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A Public ation o f t h e Sk a g i t Va l l e y Fo o d Co - o p Oc t o b e r /No v e m b e r 2013 I-522: Understanding the Importance of “Yes”! Why and How Will 1-522 Give Consumers “Their Right to Know”? by Rachael Darden

Consumers in the United States are creates GMOs is genetic engineering bombarded with options: why offer two -- when a food’s DNA has been merged types of cereal when you can offer 50, with a different species to create a new in varied, bright-colored packaging that combination of plant, animal, bacterial, promises cartoon-fantasy adventures or viral gene. and convenient nutrition? During my Initiative 522, which would mandate four years living overseas as an ESL the labeling of genetically engineered instructor, mostly in east Asia and the content in food, is decidedly not for or Middle East, the topic of “reverse culture against GMOs: it would simply provide shock” frequently came up when fellow transparency and information so that travelers were preparing to return back to consumers can make an informed the western world. And, in my experience, decision, just as the information on what was the number-one shock concern? current nutrition labels provides. I-522 is Supermarkets. considered the “right to know” act, and is The sheer volume of choices that are this election’s chance for voters to further available to consumers in the western mandate how our government provides world serves many purposes: desire, transparency and freedom. necessity, convenience, confusion, I strongly believe that it is a voter’s nutrition, gratification. Decisions we obligation to respect their opportunity make about the food we buy and consume to vote by informing themselves on why serve those purposes, in part because and how a right will come into action. on the back of every packaged item, is In Skagit County, ballots will be mailed an easily identified, well-organized, out on October 16. As during any election mandated nutrition and ingredient label. season, on television, in the mailbox, on Taking a quick glance in my cupboards, the phone, voters find themselves once I know that baking powder has four again in a convenience store of options: ingredients, a can of tuna has no trans pick me, vote yes, vote no. And while fat, liquid aminos have 160mg of sodium this is very much a political issue, and in ½ tsp, and my toilet paper is made the Co-op has made its yes vote quite from a minimum of 80% post-consumer clear, our involvement on I-522 is simply recycled fiber. a resounding attempt to give our owners photo: B. Faxon The transparency of artificial flavors and customers the right to know what The average contribution to Yes on or colors, preservatives, conventional they are buying from us. 522, from thousands of donors, is ingredients, etc. in packaged food is not In this attempt, we have continued to $25. In contrast, there are only five just expected by American consumers, but ask ourselves “Why ‘Yes’?” and “How opposition donors, all corporate, all rightfully given by food manufacturers. will the labeling be mandated?”. In out-of-state, and led by Monsanto, Now, if a manufacturer is willing to order to better understand the legalities which has given almost five million put fat, sugar, and caloric content on of I-522, let’s take a further look at the dollars to defeat I-522. the box, why not GMOs (Genetically initiative itself. See page 3 Modified Organisms)? The science that

Those Beautiful Making Root Veggies Balsamic Inside This Issue page 8 at Home page 13 Seeds of Seasonal Freedom Baby Film Foods Showing at page 9 the Co-op page 5 From the Editor Also From the Editor Trusted Sources Selfie’s Choice by Beverly Faxon by Beverly Faxon I received a glossy No on I-522 flyer in the mail yesterday. It was the first, but I’m sure The seeping, or leaping, of new words into our language interests me. Usually, I’m it won’t be the last before November. far behind (“twerking” for example—by the time I learned what that meant, everyone The flyer made me think of a workshop I attended this summer with Dr. Brian Baird, was tired of it. And if you still don’t know, you live a charmed life. Don’t look it up.) psychologist, former Congressman, and now president of Antioch University. Dr. Baird The latest word I’ve noticed is “selfie”—okay not new—it was a Time magazine “buzz explained the results of some studies on public opinion. Those studies suggested the word” in 2012 and is now an Oxford Online Dictionary entry--but it is not yet worn following findings: out and is rapidly gaining ground in mainstream media. Just in case you’re even more • In spite of heroic effort [by those engaged in education], most of the general public clueless than me, a “selfie” is a self-portrait, generally taken with a handheld camera will not have accurate knowledge of the issue under debate and frequently uploaded to Facebook. • Even though they lack accurate knowledge of key information, people will have I could write a lot about the word “selfie”. As a term, it is rich for philosophical or opinions about the validity of that information comedic exploration, but that has probably been done. Enough to say that it beautifully • A majority of people on both sides assumes they are better informed than the other implies what it means: acknowledging the self as front and center in the known world. side and believe they are in the majority. What I really want to do is borrow the term and use it to title a hypothetical dilemma, In the end, what did the study find shaped these opinions that people held closely and one that I’ve just come up with: “Selfie’s Choice” (apologies, William Styron and Meryl acted upon? “Trusted sources.” Streep). Looking at the “No” flyer, I knew that I already have my opinion, as evidenced by my Yes bumper sticker and a 20-year history of opposing GMOs. And yes, I’m one of those In Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril, people who believe that I am better informed (Umm, I am, really.) And, yes, I feel sure editors Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson that I am in the majority (an over 80 or 90% majority nation-wide according to many propose an ethical dilemma to help illustrate the ethical polls) when it comes to wanting GMOs labeled. concepts of instrumental versus intrinsic value. If you are I noticed the big headlines on this flyer proclaiming the “costly” nature of I-522, an instrumentalist, you believe the earth and all its species and thought that there IS big money at stake here. But it is not the costs of labeling (a and mountains and oceans and sandy beaches and cool blue dubious claim countered by proponents)—it is the earnings of those who profit from not glaciers are here solely to be used by us, by human beings: our labeling and the amount they are willing to put out to block labeling. instruments. Alternatively, you may believe that the earth and The very small type on the flyer is hard to find beyond the large, glowing, sunset the wolves and the apple trees and volcanoes and pebbles and photo of a farmer on his tractor, but the small type indicates the five giants financing waterfalls all have their own intrinsic, inherent value, apart this movement. I find it hard to believe that Monsanto, in for over 4.8 million dollars on from helping to support or enhance human life. the Washington No campaign, is doing so out of a deep commitment to the well-being So, to help gauge where you land on the spectrum, here is Moore and Nelson’s of Skagit and Whatcom farmers and consumers. Monsanto’s past history of doggedly dilemma. If all humans rocketed off the earth, and you were on the last spaceship, would suing farmers over drifting GMO seed makes me doubt their altruistic commitment to you flip the switch (like turning off one giant light) to blow earth up as you left? the farming community. Seeking no votes with lots of money is worth it to Monsanto Yes? Instrumental value. No? Intrinsic value. because they are the manufacturers of both GMO seed and the herbicides the seed was I’m intrigued by this dilemma, but practically it doesn’t work for me. Even a staunch engineered to withstand in heavy doses. instrumentalist might leave that switch untouched. What if humans wanted to come Monsanto, and other companies, have insisted that GMOs are safe and beneficial to back someday, maybe to retrieve something left behind? Like a copy of the Bill of the food supply—if this were truly so, why, after decades of disseminating their own Rights? Or a cutting from an apple tree? Or a DVD of George Clooney in The Perfect p.r. and blocking truth in labeling, haven’t they convinced us? Why do they find their Storm? only recourse is to continue to hide GMO ingredients and to spend millions of dollars Even if they were sure they were never coming back, it still seems overly wanton and to keep labeling from happening? If GMOS are so great, then why not proudly stick mean-spirited to punch the destroy button: only a choice for the instrumentalist really them on the label and be done with it? All this makes it clear that Monsanto and their addicted to fireworks or video games. Why wouldn’t the practical and self-absorbed ilk are not trusted sources. instrumentalist just resolutely look out the spaceship window at the upcoming stars A final thought—trust your instincts on this one, and share what you know with without glancing in the rearview window? family, friends and neighbors (stories beginning on pages 1 and 6 of this newsletter will try to add to what you know). You may be someone’s trusted source. Hence my new idea of an ethical dilemma: Selfie’s Choice. Let’s say you can manage to ship a surviving remnant of the human race off into space to colonize a new habitat (don’t make me get specific here, we’ve all seen Battlestar Galactica), but only by using every last available resource and every last non-human Skagit Valley Food Co-op Mission Statement species on earth, leaving behind a hot and barren rock of a planet. Or conversely, you can somehow choose to save the planet—again, the sand, the The Skagit Valley Food Co-op is a not-for-profit organization whose purpose is wolves, the apple trees, Mount Baker and the Skagit River (no, not the George Clooney to provide good food at a low price. As stated in the Co-op By-Laws: “The Co-op DVD), but only, for some obscure reason, at the expense of the entire human race. shall promote member welfare by utilizing their united funds and their united efforts Which would you choose? The continuation of the human species? Or the continuation for the purchase and distribution of commodities in accordance with the following criteria: of planet earth? A. Maintaining the non-for-profit status of the Co-op; And just to take away the reflex response based on love or self-love, there can be no B. Offering high quality products which contribute to good nutrition; guarantee that you or your progeny will be on the spaceship. It isn’t self-preservation C. Supporting a low impact, non-harmful approach to the environment; so much as species preservation. D. Supporting local suppliers and producers; I imagine there are holes in the Selfie’s Choice scenario—I’ve just started working it E. A commitment to building a cooperative economy and supporting others who out. But what I fear is that it is not completely hypothetical, and it is not just a futuristic share that commitment; F. A commitment to educational programs relevant to members and non-members sci-fi movie pilot. in the community.” Every day, we do choose, although, in our defense, we never imagine our choices as being all or nothing. But things are moving in that direction. Species extinction alone is The Skagit Valley Food Co-op Natural Board of Trustees: Steve Bluhm, currently clipping away at such a rate that, by most estimates, we will lose at least 30% nancylee bouscher, Kristen Ekstran, of the current species of plants and animals by the end of the century. Enquirer is a bimonthly publication of the Skagit Valley Food Co-op. Opinions Mariana Foliart, Patricia Sneeringer, And our resolute clinging to the distinctly human notion that the only valid measure expressed are those of the writers and Tom Theisen & Bruce Vilders of well-being is in economic terms hijacks every choice from GMO labeling to coal may not reflect Co-op policy. No articles extraction and shipment. We keep choosing, and almost always the earth and the apple are meant to be used for diagnosis or Copyright 2013: Reprints with permission trees come in last. treatment of illness. The Co-op does Of course, there is no spaceship. If there ever is, it’s never going to hold seven not endorse the products or servi2ces of advertisers. Open 8-9 Monday-Saturday billion of us. And, just an aside, but in keeping with that economic bottom line, if the 9-8 Sunday passengers are selected by their ability to pay, you and I aren’t going to be on that Editor: Beverly Faxon st spaceship. Staff Contributors: nancylee bouscher, 202 So. 1 Mount Vernon, Washington As species dwindle and forests get gobbled up for crops and the oceans become too Rachael Darden, Claire Harlock Garber, 98273 360-336-9777 acid for life, it may be good we like to take pictures of ourselves. That may be all we Baiyu Mukai, Jenny Sandbo, Neil www.skagitfoodcoop.com have left to photograph. Soderstrom, Kelly Weech, & Todd Wood

