Co-opportunity

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noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:29:00 +0000

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Offshore Oil Drilling Community Forum

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:24:00 +0000

The coast of California is now vulnerable to new off shore drilling. Environment California and Surfrider Foundation are holding a community meeting in Santa Monica on March 17 to talk about this threat and what we can do to protect our beaches.

The meeting is from 7-8 pm, at:

Santa Monica Library, Fairview Branch
2101 Ocean Park Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90405

To RSVP to the event go to: http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/oceans/la-forum?id4=ES

Success! New USDA Rules Establish Strong Organic Standards for Pasture and Livestock

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:19:00 +0000

A big thank you to all of our members who took the time to write to the White House to express your concern, and to urge the President to support truly organic dairy farming practices. Thanks to your efforts organic dairy can continue with meaningful pasture and grazing rules that support the true ethics of organic farming.

From The Cornucopia Institute:
On behalf of the organic family farmers in this country I want to thank and recognize the co-op community. I can't think of a more important ally in this 10-year struggle that has resulted in the Obama administration setting up to crack down on the abuse from factory farms in organic dairy.

This is a big victory and I hope that you and your members will take pride in your important contributions,
Mark Kastel
Codirector
The Cornucopia Institute

Read the full Press Release here: http://www.cornucopia.org/2010/02/new-usda-rules-establish-strong-organic-standards-for-pasture-and-livestock/

Contact the White House - Don't Let Lobbyists Weaken New Organic Dairy Standards

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:52:00 +0000

From the Cornucopia Institute:

Farmers and consumers concerned with the integrity of organic dairy farming need to contact the White House (IMMEDIATELY) and urge the President to support a strong pending standard governing organic livestock and dairy management practices.

The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is nearing the end of its critical review of proposed new regulations clarifying the requirement that dairy cows and other ruminants consume a meaningful amount of feed from pasture and grazing. Powerful factory farm interests opposed to the rule - who want to continue to principally confine animals in feedlot style operations - have privately met with OMB officials and are seeking to weaken the new rule.

Click here to visit the Cornucopia Institute's website, find out how to contact the White House and read more: www.cornucopia.org

Update your address contest winners!

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:49:00 +0000

Thanks to all the members who have updated their contact information either on-line or in-store! All of you we're entered into the UPDATE contest for a chance to win 1 of 10 $25 Co-op gift cards. Below are the names of the winners. If you haven't already, stop by the membership desk inside the store to pick up your gift card. Congratulations!

January 2010 UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS contest winners:
Maureen Redmond
Bob Thomas
Melvin Yee
Mark Hardy
Ellen Haden
Penny Jennings
Marlene Frantz
Lou Frederick
Monica Smirnoff Levin
Sachiko Kato

Tell the USDA You Care about GE Contamination of Organic Food!

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:05:00 +0000

In 2006, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sued the Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its illegal approval of Monsanto's genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa. The federal courts sided with CFS and banned GE alfalfa until the USDA fully analyzed the impacts of the plant on the environment, farmers, and the public in a rigorous analysis known as an environmental impact statement (or EIS). USDA released its draft EIS on December 14, 2009 and their preliminary determination is to once again deregulate GE alfalfa without any limitations or protections for farmers or the environment, claiming that there is no evidence that consumers care about GE contamination of organic foods! A 60-day comment period is open until February 16, 2010.

Please take the time to visit the Center for Food Safety's website to voice your opinion on genetically engineered foods.

Go here: http://ga3.org/campaign/alfalfaEIS

Sustainable Quality Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:04:00 +0000

Hello Everyone,
If you know of any company that you think should be recognized for being an awesome, sustainable organization, please take a few minutes to fax in your nominations for the upcoming 2010 Sustainable Quality Awards by completing the form here:

http://www.smsqa.com/smsqa/pdf/2010_SQA_Nomination_Form.pdf

Deadline Monday, December 21st

Since 1995, the Chamber of Commerce, City of Santa Monica, and Sustainable Works have honored local businesses and organizations that make extraordinary contributions by enhancing our economy, community and environment with the Sustainable Quality Award (SQA).

* 42 Business Greening Program participants have won an SQA or Excellence award in the last 8 years!

