can’t get a sizable quantity of, that is unless you are going to be selling it like caviar. Which isn’t a bad idea, we could use some local caviar. And that reminds me: why no local seaweed? No nori or kombu or dulse? Dabob Bay is clean and lovely— can we partner with the oyster folks to do local seaweed...?

“A revolution can be neither made nor stopped. The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories.” - Napoleon Bonaparte 14

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

www.foodcoop.coop

The Future Is Organic

really smart farming that shuns stupid modern innovations

Organic Vision THERESA MARQUEZ

DEBORAH SCHUMACHER, Staff Writer

chief marketing executive at Organic Valley, a national dairy cooperative

“This latest E. coli outbreak is painful real-life evidence that for ethanol production), this media smear campaign natural foods are not always better, nor safe for consumption.” emphasizing the suspected role of an organic farm in this Wall Street Journal, “Europe’s Organic Food Scare” ( June latest food scare is disheartening and maddening.

13, 2011).

Disheartening because Monsanto/Forage Genetics’ How many times did we hear over the TV or the radio or genetically engineered alfalfa, a perennial plant, is a real in print that the e-coli outbreak in June that killed 25 and threat to organic agriculture. Albert Straus, president of made hundreds sick was suspected to originate from an Straus Family Creamery, paints a pretty bleak picture: he believes GE alfalfa “seriously jeopardizes the integrity of organic farm in Germany. Emphasis on organic. the organic food chain, and could cause irreparable harm It’s not just that the cheerleaders for conventional to organic farmers” (“Your Government Insists the Food production agriculture could collectively breathe a sigh of Revolution Will Be Genetically Modified,” Common relief because organic agriculture, apparently, could have Ground Magazine, March 2011). a food safety scare just like them. The Wall Street Journal editors suggest that it’s precisely because of organic Maddening because organic agriculture is a pretty practices that the e-coli outbreak occurred: “It’s no small unqualified good. It doesn’t introduce poison into our scandal that the latest E. coli outbreak has been linked food system and it doesn’t introduce novel and untested to an organic German farm that shuns modern farming organisms into our food supply. Animal welfare, people techniques” (emphasis of organic in the original; emphasis welfare and planet welfare are core values in organic that follows is mine). From a Reuters article on the same agriculture. At its best, when done on a small scale by people subject: “And organic farms, with all that they entail in who care, organic agriculture conserves water, protects terms of not using ordinary chemicals and non-organic soils and biodiversity, and practices sustainability—the fertilizers, carry an extra risk” (Reuters quote at Sharon thing that will make it possible for our children and their children and their children’s children to continue to grow Astyk’s June 7 post at scienceblogs.com/casaubonsbook). food.

What? Organic farming is risky? Riskier than spraying poison on food and inserting the DNA of bacteria and Too often, organic agriculture, really smart farming viruses into the seeds that grow our food? Riskier than that shuns stupid modern innovations, is dismissed as giving sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics to animals a specialty niche supported mostly by “foodies” and without a role in the future. But we need to know that raised knee-deep in their own excrement? organic agriculture is the future.

At a time when organic agriculture is threatened by a renegade USDA that earlier this year approved the I end with these wise words from Wendell Berry: “It is one release of no less than three new and untested genetically of the miracles of science and hygiene that the germs that modified products (alfalfa, sugar beets and a corn designed used to be in our food have been replaced by poisons.”

Those of us in organic are hopeless idealists and hopelessly optimistic about the future direction of agriculture. We think that the future of agriculture has to be organic.

When you start peeling back the layers of our food system to look at what’s wrong, a lot of it starts with pesticide-intensive agriculture. The biotech industry makes the claim that GMOs are going to feed the world, and yet they are using over twice the amount of pesticides and more water than non-GMO crops.

For me, the future is organic in the next 20 years. Unfortunately, we’re probably not going to get there without a whole lot of pain, i.e., everyone realizing they know someone who has fertility problems and can’t reproduce without assistance. That’s only 15 percent of our population now, but it’s going to be 25 percent in not too long.

People think that’s normal. We should be terrified about that. In 20 years, I see an evolution of our food system, if we’re still around, because the human race seems to be intent on doing itself in.

We need a Noah right now to start building his ark. Slow Food has an Ark of Taste. I see that there are food arks now popping up all over.

www.bioneers.org

“Many a revolution started with the actions of a few. Only 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence.