2 Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 Call to Arms Why and How Will 1-522 Give Consumers “Their Right to Know”?

This column is designed to pass on news that may spur you to action, in the form of phone calls, letters, emails or further research by Rachael Darden, continued from page 1 Why This Initiative? Opposition: Washington farmers oppose I-522. Ways to Fact: Hundreds of local farmers, ranchers, and orchardists throughout Support I-522 [Numbers in parentheses correspond to the section and article of the Washington support I-522 (a complete list of endorsers is available initiative where the statement can be found. Certain articles are not online at www.yeson522.com) included here due to space constraints.] Anne Schwartz, of Blue Heron Farm in Rockport, states, “522 Vote! (1.1) Polls consistently show that the vast majority of the public, gives us an important choice in deciding the future of our food typically more than 90 percent, wants to know if their food was supply. As a 30+ year veteran organic farmer, I am passionate about Get involved with the produced using genetic engineering. the notion that the way we spend our money is our most important campaign: Check out the campaign’s website at (1.2) Currently, there is no federal or state law that requires food vote for the future of our food supply. I am deeply concerned about yeson522.com to contribute producers to identify whether foods were produced using genetic corporate consolidation and concentration in many areas across our time, energy, endorsement engineering. economic and agriculture spectrum. Requiring labeling of genetically or a donation. (1.3) Mandatory identification of foods produced with genetic engineered crops starts to level the playing field and gives us a critical engineering can provide a critical method for tracking the potential tool for choice.” Write a letter to the editor health effects of consuming foods produced through genetic No on 522 is funded by out-of-state big food and pesticide of your local paper. Organic Consumer’s Association engineering. corporations that care about their profits – not Washington farmers. points out that “letters, (1.4) Mixing plant, animal, bacterial, and viral genes in coming from consumers combinations that cannot occur in nature produces results Opposition: Trial lawyers will sue farmers if I-522 passes. who live and work and that are not always predictable or controllable, and can Fact: Farmers will not be sued. I-522 does not allow for damages. buy food in Washington lead to adverse health or environmental consequences. I-522 has an 18-month grace period to allow companies to come State, will be more valuable (1.5) [G]enetic engineering can increase the levels of known toxicants into compliance. Small businesses and farmers have the right to a than any TV ad, paid for by giant out-of-state in foods and introduce new toxicants and health concerns. warning and a chance to fix any alleged violations before they can corporations pretending to (1.6) Forty-nine countries [as of the initiative’s date] have laws be fined. Under existing state law, small businesses would be exempt care about you.” mandating disclosure of genetically engineered foods on food from paying a fine for first-time violations. For more information labels. about writing a letter, (1.7) No international agreements prohibit the mandatory Opposition: Shoppers will pay more for groceries and food see Organic Consumers identification of foods produced through genetic engineering. manufacturers will be unfairly burdened if I-522 passes. Association at http://salsa3. salsalabs.com/o/50865/ (1.8) Mandatory identification of foods produced Fact: I-522 will not increase food costs or burden food manufacturers. letter/?letter_KEY=1501 with genetic engineering can be a critical method for Food manufacturers regularly re-label their products and consider preserving the economic value of exports to markets it part of the cost of doing business. They also have 18 months to Use what you’ve learned restrictions and prohibitions against genetic engineering. comply with the new labeling laws. through this article to help (1.9) Industry data shows foods identified as produced without According to Arran Stephens, president and founder of Nature’s debunk the myths of the No genetic engineering are the fastest growing label claim. Path: “We, as with most manufacturers, are continually updating campaign in discussions with friends, co-workers (1.11) Agriculture is Washington’s number one employer and wheat our packaging. It is a regular cost of doing business, a small one at and relatives. We anticipate is Washington’s number two export crop. that, and is already built into our cost structure. Claims that labeling the opposition will turn (1.13) The cultivation of genetically engineered crops can cause GMOs would significantly increase the price of food for consumers up the heat in the weeks serious impacts to the environment. For example, most genetically just aren’t true. Companies would certainly be updating their leading up to Election Day. engineered crops are designed to withstand weed killing herbicides. packaging for other reasons within the 18 months they will be given Genetically engineered crops have caused hundreds of millions of to comply with the new law, and could simply make the additional Take a friend or neighbor to an event to learn more pounds of additional herbicides to be applied to the nation’s farmland. GMO labeling changes at the same time.” about GMOs and Yes on (1.15) Trade industry data shows the organic industry is creating jobs 522. at four times the national rate. Opposition: I-522 is funded by out-of-state interest. We will be hosting a (1.17) Conventional farmers have a right to choose what Fact: Yes on 522 has raised over $3 million from over 5,000 free Yes on 522 Film Series, crops they grow and many conventional farmers want to donors. More than 80 percent of Yes on 522 donors are located in followed by discussion, grow traditional crops developed without genetic engineering. Washington. According to Publicola (a nonpartisan political blog out during October. Genetic Roulette will show on of Seattle), the average contribution to Yes on 522 is $25. In contrast, October 8 at 6:30 and How Will the Labeling Be Mandated? the opposition (as of this writing) has just five donors, all out-of- Seeds of Freedom will state corporations: Grocery Manufacturers Association, DuPont show at October 22 at 6:30. (3.1) Beginning July 1, 2015, any food offered for retail sale in Pioneer, Dow AgroSciences LLC, Monsanto Company, and Bayer For more information on Washington is misbranded if it is, or may have been, entirely or partly CropScience. these films, see page 5. produced with genetic engineering and that fact is not disclosed. (We were unfortunately not able to get GMO Labeling could include wording such as: “genetically engineered”, Opposition: I-522 would ban GE foods and opposes GE crops (such OMG—check the Pickford “partially produced with genetic engineering” or “may be partially as Golden Rice) Cinema in Bellingham for produced with genetic engineering”. Fact: I-522 is not taking a position on whether GE foods are good an October 9 showing.) or bad. It does not ban GE foods, it would simply label GE foods as Community Food Co- Addressing Inaccuracies of the Opposition such so that shoppers could make their own informed decisions. op is also sponsoring GMOs—Your Right to Know Thursday, October The No of 522 campaign has been predicted to spend a fortune Resources Skagit County Auditor’s Office 17, 7–9 pm at Settlemeyer on television advertising focusing on a number of oppositions to the King County Elections Office Hall, Bellingham Technical initiative. The most vocal and frequently expressed oppositions are Yes on 522 Truth Squad FAQs and Mythbusters (www.yeson522.com) College 3028 Lindbergh included below. The following rebuttals were complied by the Yes on Web links: Ave. in Bellingham. This No side campaign finance: 522 campaign, and used with permission. will be a free discussion of http://www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem/CommitteeData/contributions?p the current GMO issue and aram=Tk81MjIgIDUwNw====&year=2013&type=initiative the implications of I-522 Opposition: I-522 is arbitrary, complicated, and has too many exemptions. Yes side finance: http://www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem/ CommitteeData/contributions?param=WUVTNTIyIDEwMQ====&year=2 with Meagan Westgate, Fact: I-522 is a straight-forward approach to GMO transparency. If Director of the Non-GMO 013&type=initiative a product has been genetically engineered, the package would say Project and Delana Jones, so. The authors of I-522 wrote the legislation in compliance with the Director of the Yes on 522 international labeling laws that are already mandated in 64 countries. campaign. For more on I-522 does not require labeling for food products that are not already For more information on GMOs and I-522, Bellingham events, see page 7. labeled internationally, i.e.: alcohol, meat, and seafood. This was please see “All Eyes Are On Washington purposefully done: if consumers in 64 other countries already have State” on page 6. the right the know for the exact same products, we don’t we? Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 3 Co-op Workshops Co-op Workshops are held at the Co-op and are free--unless otherwise noted. Please pre-register for these classes with Jill at 360-336-5087x139 or [email protected] Our conference room is located in suite 309--all workshops will take place there. You may enter the building through the double glass doors on the southeast end of the building to access the elevator or stairs. Or, come in through the Deli mezzanine and take the stairs to the third floor. How Healing Happens Kadampa Meditation Practice With Marianne Shapiro Wednesday, October 16, 6:30pm Saturday, October 5, 10:30am Participants of this workshop will learn about We will warm up to one another and as a community meditation from the Buddhist point of view, feel into the nature of healing, from our own including the definition and function of meditation, experiences; our thoughts, actions, relationships, meditation posture, and how to cultivate a personal emotions and/or desires. We’ll follow a group format, meditation practice. We will also learn several to discuss and engage with the topic from a variety of perspectives. meditations directly applicable to every day life and how to apply Jenny Marianne Shapiro, a skilled and resourceful group facilitator, believes these meditations to our own experience. If we train in meditation, in the complexity and possibilities inherent in group processes. There our mind will gradually become more and more peaceful, and we & Jill’s will be follow up meetings on the same topic within the next 12 will experience a purer and purer form of happiness. Eventually, we months. will be able to stay happy all the time, even in the most difficult Marianne is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with a private circumstances. Holiday therapy practice in the Skagit Co-op building. She has been in practice James Lane has been a student, practitioner and teacher in the for over 22 years. For the past 11 years she has been involved in group New Kadampa Buddhist Tradition for over six years. James taught Demos work and has become a Nationally Certified Trainer, Educator and meditation and Buddhism in Phoenix, Arizona prior to moving to Practitioner of Group Psychotherapy, Psychodrama and Sociometry Bellingham in January, 2013. Call Kadampa Meditation Center (sociometry has to do with group dynamics). Washington at 206-526-9565 for more information.

