WINTER 2010
Compliments of Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op
real value, real owners, real close.
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Ownership page 2 ECO Day page 3 Community Gardens page 4
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Urban Gardening page 5 Ask the Nutritionist page 6 Happy Healthy Cooks page 6
I Meet the Artist page 7 Fall Waterways Cleanup page 7
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Holiday Turkeys, Food, Gifts page 8
BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATE WHAT IS GOING ON…?
By Sam Eakin, Board President
The Co-Optimist is published three times annually by Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op. For advertising information, please e-mail info@roanokenaturalfoods.coop or call (540) 343-5652. Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op 1319 Grandin Road, SW Roanoke, VA 24015 Phone: (540) 343-5652; Fax: (540) 343-5711 Web site: www.roanokenaturalfoods.coop E-mail: info@roanokenaturalfoods.coop Store Hours: Mon – Sat: 8-8, Sun: 9-7 Happy Belly Deli Hours: Mon – Sat: 10-4 Sun: 11-3 Mission: Roanoke Natural Foods Cooperative is a member owned and operated retail store committed to providing the highest quality organic and natural foods at low cost. We support responsible environmental practices, local organic farmers, sound nutrition, and our community. General Manager: Bruce Phlegar Operations Manager: Elizabeth Wilson Director of Marketing & Communications: John Bryant Front-end Team Leader: Cherie Love Grocery Team Leader: Lisa Balkom Produce/Bulk Team Leader: Sean Jordan Deli Team Leader: Wellness Team Leader: Elizabeth Good Accounting Team Leader: Carleen Greenman Editor: Karen Adams
info@roanokenaturalfoods.coop
ere is a buzz about, for those who are looking forward to the next development in this ever increasingly fast paced and transformative climate of competition within which the co-op continues to improve its position. We have as an organization here locally and the co-op movement at large have brought so much to fruition over the course of the past thirty years or so. Going back to the early days of this whole food movement and looking at how much of an effect those who committed themselves and their resources have had in procuring quality food and healthful products, sharing with others the higher ideals of good stewardship, of using the resources at our disposal in a way that is commonsensical, environmentally prudent, supporting and working with individuals of like mind as well as other organizations that share in these values, and as much as possible educating little by little to all whom have had an ear to hear. It’s really sort of astonishing; when you look at the big picture the progress made and how far along things have come in just the past few decades. (Seemingly that is anyway, another story for another time.) A paradigm shift has occurred; nearly every store and even some restaurants now offer choices for better “natural” or “organic” foods. Local markets are once again flourishing, people know this is a better way and are looking for the outlet for their own needs whether it be buying or selling goods.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Contributors:
John Bryant Sam Eakin Sean Jordan Nicole Yun Hirschmann Jeanie Redick HeatherQuintana
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Sam Eakin, President Gayle Havens Cooley, Treasurer Jim Vodnik, Secretary Bob Capper Laura Holbrook Ron McCorkle Kerstin Plunkett Scott Simmons Sandy Taylor Melissa Taylor, Staff Representative
The articles and other content of The CoOptimist are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without the written permission of Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op. Content of the newsletter should not be used or construed as medical advice. Printed on 25% post-consumer recycled paper using soy ink. When you have finished with this newsletter, please give it to someone else to read, re-use it or recycle it. Thank you.
Co-op Holiday Hours The Co-op will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Christmas Eve: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. New Year’s Day: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Grandin Road Holiday Parade The annual Grandin Road Children’s Parade will be Saturday, November 20, at 11 a.m. To participate or to details, call Susan Stump at Valley Bank, 777-1790.
Grandin Village Holiday Open House Saturday, December 4: see our website for details
Earth Day in Grandin Village April 23, 2011: see our website for details
Monthly E-Newsletter If you would like to receive our e-newsletter, The Seed. Simply visit our website to sign up: www.roanokenaturalfoods.coop.