A few hanging together can lead a nation to change.” - Wynton Marsalis www.foodcoop.coop

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

14 15

Organic Vision

Quinoa Quandary

DEBORAH SCHUMACHER, STAFF WRITER

BOB SCOWCROFT

Executive Director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation and 2006 recipient of the Ecological Farming Association’s prestigious “Sustie” award for lifetime achievements in sustainable agriculture I see organic farming and ranching as an integrated system modeling the complex web of natural systems as it takes root. All parties will come to celebrate the fertile soil that surrounds them. There will be ecological food hubs linking urban mini-farms with the surrounding countryside.

Taking advantage of this indigenous system of organic production will be an educational system that inspires K-12 students to become young cooks and learn more about nutritional balance and preventive health care.

New jobs will be created in food transport and processing. Trading collaborations will be established to reach outside of nearly full circle sustaining regional food sheds for national and even international organic products. If grey whales can migrate to Mexico and back within nature’s system of ecological balance, I see no reason why organic fruits and nuts can’t be exchanged for bananas and coffee elsewhere in the hemisphere. Distance traveled must be flexible and provide multiple benefits to all. www.bioneers.org

From “Quinoa’s Global Success Creates Quandary at Home”

by Simon Romera and Sara Shahriari (The New York Times, 3/20/2011)

Originally cultivated in Bolivia, quinoa (pronounced KEE-no-ah) has become a popular substitute in this country for grains like wheat and rice. Quinoa is not a grain, however; it’s a chenopod, related to plants like beets and spinach. The Incas relied on quinoa to feed their soldiers; today, with the aid of European and American foreign aid organizations, Bolivians are growing quinoa for the export market.

The increasing popularity of quinoa in other countries and the higher price it reaps now has had some benefit for Bolivian farmers. “Before quinoa was at the price it is now, people went to Argentina and Chile to work,” said Miguel Choque Llanos, commercial director of the National Association of Quinoa Producers.

Rising quinoa prices have also encouraged city dwellers to return to their plots in the countryside during Demand for quinoa is soaring in rich countries, as planting and harvest season. Ms. Vàsquez sows quinoa each year on her family’s land outside La Paz. American and European consumers discover the Because the packaged quinoa sold in “lost crop” of the Incas. This has helped grocery stores is too expensive, she raise farmers’ incomes in one of the grows, harvests, and stores her own, hemisphere’s poorest countries, but and then prepares it by hand, a now, fewer Bolivians can afford the painstaking process that includes food staple. While quinoa prices washing away the resinlike have almost tripled over the past five saponin coating that protects the years, Bolivia’s consumption of the seeds. She prepares a sweet drink staple fell 34% over the same period of quinoa, apple, cinnamon and sugar according to the country’s agricultural for her family for breakfast. ministry.

“quinoa” (pronounced KEE-no-ah)

But malnutrition is still a problem. Nutritionist María Julia Cabrerizo said studies showed that chronic malnutrition in children has climbed in quinoa-growing areas in recent years. Government officials are trying to increase domestic consumption of quinoa, which is facing steep competition from other less healthy foods.

President Evo Morales plans to make more than $10 million in loans to organic quinoa producers and health officials are incorporating quinoa into a packet of foods supplied to pregnant and nursing mothers. Victor Hugo Vàsquez said quinoa would also be available in meals to Tastes are changing, too. Exposed to some of the worst the armed forces and in more school breakfasts. players in the western diet, many younger Bolivians have grown to prefer white bread to toasted quinoa This shift offers a glimpse into the consequences of flour and Coca-Cola to a traditional beverage made rising global food prices and changing eating habits in from boiled water, sugar and quinoa flour. “It has to both prosperous and developing nations. In Bolivia, do with food culture,” said Victor Hugo Vàsquez, vice it’s been less of a “fair trade” to lose access to a healthy minister of rural development and agriculture. Says traditional food only to adopt a less healthy but more Paulina Vàsquez, a housekeeper and mother of three affordable diet imported from the West. children in their 20s who grows her own quinoa, “The young people don’t want it. If there is a pot of noodles everyone is there, as if noodles were nutritious. Even my children are that way.”

Why this “shift away from consuming quinoa in the cradle of its cultivation”? Cost is part of the problem.

Many Bolivians can no longer afford to buy quinoa. “I adore quinoa, but can’t afford it anymore,” said Micaela Huanca, a street vendor in El Alto, a city of slums above the capital, La Paz. “I look at it in the markets and walk away.” At supermarkets in Bolivia, a 1,000-gram bag of quinoa (just over two pounds) costs the equivalent of $4.85 compared to $1.20 for a bag of noodles the same weight or $1 for a bag of white rice.

“No one makes a revolution by himself; and there are some revolutions which humanity accomplishes without quite knowing how, because it is everybody who takes them in hand.” - George Sand 16

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

www.foodcoop.coop

THE FOOD CO-OP

stock up!