Prevent and Heal Diseases with Essential Oils Self-Hypnosis With Michelle Mahler With Kathleen Boehm Monday, October 7, 6:30pm +supply fee Saturday, October 19, 1pm Gluten Free Holiday Learn how applying essential oils diluted in carrier oils to your body Learn self-hypnosis, a natural way to decrease Edibles for healing and emotional balance can lead to prevention of pain and stress and increase the quality of your life. Friday, disease. We will discuss many applications of these oils for possibly Kathleen Boehm R.N.,CMS-Cht, BHE owner November15, relieving nerve pain & damage, anxiety/panic attacks, PTSD, of Puget Sound Hypnotherapy, uses advanced 1-4pm insomnia /snoring/sleep apnea, digestive discomforts, migraines/ hypnotherapy techniques to help clients to achieve physical, mental headaches, skin, ovarian/uterine & other cancers, and will have an and spiritual healing and balance. Hypnotherapy is 100% natural The Co-op’s Jenny and Jill will open question time. and helps you achieve physical, mental and spiritual healing and be sampling homemade Gluten Bring clean bottles to refill and get $1 off supply fee:1/6 oz or 1/3 balance. Its applications are almost unlimited, guiding you to what is Free Holiday Edibles. This oz. only (5ml, 10ml). Optional supply fee $ 5-10 for therapy oil found naturally within. Hypnotherapy helps to reinforce the positive, is a great time to start getting constructive ways that lead to better lives and thought processes. It ideas to warm your house up Totem Animals Class is an integrative therapeutic tool used to transform and create the life with those holiday smells. Stop With Brenda Araiza you desire. It promotes natural healing and closure of unresolved past by for a delightful sample and Monday, October 14, 6:30pm issues and invites new healthy responses, attitudes, perspectives and gather a few of our favorite Animals have gifts, talents, and abilities to teach behaviors into your current life choices. It does this by tapping into recipes. and share with us so we can walk in balance here on your own natural resources. the Earth Mother. They can assist in helping us to understand our lessons and understand ourselves in Energy Efficiency and Deep Energy Reduction relation to the medicine they carry. By accessing their power to help in the Home & Small Business Gluten Free Holiday us heal and grow, we are honoring their medicine and facilitating the With Steve Hoffman Cookies interconnectedness of the circle of life. Wednesday, October 23, 6:30pm Friday, Brenda Araiza is a leader with over 20 years of progressively Steve Hoffman will provide a brief update on serious energy issues, December 13,1-4pm responsible experience in alternative healing practices and Native and discuss ways to solve them. He will discuss the “state of the art” in American teachings. She has experience and knowledge of both The Co-op’s Jenny and Jill are home energy efficiency, focusing on how it’s done—including “Deep traditional and non-traditional healing tools and techniques to back in December to entice you Energy Reduction”, or 70%-90% reduction in home energy use and enhance the lives of people willing to make healthy changes in their into baking holiday cookies. case studies of homeowners in Skagit County. What pitfalls can you lives. Brenda has been in a leadership position involved in the Native We will be serving up some of avoid? Could you cut your home energy use by half–or more? community for many years both in a cultural and spiritual way. our favorite recipes, gluten free Steve will also introduce a new course, “Climate Change and A style in the Deli area. Sustainable Energy Future”, which uses field experiences to help folks Pelvic Floor Health understand key climate change and energy issues, or prepare for a With Nancy Cullinane career related to climate change/sustainable energy. This online/field Tuesday, October 15, 6:30pm visit hybrid course is held through the NW Center for Sustainability We’ll talk about common pelvic floor and Innovation, and begins October 25. dysfunctions such as incontinence, urinary Steven Hoffman, Ph.D.,is Executive Director of the NW Center urgency and frequency, pelvic and abdominal for Sustainability and Innovation (NWCSI),a Skagit-based 501(c)3 pain, and constipation, with a focus on non-surgical options for nonprofit organization. With over 20 years of environmental intervention. These have become standard problems we address with research and consulting experience, Steve devotes much of his physical therapy over the past 10 years in the U.S., using behavioral time to this nonprofit organization engaged in education about (and interventions, strengthening, modalities and/or manual therapies. implementation of) leading-edge innovations in sustainability. Nancy is a physical therapist in the outpatient rehabilitation We are aware that, because of department at United General Hospital and treats primarily pelvic Raising Meat Rabbits delivery delays out of our con- floor and orthopedic problems. With Robert Fiut trol, some of you may receive Thursday, October 24, 6:30pm your mailed newsletters after Please pre-register 360-336-5087x 139 the earliest workshops have La Leche League Meeting The New Zealand white rabbit is close to being the ideal taken place; however, since Wednesday October 16 and November 20 10am animal to raise to increase your personal and family food we also distribute in the store, we continue to mention those LLL is a breastfeeding support and information group that aims security. Learn about rabbit care and what is involved in workshops in our listing, and to help pregnant and nursing mothers and their families achieve a developing and maintaining a humane, family-scale rabbitry. Robert hope that this does not cause positive breastfeeding relationship. Free. Older children and partners will also show and discuss some rabbit housing innovations he has inconvenience. welcome. www.llli.org developed. 4 Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 Please pre-register for these workshops by signing up with your name and phone number at the registers, calling Jill at 360-336-5087x139 or emailing: [email protected]