You can nominate any business or organization (including your own or even your favorite grocery store)! Requirements:
- Located in Santa Monica
- Santa Monica Chamber member if outside Santa Monica
- In operation for minimum 2 years

Fax in your SQA nominations to the Chamber of Commerce to 310-394-1868. For more information see www.smsqa.com

Alternative Holiday Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:57:00 +0000

This year instead of getting caught in the retail juggernaut, consider alternative gifts for the special people in your life.

Animal Acres
One of our favorite local organizations is offering the opportunity to sponsor an animal at their sanctuary. Your gift recipient will receive a beautiful holiday card from you, adoption certificate and photo with educational rescue story, and an annual membership to Animal Acres which includes FREE Sunday tours for a year. You can adopt online at: www.animalacres.org or call: 661-269-5404.

Buy Fair Trade gifts and decorations, not only does it support the producer, but many times they are more environmentally sustainable, such as fair trade coffee, chocolates and teas.

Consider gifting a present that will promote sustainability, such as a reusable lunch container with a utensil set.

Make, bake or assemble the ingredients for one of your culinary specialties. If you can, use a reusable container and include the recipe, so if they love it they can make it again.

Other Holiday Ideas to Consider

RENT a Living Tree For The Holidays This Year
Where: Sunday Farmer's Market at 2640 Main St, Santa Monica
Time: 9:30am-1pm
When: Every Sunday through December 20, 2009
The trees come live, in a pot with their roots, and growing. This means they can deliver the tree to you and pick-up after the holidays. The tree then goes back to their nursery, where it continues growing until next year. Check out their website for more info www.livingchristmas.com.

Try to avoid regular wrapping paper and ribbons which are not recyclable, instead use a Japanese trick and wrap your present in a bit of cloth, or use a cute dishtowel.

Agree with a friend to take each other off the gift list. Friends don't want to add to each others holiday stress, so agree NOT to exchange gifts but schedule a relaxing afternoon together instead.

What about you, have you got any holiday tips to share?

Fiji Water

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:05:00 +0000

It has come to our attention that there are some serious issues regarding Fiji Water. In addition to the environmental concerns about bottled water in general, Anne Lenzer from Mother Jones Magazine, wrote an excellent article about Fiji Water in the September-October 2009 issue. She gives an in-depth description about Fiji Water as a company, past and present, their impact on the environment, and the political and economic conditions in Fiji. Go to www.motherjones.com/fijiwater and you can read the entire article. You can also read the response from Fiji Water to the article as well as the response from Mother Jones here: http://blog.fijigreen.com/2009/08/fiji-water-responds-to-mother-jones-article/.

As much as we might agree with the findings in the Mother Jones article, we feel it's important to share information and educate our members/shoppers about the issues raised and let you vote with your dollars. So at this time we aren't discontinuing carrying Fiji Water, but we won't feature it as we have been. Instead of a big case stack, you'll find it on the bottom shelf in the bottled water section.

If you have any questions or concerns, we would like to hear from you. You can contact Robin Enwright our Product Quality and Education Director at robin@coopportunity.com.

Bottom line - try not to buy bottled water. For your convenience, we carry a large selection of reusable water bottles for all your needs. They're available in stainless steel or BPA Free Plastic, with screw-on caps or sports caps and in different shapes and sizes, including lunch box bottles and kid's bottles. Our newest stainless steel bottle is from EcoUsable and features an "Ionic-Adsorption Micro-Filtration System" inside the bottle. According to the company, this filtration system "removes 99.99% of pollutants that may be found in drinking water for up to 100 gallons of great tasting filtered water." That's approximately 12 months of use. It's easy to break the bottled water habit with all these choices of reusable water bottles.

Food Safety Bill--A threat to small/organic farms--your voice is needed

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:22:00 +0000

From the Cornucopia Institute:
Action Alert

Senate Bill 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

Tell the Senate committee not to threaten quality organic and local food production

Act now! Contact your senator Today!
Our food safety system is broken. Industrialized food production gives rise to serious food safety problems, and our government's ability to regulate corporate agribusiness must be strengthened -- without harming small-scale and organic family farmers.

Bills in Congress propose to give more authority to the Food and Drug Administration to regulate for food safety, inspect food processing facilities, and order mandatory recalls. The House passed its own food safety bill in July. The Senate's bill is in committee and scheduled for a mark-up (committee vote) today

Allowing the FDA to crack down on corporate food producers that threaten our citizenry's health is a step in the right direction -- as long as legislation contains protections for small-scale, organic and local food systems. Small farms could be forced out of business by increasing costs for record-keeping, testing and other measures they will not be able to comply with. These are our country's safest farms -- part of the solution, not part of the problem!