September 1-26 Emergency preparation or just a good time to stock up and fill your pantry!

Between Sept 1-26 Co-op owners can place special orders through the UNFI catalog with no additional markup and no minimum purchase amount required.

GMO STATEMENT GMO THE DIRTY DOZEN Updated 2010

Did you know that 98% of apples sampled by the USDA contained residues of 56 different pesticides? Mmmhhh, that’s not good. Pesticides have been linked to a variety of health problems, including brain and nervous system toxicity, cancer, hormone disruption, and skin, eye and lung irritation. That doesn’t mean you should stop eating apples, but it might give you an added incentive to buy organic whenever possible.

The following lists compiled by the Environmental Working Group (http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/) will help you, your friends and your family make informed decisions.

The “Dirty Dozen” includes fruits and vegetables that carry high levels of pesticide residues, while the “Clean Fifteen” have few residues. Here’s to our health!

THE DIRTY DOZEN

buy these organic 1. Apples 2. Celery 3. Strawberries 4. Peaches 5. Spinach 6. Nectarines (imported) 7. Grapes (imported) 8. Sweet bell peppers 9. Potatoes 10. Blueberries (domestic) 11. Lettuce 12. Kale/collard greens

THE CLEAN FIFTEEN

lowest in pesticides 1. Onions 2. Sweet corn 3. Pineapples 4. Avocado 5. Asparagus 6. Sweet peas 7. Mangoes 8. Eggplant 9. Cantaloupe (domestic) 10. Kiwi 11. Cabbage 12. Watermelon 13. Sweet potatoes 14. Grapefruit 15. Mushrooms

At The Food Co-op we strive to carry organic products whenever possible—for the health of our members and for the health of our planet. USDA certified organic standards prohibit GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) crops from being in certified organic products. Even when buying USDA certified organic there is the potential for GMO contamination from GMO pollen drifting into certified organic fields. There is no mandatory testing of USDA certified organic products or any products for GMO contamination. This being said, the best way to avoid foods containing GMOs is to buy foods that carry the USDA’s certified organic seal, which ensures that no known GMO ingredients have been used in the products that carry the USDA certified organic seal.

Without federal labeling and testing of GM (Genetically Modified) foods, no product can be guaranteed to be GMO-free or labeled as such by The Food Co-op.

To provide products at different price ranges we offer both USDA certified organic and non-organic natural products. Non-organic natural products may contain both organic and non-organic ingredients that are free of synthetic colors, flavorings and additives.

Because these products are made with both organic and non-organic ingredients there is the potential for GMOs to be present in these products. According to the USDA, in 2007, 91% of soy, 87% of cotton, and 73% of corn grown in the U.S. were GMO. Starting in 2008, virtually all of the U.S. sugar beet crop is GMO, and it is estimated that over 75% of canola grown is GMO. (Source: NonGMO Project www.nongmoproject.org     



We encourage every member of the co-op to take responsibility for their product choices and prefer not to dictate food choices to our membership.

We advise our customers that the safest approach to avoiding genetically modified (GMO) ingredients is to buy USDA certified organic products.

We offer USDA certified organic options whenever available.

We will educate membership through educational outreach in our community, in store educational displays, through our newsletter and website.

We are committed to introducing new organic products that become available to us. We actively look for a GMO-free option for product categories and carry a GMO-free option when it is available.

We support manufacturers that label their products as GMO-free through promotions and displays.

As a member of the NCGA (National Co-op Grocers Association), we support the Non-GMO project through the NCGA’s membership.

A goal of the Non-GMO project is to test foods and label their GMO content in partnership with member manufacturers.

The Food Co-op GMO Statement brochure is available in the store (check the racks between the bathrooms) and on our website at www. foodcoop.coop (Products section).

GMO Right 2 Know March Oct. 1-16

NYC to Washington DC

(www.right2knowmarch.org)

“The most heroic word in all languages is revolution.” - Eugene V. Debs www.foodcoop.coop

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

16 17

Politics of

Food Concerns Check the kiosk at Member Services for updates Material collected by DEBORAH SCHUMACHER, Newsletter Staff

STATE

COMBAT TO CULTIVATION

Working toward a shared purpose, the Veterans Agricultural Cooperative and 21 Acres Farm in the Sammamish Valley near Woodinville are working together to restore the physical and mental health of veterans through farming. From “combat to cultivation,” the Veterans Agricultural Cooperative, or VAC, was designed to support the development of veteran-owned, self-sufficient, sustainable-farming businesses through employment/career opportunities and veteran services. The VAC’s shared purpose with 21 Acres is food production, providing veterans and their families access to healthy, high-quality, safe and affordable food, along with providing a setting for the healing power of horticulture therapy. The VAC is currently looking for additional land to farm within the state of Washington. Contact Jonathan Phillips at jonathan@ vetagcoop.org or 206-569-5364. Source: Tilth News, “From Combat to Cultivation, Local Veterans Become Farmers at 21 Acres” (5/20/2011)