Before the workshop, if possible, read “Storey’s Guide to Raising you from enjoying your home and life. We can find a path thru the Rabbits” by Bob Bennett; and the online article “Bunnies Are Fluffy clutter that works for you! At the Co-op and So Much More” by Annette Cottrell at Sustainableeats.com. Kari Bishay is a professional organizer who, two years ago, Bring lots of questions. For more info, visit www.nzwrabbits.webs. transplanted herself and her business from The Big City to the calm Yes on com. of Anacortes. She specializes in helping her clients reclaim their Robert has raised NZWs, in earnest and with devotion, for four living spaces, making room to breathe. 522 Film years at his 5-acre farm in Marblemount. He graduated from WWU/ Huxley College with a degree in environmental planning, with an Prolotherapy Workshop Series and emphasis on sustainable communities. With Dr. Debra Clapp Tuesday, November 12, 6:30pm Discussion The Power of Chant Do you have weak, unstable knees? Sore shoulders? With Simme Bobrosky Aching hips? Tennis elbow? Sore back? Learn Monday, October 28, 6:30pm more about Prolotherapy. Without the use of surgery, narcotics or Genetic Roulette Kirtan, devotional chanting, allows us to connect corticosteroids, prolotherapy can strengthen joints, reduce pain, Tuesday, October 8, with and express the joy that is within. As deeply and restore function. This treatment stimulates the body to heal 6:30-8:30pm resonant sacred words are chanted with musical itself. Bring your questions! Can also help: Achilles tendonitis, accompaniment, that JOY is awakened and nurtured. This workshop osteoarthritis, frequently sprained ankles, frequent dislocations, will introduce you to chants from many traditions. No experience is repetitive motion injuries, and sports injuries. necessary, just a willingness to use your voice to open your heart and Dr. Debra Clapp, ND graduated from Bastyr, in Seattle, WA. She allow spirit to move through you. has practiced general family naturopathic medicine in Anacortes for “Chant is used to quiet the mind, open the heart, uplift the Spirit, and over 15 years. She enjoys hiking through the soul-expanding Cascade mourn the dead . . From the perspective of Eastern thought, chanting is a mountains, gardening, her cats and other friends, and continuing to powerful vehicle for freeing up the vital energy--called chi or pran--by learn about and help people with natural medicine. This seminal documentary helping to infuse every system, organ, and cell of our body with life force. by Jeffrey Smith provides We chant to join our voices to the voices of countless Stress Reduction with Kathleen Boehm compelling evidence to help seekers, worshipers, mystics, and lovers of life . . . who have Saturday, November 16, 1:00pm explain the deteriorating health shared in sacred song. We chant to fill our hearts and fill our Learn self-hypnosis, a natural way to decrease stress and increase the of Americans, especially homes with loving and peaceful vibrations of sound. We chant quality of your life. among children, and offers a because it’s fun. We chant to help the stress... of our busy lives Kathleen Boehm R.N.,CMS-Cht, BHE owner of Puget Sound recipe for protecting ourselves melt away. We chant to spread our wings and let our soul take Hypnotherapy uses advanced hypnotherapy techniques to help and our future. After the flight. We chant for the heartfelt communion that we feel with clients to achieve physical, mental and spiritual healing and balance. film, we’ll have a brief Q&A others when we come together in song.” Robert Gass, Chanting Hypnotherapy is 100% natural and helps you achieve physical, and discussion period on the mental and spiritual healing and balance. Its applications are modern-day food industry, Skagit Community Acupuncture almost unlimited, guiding you to what is found naturally within. GMOs, and I-522.. Discussion with Hadea Tift Hypnotherapy helps to reinforce the positive, constructive ways Tuesday, October 29, 6:30pm that lead to better lives and thought processes. It is an integrative Come join in this discussion about the new therapeutic tool used to transform and create the life you desire. Seeds of Freedom Center for Affordable Wellness in Skagit It promotes natural healing and closure of unresolved past issues Tuesday, October 22, County. Hadea Tift, Licensed Acupuncturist and and invites new healthy responses, new attitudes, perspectives and community activist, will be leading this discussion to find out what behaviors into your current life choices. It does this by tapping into our community needs. You will learn how this center will provide your own natural resources. sustainable, affordable and accessible preventative and alternative health options. Hadea Tift runs Skagit Community Acupuncture and Essential Oil Remedies: Skin and Hair Care from Nature is the founder of the Center for Affordable Wellness. with Michelle Mahler Tuesday, November 19, 6:30pm Reiki Share with Jelan Learn to make luxurious and healing skin and hair 6:30-8:30pm Friday, November 1 & December 6, 6:30pm care products with essential oils, jojoba oil, Vitamin Seeds of Freedom charts the Reiki Shares are a gathering to give and receive Reiki Treatments. E oil, borage seed oil, and more! Each student can story of seed from its roots They are a time of sharing, learning and healing that is brought to the make a smoothing, healing, and age-defying oil for at the heart of traditional, table by each person regardless of the individual experience. They skin type and/or a hair treatment. diversity rich farming are a great way for the curious to experience Energy healing and for Demonstrations and recipes include: Youth serum and healing systems across the world, the seasoned healers to practice and offer their gifts to others. Reiki nerve and scar oils, clay masks, seasalt and sugar scrubs, rashes, to being transformed into a shares are offered free of charge. ringworm, psoriasis, eczema, hairloss/dandruff treatments. Pure powerful commodity, used to organic chamomile, frankincense, rose, sandalwood, jasmine, monopolize the global food Neurofeedback with Joan Cross carrotseed essential oils will be available. Free class & recipes/notes. system. The film highlights Tuesday, November 5, 6:30pm Optional supply fee of $10-20. the extent to which the Learn cutting edge NeuroScience! Neurofeedback industrial agricultural system, can be applied to managing stress, anxiety and and genetically modified stabilizing mental conditions. If your identity is Continued on page 7 (GM) seeds in particular, gripped by hyperactivity, insomnia, post trauma, mood swings, anger, has impacted the enormous headaches, inefficiency, find out how you can change your persona, agro -biodiversity evolved drug-free. Neurofeedback seamlessly teaches your brain to change by farmers and communities itself for more efficiency, focus, clarity, resilience, and flexibility. around the world, since the Joan Cross, BS,PT,MPH has been a neurofeedback practitioner Store Tours beginning of agriculture. for 4 years after retiring from a 30+year career in neuro-rehab New Member Owner Outreach After the film, we’ll have a physical therapy. She has a practice, InnerWave Center in LaConner. Store tours take place one brief Q&A and discussion Saturday a month at 2 pm. period on the modern-day food A Path through the Clutter: Join us on October 12 or industry, GMOs, and I-522. Creating Breathing Room in Your Home November 9 by the Board’s With Kari Bishay Board near the front Oh please, please, Monday, November 11, 6:30pm registers to learn more about pre-register for classes. Let’s explore strategies for approaching the clutter that may be your Co-op’s specials, events, That way we’ll be encroaching on your living spaces, sapping your energy, and keeping and bathroom locations! prepared for you.

Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 5 From the Community All Eyes are on Washington State for I-522 “Activism has deep roots here in the Skagit . . . let’s make YES I-522 become a reality” by Sue Shellenberger

Genetic modification is a technique that negative connotation leaves little room have passed bills that require labeling, in rapidly as we go to press—check the changes the genetic makeup of cells. This for constructive social action, which is but there are stipulations attached that website of donors—see Call to Arms on experimental technology forces DNA an extremely powerful force for change. require several additional states to pass page 2—for the most recent updates.] from one species into a different species We can work together in creating a similar legislation before the labeling David Bronner, of Dr. Bronner’s, is the creating potentially unstable combinations sustainable future. laws can take effect. Yes on 522 Finance Chair. Says Bronner, of plant, animal, bacterial and viral Many of us recall 1970s grass-roots Most developed nations do not consider “The bottom line is that we will lose like genes that cannot occur in nature nor in opposition to a proposal to build a nuclear GMO’s to be safe. Over 60 countries we lost Prop. 37 if we don’t step up and traditional breeding. Such alterations are power plant on Samish Island and later already require the labeling of GE foods. give I-522 the ammunition it needs to called genetically modified organisms on Bachus Hill east of Sedro Woolley. Many of Washington’s major trade win the air war.” (GMOs) or referred to as genetically After considerable controversy and partners already have GMO labeling laws, In a letter to donors, Bronner stated, “Key engineered (GE). Many GE plants are debate, Skagit County voters rejected this including Japan, China, France, Germany, in-state endorsements continue to line modified to include genes allowing them proposal by ballot in 1979. Last fall voters India, Russia and the UK. Genetically up, including Washington Conservation to survive the application of chemical in Washington took a stance allowing gay engineered wheat recently found in Voters, Washington Nurses Association, herbicides, or cause the plants to produce marriage and legalizing marijuana. Oregon disrupted US wheat exports to and prominent fishing companies and pesticides. If approved, GE salmon would Korea and Japan, which are among the organizations. Key alliances are being be the first “transgenic” animal allowed 64 countries that already require GMO built with wheat farmer, apple grower into our food supply. labeling. Approximately 94% of soy, and salmon fishery spokespeople, and 88% of field corn, 94% of cotton and earned media continues to go our way. A over 90% of sugar beets planted in the perfect storm is brewing with the GMO U.S. are genetically engineered. wheat contamination compromising The Huffington Post reports that last Washington wheat exports, and year proponents of GE labeling were imminent FDA approval of GMO salmon outspent by the “No” campaign 5 to1 galvanizing the fishing sector.” in California. Opponents spent an eye- Dr. Bronner’s has donated over $1 popping $46 million, five times as much million to the Yes on 522 campaign. as the $9 million budget mounted by Yes on I-522 campaign reported in supporters. Opponents will outspend the early August that the initiative can “Yes” side again in our state. Californians withstand a barrage of attacks from were criticized for voting no on 37, but we special interests. The campaign reported cannot under estimate the effectiveness that, after voters heard one message of scare tactics, such as claims of higher in favor of labeling and six messages food prices. Industry uses them because against, support for I-522 held at 64%, they work. And voters believe the while opposition only increased to 29%. arguments because they are pummeled But the same strong support was initially with ads, getting only one side of the there for California’s referendum, which story. ended up failing because of special The Washington campaign is in interest spending. It lost by just 3 the cross-hairs of major agribusiness percentage points after an onslaught of interests, and national food deceptive ads--$46 million with heavy manufacturers. The fundraising donations from the biotech, agribusiness reports for the two campaigns are and mainstream food sectors. strikingly different in other ways. As of Activism has deep roots here in the Washington State now this writing, the no campaign lists just five Skagit and the rest of the great state of stands at another crossroad of vast donors, all deep-pocketed organizations Washington. A grassroots effort is now in Initiative 522 would importance. We are fortunate here in from out of state. full swing. Let’s make YES I-522 become require foods such as chips, cold cereals, Skagit County to have many organized Joel Connelly of the Seattle PI a reality. With your help we’ll win and put soft drinks, candy, corn and soy that have grassroots coalitions taking the initiative reports that the Grocery Manufacturers the right to choose what we eat and feed been GE or include GE ingredients to be to influence and educate individuals, Association made a $1.75 million our families in the hands of consumers. labeled. The initiative would apply to corporations and local governments contribution Monday August 26 to the Take the time to study the issues. Speak most raw agricultural products, processed about the importance of creating a No-on-Initiative 522 campaign. With this to your neighbors, friends, congregations, foods and food stocks, seeds and seed sustainable society. They are groups of big donation, the Grocery Manufacturers schools, associates, bankers, community stocks. The initiative does not require dedicated individuals working patiently Association has now given $2.222 civic organizations, and anyone who that milk, cheese and dairy products be and tirelessly. They need our help! million to the campaign against I-522. seems unclear of what I-522 represents. labeled. At the recent Seattle “2013 Justice It represents such major corporations The battle over genetically modified We read labels for nutritional facts Begins with Seeds International as ConAgra, General Mills, Kellogg, foods is coming soon to your TV screen. and to learn if food contains possible Conference”, the most important thing Hillshire Farms, Pepsico and Coca-Cola. Don’t be fooled! allergens or other ingredients we want I learned is that in our forthcoming In general, Agribusiness interests State of Washington conducts all to avoid. Labeling GE foods is really November 5 election we have a chance opposed to the initiative have plenty of elections via “absentee” ballot. We hope not that different than other sorts of food to set the ball rolling for the rest of the money to spend. Monsanto has given you’ll vote YES on I-522 in November. labeling that we currently take for granted. nation. Washington is the only state with even more than the GMA—it has now Labeling genetically engineered food a GMO ballot measure in November’s contributed $4.834 million to No-on-522. is about transparency and empowering election. The importance of winning in (Monsanto gave a whopping $8.122 Sue now considers herself a full fledged shoppers to make informed choices. Washington State for the national GMO million to defeat Prop. 37.) DuPont has Skagitonian, having fled Seattle in 1978 to What does the word activist mean to labeling movement cannot be overstated. donated $3.420 million so far to defeat raise her three kids in the beauty and safety of the Skagit. Now she is grandmother to five you? To many of us, this word conjures Initiative 522 is the only GMO labeling I-522 and gave $5.4 million to the about whose future she continues to worry. She up monkey-wrenching, tree-spiking, measure that will let the voters decide. 2012 campaign against Prop. 37. Bayer started on a petition to make Skagit County civil-disobedient, forceful, militant If passed, the law will require GE foods Cropscience, donated $591,654 to the No the second GMO-free county in Washington, now has over a thousand signatures and images. My dictionary concurs. It defines sold in Washington State to be labeled, on 522 campaign. It put more than $2 expects to continue this process for a long activism as a theory or practice base on making Washington State the first state in million into the No-on-Prop 37 [Editor’s time. Meanwhile, she does her best to live militant action. But this definition is the nation to implement labeling of GE note: Campaign donations from these sustainably in her Bow country home and strives to enjoy life and all its unruliness. much too narrow and limiting because its foods. Connecticut and Maine legislatures major corporations have been coming 6 Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 Continued from page 5 Bellingham Co-op Workshops I-522 Events Sponsored by Essential Oil Life Transitions Remedies Community With Constance Mollerstuen with Michelle Wednesday, November 20, 7pm Mahler Food Co-op in Change is inevitable and sometimes scary. Looking at the beliefs Gifts from we have and uncovering the negative emotions behind them can nature: Bellingham help make these changes more manageable. This workshop was sprays & designed by Louise Hay to help you on your journey of transformation. Join Constance therapy oils The following are Bellingham events Mollerstuen, Licensed Heal Your Life Workshop Facilitator and Coach, to discover the Tuesday, December 10, related to Yes on I-522. Please contact blocks you have which may be limiting the amount of happiness you are experiencing 6:30pm Community Food Co-op in Bellingham in your relationships and your life. Give the gift of health and happiness this for more information http://www. year with Aromatherapy blends for peace, communityfood.coop/ Raising Meat Rabbits with Robert Fiut positivity, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, Tuesday, November 26, 6:30pm insomnia, allergies/asthma, PTSD, pain GMO OMG: Please pre-register 360-336-5087x 139 and migraine relief and more! In this fun Film screening and panel The New Zealand white rabbit is close to being the ideal animal to raise to & informative interactive class we will discussion increase your personal and family food security. Learn about rabbit care smell, mix and test several recipes, make Wednesday, October 9 at 6 pm and what is involved in developing and maintaining a humane, family- aromasprays, and on-the-spot therapy oils Pickford Film Center scale rabbitry. Robert will also show and discuss some rabbit housing for yourself or to give as gifts. Optional innovations he has developed. $10 supply fee per item. No experience Before the workshop, if possible, read “Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits” by Bob necessary, beginner or advanced, all are Bennett; and the online article “Bunnies Are Fluffy and So Much More” by Annette welcome. Cottrell at Sustainableeats.com. Bring lots of questions. For more info, visit www. nzwrabbits.webs.com. Robert has raised NZWs, in earnest and with devotion, for four years at his 5-acre farm in Marblemount. He graduated from WWU/Huxley College with a degree in environmental planning, with an emphasis on sustainable communities. Please pre-register for all workshops. Finding your Unconditional Love Tone With Kathleen Boehm See the workshop Saturday, December 7, 1pm listing or page 4 for Through Hypnosis re-ignite the inner you. Get in touch with the real you again. This brings more strength and happiness and a greater details. Movie, followed by panel discussion. ability to connect with others. For more information see information on Director Jeremy Seifert investigates how Kathleen Boehm and self-hypnosis under October 19 and November loss of seed diversity and corresponding 16. laboratory assisted genetic alteration of food affects his young children, the health of our planet, and freedom of choice everywhere.

