[cgfc] CGFC's Weekly Bytes, Vol.1, #5

Wed Aug 24 08:25:20 CDT 2005

GREETINGS!

Welcome to Common Ground Food Co-op's weekly (for now) e-newsletter! You're 
getting this 
newsletter because you're a member of Common Ground who's also signed up to 
be on the CGFC 
mailing list. If you aren't interested in receiving these updates, please 
email 
commongroundfoodcoop at gmail.com. A paper version is posted on the bulletin 
board in the 
store.

Every week, via this transmission, members are provided with store 
updates/news, links to 
relevant news items/political actions, and other bits and pieces worthy of 
mention. If you 
have anything of a similar bent you think members should know about, please 
email links to 
commongroundfoodcoop at gmail.com. Thanks!

STORE/LOCAL NEWS:

****Sorry it's late! With the new semester starting and schedules being a 
little tricky, the 
publication schedule of this little email nugget is being tweaked. Wednesday 
seems like a 
good bet, so look for the next version a week from today. 

****The next worker orientation will be this Saturday, August 27, at 1 PM in 
the store. If 
you're a new member (or a non-working member!) who wants to start the 
volunteer thing, this 
is where it begins. Contact Jill at the store - 352-3347 - with any 
questions.

****CGFC will be participating in the Volunteer Fair at the U of I on 
Friday, September 9 
from 10 AM - 2 PM. PLease contact Lisa at the email address above if you're 
interested 
in representing CGFC.

****Five More Urbana Farmers' Markets left for us! CGFC's scheduled to 
appear 8/27 as well 
as every Saturday in September. If you're interested in taking a shift at 
our centrally-
located/often stopped-at booth, please email Lisa at the address above. 
Thanks!

****New product onslaught continues!
Cascade Fresh Yogurt and Sour Cream are ON SALE this month!
Cascade Fresh is a family-owned company in the Pacific Northwest. Their milk 
comes from 
regional small dairies whose cows are raised on pasture. They don't use rBGH 
or antibiotics 
on their cows, and don't add any refined sugar or additives to their 
products. Their yogurts 
have 8 active cultures, including acidophilus and bifidus.

More info at www.cascadefresh.com <http://www.cascadefresh.com>

Also! Temptation Soy Dessert is on sale this month - $2.75/pint!
This soy ice cream comes from an up-and-coming Chicago company of two (Dan 
Ziegler and Ryan 
Howard). The emphasize local ingredients and use organic soybeans grown 
right here in 
Illinois! They got their start selling their homemade soymilk and soy ice 
cream to Chicago 
restaurants, including the renowned Chicago Diner vegetarian restaurant. 
Their packaging is
recyclable and they support many animal and human rights groups. "Our 
company is run 
according to philosophy, not profits."

Check them out at www.welovesoy.com <http://www.welovesoy.com>

****Pine nuts remain on sale, though not for much longer. It's still pesto 
season - and one 
can freeze pesto in cubes for dead-of-winter defrosting, adding to 
soups/stews, etc. Stuck 
for a recipe? Here's one I use (and it can be made vegan by omitting the 
cheese): 3 cups 
packed basil leaves, 3 plump cloves garlic, 2/3 C good quality EVOO (extra 
virgin olive 
oil), 1/4 pine nuts, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 grated parmesan cheese. Put 
everything in 
food processor/blender and process until smooth; stir in cheese. Great over 
pasta, on bread, 
straight outta the bowl...

****In Case You Missed Molly's Missive #1: "The Co-op's delivery schedule is 
changing with our primary 
grocery supplier, United Natural Foods. We will be getting our deliveries 
Monday
and Thursday mornings. None of our current workers who help unload the 
trucks can make it at 
those times and United is unwilling to give us a different delivery 
schedule." Who out there 
can step up for some early morning exercise AND worker hours? Let Molly know 
- you can reach 
her at the store by calling 352-3347

****In case you missed Molly's Missive #2: "I have a catalog for European 
Imports, which is a speciality 
cheese importer out of Chicago. They supply Art Mart and World Harvest. Take 
a look at it and 
flag anything you find interesting. They have a pretty high minimum order 
($1500) so I'm 
trying to determine if there's enough we could get from them. They also have 
olives (yum!) 
and lots of grocery stuff, too. Check it out and let me know what you 
think." 

So. Check it out and let her know what you think! You can leave a comment at 
the CGFC Product Blog - go 
to www.cgfcproducts.blogspot.com <http://www.cgfcproducts.blogspot.com> or 
contact her at the store.