ROANOKE NATURAL FOODS CO-OP
is is one area the board of directors is looking at, how we can better help in the development and redevelopment of local and regional food systems and at the same time maintain and improve the operations of the Grandin Road store giving attention to our owners concern for low price and high quality, preferably locally produced products. Another area of focus is energy and cost reduction through emerging technology, various fields are showing much promise and for the Coop we are likely to invest in a comprehensive energy management plan after careful consideration and the return on that investment is thoroughly explored. We are hopeful that we may be able to offset conventional electricity usage by some considerable amount in the not too distant future. e thought of eating Salmon genetically engineered from no less than three fish to scientifically create a super salmon that produces hormones enough to take the three year growth cycle to one and a half years is presently under consideration for the US market. e FDA is on the verge of approving this, admitting test samples were small and perhaps inadequate, and the effects of the additional “naturally produced” hormone apparently unknown. Yet the FDA will not require it to be labeled as any different from any other farm raised salmon. It is my contention that labeling should be required for products genetically engineered and that they would then be rejected by enough consumers to cause them to fail in a fair and informed market place. But we do not have this information readily available and therefore are the unwitting consumers of many of these GMO products either directly or indirectly. (Caveat Emptor) Something else the RNFC strives to provide for our customers is a well informed and intentioned staff with a management team that makes buying decisions based on this kind of information. Who try to minimize your need to stay abreast of every aspect of what’s happening in the world of healthy, whole and natural food. For you and your family, we want you to have the best products at the best price around, with the confidence that the best decisions for our product lines are being made in everyone’s best interest; this is one of our central objectives. So if you have not been to the Grandin Coop in a while make the trip and see the changes and our continued adaptation to meet your needs. anks to all our many supporters!
Samuel Eakin
ECO DAY8 TONS OF E-WASTE? YEAH, WE GOT THAT! By John Bryant, Director of Marketing
On September 18, thanks to the cooperative efforts of five Roanoke businesses and 170 area residents, eight tons of e-waste was responsibly recycled and saved from being dumped into our landfills. e very first Fall ECO (Electronics Clean Out) Day, hosted at Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op, was also sponsored by Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, 1-800-Got-Junk?, Natural Awakenings magazine and Clean Valley Council. e event began as a conversation between Stacy Hairfield of Natural Awakenings magazine and Jeff Sharpe of 1-800-Got-Junk? Both had been involved in recycling events in the past and recognized the overwhelming turnout for large annual e-waste recycling events, like the one held recently at the Roanoke Civic Center. ey thought there would be interest in a smaller event held at a different location. e Co-op jumped on board immediately, offering a location and a pool of shoppers that hold a vested interest in keeping e-waste out of our landfills or hazardously exported to developing countries. Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, having recently added two responsible recycling programs, joined the event as the recyclers and added transportation and manpower. Clean Valley Council also contributed helping hands during the event, as well as information about its services and other ways to keep our valley clean, like utilizing the Household Hazardous Waste collection events at the Hollins Road transfer station on the third Saturday of each month. e best news to report from the event is that you don’t have to wait for another free e-waste recycling event to get rid of your stuff the right way. e ECO Day helped to advertise that every piece of computer equipment and every cathode ray tube (CRT) television handled by Goodwill Industries of the Valleys will now be responsibly recycled in the U.S. CRT monitors and televisions are considered the headache of free recycling events. Recyclers that agree to take on free events always run into the same issue: the overwhelming donations of monitors and televisions, which are expensive to recycle responsibly. ere is a long list of dangerous chemicals inside CRTs, including barium, cadmium and lead. Great care must be taken to break down these CRTs correctly. is makes the process costly for recyclers, which would be fine if there were any resell value in the components—but there isn’t.