GMOs: Your Right to Know Thursday, October 17, 7–9 pm Settlemeyer Hall, Bellingham Technical College 3028 Lindbergh Ave. in Bellingham, FREE A discussion of the current GMO issue and the implications of I-522 with Meagan Westgate, Director of the Non-GMO Project and Delana Jones, Director of the Yes on 522 campaign.

Non-GMO Corn Preservation Monday, October 21, 6:30–8 pm FREE, register online or at the service desk at Community Food Co-op in Bellingham Cordata store Roots Room Join Krista Rome, director of the Backyard Beans & Grains Project, and Courtney Pineau, assistant director of the Non-GMO Project for a free informational session on the Non-GMO Corn Preservation Project. Learn about the importance of preserving sources of locally adapted non-GMO seeds, Your Hometown Realtor References available from good varieties of grain corn for the satisfied Co-op members Pacific Northwest, and how to be a seed steward. Get cooking tips, and hear the results of hand pollination trials.

Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 7 Digging Deep Root Vegetables, Writing, and What Remains Unseen by Sarah Stoner Parsnip Purée with Smoked Paprika I walk out of the crowd to the edge of For the Celts, the time exactly between the field. Katey, my three-year-old, needs fall and winter was also a time of magic. Sweet and smoky, soft and creamy. sleep and quiet and I am exhausted too. It was a time when the veil between the Parsnips were commonly used in Europe Her body lays against mine, slumped into seen and the unseen was at its thinnest. as a sweetener before the introduction of the curve of my back. My arms stretch They called it Samhain and lit bonfires sugar cane. behind me, hands locked underneath her and wore costumes to ward off roaming 3 lbs parsnips, cut into 1-inch pieces ghosts that crossed the veil between weight. I slow my steps along this border 1 lb russet potatoes, cut into 2-inch of quiet, along this edge where mowed life and death. It’s a time we now call pieces grass meets wild field, behind our friend’s Halloween. 3 tsp sea salt house. The last days of October mark the end 1 cup heavy cream I see her hand reach out to caress of the harvest and the start of “the dark ½ stick (1/4 cup) butter ½ tsp smoked paprika branches of the Western hemlock we half” of the year. Plants cross the veil, Cover parsnips and potatoes with cold too, of life and death; plenty and paucity walk alongside as we go nowhere in water by 1 inch, then add 1 tsp salt and The author with a Heart Beet/Beat particular—all that matters is that we are stretch into each other. It is the time bring to a boil, partially covered. Reduce here now walking in silence. Here now we pull our root vegetables out of the heat and simmer vegetables, until tender barefoot in the cool night grass. I listen to ground, unearth them from the darkness but not falling apart, 30 to 40 minutes. Nobody has ever the thin tinkle of the needles as her palm in which they grew their nutrients and Meanwhile bring cream, paprika, and 2 measured, not even tsp salt to a simmer in a heavy pan over runs along the branches. flavor while we danced under a summer moderate heat. poets, how much the sun. Root vegetables exist in the realm of I know I will write about this moment. Drain vegetables. Blend all heart can hold. both seen and unseen. They reveal a part For me. For her. For you. I will write ingredients in a food processor and until Zelda Fitgerald to invite you into a moment that would of themselves, and keep many of their desired creaminess. otherwise remain hidden. I write as I stories hidden underground. We all do. would turn my head to a friend and wave Eat a root vegetable this fall—not Carrot and Ginger Soup Come with me and I disappear down a path simply because they are in season or A friend of mine who I met at work in the corporate world used to be quite wary of because they are deeply satisfying or inviting them to follow. More and more, I the “weird” food I brought in for lunch. When Heather was pregnant in deep winter, see how the act of writing is so intimate, nutrient-rich. Bite into a root vegetable I brought her this soup. She asked for the recipe and admitted that she couldn’t stop liminal. The invitation for someone to at the edge of this coming winter to cooking and eating batches of the soup. She never thought my lunches were weird join you in a moment of time. It is simple celebrate the unseen in all of us. Celebrate again… magic. Where else can you pull someone what remains hidden below the surface, 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter in to the realm of the unseen—where you until it is pulled into the light, and maybe 1 large yellow onion, chopped shared with some other beautiful humans, can journey into another human being’s ¼ cup finely chopped fresh ginger root experience, feel smell hear what they who—like you—are rich with stories to 3 cloves garlic, minced did. tell and stories that shall remain untold, 7 cups chicken or veggie broth/stock brimming in the darkness. 1 cup dry white wine 1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice Pinch curry powder Salt and pepper, to taste Snipped fresh chives or chopped fresh parsley (garnish)

Melt the butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and sauté for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the stock, wine and carrots. (Sometimes I vary it with a pound of squash and a ½ lb carrots. Bake the squash first in a pan with a bit of veggie stock at 450 until scoopable out of shell). Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered over medium heat until the carrots are very tender, about 45 minutes. Purée the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Season with lemon juice, curry powder, and salt/pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the chives or parsley. Serve the soup hot or chilled. Greek Lemon-Roasted Potatoes

I tend to overlook roasted root vegetable recipes, because really, all it takes is oil, salt, an oven and maybe some herbs. Who needs a recipe? But this is one recipe where I make an exception. The relatively large quantity of lemon juice makes for a zesty and satisfying dish when you need some winter zing.