Now is the time to contact Senate committee members (especially if one is from your state) that will make changes to the bill on November 18. Our message is: Senate Bill 510 must contain protections for small-scale and organic family farms.

Please call as many committee members as you have time for!
Take Action Today – Call Senate Committee Members
See the list below for Senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Please call or fax their office, ask to speak with the aide in charge of food safety issues, and share the concerns of the small-scale and organic farming community with them.

List of Senate HELP Committee Members

Senator Phone
Democrats
Tom Harkin (IA) - 202-224-3254
Chris Dodd (CT) - 202-224-2823
Barbara Mikulski (MD) - 202-224-4654
Jeff Bingaman (NM) - 202-224-5521
Patty Murray (WA) - 202-224-2621
Jack Reed (RI) - 202-224-4642
Bernie Sanders (VT) - 202-224-5141
Sherrod Brown (OH) - 202-224-2315
Bob Casey (PA) - 202-224-6324
Kay Hagan (NC) - 202-224-6342
Jeff Merkley (OR) - 202-224-3753
Al Franken (MN) - 202-224-5641
Michael Bennet (CO) - 202-224-5852

Republicans
Mike Enzi (WY) - 202-224-3424
Judd Gregg (NH) - 202-224-3324
Lamar Alexander (TN) - 202-224-4944
Richard Burr (NC) - 202-224-3154
Johnny Isakson (GA) - 202-224-3643
Orrin Hatch (UT) - 202-224-5251
Pat Roberts (KS) - 202-224-4774
Tom Coburn (OK) - 202-224-5754
Lisa Murkowski (AK) - 202-224-6665

Help the Center for Food Safety

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:00:00 +0000

If you're never heard of them before, the Center for Food Safety is an organization that works to protect public health and the environment by promoting organic and sustainable food production practices and lobbying against harmful technologies and companies.

They do a lot of good work and we as a co-op rely on them to alert us to issues and news. They are in the middle of their fall donation funds drive, and they have a short but interesting video of Vandana Shiva, an amazing speaker, on their donation page. Its worth checking out even if you don't wish to donate. Also if food safety is something you're interested in its worth signing up for their e-mail updates which is free.

Check it out (takes you to another website) https://secure.ga3.org/03/FFF_Shiva!

Tell USDA: Keep Nanotech OUT of Organic!

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:15:00 +0000

From the the Center for Food Safety's True Food Network website:

USDA's National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is voting on whether nanotechnology should be banned from use in Organic products. Thanks to your overwhelming outcry in May 2009 the Board's initial recommendation is to keep nanotech out of organic entirely. Now, we need your help again to make sure USDA holds the line! The critical vote on the Board's final recommendation will be held in Washington D.C. on Nov 3.

Nanotechnology is contrary to Organic Principles and could further entrench industrial/chemical agriculture and industrial food as our dominant paradigm, to the detriment of public health and the environment. Tell NOSB to ensure the integrity of Organic on this issue by voting that USDA ban nanotechnology as an excluded method.

Read more and take action now (takes you to True Food Network website)

Proposed Federal Rules Could Competitively Injure Small, Local and Organic Fresh Market Produce Growers

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:21:00 +0000

From the Cornucopia Institute:

USDA Schedules Public Hearings to Obtain Citizens' Concerns and Suggestions

The "Leafy Green Marketing Agreement," which requires producers to follow a set of rules (metrics) in the name of food safety, has already shown to be injurious for the environment, biodiversity, and organic growers in California. The USDA is now considering a similar "Leafy Green Marketing Agreement" that would extend beyond California and Arizona to cover the entire United States-let's help make this rule work for growers of all sizes!

The USDA has scheduled a series of hearing sessions, around the country, inviting you to this perfect opportunity to share your concerns and suggestions.

Click here to read the full article and the schedule.

Upcoming Events

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:20:00 +0000

There are a couple of upcoming events that benefit two local organizations that we partner with.

The first one is a benefit for Sustainable Works:
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Writers Boot Camp @ Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Building I
Santa Monica, CA 90404
6pm - 11pm
Click here to purchase tickets

The second is for Heal the Bay which will feature the Santa Monica premier of Cirque du Soleil KOOZA
Friday, October 16, 2009
Click here to purchase tickets

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:40:00 +0000

Most of us have seen this info before, but I find it personally gratifying that it these issues are becoming more mainstream. Hopefully this means that eventually America will change its ways.