Many CRTs are thrown away, and once they are left in our landfills the chemicals leach into the groundwater. Free recycling events as a whole have been tainted by the occasional bad recycling practices of a few. Some companies have claimed to “recycle” e-waste, but simply take in the items with resell value and ship CRTs to developing countries, where workers are forced to burn and melt down wiring and other components for traces of copper—an extremely hazardous practice for people and the environment alike. For some time, Goodwill Industries refused donations of computer equipment and CRT monitors and televisions because of the high cost of recycling them the right way. But recently the organization recognized that it could offer a great service by using its 2,400 locations to receive these items, if they could partner with a responsible recycler. ey found Dell Computers. ReConnect is a partnership between Dell Computers and Goodwill Industries. Any piece of computer equipment—no matter the brand—can be dropped off at a Goodwill Donation Center. is way, donors are assured that their donated equipment will be recycled in compliance with existing international waste trade agreements. is includes the dreaded CRT monitors. In addition to computer equipment, Goodwill Industries now accepts televisions through a partnership with Universal Recycling Technologies. If the TV still works, it may be resold at a Goodwill Retail Store. If not, it is processed by URT, an e-Stewards certified company. is endorsement is a third-party audited certification that ensures that the participating members are using the most cautious measures when recycling hazardous e-waste. But what about the other items collected? Everything from cell phones to a commercial dot matrix printer were dropped off during the ECO Day event. Each item will be processed and tested by Goodwill and, if it’s in good condition and working order, resold in an area Goodwill Retail Store. If not, the item is responsibly recycled with Scott Recycling in Pulaski. Talk of repeating the event next year is already underway. Keep up with all the Co-op news at www.roanokenaturalfoods.coop.
THINGS 8 SURPRISING TO R E C Y C L E
Got stuff that you don’t know what to do with? You might be surprised at some of the things that can be recycled or “repurposed.” Turn wine corks into flooring, trade in old holiday lights for LED strands, and transform your old sneakers into a tennis court—sometimes it’s as easy as dropping them in the mail. 1. WINE CORKS Do you have a collection of wine corks taking up space? Send them to Yemm & Hart Green Materials. They’ve started a wine cork-recycling program that turns them into lovely, environmentally friendly cork floor and wall tiles. For more information: www.yemmhart.com. 2. BOOKS, DVDS, CDS AND GAMES Here’s a way to get rid of entertainment items that you no longer want and get new ones in return. Swaptree.com allows you to keep a constantly fresh, rotating selection of reading material, movies, music and games for free. Just sign up, list your unwanted stuff, and choose the items you’d like to receive. Then you simply complete the swap through the mail. For more information: www.swaptree.com. 3. SHOES What to do with old shoes that can’t be donated? Nike will take your rubber-soled shoes—no matter who made them—and recycle them into new athletic surfaces such as basketball courts and running tracks. For more information: www.nikereuseashoe.com. 4. FOAM PACKING AND PEANUTS Polystyrene packing peanuts and molded foam cushioning can either be dropped off at or mailed to RADVA Corporation in Radford (540-731-3700). Other sites will accept them by mail. (Also, UPS and other packaging stores usually will take foam peanuts; contact them to check.) For more information: www.epspackaging.org. The site also has good information about recycling in general. 5. CARPET You could be able to give that shaggy old carpeting new life as composite lumber, roofing shingles, railroad ties, or automotive parts. See www.carpetrecovery.org. 6. HOLIDAY LIGHTS When your old holiday lights no longer twinkle, send them off to Holiday LEDs to be recycled. They’ll also give you a 15-percent-off coupon for anything on their site. For more information: www.holidayleds.com. 7. BRAS Bosom Buddy Recycling will take your old bras and give them to deserving women around the country including women’s shelters, transitional housing, and breast cancer-survivor support groups. For more information: www.brarecycling.com. 8. PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION Instead of flushing unused prescription medication down the toilet, which contaminates our water, you may be able to donate drugs that are still usable. See the guidelines for Virginia under “issues and research” at www.ncsl.org. (National Conference of State Legislatures). — Adapted from Care2.com
COMMUNITY GARDENS: By Karen Adams
Five years ago, Mark Powell walked into downtown’s Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea with the hope of starting a communitywide organic garden and posted a flyer that said so. Today, he is the taproot of the Roanoke Community Garden Association (RCGA), and is known around the area as the man under whose green thumbs many community gardens have sprung up.