4 large or 8 medium russet baking potatoes, peeled and quartered 1 cup water ½ cup olive oil ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons) 1 Tbs dried oregano--preferably Greek oregano, plus more for garnish 1 Tbs salt ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

Heat oven to 500 (though I don’t always use that temp- you can pull it off at 375 too). Place potatoes in a metal roasting pan large enough to fit potatoes in a single layer. Add 1 cup water, oil, juice, oregano, salt and pepper. Toss potatoes until well coated. Bake, uncovered, until fork-tender and brown on the edges, about 50 minutes. Turn potatoes halfway through for even browning. Add water if all the liquid has been absorbed before they fully browned. If desired, garnish with oregano, serve.

Sarah Stoner lives and writes in the Skagit Valley area. She can be reached at sarah. [email protected]. Read about her experience as an American girl raised overseas in the anthology The Chalk Circle: Prizewinning Intercultural Essays, available at the Katey digging potatoes. Photos: Sarah Stoner usual online retailers and at our friendly Mount Vernon library.

8 Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 Seasonal & Organic Homemade Baby Food by Claire Harlock Garber Peary Pumpkin with I’ve never made baby food before. A and calcium and pair nicely with iron- found particularly useful as a guide This past spring I became a mother, and rich green beans and peas. Avocado and to the baby food making world is The Cinnamon Puree now my daughter is nearing an age where banana can add creaminess to fibrous Wholesome Baby Food Cookbook by we are able to introduce solid foods. pear and apple mixtures. Maggie Meade. Check out her website A super healthy blend of pears, Babies are first weaned on a sweet, milky Make nutritious baby food by preserving at http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic. containing potassium, vitamin C and elixir. It all starts to change with the minerals and vitamins through steaming com/ fiber, and pumpkins, with high levels of introduction of new and different tastes, or oven roasting. Food processors and vitamin A, folate, calcium and iron. Plus, textures and colors. food mills also come in very handy. it can be dressed up with spices like At its core much of what we call “baby Many dishes can also be made with some ginger and cardamom to make a tasty food” is mashed whole fruits, vegetables of the simplest of implements: a spoon vegan Thanksgiving dish. and grains. Baby food is in most cases and some elbow grease. Homemade baby offering the essence of the familiar. This food without preservatives stays in the 1 ripe organic pear simply cooked (or uncooked) pureed food fridge for 72 hours. You can also freeze ½ cup organic pumpkin flesh or other is great for babies, with their developing food in BPA-free ice cube trays. Use squash teeth and digestive systems. But why frozen food within a month for optimum Pinch of cinnamon, optional stop there? These baby meals can also nutrition. Wash the pear and cut into cubes, be nutritious food for everyday and Keep in mind that the Co-op also carries peeling is optional. Peel the squash, especially those recovering from dental many great additive and preservative-free scoop out seeds and dice into cubes. surgery on a no-solids diet. organic baby food options for parents Place squash in a saucepan and add just enough water to cover it. Cook over medium high heat until fork tender, usually 10-20 minutes. Check the water level to prevent burning. Reserve excess water to thin the puree. Cool and transfer squash and pear to food processor or mash by hand. Blend, adding cinnamon or thinning with water or breast milk as desired.

Avocado and Applesauce

This recipe is packed with vitamins C and E as well as fiber and calcium. Try this simple combination that’s good for babies and also makes a tasty spread for cheese and toast.

1 organic apple, Fuji or Golden Delicious or 1 cup pre-made applesauce 1 organic avocado Wash the apple and dice into chunks. Place in saucepan and cover with water. Heat over medium high and simmer for 10 minutes. Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Mash both fruits together by hand or mix in food processor.

Lily Garber considers the big jump to solid food. Photo: C. Harlock Garber

Many folks recommend introducing and caregivers on the go. Check out the one food at a time to test the child’s taste Grocery Department’s selection of Plum reaction and possible allergies. Some Organics, Earth’s Best, Ella’s and Happy recommend starting with a vegetable like Baby brands of organic baby food in peas or squash, fruit such as the banana glass jars and BPA-free pouches. or avocado, or mild cereal grains such as Below are a few quick and easy recipes rice or oats. Whenever and however your for making your own baby food at home family decides to introduce solid foods for babies 6+ months. Always consult you’ll find everything you’ll need at the your caregiver when making decisions Co-op. for your baby. When making your own baby food, A Note on Seasoning: Start simple, take care to choose seasonal, organic but once baby is somewhat used to taking vegetables and fruits for the best flavor pureed food try introducing your little and value. Some delicious and abundant one to exciting spices by scent. If baby Photo: C. Harlock Garber choices include apples, avocados, does not turn its head away or give a look bananas, carrots, pears, squash and sweet of dismay, try using the spice or herb for potatoes. Once you’ve figured out your seasoning. Stir in breast milk or formula On the go? The Co-op carries little one’s tastes, try mixing fruits and to thin the puree to give baby a taste of a wide selection of additive vegetables based on color for a range the familiar. of nutritional value. Also consider the There are many great references out and preservative-free, organic flavor and textures of certain foods when there for making baby food--ask your baby food. pairing. Carrots are loaded with vitamin friends, relatives and parents. One I’ve Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 9 From the Wellness Department Of Mushrooms, Robots and Staying Healthy by nancylee bouscher

Here’s an ironic truth: I choose one of my favorite portions Something. Anything. You will Yup, just as there are essential article you haven’t written. The not to have my children attend of any standardized test, even list symptoms, and we will help fatty acids that our body drop-deadline is upon you. You public school partly because of when I administered them years you read labels. needs, there are also essential spend the next few hours at the the focus put on standardized later to nervous tweens in small Perhaps you come with sugars. There are eight of them computer googling and typing, testing, and yet, I LOVED classrooms. Again, part of me a recommendation for Herb which I will list here mostly until you hear Elvis, the rooster, taking those tests. Well, I loved likes the fantasy that there is Pharm’s Super Echinacea because I am curious to see if crowing and realize it’s now 7. taking the tests I was good always a complete opposite that tincture from a coworker, the spell check knows how to spell Yes, you could go back to bed at which were mostly math, offers balance. Perhaps on paper one who gave you this torturous these: glucose, glucosamine, now. Or you could make a kale reading and writing. Except a word can have its contrary, but ick. Or maybe your mother- galactose, fucose, mannose, smoothie with some rice protein spelling. Because all of the dig into the definition and it gets in-law swears that the only galactosamine, neuraminic acid powder. rules have exceptions--which complicated. The opposite of thing that will heal her son and xylose. (Yes, it does). The However, coffee and toast doesn’t make them rules, right? complicated--simple. is Nutribiotic’s Defense Plus term “essential” means we need seem a bit more comforting on which includes grapefruit seed them to build healthy cells, and a chilly morning, even though Simplicity extract, vitamin C, astragalus, for the most part, we cannot you now know that glucose and is something and the extracts of echinacea, produce them in our wondrous galactose are probably the only we strive for ginger root, goldenseal, bodies. We need to put them in essential sugars that you’d be often, hoping yarrow, reishi, maitake, and our bodies. getting, and you already have that when shiitake. Possibly, you feel One way to do that is to plenty of those. Oh wait, that’s we reach it drawn to try my favorite: Host eat them. Eating a spectrum not you. That’s me. That’s Things Will Defense’s My Community, of food grown in healthy soil, me at least once a week. Be Better. I which includes 17 species of which includes wild soil where That is the moment that I take c o m p l e t e l y mushrooms which are produced those wild mushrooms pop My Community, MegaFood’s buy into this, in a laboratory near Olympia, out, is key. Chomping on raw One Daily, Nordic Natural’s too. I always Washington. fruits and veggies is good also. Ultimate Omega and Garden of have a bag Medicinal mushrooms seem Simple, right? Life’s Raw Probiotics. I know, close at hand like a simple approach. But Except when eating it seems complicated to screw to fill with off all of these tops and pop when you browse the website well isn’t simple. The main reason I enjoyed things to be donated. I break capsules. I should go outside of Host Defense, well, it gets Like when you wake up the tests was that they were down tasks to see if I can save and eat those dandelion greens complicated. According to at 2:30 in the morning to the set up for us to believe that time by streamlining the process, that are taking over rather than them, My Community “uses eerie sound of the thrift store every question had one correct cutting out a step or combining drinking them in Healthforce’s Certified Organic mycelium and robot talking to the pacing dog, answer. You found it, carefully two. When it comes to working Vitamineral Green. My head fruitbodies, with a full spectrum except you don’t know that’s colored in the circle with your in the Wellness Department, and spins with all the science and of constituents: polysaccharides what it is. So, you hop out of No. 2 pencil and then moved the sometimes overwhelming money behind these fish oil (beta glucans, arabinoxylane, bed to discover the truth and put on. It was tidy. I particularly number of options for any softgels and 15 billion active glucose, xylose, galactose and the robot under the sink because liked the way the circles created particular need or ailment, I am cells of so many strains. cordycepic acid), glycoproteins, who needs an off button on a a pattern of raised dots that you forever attempting to simplify But in this moment, as the ergosterols, triterpenoids talking robot from the 1990s? could run your tiny fingers over information and to help people 5 year old stumbles into the and other myconutrients, Then you realize the kitchen and feel like everything was in look at the simplest possible kitchen with a request on his from 17 species of medicinal is too messy for the babysitter it’s proper place. solution. rosy lips that I will not be able mushrooms” (www.hostdefense. coming over at 9, so why not Of course, many years later, Yet, even this gets to refuse even if it is to help com). As I read this, in my clean it now while you listen I’ve realized that few questions complicated. For example, him find the eerie robot that is head because I refuse to attempt to jazz and swear at fruit have only one answer--it’s just as we head into the typical yelling “Halt! Who goes there? to sound out these words-- flies. During this process that I was only given four options cold/flu season, people will What’s the password!?” in a remember spelling is not my you find a pen, so you write and one was more correct than come to seek ways to shore muffled tone, it just seems like strong point, I recognize several on the calendar that you have any other. Sure 1 + 1 = 2, but up their immunity or to treat the most simple thing to do is of these items as being Essential a board meeting this week, is the opposite of “right” always symptoms. They, maybe even to take my supplements, then Sugars. A term I just heard at which reminds you of the Co- “left?” No, sometimes it’s you, will wander into the aisles drink my coffee and hope for a recent MegaFood training. op, which reminds you of the “wrong.” The antonyms were clutching a tissue and beg us for the best.