NATIONAL SURPRISING TRUCE

A surprising truce was reached between the Humane Society of the United States and the U.S. egg industry over chicken cages. Both sides compromised, the Humane Society backing off its claim that any cages are inhumane and producers agreeing to larger spaces with amenities. Several state initiatives, including Washington State’s 1130, are suspended for now. Said HSUS chief executive officer and president Wayne Pacelle: “This is a historic, unprecedented agreement … an improbable circumstance in which adversaries have reached common ground…represent[ing] a pathway for a dramatic improvement in animal welfare that also considers the economic success of producers.” Source: FarmPolicy.com (7/12/2011)

FROM PYRAMID TO PLATE

First Lady Michelle Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin unveiled the federal government’s new food icon in June. MyPlate is a “new generation icon” that emphasizes the fruit, vegetable, grains, protein and dairy food groups. An LA Times op-ed suggests that a “significant problem is the disparity between MyPlate’s generally sound recommendations and federal policies that subsidize the foods we’re supposed to eat less of: grains such as wheat, and sweets in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. That’s the source of sugar found in most sodas, and those subsidies are one of the reasons such unhealthful beverages are so cheap. If the government is going to support agriculture in the public interest, a spinach subsidy would make more sense.” Source: FarmPolicy.com (6/7/2011)

FARM BILL NEWS The Seattle City Council adopted resolution 31296 supporting the Seattle Farm Bill Principles as policy guidance to the Federal Government in the renewal of the 2012 Farm Bill. The resolution was presented by Councilmember Richard Conlin at a meeting of the Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Committee of the National League of Cities in Kansas City. The committee unanimously approved developing a resolution based on these principles that will be considered for adoption by the National League of Cities at their November annual meeting. Visit our website to read the Seattle Farm Bill Principles (www.foodcoop.coop link is on the home page, look for “Farm Bill 2012”).

School Lunch U.S. lawmakers say “we can ill afford” school meals with more fruits, veggies & whole grains The Washington Post reports that “The GOP majority on the House Appropriations Committee approved a 2012 spending plan that directs the Agriculture Department to ditch the first new nutritional standards in 15 years proposed for school breakfasts and lunches.

The lawmakers say meals containing more fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy will cost an additional $7 billion over five years — money they say the country can ill afford in difficult economic times.

“The committee also directed the USDA to scale back participation in an effort to develop voluntary guidelines for companies that market food to children. And it directed the FDA to exempt grocery and convenience stores and other businesses from regulations set to take effect next year requiring that calorie information be displayed.”

The Post article added that, “The most intense reaction was generated by a provision offered by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) that would block the FDA from issuing rules or guidance unless its decisions are based on ‘hard science’ rather than ‘cost and consumer behavior.’ The amendment would prevent the FDA from restricting a substance unless it caused greater harm to health than a product not containing the substance…

[T]he Rehberg amendment would also prevent the FDA from restricting the widespread use of antibiotics in feed for farm animals, which many public health experts believe has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten human health.”

The article noted that, “The lone Democrat on the committee who voted in favor of the amendment, Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (Ga.), said he represents cattle, pork and poultry farmers who are worried about the regulation of antibiotics. “‘To the extent you can protect producers from unnecessary regulation, obviously with the economy and job situation being what it is we would like to have the most bang for the buck in terms of the producers,’ he said.”

From an article written by Lyndsey Layton in The Washington Post (6/2/2011)

“The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.” - Paul Cezanne 18

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

www.foodcoop.coop

co-op summer

N.O.S.C. at the Food Co-op

busking in the sun

bicyclists enjoy fresh organic fuel

salmon education

fort 2 fort bike ride get the grill on!

Howly Slim plays a tune on Salmon Thursday at the co-op

Janet and Ed Haber are winners of Weber grill!

sprucing up

Kenna and Tim Eaton paint the GM’s office with the colors of the sun

Carrie Blair serves up a

taste of pt

“To love without role, without power plays, is revolution.” - Rita Mae Brown www.foodcoop.coop

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

Printed by The P.T. Leader on Recycled Paper

18 19

September National Organic Month

CO-OP CLASS

Saturday 10

1-30

1-26 Enter the Contest Emergency

CO-OP CLASS

All classes require reservations.