Lots, Garden Plots); Sean Jordan (Co-op produce manager and gardener); and Bruce Phlegar (Co-op general manager). “LEAP is aiming to develop an organic, local sustainable and consistent food network for Roanoke,” Powell says. And the community markets and community gardens are all part of it.
is year, he and Butkeraityte were busy helping others and didn’t grow as much as they’d hoped. Still, they managed to grow corn, tomatoes and 150 pounds of potatoes. Powell is quick to point out that if he can learn to garden, anyone can. His parents and grandparents were gardeners in southeast Roanoke County and, while Powell always admired them, he hadn’t done any gardening himself. “When we first started this, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing,” he says.
After many years of travel, the native Roanoker returned to his home town from Europe in 2005, bringing with him his new wife, Silvija Butkeraityte, from Lithuania. “We wanted to garden but we were driven to be involved in civic activities too,” Powell says. “We decided to gather ideas and make it a community effort.” at was in September of that year, when he posted his flyer. In response, he got calls from Pete Johnson, director of Grandin Gardens, and Ron McCorkle, Sharebike founder and a permaculture advocate. ey met and came up with a goal of creating one complete community garden the following spring. But things went better than expected, and the group was able to start three gardens: two in the Virginia Heights area and one in Powell’s own back yard.
As executive director of the non-profit RCGA, he now oversees several organic gardens across the city. “Our mission is to build community through the creation of organic gardens,” he says. It’s a growing group of like-minded gardeners, environmental activists and community-builders working to make gardening available to anyone, no matter where they live. Powell also is part of the non-profit Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP), whose other members are Brent Cochran (Grandin Village and West End Community Market manager); Jim Crawford (gardener and filmmaker of Urban
FALL GARDENING By Sean Jordan, Produce Manager
e heat, the dryness, and the urgency are behind us now, but there are a few more garden tasks on the calendar before we turn our attention to seed catalogs and next year. Here are a few reminders. • Collect leaves. ey make a great organic mulch, provide carbon for composting, and store well. A lawn mower does a fine job of shredding. • Plant garlic, over-wintering onions, and spring flowering bulbs. Be sure to mulch well. • If you use manure as a soil texturizer, manure your plots for spring greens now. ere is a safety window of 90 days between application and harvest for uncomposted manures, so spring applications will be too late for lettuce, spinach and other early crops. • Plant cover crops. It may be too late for a good stand of clover, but oats or annual rye grass should still do well.
In his yard in southeast Roanoke, with the help of local chef and gardener Nancy Maurelli, he created eight 30-foot plots. He offers seven to others and gardens one himself, and they’ve been full each season.
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Cover crops protect the soil throughout the winter, and add organic material when tilled in the spring. Maintain and store equipment and tools. Drain hoses and irrigation lines, clean and sharpen shovels and hoes, and store clay pots in a dry place. Remember to drain gasoline from power equipment (or use a fuel stabilizer) before storing away, otherwise it will gum up over the winter and affect performance in the spring. If you are planning new beds for next year, sheet mulching now will be a great advantage.
Lightly till the area and cover with a layer of cardboard. Apply one inch of compost or manure and water well. Add six inches or more of shredded leaves, and let time and nature do their work. Come spring, the bed will be ready for planting with few weeds and much improved texture. • Although most pruning can be done in the early spring, consider potential damage from wind, snow, and ice.
But he’s learned, as have many others. Using the best practices from the American Community Garden Association, all of the plots have produced well. He credits Sean Jordan, produce manager at the Co-op and “our master gardener,” for much of
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Some rough pruning now, after the leaves drop, may prevent storm damage. If you maintain a lawn, fall is the right time to dethatch and aerate. is will dramatically reduce water use next year. Special equipment for these jobs can be rented and are easy to use. Finally, update your garden journal. What worked well this year, and what didn’t? Need more squash and fewer hot peppers? Did you find a special variety of tomato you can’t live without? Write it all down. A good journal can be the most useful tool a gardener has.