Check out this TIME article Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

-Mia

Block Party!

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:47:00 +0000

Hello All,
In case you missed the 100 + announcements, TODAY is our 35th Anniversary Block Party and 5 hour sale.

1525 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA

Both are from 12pm - 5pm

Don't miss this once in a co-op's lifetime opportunity. See www.coopportunity.com for more info!

Co-opportunity is turning 35!

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:59:00 +0000

Co-opportunity Block Party!
Sunday, Aug 23 12:00p to 5:00p
@ the Co-op

This year Co-opportunity turns 35, and we're having a Block Party to celebrate! Everyone welcome to come and enjoy free food, music, dancing, giveaways, prizes, kid's zone, and so much more co-op fun!

FREE event 8/23/09 - 12 noon till 5pm

@ the Co-op
1525 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA
310-451-8902
http://www.coopportunity.com

Paper or Plastic? Bring Your Own

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:36:00 +0000

Here's my rant for the day: We should all bring our reusable bags on a regular basis when shopping for our groceries. There's no reason we can't keep our bags in our cars and use them when we shop. It might take time to create a habit, but it can be done. The oceans and landfills throughout the world are choked with the trash of a billion and one shopping trips. We can't keep going along this route. Eventually, we're going to hit a proverbial (or real) wall and end up with more trash than we know what to do with.

Single-use bags (paper or plastic) are so outdated, inefficient and wasteful that we--rumored to be the most intelligent species--should know better. Both require tremendous resources to create. Not only that, we are dropping so much plastic into the oceans, I'm afraid we're not going to have an ocean one day. Or if we do, it will be more like swimming in a saltwater Toys"R"Us.

Obviously it's not just plastic bags that are choking our oceans; it's all plastic. But I'm ranting about bags here, so we'll leave the discussion of other plastic for another time.

Need facts? Just Google "Pacific Gyre" or "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch" and watch the videos documenting our continual disregard of our planet's most precious resource. (Or see my previous post, Plastic Soup.) We've also got some good video links on our Environmental Sustainability page.

Paper bags are no better. They require a huge amount of resources for their production. A Washington Post article claimed that over 14 million trees are cut down annually to create paper bags.

I've just received an email from a longtime owner who's as frustrated as I am about the continual use of new paper and plastic bags. Sure, some are recycled, but that takes energy, time and money. Why not bring your own? Reuse over and over again. If you need trash bags for your kitchen, try using our Biobags. They're biodegradable, which means they'll break down in a landfill. We've got them in the paper and cleaning product section.

We have a bunch of great reusable bag options to choose from: 99 cent poly bags; Co-opportunity canvas bags; and Chico Bags are just some. Our One Bag at a Time poly bags (stocked at every register) are only 99 cents and they're from a company run by a longtime owner of our co-op.

It only takes a little practice; after that you'll be remembering your reusable bags for every shop. And the oceans and landfills will thank you.

So, here it is: Paper or Plastic?

Neither if we can help it.

Food, Inc..

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:40:00 +0000

There's a new movie premiering today at the Nuart theater in West L.A. called Food, Inc. Featuring Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser and others, this flick should prove to be another enlightening installment in a series of films documenting the sad state of industrial agriculture, the livestock industry and food production in our country.

Rather than summarize the film myself, here's the blurb from the movie website:

"In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli--the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising--and often shocking truths--about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here."

----------------------
If you're unaware of what really goes on behind the scenes with the production of much of our food, then definitely go see this movie. While it may not be a contender for the next "Best Comedy" Oscar, it's crucial we stay informed. For it's only through knowledge that we can make the best choices regarding the health of our bodies and the health of our planet.

Food, Inc. is showing at the Nuart through next Thursday. This is a limited engagement. Check the theatre for exact showtimes.

Here's the Official Food, Inc. website:
www.foodincmovie.com

Frankenseeds & Beans

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:28:00 +0000

The most fascinating thing about Monsanto is that they actually have the audacity to believe they are entitled to claim the world's seeds as their own. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I will direct your attention to several websites and videos at the end of this post.

