Eating Is an Agricultural Act
Dear Co-op Shoppers,
I’m one of those people who goes kicking and screaming into fall. I know there’s so much to love about fall, like the harvest for example, but I’m happy to put off the thought of The Big Dark for as long as I possibly can. And I’m currently milking tomato season for all it’s worth. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I’ve never canned anything. So this year, I’m going to make a giant batch of “gravy,” aka tomato sauce, and can it. I think the reason I’ve never done it is because I watched my mother try to do it and the jars exploded. Wish me luck!
EAT LOCAL MONTH
September is Eat Local Month. If you’ve been reading my letters for a while, you’ve heard me share plenty about why buying local matters, so I won’t make that case again here. You already know I’m a fan and why.
Instead, I want to encourage you to do something that brings the idea of local food to life: Go visit a farm.
On September 12, Sustainable Connections is hosting the 19th annual Whatcom County Farm Tour. Thirteen local farms will open their doors, giving all of us an opportunity to see where our food comes from and, most importantly, meet the people who grow and produce it. It’s free, self-guided, and a pretty wonderful way to spend a September Saturday. Register here. I’ll be volunteering at Fair Cow’s Path in Blaine, so please introduce yourself if you make it out.
And in celebration of Eat Local Month, we partnered with Aslan Brewing to create a special brewski just for our stores. It’s called North Forest Pilsner and the artwork for the label was hand-drawn by our awesome Graphic Designer, Brittney Johns. Side note: Her father-in-law is Dan Johns, who has been a Co-op member since our founding in the early 70s. Love me some good community connections 😉
FOOD AND FARM NEWS
I don’t know about you, but I’m becoming a little hesitant to eat food that doesn’t come from our local area. We’ve all seen headlines about food recalls and outbreaks, which are reminders of just how complicated and consolidated our global food system has become. Small farms aren’t inherently immune from food-safety problems, of course, but shorter, more transparent supply chains make it easier to know where our food comes from and to trace problems when they occur.
Big, monoculture farms are the polar opposite of nimble, so when something goes wrong, it can affect millions of people because the massive concentration magnifies the consequences. Our changing climate is another cause of more food-borne illness — as the planet gets warmer, rainfall and flooding can move sewage and animal waste into irrigation water and agricultural fields, creating conditions that make food contamination more likely.
At the Co-op, we’re fortunate to have direct relationships with so many of the farmers and producers whose food you’ll find on our shelves. I was talking to Anna from Osprey Hill Farm, and she told me they don’t raise meat birds during the winter months, which is when bird flu tends to be most active here in the PNW.
A note about raw sprouts: We decided to discontinue selling and serving alfalfa and other raw sprouts in the Produce Department and in the Deli. Sprouts are considered a higher-risk food because the warm, moist conditions needed to germinate them are also ideal for growing bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli. They’re typically eaten whole, including the seed and root, and raw, so there’s no cooking step to eliminate that risk. Instead, we recommend microgreens.
Unlike sprouts, microgreens are grown in soil like other leafy greens and harvested above the root. So while all raw produce carries some food-safety risk, microgreens don’t present the same unique risks associated with raw sprouts. They offer much of the same fresh flavor and crunch with a lower food-safety risk.
Speaking of supporting those farmers, you did something pretty remarkable last month. In August, Co-op shoppers donated $22,761 to our Farm Fund through the Community Change Fund. Since 2000, the Farm Fund has provided $971,199 to 183 local food and farming projects through grants, loans, scholarships, and emergency assistance. We’re closing in on $1 million invested directly into our local food system! Thank you so much for your support.
JAR LIBRARY AND BULK SALE
Friendly reminder: Members save 25% on bulk products Sept. 16 to 22, including coffee, grains, spices, liquids, and bulk wellness. And don’t forget about our Jar Library! You can take a clean, reusable jar for your bulk purchases. If you have extra, wide-mouthed jars with lids and no labels, we encourage you to drop them off at our Jar Library for someone else to use. One of the goals in our strategic plan is building a Sustainable Community, and the Jar Library is one small but impactful way we can work together to reduce plastic.
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
In July, we held a membership drive and signed up 173 new members. Since the beginning of the year, we have added 1,180 new members (woot woot). We also set a record in August for the number of active members. Drum roll please … 15,235 (more woot woot). Last year at this time we had 14,784 active members. Growth of 10% year-over-year in this economy is definitely something to sing about. Thanks for spreading the word about how awesome our Co-op is!
COMMUNITY SHOPPING DAY
On September 19, 2% of the day’s sales will benefit Friends of the Bellingham Public Library and their work to revitalize the children’s and teen areas of the library. At a time when public libraries across the country are facing growing funding pressures and challenges over book censorship and programming, supporting our local library is especially meaningful. Our library offers so much more than books, providing free classes and programs for all ages, technology assistance, early-learning programs, community resources, and welcoming spaces for people to gather and learn. Like co-ops, libraries are rooted in a simple but powerful idea: When we share resources and invest in institutions that serve everyone, our whole community is stronger.
Lastly, I’d like to leave you with this quote from Wendell Berry: “Eating is an agricultural act.”
If you aren’t familiar with Wendell Berry, he was a Kentucky farmer, writer, and poet whose work helped shape the modern sustainable food movement by championing small farms, healthy soil, local economies, and a deeper connection between people and the land. Wendell died last week at the age of 92. Thanks for everything, Wendell. Your legacy lives on in our hearts and minds.
As always, if you have questions or ideas to share, you can reach me directly at my Co-op email: [email protected].
With love and gratitude,
Lisa Sedlar
CEO/General Manager