10 Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 So many great organizations to support—so rarely do we send that 4% Friday check off in the mail. Here’s an easy way to do your weekly shopping and contribute to organizations you care about. The Co-op 4% Friday program supports the community by giving 4% of Co-op sales on one Friday a month Build to a non-profit, charitable community organization. Groups are considered for their service to the community in one or more of the following areas: organic food, natural health, environmentally friendly/sustainable Community agricultural practices, human rights, local human services, environmental preservation and other areas that reflect like-minded mission statements. Northwest Youth Services Skagit Adult Day Care October 25, 2013 November 22, 2013

Since 1976, Northwest Youth Services has been collaborating with at-risk, runaway, and homeless youth to foster self-reliance. Its emergency, transitional, and permanent housing programs allow homeless youth access to housing, life skills classes, and supportive services that promote self-sufficiency and self-confidence. Case managers take a youth-centered approach that meets each individual where s/he is at and builds on that person’s strengths. At Northwest Youth Services, the goal is to be able to serve any at-risk, runaway, or homeless youth in Skagit and Whatcom counties. Funding from the Skagit Valley Food Co-op will go toward engaging youth in its vocational programming, which includes a variety of skill-building workshops that increase youths’ self-esteem, community engagement, and ability to secure sustainable employment.

Photo Courtesy Skagit Adult Day Care

Skagit Adult Day Care (SADC) is a social day program designed specifically to provide a therapeutic environment for individuals with a cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s or a Dementia of some type. The program that is provided at the two program sites, the Bradford House in Burlington and the Gentry House in Anacortes is designed to give respite to the caregiver and to provide a support system and to be a resource to them. The goal is to allow individuals to continue to live at home as long as possible and to offer a more affordable choice for families. SADC serves families regardless of their ability to private pay. They work hard to make this program affordable to as many as possible. This program would not be possible without the support of the community and programs such as 4% Fridays.

Photo Courtesy Northwest Youth Services

Next Newsletter Deadline for Classified and Display Advertising: November 1 for the December/January issue

Write [email protected] or call 360-336--5087, ext. 104

Or visit our website at www. skagitfoodcoop.com under About the Coop/Newsletter for rates, sizes and deadlines

Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 11 Making Balsamic Vinegar at Home How Hard Could It Be? by Doug Mills

I first got interested in making nectar is rotated through six to natural fermentation. Regular So you take two kegs of grape For three days we got nothing, balsamic vinegar by reading eight barrels of descending size wine yeast cannot hold up to juice and only heat it to 175 trying different concentrations Paul Bertolli’s excellent and different kinds of wood-- the concentrated sugars in the degrees, ensuring literally days and permutations. On the fourth book, Cooking by Hand. His oak, mulberry, acacia, cherry, cooked must, so a wild yeast of heating, adjusting the flame, try we got it to bubble feebly description of buying the chestnut, juniper, ash--and slow called Zygosaccharomyces and neurotic checking of the and get a tenuous grip on life. barrels, and the process of evaporation concentrates the Bailii (which can stand the evaporating must’s temperature I might add that, if you try this, making balsamic vinegar over vinegar over the years. Sounds intense concentration of solids) and concentration day and night both your winemaker friend and years and years for his children easy, right? takes over and only ferments for three or four days. You can’t your wife will be thoroughly fed and grandchildren sounded part of the sugar out, leaving sleep. It is like babysitting a up with the entire process, and impossibly romantic, and well, alcohol for the vinegar bug to newborn. with you. just so cool. So I started reading It turns use, and some residual sugars It turns out that when you are At this point, I have 14.5 more about the subject, and it that make balsamic vinegar, done you have something sticky gallons of grape superglue slowly seemed more and more magical out that to use a technical phrase, enough to glue your cat to the fizzing its way to uncertain the deeper I got into it. “Yummy”. ceiling. It gets on everything, completion, at which point we The everyday balsamic you and when you What I got was not yummy. and everything starts sticking will add some live vinegar and I use is made in weeks, not years. It was disgusting. There wasn’t together. Newspapers adhere to put it into the aforementioned They cook it hard, caramelize it, are done, enough wild yeast to get it going, you shoes. Dog hair adheres to extremely expensive Serbian and add concentrated vinegar and very bad things happened. your hand. Flies adhere where oak barrel. If we do this every and plop it on the shelf. Still you have So this year I teamed up with they land. But in the end, if year for twelve years, each tasty and reasonably priced, but one of my favorite winemakers, you have been vigilant, pure of year siphoning from barrel to not the real stuff. How crude, something John Morgan of Lost River heart, and neurotic enough, you barrel and adding new mosto says the balsamic snob. Winery in Winthrop, to try a have “mosto cotto”, or “cooked cotto to the beginning (largest) Real balsamic vinegar is made sticky grown-up version. We ordered must”, the grapey basis for all barrel every year, we will have from the reduced juice of wine a very expensive pure culture of balsamic vinegar. And where something like the genuine grapes. In Italy it is made from enough to “zygo”, as we affectionately now did I put the cat? balsamic vinegar of Modena for Trebbiano and some Lambrusco call our yeast, and an oak barrel So then you dump in the zygo. our children and grandkids. Call grapes, but American pioneers glue your from Serbia. Really: Serbia. We Oh wait, no, you do not dump. me in twelve years and I will are trying other varieties. The poured off 30 gallons of Walla You have to gently culture the tell you if it worked. I am 59, so juice, or “must”, is reduced Walla Chardonnay, and I began zygo because it is too freaking I may or may not be here for the to half its volume by slow cat to the reducing it in old beer kegs with sensitive to be dumped directly conclusion of this story. cooking, then fermented, and the tops cut out. This is where into the goop. If you do that, it Give your best vibes for what then exposed to acetobacter, the ceiling. it got excruciating. Turns out just dies. You have to nurture it; simmers in my Serbian barrel. microbe that turns the alcohol to you cannot just boil it down, tease it into a will to live. As it As for me, I am in California, vinegar and preserves the must My first year of balsamic as that caramelizes the sugars happens, zygo is a snippy prima trying to hunt down Paul Bertolli for eternity. Then the resulting experimentation, I went for a and makes them unfermentable. donna with a serious death wish. to extract a bitter revenge.

“Irony of ironies--it takes something like four liters of water to produce a one-liter plastic bottle of water . . . water wasted to produce bottles of water.”

12 Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 Each Falling Leaf by Baiyu Mukai