Not only has Monsanto crafted frankenseeds (GMOs or "genetically modified organisms") based upon sound science fiction; but they are scouring the world attempting to slap patents on thousand-year-old seeds developed by indigenous farmers through years of trial and error. What will happen if all the seeds in the world are owned by one corporation? Well, that's a scenario straight out of a Hollywood scriptwriter's pen.

I first learned about Monsanto's audacity from the film, "The Future of Food," wherein said multinational monster of a corporation claimed that a Canadian farmer named Percy Schmeiser had infringed on their proprietary property. Briefly, some of Monsanto's GMO canola seeds had accidentally blown onto Schmeiser's organic canola fields. (A truck was driving by and lost some of its cargo.) The frankenseeds grew, threatening Schmeiser's organic certification. Lo and behold, Monsanto's agents had discovered the "infringement" and sued Schmeiser. After years of litigation (and much expense and heartache for Percy), Schmeiser finally won a favorable decision in 2008.

But the battle is certainly not over.

Everyday there's a push to create more genetically-modified crops. First it was soy, corn and canola. Now it's wheat. Third world countries are being forced to accept these GMO laden exports as well. It has become a constant battle between the European Union (and other countries) and the forces of "progress" who want the world to drink the GMO kool-aid.

Monsanto claims it is developing ways to cure the world's food shortage. With global population growing at a fantastic rate, Monsanto believes we'll run out of food. So they're riding in on a white horse of mutilated and manipulated life forms to save the day. Remember folks, this is the same child of free enterprise that brought us Agent Orange and DDT.

But these are different times. We need to forget all that nonsense. We need to realize Monsanto is in the business of providing food for the masses. No matter that they'll eventually own the ability to control the entire process.

Any company that creates a "terminator" seed which becomes useless after one harvest can't be all bad, huh?

We need to take a collective pause and realize we're tinkering with the very basis of life. This is audacity on a whole 'nother level, folks. Sometimes you have to leave well enough alone. Shooting fish genes into corn is not what I want to be remembered for when I kick the proverbial bucket. The tombstone will read:

"He Ruined the Genetic Makeup of the World's Corn."

You'll be happy to know that certified organic products must be GMO-free.

Now, please pass the organic tofu...

Vandana Shiva talks about the patent of seeds by Monsanto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah-ZeN_ghro

"The World According to Monsanto" Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_OJcPKEYDE

Organic Consumers Association "Millions against Monsanto" Campaign

www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm

Percy Schmeiser's Website

www.percyschmeiser.com/

Co-op to Go!

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Great news for all you co-op deli lovers. We've now got a whole new delicious bunch of grab'n'go goodies made right here, "in-house," as they say in the biz. It's our recently created "Co-op to Go!" line and we're adding new models weekly.

Here's just a partial listing: Daily fresh sandwiches of all persuasions (turkey, veggie, tuna, grilled chicken panini, grilled veggie panini, etc.). Sides of rice. Wraps. Whole meal plates. And more.

And there's more yet to come. Our research and development department is hard at work in a secret location creating new culinary delights for the line.

Stop by the deli and check the lower case in front of the counter and also the case on the side facing produce. Just look for the "Co-op to Go!" label.

No more waiting in line!

It's easy: Choose. Purchase. Devour. Enjoy. Wipe face.

Smile.

Homegrown, It's What's for Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:49:00 +0000

I haven't grown much more than a potbelly during my time here on Earth, but after watching "Homegrown Revolution," the video documentary on the Dervaes Family, I'm committed to harvesting at least one full course meal myself before kicking the bucket.

Here's the plot: Father of three says no to GMOs and bug spray on his dinner, bucks the system, and transforms his 1/5 acre Pasadena plot into a self-sufficient food factory capable of producing up to 6,000 lbs of organic produce a year. Their definition of a local tomato is 40 feet from farm to table.

(I could do without the chickens, but I'll save that for my therapist.)

After watching this video, you will never look at a front lawn (or backyard) the same way again.

Can you imagine what would happen to commercial agribusiness, GMOs and the pesticide industry if everyone began growing their own food?

Here's the documentary:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q

Here's the Dervaes website:
www.pathtofreedom.com

Our Local Produce

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:16:00 +0000

Here's some good news: We currently have over 30 fresh, delicious local organic produce items available in our produce department. (Our Meyer Lemons, grown just 12 miles away, wins the "Most Local" prize.) We're coming up on summer and the fields are pouring forth a rich bounty of succulent crops.