A little gardening work and planning now will make a tremendous difference in the spring.
FREEZING PRODUCE Freezing is the simplest way to preserve garden fresh flavor. e quickest and easiest way to preserve your garden-fresh produce is to freeze it. You need a minimum of preparation time and the risk of food poisoning is low. All you need are plastic bags or containers that will stay intact when frozen and space in your freezer. Almost all fruits, especially berries, freeze very well. e vegetables most suited for freezing are those that are cooked before serving. Don’t freeze vegetables that are usually eaten raw, such as celery, cucumbers, lettuce and radishes. Prepare for freezing Vegetables, as they come from the garden, have enzymes working in them. e enzymes break down vitamin C in a short time and
ROANOKE NATURAL FOODS CO-OP
convert sugar into starch, leaving the food tasting like cardboard. Blanch vegetables briefly before freezing to neutralize the enzymes.
each pound of vegetable, preheated to boiling point in a covered pot. If you’re steaming, use a wire-mesh holder over 1 inch of boiling water in an 8-quart pot.
Fruits do not need blanching before freezing. ey are usually frozen with dry sugar or mixed in a syrup of sugar and water.
5. When the recommended blanching time is up, plunge the vegetables in ice water to stop the cooking.
How to freeze
6. Gently pat the vegetables dry. Pack them in freezer containers or bags, compressing them to leave as little space for air as possible.
1. Pick young, tender vegetables for freezer storage—it is better to choose slightly immature produce over any that is fully ripe. Also, avoid bruised, damaged or overripe vegetables. Harvest in early morning. 2. Line up everything needed for blanching and freezing first. Nothing counts more than speed in holding on to freshness, taste and nutrition. 3. Thoroughly clean vegetables and cut the edible parts into desired pieces. 4. Blanch right away. For water blanching, use at least a gallon of water to
7. Seal the containers or bags and label them.
Easy to freeze vegetables Asparagus • Beans • Beets • Broccoli • Brussels sprouts • Carrots Cauliflower • Kohlrabi • Peas • Peppers • Rhubarb • Spinach • Squash
it. In the fall of 2008 the group held a harvest festival with food they’d grown, and they fed 300 people.
At that event, local landowner Frank Roupas approached the group and offered them the use of one-third of an acre on 14th Street in southeast Roanoke. ey now tend “e Frank Roupas Garden” and in return Roupas leases it to them for one dollar a year. Earlier this year the group created another space, with the help of Virginia Tech’s Cooperative Extension and the Boys and Girls Club on SE 9th Street. Powell worked with Megan Barrier, a former AmeriCorps teacher in New York City, and a group of about 20 youths from the club. e extension’s Sheri Dorn helped them create a plan, along with a curriculum and nutrition information. “Only two of those kids had any gardening experience,” Powell says. “Most of them couldn’t identify anything that was growing there.” Over time, they grew—and loved to eat raw, right out of the garden—peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, corn, herbs, flowers, and “beautiful squash,” all plants that they chose
themselves.
Last year, RCGA received federal funding through the City of Roanoke for a garden in the Hurt Park neighborhood, near the West End Community Market. ey found a site, made community contacts, and conducted environmental testing. To create a design that fits in historically and aesthetically, they have formed a partnership with Virginia Tech, which includes landscape architect C. L. Bohannon, cultural geographer Karen Till, and their students. ey also have been joined by the extension’s Dorn, ReBuild, Habitat for Humanity, the local police force and the Hurt Park Neighborhood Association. Powell says the commitment is widespread and exciting, and the project will be in place by March. Jimmy Cook, president of the Hurt Park Neighborhood Association, says he hopes people get involved, whether they come from a long line of gardeners, as he does, or whether they’ve never gardened before. “I really enjoy the idea of having a community garden here,” says Cook. “I’m hoping it will bring a closeness
GARDEN P L O T S By Karen Adams
among the neighbors and give them a chance to meet each other and share ideas about gardening.” ere also is a “gateway garden” project underway at the entrance to the neighborhood, designed by the Virginia Tech team. Powell says that, with the West End Community Market, the community garden, and gateway garden, the neighborhood has a lot of reasons to be proud. “e most important thing we’ve done is galvanize the public,” he says. “People are really beginning to see the value of this work, and it’s just going to grow.”