The Seattle Times once carried an article When cherry blossom season arrives in about a person “possessed by Japanese Japan, the television and newspapers maples.” An architect by profession, update which area the blossom has he acquired a house in Mukilteo and he reached. If one is possessed with looking bought 35 mature well-shaped Japanese at the blooming cherry blossoms, he or maple trees for $15,000 for landscaping. she can follow them over four or five Then he bought a hundred more. Over months, starting from the southern islands time he has sold some and bought more, and gradually moving north. ending up with more than 600 Japanese Nara prefecture has its famous Yoshino maple trees. While reading that article, Mountain, where the blooming moves I looked at two garden-variety Japanese from the lower mountains to the mid- www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/1575475/ maple trees in our backyard, green and section, the highlands and then deep and in/photostream/ Ryokan was ordained as Zen monk but crimson leaves. The word “possessed” hidden areas, giving the enthusiasts some later he adopted his own style of being clergy worlds were still full of politicking seemed appropriate when just two time to enjoy. Hot summers and sudden a Buddhist monk or person. He became and ambitions for material desires. He can provide enough satisfaction. But cool air in the fall color the Japanese a life-long mendicant monk, begging could not exhort or preach pretending as I can appreciate a collector mentality. maple leaves splendidly. for food door to door, and he led a very someone with spiritual superiority, while Compared with other collector items like Seasonal reference is required in simple life throughout his 74-year life. struggling himself. beer bottles and cans, plastic toys and 17-syllable haiku poems in Japan. As John Stevens in One Robe, One Bowl, He was unable to assume the air, to dolls, the Japanese maple trees are perhaps a kid, I often wondered why. I like to the Zen Poetry of Ryokan, describes his behave according to what is expected of classed much higher in respectability. consider a haiku as three-line poems family background as born to a village one in a position. He was not a simple- I was also amazed that there were that in English. In Japan, having exactly 17 headman household. It was rather a minded man, and full of internal agonies many varieties of the Japanese maple syllables and the inclusion of a seasonal bit more elevated and may correspond and blame, was pained with the realization trees around. The species are found in word are strictly adhered to in order for to a county executive today. It was an that he had been unable to help his family Japan, Korea, parts of China and the the poem to be considered a haiku. appointed position, and the region was and friends as he should have. And he southern tip of Russia tangent to Korea. By ensuring the inclusion of the bustling as a major port. Someone in the watched his family losing out to a rival Japan has been known for more species seasonal reference and limiting to the 5-7- position was allowed to wear swords like group. of plants and flowers than the average 5 syllabic format, the final poem became samurai. While begging, he shared what he country, and one reason for this variety a snapshot of nature, void of the poet’s Ryokan was the eldest son and when received with others, and helped those must be the long stretch of the islands, own emotions. Each person reciting the his time came, he was to take over the who were more helpless than he himself. from north to south, and another must be poem can draw his or her interpretations. position as the head of the family, but he He never preached difficult theologies nor the distinct four seasons, which make the It is a typical case of less being more had problems: he was too tenderhearted, scorned anyone. With his calligraphy and population very conscious of seasonal and that may be why Zen elements he did not like to argue or strongly present poems getting appreciated and coveted, changes. are felt in haiku poems. A Zen monk, his positions, and he could not work as a he could have opted for an easier life, but Having distinct four seasons allows Ryokan recited the following haiku on his skillful negotiator between the samurai he stubbornly refused. plants and people alike to wait out for deathbed. In my prose-like translation: one’s favorite season. If one knows that class and farmers, and was unable to He had reached the point that efforts enforce the laws or witness punishments to classify, separate and divide are a favorite season is coming, others can be Showing the back, being propounded. He was bookish and futile. Good and bad, happiness and tolerated; similarly some plants favoring Now showing the front rather inept in daily work. After he ran unhappiness, fortune and misfortune are cool climates can tolerate a hot and humid The Japanese maple tree leaves are away to become a monk, he found that the just one and the same. When a major summer and await autumn and winter. falling down. earthquake hit his region, he said that when it is the season of suffering, we must simply suffer, the time to die, we must simply die. Life and death, like everything else, are front and back of the Japanese maple leaf. The concept of singular or plural is not strict in the Japanese language. This causes lots of difficulty in translating what the author meant to convey. Was Ryokan talking about one leaf or a number of leaves falling down? If one leaf, was he talking about his own life? If a number of leaves, each leaf, like people, with different faces and personalities, has a story to tell. Ryokan would have laughed away such exacting questions as no matter. Ryokan was not a productive member of the society in a strict interpretation. He begged for and humbly and gratefully received foodstuff and other donations. But he listened to people suffering in their way and commiserated with them. He himself struggled internally and produced poems, and his presence uplifted a multitude who knew him. A young man teased as slow and inept left a legacy, showing both the front and back of his leaf. He showed no one is truly a non-productive member of the human society and each falling leaf tells us so. Readers are invited to visit Baiyu’s blog, plumpickings.wordpress.com Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 13 What’s New in Grocery? by Neil Soderstrom

Get ready to try your new favorite in it, but then ups the seed quotient with We sell a lot of tortillas here at the yogurt! Grace Harbor Farms, up the road pumpkin, sunflower, and poppy seeds as Co-op. Do we really need another one? in Custer, Washington, makes their yogurt well. They have also added a subtle blend The answer, in one word, is “Sí”. Mi from local Guernsey milk. This breed of of herbs that I think you’ll agree makes Rancho Organic Corn Tortillas, aka Taco cow’s milk is extra rich and has a golden this one extra tasty. “Sliders”, are those little tortillas that they color due to high levels of beta carotene. Soy milk has been dropping in the use at taco wagons and taquerias. Fresh make this an excellent dairy free riff on It’s also higher in protein, calcium and popularity ranking for years now, though and tender, they are made with fresh corn the Indian beverage of choice. vitamin D then “average” milk. This this is not the case with other types of non- masa, not corn flour like a lot of other I almost didn’t include something cream top (non-homogenized), whole dairy “milks”. There has been a steady brands, and come 24 to a pack. Now you containing chocolate! Tate’s Bake Shop milk yogurt comes in three varieties: stream of new ones hitting the market, can fold your own in the comfort and Chocolate Chip Cookies are crisp, buttery plain, vanilla, and (wait ‘til you try) with the latest being So Delicious Cashew privacy of your home. and made without gluten-containing honey. Here comes your new favorite Milk. Though not “exciting” in flavor, Bhakti Chai is a ready-to-drink iced ingredients. Whether you are avoiding yogurt, and it’s local! I found it to be a “neutral” milk to put chai that’s not-too-sweet, with an extra gluten or not, believe me, you’ll like Mary’s Gone Crackers has a new on your bowl of cereal and for cooking zip from fresh pressed organic ginger these cookies. Despite their thin stature, variety: Super Seed. Like their other applications. I wonder what’s next in the juice. Fair Trade Organic black tea, they are deceivingly rich. Don’t forget to popular varieties, this organic, gluten- non-dairy milk pipeline. Here’s a hint: It flavored with cardamom and other spices share. free cracker has sesame and flax seeds also starts with “C”. get tempered with a touch of soy milk to

Beginning in 2014 the Co-op Board of Trustees have monthly meetings on the second Thursday of the month at 7:45 am (instead of the third). All Member/ Senior Dog Placement Owners are We need your help! Seeking Adoption, Foster & Final Refuge Homes for Older welcome at Dogs. Visit At: or Call us at: Board meetings. www.olddoghaven.org 360/653-0311

14 Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 Se r v i c e s Sp a c e Fo r Re n t Classifieds Free Acupuncture-Got pain? Come Are you a great practitioner? Looking experience the benefits of acupuncture for a new home? Re-invigorate your Cl a ss e s & Wo r k s h o p s to treat pain, PTSD, anxiety, or any practice! Popular Wellness Center offers stress-related issue. Bring a friend to 11 x 12.5 treatment/office space. $370 share in the relaxation. 9am to 11am mo. Utilities included. In-house referrals. Become an acupuncturist. Graduating every Tuesday. Middle Way Acupuncture More info: 360/336-6809 or 360/336- from Middle Way Acupuncture Institute’s Institute, #334 Co-op Building. 360-610- 5220 3-year master’s level program (in 7706 or 360-336-6129. candidacy for national accreditation) and passing the national exams allows one Shared small MV office & o r a l e parking. $235/mo. & 1 mo. deposit, to practice acupuncture in most states. F S includes wi-fi & utilities. 1 year lease. New class starting every September. Agri-Fab 10 Poly Utility Dump Cart. Prefer NGO or similar. Email: skye@cnw. See www.middlewayacupuncture.com or Free standing or use with riding mower/ com or 360-466-2202. call 360-336-6129 for more information. lawn tractor. 26”H x 31”W x 46”L $100.00. View at www.agri-fab.com. Task Master Firewood Cart/Log Carrier Elder Care Help. Do you have a parent with 16 inch diameter spoked wheels. or loved one who needs help with: 21”W x 25”D x 42”H $40.00. Call 360- Paying monthly bills? 299-0977. Managing medical payments and insurance? Balancing their checkbook? Maintaining important records? Care you can trust! Non-commercial Annie Walker, BA, ATA Balanced Bookkeeping and Accounting Services classifieds 856-5474. [email protected]. Professional References. are FREE for current (paid-to-date) Skagit Valley Foods Co-op members. Non-members and businesses pay $1.00 per line Interested in a display ad, rather than a classified? For display ad rates and sizes, contact The Natural Enquirer, [email protected] or 360-336-5087, x 104. Or visit our website at www. skagitfoodcoop.com under 1813 O Avenue About the Coop/Newsletter. The deadline for all ads [email protected] for the December/January “teaching wellness through one-to-one care” issue is November 1. We reserve the right to edit or refuse any ad.

Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013 15 In the year of the Co-op’s 40th Anniversary, We’ll also celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Deli on Saturday, November 16th And By the Dates (How much do you remember?)

with cake & lots of delicious November 1988: The first Deli opens. It cut across where the current east side doors (and main cash registers) are and extended samples. Join us! all the way to where the Wellness Department now is. The kitchen was located where the grocery carts and registers now stand. August 1991: We expanded into the adjacent 4000 square feet to our Deli By The Numbers south. The Deli’s southern wall stood on the northern end of where the Mezzanine now begins. The Deli was in the front, the kitchen in Approximate number of seats in the deli’s incarnations: 32, 60, 80 the back. Approximate current number of deli employees (not including the cheese and meat departments): 55 March 2001: We moved over into the rest of building and added our Average percent of total store sales done by the Deli: 17-18% seating on the mezzanine. Number of freshly baked deli cookies munched in 2012: 37,401 Spring 2011: After years of our cooks and bakers and prep people Number of cups of organic, fair trade coffee purchased in 2012: 29,039 turning out great food in a tiny, cramped, galley-style kitchen, we Number of cups consumed (free refills!): Huge! moved into our spacious new kitchen and some of our operations Number of sandwiches made in 2012: 55,967 transferred upstairs. Old-timers wept with joy. Number of those that were peanut and butter and jelly: 13 Bowls of soup slurped in 2012: 11,961 Cups of soup: 10,673 Scoops of ice cream savored in 2012: 23,620 Number of flavors we now make: 34 Average pounds of tofu used in a week: 118 Average gallons of milk used per week by the espresso station: 50

Thanks to Jenny Sandbo,Kelly Weech and Todd Wood for facilitating Deli by the Numbers. Photo by B. Faxon

0% off Co-op Member One1 shopping visit/transaction Appreciation Coupon (Valid between now and October 31, 2013)

(Coupon/discount does not apply to special orders, a few select items or staff/board purchases. For current Skagit Co-op members only.) Member Number for redemption:

16 Skagit Valley Food Co-op The Natural Enquirer October/November 2013