It is our policy to purchase the highest quality local organic produce available at any given time. Just check for "LOCAL" on our produce signs. Our Produce Manager, Inez Gobert, is continually on the lookout for tasty local items--from small, independent farmers when available. As the seasons change, certain items are not available in California, so we have to source from other regions. But if it's to be found close to the co-op, we'll do our best to stock it.

Come on in and partake of the harvest.

Local Organic Produce Currently In-Stock

Malibu 12 miles
Meyer Lemons

Sun Valley (Kenter Canyon) 15 miles
Clamshell Salads

Oxnard (Pure-Veg) 41 miles
Celery
Parsley

Riverside (The Grove) 62 miles
Navel Oranges

Santa Barbara (Givens Farms) 75 miles
Red Kale
Fennel
Green Chard

Goleta (Ebby's Farm) 84 miles
Black Kale

Bakersfield (Cal-Organics) 97 miles
Red Leaf Lettuce
Tomatoes
Bunched Carrots
Red Onions
Yellow Onions
White Onions
Bunched Beets
Bunched Carrots
Bok Choy
Green Leaf
Mustard Greens
Red Cabbage
Turnips
Loose Beets
Rutabaga

Thermal (Anthony's Vineyard) 168 miles
Green Grapes
Red Grapes

Santa Maria (Bonipak) 123 miles
Broccoli

Kingsburg (Brooks) 179 miles
Cherries

Kingsburg (Olson Farms) 179 miles
Peaches
White Peaches
Plouts

Be Informed

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:21:00 +0000

I wanted to tell you about two highly informative websites dedicated to our food purity and safety.

One is the Organic Consumers Association:

www.organicconsumers.org

And the other is the Cornucopia Institute:

www.cornucopia.org

Both sites feature in-depth articles and studies on organic standards, the GMO controversy and a host of other issues directly relating to the food we eat. The information in both is highly researched and up-to-date.

They are two of the best sites I know of to get informed and take action. Both feature an assortment of campaigns (and electronic petitions) currently being waged against the trend toward weakening organic standards, the disappearance of small family-owned farms, genetically modified food proliferation and more.

I appreciate the immense dedication of the people involved in both organizations. They are working on the front lines to safeguard the future of our food, environment and small farmers.

If you're interested in any of the issues above, these sites are goldmines of information.

As Gandhi once said, "We need to be the change we want to see in the world."

The Co-op Bookstore

noreply@blogger.com (Co-opportunity) — Wed, 27 May 2009 07:47:00 +0000

Twenty-five years ago, I stopped into Mrs. Gooch's on Palms and Centinela with my mother to pick up some flowers. Browsing through the book section, I picked up a slim little orange volume from a spinner rack. It was called The Miracle of Fasting by Paul Bragg. (Yes, the Bragg of Bragg's Liquid Aminos.) The title was intriguing, so I bought the book. Simply put, The Miracle of Fasting is the reason I'm working at the co-op. For 20 years I had been eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) of burgers, fries, pizza, Hot Pockets and Cheerios. Within a week of reading Bragg I became a vegetarian and completely overhauled my diet. A few months later (to get closer to the bean sprouts) I applied at Co-opportunity. Two weeks later I had the gig and never left. Had it not been for that tiny little tome of healthy wisdom, I might never have fasted, cooked quinoa or become GM of Co-opportunity.

This is just a fancy introduction to the subject of this blog: Our book section. I believe we have one of the best book sections of any natural foods store in Los Angeles. Robin Enwright, our Product Quality and Education Director, has been tending to our bookstore for over 20 years. And she's grown quite a garden of words. She carefully chooses each selection from several independent book distributors she's used for years.

Across from the soaps in our bodycare section (and on the display table by the bread), you can find books on everything from aromatherapy to vegan cuisine and everything in between. Books on the environment & green living. Gluten-free diets. Women's and children's health. Natural beauty. Organic gardening. Composting. Animal rights. Homeopathy. Bach flowers. Cookbooks of various persuasions. A whole section on raw foods. And some giant reference books on natural remedies and healing.

One of these days I'm going to read the book on how to grow my breakfast on my windowsill.

Years ago we used to have a bunch more independent bookstores, used and new. Sadly, they're mostly all gone. We're committed to keeping our little bookstore alive and thriving. Those little volumes contribute to the health and well being of our community and our environment.

That is, as long as someone reads them.