For more information, on the Roanoke Community Garden Association (RCGA), contact Mark Powell at (540) 904-3122 or mark@roanokecommunitygarden.org.
ASK THE NUTRITIONIST “I just found out that I have high blood sugar, and will have to follow a diabetic diet for the next few months. I’m not too surprised, since my dad and grandmother both had it (and I’m a little heavy). How will I manage this with the holidays coming up and all my favorite foods everywhere?” You are not alone in your concern. As your blood sugars continue to rise, you become more at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. is is a metabolic disorder resulting from your body’s inability to make sufficient insulin, or properly use the insulin it makes, which is insulin resistance.
Jeanie Redick, CN, is a certified nutritionist based in southwest Roanoke. She is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, The American Health Science University, and the National Institute of Nutritional Education. If you have a question for Jeanie, e-mail us at info@roanokenaturalfoods.coop.
ere is an epidemic rise in diabetes due to the increasing rate of obesity. So the best prevention is to keep your body weight within a healthy range. e suggested range is a body mass index (BMI) of between 20 and 25. If your BMI is over 30, you are considered obese. According to the National Institute of Health (June 2008), approximately 23.6 million Americans had type 2 diabetes, and about one-fourth of them didn’t even know it. Sadly, another 57 million Americans have “pre-diabetes.” Diabetes is conservatively estimated to be the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.
You may be predisposed to diabetes if your parents or grandparents had it, and especially if you develop their lifestyles and eating habits as well. e best cure is prevention, and by changing certain things in your lifestyle you can have a huge impact on your health and wellness. First, adopt an exercise regime of at least 30 minutes per day. We have become a less active culture and need to prioritize exercise and make it an important daily ritual. is will help you manage your weight, which is another risk factor for those with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. e best way to kept your weight down and manage your blood sugar levels is to make healthy choices. You should choose foods with a low glycemic index, such as oatmeal, berries, legumes, non-starchy vegetables, most whole grains, most nuts, skim milk and low-fat dairy, skinless turkey and chicken, and soy products. Increasing your fiber will slow down the metabolism of sugar, so eating
the recommended 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day is important. Avoid foods with a high glycemic index from processed and refined foods, such as soda, instant grains, pastries, chips and candy. Also avoid white potatoes, corn, and most breads and rolls, which have natural sugars. When you keep your blood sugar stable, it also increases your energy and stabilizes your mood. Don’t feel deprived during the holidays when your focus changes to healthy choices. e greatest gift you can give yourself and your loved ones is the gift of health. Some of the holiday foods we love fall into the category of moderate glycemic index, which means we can eat them once in a while. ese include sweet potatoes and dark chocolate. So all is not lost, and we will enjoy many more holidays to come when we change our focus to health and change our habits for life.
HAPPY HEALTHY COOKS By Heather Quintana
Healthy Options Through the Holiday Season Saturday, November 13 • 11 a.m. to 12 noon
Just because it’s holiday time doesn’t mean that you have to abandon hope for a healthy dinner to please your guests. Keep focused on nutritious options, and you’ll be glad you did when it comes time to make those New Years’ resolutions.