INFO OF INTEREST:

**** "A government-convened panel that was intended to discuss ways to limit 
marketing junk 
food to kids instead became an enormous PR opportunity for the junk food 
industry." Read 
more here:

http://alternet.org/story/23648/

**** Some food and farmer news from Food First:

LA Urban Farmers Dig Deep to Save their Land

"The South Central Farm, a 14-acre lot on 41st and Alameda Streets, has for 
more than ten 
years been an oasis of food security in a gritty Los Angeles industrial 
zone. Now, the 
pitched battle between its farmers and developer Ralph Horowitz, who wants 
to build a 
warehouse on the land, is coming to a head.

The land was dedicated for use as community gardens in 1992. September 2003 
the farmers were 
told they were going to have to leave the property, as the city had already 
cut Horowitz a 

sweet deal of $5.1 million in exchange for the land. By February 2004, when 
the city
started demolishing the lots, the community was ready. By performing civil 
disobedience, 
they managed to temporarily stop the process and file a lawsuit against the 
city, Ralph 
Horowitz and the Los Angeles Food Bank. On June 30, 2005 the Court of Appeal 
reversed the 
injunction which had halted the development, again placing the land in 
Horowitz's hands.

For South Central's farmers, digging deep doesn't mean spending money, since 
they don't have 
much of it; the 350 parcels are distributed to families according to the 
USDA's poverty 
guidelines. Where the coalition lacks money, however, they have shown 
enormous 
determination, over the last six weeks organizing protests and 
demonstrations to save their
land.

As of August 9, Food First received notice that the South Central Coalition 
was occupying 
the farm. By the time of this publication we have not received word whether 
or not the 
occupation is still taking place. For more information about how to get 
involved in this 
ongoing struggle, please call (323) 232-8316."

Sources:

http://www.latinola.com/story.php?story=2741
http://www.coro.org/coro_centers/la/e-connections/july2005articles.htm
http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=1955&IssueNum=98
http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=1955&IssueNum=98
http://www.badpoetryinmotion.com/guerrillaunderground/9/

****"Responding to the recent United Farm Workers lobbying campaign 
culminating 15 years of 
debate, Governor Schwarzenegger passed long-overdue measures mandating water 
and shade to 
laborers suffering from heatstroke. Four farm workers have died while 
toiling in this 
summer's unusually high temperatures."

Source:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-farmworkers3aug03,1,7763578.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage

****During the month of July, ActionAid Pakistan released four reports and 
organized rallies 
on the adverse impact of WTO policies on small farmers. They and the WTO 
Watch Group are 
also organizing a 'South Asian Parliamentarians Workshop on WTO' to take 
place in Islamabad 
on the 29 and 30th of August.

Source:
http://www.actionaid.org/pakistan/

****The Women in Sustainable Agriculture Conference is happening on October 
21-23 in South 
Burlington, VT! For more information on what looks to be a fascinating few 
days, go here:

http://www.regonline.com/eventinfo.asp?eventid=24825

****Got a high-speed internet connection? Intersted in organic food and 
permaculture/sustainable ag? You might find this place interesting:

http://www.beyondorganic.com/

**** The New York Times Sunday magazine had peak oil as its cover story this 
past weekend; this issue is finally hitting the 
mainstream press, and deservedly so. Writer Richard Heinberg presented a 
paper at a conference in Ireland this past June. An excerpt:

'We will need to grow more food in and around cities. Currently, Oakland 
California is debating a food policy initiative that would mandate by 2015 
the growing within a fifty-mile radius of city center of 40 percent of the 
vegetables consumed in the
city.11<http://www.museletter.com/archive/159.html#notes>If the
example of Cuba were followed, rooftop gardens would result, as well
as rooftop raising of food animals like chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs. 

Localization of the food process means moving producers and consumers of 
food closer together, but it also means relying on the local manufacture and 
regeneration of all of the elements of the production process - from seeds 
to tools and machinery. This would appear to rule out agricultural 
bioengineering, which favors the centralized production of patented seed 
varieties, and discourages the free saving of seeds from year to year by 
farmers.

Clearly, we must minimize chemical inputs to agriculture (direct and 
indirect - such as those introduced in packaging and processing).'

Much more at http://www.museletter.com/archive/159.html

Please feel free to forward these links to people you think might benefit 
from such knowledge.

Thanks and look for #6 same time (more or less) next week!

::compiled by Outreach Co-coordinator Lisa Bralts-Kelly::
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