general information posts
Do you wish you could find more nutritional options for children’s parties? Cedar Falls resident, Paola Castillo shares her recent party plan.
Most birthday parties you have probably attended have served candies and a cake saturated with sugars. But my daughter’s birthday party was no typical birthday. My main goal was to serve some organic fruits and vegetables so our little ones could get the best nutrition with friends.
From the Outreach Coordinator
We are not Alone: Together, We are Making this a Reality
Did you know that there are more than 125 new cooperative grocery stores starting up across the U.S.? Did you know that even more than that are already open and running? Throughout the nation, cities understand the value of this community-grown enterprise and are experiencing the countless benefits that come their way when co-ops form and become full-fledged businesses.
Wild Root Market member-owners discuss their vision of their future storefront.
Recently, Wild Root Market (Racine, WI) hosted a “Dream UP” event, inviting Jacqueline Hannah from the Food Co-op Initiative to work with member-owners in planning their vision for their future store. This co-op has a site selected and are now eager to get underway with their bricks-and-mortar establishment. What do they want in their store? How do they want the store to be set-up? The voice of member-owners is crucial for the future of a co-op. This past month, our member-owners had the opportunity to fill out a survey to start this dreaming process, and we are grateful to those who gave us their opinions. Co-ops are vibrant places within communities BECA– USE their communities create them.
The birds are chirping louder, the temperature is a bit milder, and the sun has been shining! March brings spring, and this year spring begins on March 20, 2018. What better time than to start thinking about fresh produce? Think green. St. Patty’s Day? Nope, in season green produce! There are definitely some other gorgeous fruits and vegetables popping out this time of year, like oranges, radishes, lemons, mushrooms, and leeks.
Eating fresh produce in season offers healthy sources of vitamins and minerals at the best price. When produce is allowed to ripen naturally, it brings out the full flavor and nutrition, which means it’s healthier for you and the environment. Eating seasonally helps support local producers and is better for the environment because the food doesn’t have to be transported from another part of the country or imported. Supporting local keeps our food dollars local. Here’s the list of fresh produce for March.
Photo credit: A Healthy Life For Me.
For a more extensive list of produce by season visit: https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/seasonal-produce-guide.
Chocolate and Theatre: Now is a great time to become a Member-Owner and encourage others to join your Co-op!
What do Chocolate and Theatre Tickets have in common? Both are going to be given away this month to a few lucky new member-owners or possibly to current member-owners who encourage someone to invest in an owner share. During our Love Your Co-op campaign (January 20 – February 14), you can join as a member-owner or if already a member, can have your name is written in when someone joins regarding how they heard about the Co-op, then you will be entered into the drawing for a yummy treat from Chocolaterie Stam in Cedar Falls. From baking chocolate to cocoa mix to truffles and even a gift card, this mouth-watering gift basket is sure to please any chocolate lover. And anyone can sample free chocolate on Thursday, February 8 during the Downtown Delights event on Main Street Cedar Falls. Participating businesses will be offering free wine and chocolate pairings. The event goes until 9, but stop by Chocolaterie Stam anytime between 5 and 7 p.m. to get your co-op questions answered while sampling some chocolate and wine and listening to live harp music courtesy of co-op member-owner Sheila Benson. You’ll be able to purchase member shares and/or Co-op t-shirts too!
But wait – the giving continues…. Waterloo Community Playhouse has generously donated tickets to their upcoming show, The Full Monty. Tune in later this month to our Facebook page or contact us for full details regarding when you can be in the drawing for a pair of tickets. To be eligible you must be a new member-owner who joins during the specific giveaway timeframe or be a current member-owner who is written in on the member application as the person from whom the new member heard of the Co-op.
We are grateful to you for supporting your Co-op. As we grow in membership, we grow in community and get even closer to opening the doors to our store!
Cindy and Russ Dodd felt so strongly about their investment soon after purchasing their own member share that they bought shares for their children. As Cindy puts it, “Purchasing Cedar Falls Food Co-op memberships was an opportunity to invest in Cedar Falls. Both of our children live here and enjoy healthy food. We believe in shopping locally and knew it would be fun for our families to be part of this business from the beginning and watch it progress. This is a gift that will give back for years.” And as is evident from this photo of the Dodd family, the impact of these share purchases extends beyond the member-owner to several other household members.
Of course, families are probably not the only ones on your holiday gift list this year.
Jacquelyn Berggren, Andrew Morse, and Scott Wirtz
At the 2017 Member-Owner Potluck & Meeting, the Cedar Falls Food Co-op wrapped up its elections for three seats on the Board of Directors. The three incoming members began their term immediately following the meeting on Oct. 24.
The nine-member Board leads the Co-op’s efforts to establish the community-owned grocery store in or near downtown Cedar Falls. With 31.1% of the membership voting, the results are as follows:
Andrew Morse 28.8%
Jacquelyn Berggren 25.9%
Scott Wirtz 25.3%
Blake Conover 20.0%Continue reading
Looking for some DIY gift ideas? Learn how to make your own vanilla and much more…
DIY Gift Ideas
As the holiday season approaches, if you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or another tradition, you are probably starting to think about gift-giving. In our household, we have struggled with the idea of purchasing gifts that may not be either sustainable nor necessary for our loved ones who seem to have more than enough “stuff” in their homes. When do buy gifts, we focus on buying local, spending at least one weekend patronizing local businesses. I find it’s one of the few times I actually enjoy shopping!
However, the best tradition that has come out of this struggle is do-it-yourself (DIY) gifts. Growing up, my siblings and I were encouraged to make gifts for teachers, friends, and family members, but this was time-consuming so tapered off. As an adult, I’m fortunate that my in-laws have inspired a DIY gift-giving tradition. I have received amazing goodies over the years including jam, paper flowers made from maps, hot sauce, and granola. The following is a recipe for DIY gift I did last year along with other DIY options that not only do not take much time, but are also consumable, reducing the amount of waste that is a result of most holiday gift-giving. In fact, you will discover that recipients beg to be kept on your holiday list for future DIY gifts.
Change your Facebook profile picture for Love Your Co-op month!
The whole month of October is dedicated to showing how much you love your co-op! We would like to encourage all of our supporters to use our new profile picture on Facebook to show your support. We also know a lot of our members love to shop at other co-ops, and we want to hear about it! When you visit your favorite co-op, send us a selfie, tag us on Facebook, and tell us why you love co-ops!
Board elections are now open! Learn about your candidates and vote today!
The goal of the Cedar Falls Food Co-op is to be a locally owned and democratically run grocery store. This includes offering our members the opportunity to choose who will serve on the Board of Directors to make decisions about how our business is run. This year we have four amazing candidates running for three open positions. Voting began on September 20th, and the deadline is Tuesday, October 24th, at 7pm. To learn more about our candidates, visit: https://rootedcarrot.coop/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/CFFC_Board_Candidate_Statements-2017-1.pdf
Voting is conducted through an online service. If you haven’t received an email with the link to vote, contact Dan Heit at gtthrills@mchsi.com.