MEET THE ARTIST: JOE BURGE By Karen Adams
You’ve seen his work, perhaps without even realizing it. Joe Burge is the Co-op’s very own graphic artist, whose lively imagination has sprouted some of the most memorable images around town. Burge, who calls himself “the anonymous artist,” is the creative visual force behind the Co-op’s logo, signs, website, e-newsletter and printed materials, as well the engaging posters for the Grandin Village and West End Community Markets and the Catawba Valley Farmers’ Market, and the local film Urban Lots, Garden Plots. e documentary Urban Lots, Garden Plots was produced by local gardener and filmmaker Jim Crawford (with support from the Co-op) to chronicle the experiences of urban gardeners, including Crawford and his wife, Cathy. Burge’s art for the poster and DVD cover features a giant sunflower towering over an earth-tone cityscape. “I wanted the brown to symbolize the earth, to show that there are areas in these city neighborhoods that can be used to grow food,” Burge says. He wanted the hand-drawn quality to create folksy, down-to-earth effect. “It could be anywhere, not just Roanoke, and that’s the idea. Anybody can do this, wherever they live.” When the Grandin Village Community Market was ready to open last year, Burge created a friendly, old-fashioned logo with a farmer riding a tractor into town. “I was trying to make it look like the Grandin market had been there since the turn of the century,” he says, and took his inspiration from vintage seed catalogs, state fair publications and letterpress designs. He also looked at Barnum and Bailey circus handbills, which explains the whimsical market posters with “the world’s largest strawberry” on one and a giant dueling eggplant and tomato on another. “Back then, posters had a lot of information, with absurdities and grandiose statements,” he explains. “It seems funny to us now, but in those days it was meant to get people excited.” e art for the West End Community Market takes a different approach. e simple bricks-and-carrot image says it simply: “produce in the city.” “e art is almost like a lemonade stand, which is comfortable and approachable,” he says. is is important, he adds, because the organizers were trying to build something new in an economically challenged neighborhood that hadn’t had such a market before. Again, the hand-drawn, rough-around-the-edges image conveys a homemade quality.
“e idea is that this market is appealing and friendly, no matter which neighborhood you come from,” he says. Like the other market posters, Burge’s art for the Catawba Valley Farmers Market has a nostalgic style, with a farmer’s face prominent in front. Burge says he wanted to focus on the farmer. “is market is held where the farmer lives; most of them are from nearby,” he says. “You can meet these people and drive by the land where these things are grown.” e style is reminiscent of the 1940s, when Victory Gardens were popular. It also was the time of heroic Dick Tracy; Burge’s poster farmer intentionally resembles him a bit. He’s familiar with farming in that neighborhood because he lives there himself. He and his family live in a nineteenthcentury farmhouse at the north fork of the Roanoke River in Catawba, where they grow vegetables, fruit and herbs to sell at the Catawba market. Burge, who is bilingual in English and Spanish, spent much of his childhood in Guatemala, where his father still owns farmland. When they were looking for a place to settle in Virginia in 1996, Burge says the rolling green hills and lush vegetation of Catawba reminded them of Guatemala. e Burges soon planted roots here, and have become known for the delicious Guatemalan food, especially vegetarian tamales and salsas, they share with friends and neighbors, along with their produce. After graduating from Northside High School in 1998, Burge enrolled at Virginia Western Community College to study art. While still a student, he began working at the Co-op’s Happy Belly Deli in 2001 and helped with graphics in the store (“I’d make a sign, then go back to making sandwiches”). In 2004 he became the Co-op’s full-time graphic artist, and he completed his associate’s degree in 2005. Burge considers himself lucky to be able to do this kind of work. “I’m making art that supports the local food movement, and I’m involved in the local food movement myself,” he says. “I’m really living my mission.”
FALL WATERWAYS RECAP
FREE TALKS & TOURS With Jeanie Redick, CN
Certified nutritionist Jeanie Redick returns for another popular “Talk and Tour” at Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op. It is free, but seating is limited. Please call 343-5652 or visit the Customer Service desk at the Co-op to reserve a seat. It will be held in our Community Room, with a short tour of the Co-op afterward.
