by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team
September 2018
Co-op shoppers love to eat local every month, but in September local food takes center stage in our community for Eat Local Month!
Sustainable Connections hosts a bevy of fun events all month long, and the Co-op was proud to partner with them to kick off the month at the annual Hootenanny to Benefit the Co-op’s Farm Fund in the Boundary Bay Brewery Beer Garden.
Throughout the month 19 local restaurants will each offer a $6 and $12 Eat Local Month Special created with the freshest ingredients from Whatcom and Skagit county farms. There’s no better time to eat out and discover a new local restaurant.
Visit the Sustainable Connections website to discover all the Eat Local Month activities and pick up one of their handy guides with coupons for local grocers, including the Co-op.
At the Co-op, the local love continues well beyond September!
We love working with local businesses and farmers every day, all year long.
Of course, September is the zenith of local farm production. In the produce section there is a bounty of fresh, local, organic goodness available from more than 50 Whatcom and Skagit farms. But the local love doesn’t stop there. We also carry products from more than 70 local food crafters and artisans.
more than 50 Whatcom and Skagit farms
The list at the end of this blog post is just a partial list of our local suppliers; there are simply too many to include!
To prioritize shopping for local items at the Co-op, simply look for the local symbol throughout the store.
How does all that local love add up? In 2017, the Co-op purchased nearly $1.5 million in goods from Whatcom County providers. When we add in goods from the immediate five-county area (Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan, and Island counties) the total jumps to more than $2.25 million in goods.
Not only do we buy local, we also keep dollars circulating in our local community. In 2017, we circulated nearly $8.5 million through wages and benefits paid to our staff and via donations to local organizations.
When we shop, eat, and buy local, our entire community benefits!
Look for Local in Every Department
The list below is just a partial list of our local suppliers; there are simply too many to include!
Acme Ice Cream • Acme Valley Foods • Alaska Wildsides • Aslan Brewing Co. • Atwood Ales • Avenue Bread • Barlean’s • BelleWood Acres • Bellingham Coffee Roasters • Bellingham Flat Bread • Bellingham Pasta Co. • BIJA Chocolates • Booda Organics • Boundary Bay Brewery • Bow Hill Blueberries • Breadfarm • Café Akroteri • Cascade Shrub Farm • Cauldron Broths • Cedar Grove • Chocolate Necessities • Chuckanut Bay Distillery • Cooperativa Tierra y Liebertad • DeWilde’s Nursery • Dirty Knees Nursery • Edaleen • Erin Baker’s • Fairhaven Organic Flour Mill • Flax 4 Life • Flora Inc. • Flying Bird Botanicals • Foothills Flowers • Fresh Breeze Organic Dairy • Gluten Free Angels • Glutenfreeda • Golden Glen Creamery • Gothberg Farms • Grace Harbor Farm • Hammerhead Coffee • Hempler’s • Holmquist Hazelnut Orchards • Hopewell Farm • Hosa Hot Sauce • Jackie’s Jersey • Kombucha Town • Kulshan Brewing • Lopez Island Creamery • Lynden Ice • Mad Cat Salsa • Maniac Coffee Roasters • Midnight Farmer Microgreens • Misty Meadows Farm • Moka Joe • Moon Valley Organics • Myshan Dairy • Nature’s Path • Nerka Sea Frozen Salmon • North Cascade Meats • Pangea Ferments • Pizza’zza • Pleasant Valley Cheese • PNW Farmers Co-op • Puget Sound Food Hub • Ralf’s Bavarian Bakery • Saku Tea • Salsa Mama • Samish Bay Soaps • San Juan Salsa Co. • San Juan Sea Salt • Sauk Farm • Sea Witch Botanicals • Seafood Producers Cooperative • Skagit Valley Family Farm • Spice Hut • Spring Time Farm • Sunseed Farm • Takaya • The Bagelry • The C Shop • The Growing Garden • Tony’s Coffee • Twin Brook Creamery • Uprising Organic Seeds • Wander Brewing • Wild Pacific Seafood • Wildroot Botanicals • Windy Meadow Nursery