Please pick up your class schedule with complete descriptions in the brochure rack at the store.

CO-OP CLASS

10am-12:30pm

Saturday 10 2-4pm

Preparedness

stock up your pantry members can special order with no additional markup CO-OP CLASS

Molly Force, ND Sidonie Wilson identify hidden sources $25 owners/$35non/$15 youth $25 owners $30 guests 385-0655 385-5375 x4 Olympic Hostel, Ft Worden Co-op Annex

1. Progressive Relaxation Julie Abowitt $25 owners $30 guests 385-1184 Co-op Annex

7 pm

Will Allen

speaks on the Good Food Revolution $10/$12 tickets McCurdy Pavilion Fort Worden

October

National FairTrade Month National Co-op Month CO-OP CLASS

Sat 18,15,22

11-17

Food Week WA Organic Co-op Survey Sunday 18

Thursday 20

Beyond Wheat, Corn & Oats Brwyn Griffin FREE TO ALL 385-2831 x308 Co-op Annex

Wednesday 12

Member Appreciation Day!

10% off most items except alcohol, WIC, milk & Co-op Staples

20

drdale@ fountainchiropractic.info FREE Co-op Annex

CO-OP CLASS

Stress Reduction

Thursday 6

2-4pm Grains:

Saturday 22

10am-12:30pm

Stress Reduction

4. Curbing Overeating Julie Abowitt $25 owners $30 guests 385-1184 Co-op Annex

Wednesday 14

Dr. Dale Fountain, DC drdale@ fountainchiropractic.info FREE Co-op Annex

Girls Night Out look for more info on this Port Townsend event and stop in the co-op on your night out!

CO-OP CLASS

Saturday 15 10-11:30am

Health Is Fragile

2-4pm

Thursday 15 7-9pm

Health Is Fragile Sherry Fry, NTP learn NRT $30 owners $35 guests 683-2756 Co-op Annex

Friday 30

last day WSU Master Gardeners free plant clinic in the co-op alcove 2:30 -5pm

CO-OP CLASS

Saturday 8

10am-12:30pm

Kitchen Medicine

Stress Reduction

Saturday 15

Sunday 16

Molly Force, ND natural remedies $25 owners $30 guests 385-5375x4 Co-op Annex

CO-OP CLASS

2-4pm Beans, Seeds, Nuts:

Sherry Fry, NTP learn NRT $30 owners $35 guests 683-2756 Co-op Annex

Powerhouses of Nutrition Brwyn Griffin FREE TO ALL 385-2831 x308 Co-op Annex

Saturday 22

Sunday 23

Not all Are Created Equal Brwyn Griffin FREE TO ALL 385-2831 x308 Co-op Annex

celebrate zero packaging buy bulk foods and organize your pantry with food storage containers

CO-OP CLASS

CO-OP CLASS

Definitions & Deceptions Brwyn Griffin FREE TO ALL 385-2831 x308 Co-op Annex

Saturday 8

1-3:30 pm

Indian Cuisine, ages 8 and up Sidonie Wilson $25 owners/$35 guests 385-0655 Olympic Hostel, Fort Worden

2-4pm Labels:

CO-OP CLASS

Saturday 3

Cook with Children

Saturday 24

CO-OP CLASS

10am-12:30pm

Saturday 1

CO-OP CLASS

6:30 -7:30pm 1-3:30pm Weight Loss International Cuisine Resistant Dr. Dale Fountain, DC

Sidonie Wilson $25 owners/$30 guests 385-0655 Olympic Hostel, Fort Worden

Saturday 24

PT Film Festival

Sunday 25

CO-OP CLASS

CO-OP CLASS

2. Creating A Plan Julie Abowitt $25 owners $30 guests 385-1184 Co-op Annex

WSU Farm Tour

CO-OP CLASS

6:30 -7:30pm 1-3:30pm Int’l Cuisine ResistantWeight Loss

Stress Reduction Living Gluten-free

Saturday 17

Sat 10,17,24

and win cool prizes with your photos and videos mycooprocks.com for details

CO-OP CLASS

2-4pm National Bulk Day Oils:

September/October 2011 newsletter of Port Townsend Food Co-op, THE CO-OP COMMONS

3. Tackling Your Habits Julie Abowitt $25 owners $30 guests 385-1184 Co-op Annex

Apple Festival moved to Finnriver Farm in Chimacum Check back later for details about the event!

CO-OP CLASS

Saturday 29 2-4pm Meat, Dairy & Produce

Brwyn Griffin FREE TO ALL 385-2831 x308 Co-op Annex

www.foodcoop.coop