ROANOKE NATURAL FOODS CO-OP
e Fall Waterways Cleanup took place on October 2. It was a beautiful day all around and the cleanup effort all along our waterways was another great success. ere were XXX volunteers from Roanoke City, Roanoke County, Salem, and Vinton.Teams from Roanoke City collected over XX tons of waste! Roanoke County hoisted XX tons onto the banks, and Botetourt County hauled away XX tires. e most common items collected from the river remained cigarette butts, bottles, cans and styrofoam. Other items collected were toys, grocery carts, bikes and more. One team pulled a couch and recliner ashore. At noon, over 200 of the volunteers came to Wasena Park for a celebration of the day’s collective efforts. e City of Roanoke
Parks and Recreation Department and Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op provided the lunch, while Clean Valley Council sponsored the live music from .... e Fall Waterways Cleanup also drew praise and encouragement from elected officials including Congressman Bob Goodlatte and Roanoke’s Mayor David Bowers. Along with Mayor Bowers, speakers included: • Steve Buschor, Director of City of Roanoke Parks and Recreation • Bob, City of Roanoke Parks • Vinton Mayor. anks to all who participated in this event. And thanks to all who participate everyday by picking up litter when you see it and using recycling and trash cans rather than polluting our waterways. For more information about other cleanup events, please go to www.cleanvalley.org.
TURKEY, TURKEY LOOK AT YOU!
GRATEFUL HARVEST NATURAL TURKEYS $2.99/lb. - No antibiotics - No growth hormones - No animal by-products - Sizes range from 8 lbs. to 25 lbs. - Fresh (not frozen)
ORGANIC PRAIRE ORGANIC TURKEYS $3.59/lb. - USDA-certified organically raised and processed - Sizes range from 10 lbs. to 18 lbs.
SWEET PROVIDENCE FARM NATURAL TURKEYS $3.59/lb.
- Local: from Floyd, VA - Mostly pasture-fed, but diet is supplemented with a local corn-based feed - Limited quantity (only 30 available) - Sign up at Customer Service - No hormones - No antibiotics - Free roaming - Sizes range from 8 lbs. to 24 lbs. - Fresh (not frozen)
IF WE BUILD IT... By John Bryant
I’m writing this in the middle of another very successful Ownership Drive, where we set a goal of getting 50 new owners in October and already have seen XX new owners sign up. With these great numbers I have to wonder, what is it exactly that attracts someone to our food co-op? ere is the history of doing what’s right that might be appealing. Trends in natural foods have come and gone over the years but Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op has been providing healthy, affordable choices for over 35 years, whether it was trendy at the time or not. Owners are seeing greater savings through our “Owner Basics” program. e Co-op also has been able to add pallet deals and more “Everyone Saves” deals because our ownership base is so strong. I wonder if ownership might be more appealing now because, during a time like this in our country, it’s a good feeling to own a piece of something and to be welcomed and rewarded
when you shop. Not with frequent flyer miles but with patronage rebates—or shared profits— that our owners receive each year. ough no one is going to put a kid through college on their portion of refunded profits, it probably feels good to know that you are sharing in the success. Being able to elect representatives to make decisions for the collective good of the Co-op has to be a welcome change of pace. Of course I realize that it isn’t just one aspect of our business that attracts customers to ownership. I’m an owner of the Co-op and I joined for many reasons, not just one. Together, we—all the owners—have built a strong food co-op in Roanoke and because we’ve built it, people continue to come. We own it because it is the right fit for us, it saves us money, and it belongs to us. Let’s keep on building. Let’s brag about ourselves and show others that the grass over here sure is a pretty shade of green.
THE HAPPY BELLY DELI
has some of your Thanksgiving and Holiday favorites. Made with the best natural and organic ingredients, our deli holiday selections make a great addition to your family gathering. Visit the Happy Belly Deli in Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op or online at www.roanokenaturalfoods.coop/deli.