[cgfc] CGFC's Weekly Bytes, Vol.1, #18

[Lisa BK]

 Welcome to Common Ground Food Co-op's weekly (for now) e-newsletter! You're
getting this missive 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 lisabk at gmail.com.

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 lisabk at gmail.com.
Thanks!

PS: I apologize for Bytes' lateness this week - some scheduling changes and
the approaching holidays have made things a little wacky!



STORE/LOCAL NEWS:

****GOT NOG?
Seasonal items are now in stock at the co-op!

Silk Nog and Organic Valley's Egg Nog are both in stock, and we should have
healthy quantities of both through the holiday season. Also, check out Equal
Exchange's Hot Cocoa Mix - fair trade and on sale!

Satsuma mandarin oranges are in. We'll only have them for a 3-4 week period,
so come in and grab some before the time gets away from you... because you
know it will!

****NEW PRODUCT INFORMATION:
New foods of note:
- 2 new kinds of bulk heirloom beans - Black Beluga Lentils and Cranberry
Beans - find them in the bagged bulk beans section
- organic whole wheat phyllo dough by Fillo Factory - no hydrogenated oils
and vegan - in the freezer
- sprouted burger buns by Alvarado Street Bakery - also in the freezer! Yay!

- ALSO: Common Ground is pleased to be offering CGFC member Beth
Rockenbach's Res Natura line of bodycare products - just in time for the
holidays. Products for sale include various scented and unscented body
lotions, lip balms, and a healing salve; all products are made with organic
and, when possible, locally-sourced ingredients. Testers are out in the
store, so come check them out!
- Also newly available: large canvas shopping bags made by Frontier Natural
Products Cooperative. They're roomy with longer handles and are perfect for
co-op shopping! Find them in the Health/Beauty section on the upper shelves.

- Additionally, we're also carrying Seed Savers' 2006 calendar, loaded with
excellent photos of beautiful heirloom produce and recipes donated by Seed
Savers folks. We also have a variety of their gorgeous postcards - shoppers
can find them in the rack with the small Slingshot calendars (also a great
gift idea); the sunflower card alone is enough to ditch the winter blahs.
- Finally, we've also expanded our line of Burt's Bees products to include
full-size versions of some of the baby items (diaper ointment and dusting
powder), a couple of new facial scrubs, and a few other items. Also, look
for a few soapy gift items from Pre de Provence in the coming week or so!

****MEET THE NEWBIES
 You'll be seeing new faces around the Co-op soon (if you haven't already):

Michel Smoorenburg is our new Produce Manager. Michel was a formally trained
chef in Holland and has recently settled in Illinois.

Tracy Earl, whom you may know from her days working as a Co-op coreworker or
cooking up delicacies at the Red Herring Vegetarian Restaurant, is our
new Produce
Assistant.

Katie Martell is our new Grocery Manager. She's reponsible for sourcing
wonderful new things for the store and keeping it well-stocked! She
otherwise spends her days running the Red Herring.

Anne Lucas is our newest Daily Operations Manager. She comes to us with
extensive experience running a deli, coffeehouse, and a non-profit program
for children. You'll see her in the store helping to keep things running
smoothly.

Last but not least, Eric Menzel will be helping to expand our CGFC prepared
foods.

****ORGANIC CONFERENCE ALERT
 A conference on organic production will be held on January 11 and 12, 2006
at the Interstate Center in Bloomington. The purpose of this second annual
conference is to provide practical science-based information on organic
production, certification and marketing. The conference is sponsored by
University of Illinois Extension and the Agroecology/Sustainable Agriculture
Program at the University of Illinois.

"This will be the best opportunity in Illinois for farmers to network, learn
and gather resources on organic farming in the state," said conference
organizer Dan Anderson. "All the presentations will be research-based or
come directly from the state's best organic farmers."

For further information, please email Ingrid Melief at imelief at yahoo.com

****ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITY
Interested in advertising your business or service in the CGFC quarterly
newsletter "From the Ground Up"?  Please contact Ingrid Melief at
imelief at yahoo.com or at 384-7664.

****FALL ISSUE OF FROM THE GROUND UP STILL AVAILABLE- LAST CALL!
Just a reminder - the Co-op's printed newsletter is out in its analog form.
Come by the store and pick one up! If you want the digital copy instead,
download a PDF copy on our website:

http://www.commongroundcoop.org/NewsFall05.pdf


BOOKMARK FODDER:

****Thanks to co-op member Lori for providing the heads up on this
editorial:

"Many within the organic community are losing faith in the Organic Trade
Association because it has become more interested in profits than standards
and has become corrupted by big business representatives who sit on its
board. The organic brand is a growth market, raking in almost $15 billion in
the last year and expected to grow 20 percent a year. Forty percent of
Americans buy organic products, so it should be no surprise that the
nation's largest corporations are looking to get involved in the market for
healthy foods. Wal-Mart sells soy milk, which says plenty."

The full editorial is here:

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/editorials/ci_3276022

****Familiar with Rachel's News? If you're into environmental news, you
should be:

http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/index.cfm?St=1

****The end of US vegetable farming? Ask Tom Philpott, who's spending more
time writing for Grist than at his own blog, the Bitter Greens Journal:

http://bittergreensgazette.blogspot.com/

Anyway, Tom ruminates on the future of veg farming in the US at Grist:

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2005/12/6/72839/8618

****Instead of sending you to a pretentious food blog this week, I thought
I'd send you to a website devoted to beans and lentils. Yes, we've got a new
bean and a new lentil in the store, but that's not the only reason I'm
sending you there. No, beans & lentils are inexpensive, tasty, nutritious as
all get-out, and just so humble!

http://www.beanslentils.com/



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Please feel free to forward these links to people you think might benefit
from such knowledge.
Thanks and look for #19 same time (more or less) next week!

: compiled by Outreach Coordinator Lisa B-K :
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/cgfc/attachments/20051208/1980f8f3/attachment.html