Brown Rice Sushi rolls on in...

Today marks the debut of Brown Rice Sushi here at the Coop. It is brought to us by Premium Foods -- the same local sushi makers you have come to love and depend on for your daily dose of raw fish (or avocado & cucumber). Roll on over to the Prepared Foods Case to find your favorite combo, dressed in brown.

Hello, goodbye

The freezer welcomes some new friends and says "Adios" to some old ones. Well, it's a bit less like "Adios" and a bit more like "How could you? After all these years and all these stir-frys...more like stir-lies!"

I will report the upsetting news first as good news leaves a much better taste on your brain palette. It has come to our attention that a few of the frozen vegetables we carry have some pretty unclear organic labels. Joe sent me this link http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=JQ31Ljd9T_Y and then we discussed. The long and the short of it is we may not be able to trust the organic labels on products from China. Until we hear otherwise, we are going to discontinue the Cascadian California blend, the Woodstock snap peas and the Seapiont edamame (don't worry about the edamame, I have good news to report below.)

Now here's the good news that gets totally awesome the more you read. We're replacing the Seapoint edamame with Sunrich edamame. Sunrich isn't organic but it is domestic and non GMO.

Also, we started carrying Gardein brand meat substitutes in the freezer. A select few Gardein products have been residing in the egg cooler for some time and now have brethren in colder climates. Look, they even say "Party with me!" How could I not party with those things?

And this is probably the most exciting news I've ever had to report...COOKIE DOUGH! The people have been asking for years and I have had to ruin their days. Well, I've had it with ruining days. We have peanut butter cookies currently but will be getting chocolate chip in the near future.

Finally, here's some news that got some people real happy for about a second. A bunch of people requested Mochi ice cream. I found some in the catalogue of one of our local distributors who specialize in natural products. When we received them though, the ingredient list read like a who's who of totally funky ingredients that aren't welcome in the coop. meh.

CIAO!

Yep, Liberte invented another fantastic flavor: Apple Crumble

I heard about this flavor a few months back and have been waiting & waiting...but WAIT NO LONGER! Liberte Mediterranean Apple Crumble is HERE.

So many of us love this line of local yogurt. It's creamy and delicious. Eat it for breakfast - or even desert. The Apple Crumble flavor has wee little apple pieces and a few joyous raisins with a touch of cinnamon to spice it up. Mmmmm, like the other Mediterraneans, this one I expect you'll love.

Vive le Liberté

The Artistic Garden seeds are here!

The Artistic Garden vegetable, flower and herb seeds are now in the produce aisle above bags of potatoes. We are selling small packets for $.25 each.

-Delia

In the news...

The Daily News profiles local kale chip purveyor's crisp green business.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest reports on misleading food labels.

Ear candles? Wall Street Journal covers FDA's concerns regarding sticking a burning wax object into your ear..

Daiya Vegan "Cheese"

Well, it was one of the most requested items and now its here. Daiya Vegan Cheese is available in "Cheddar" and "Italian" - for sale on the top shelf of the cheese case next to the Tree Nut "Cheese".

Evidently this "cheese" melts.



Right now its sold in chunks that we cut and wrap, but when the pre-packed "cheese" is available we will move it to the dairy cooler next door.

Expiration dates on food..

Slate has an interesting article on expiration dates on food. The author contends that the dates are based on the habits of the most careless consumer and actually extend much longer than what is posted on the packaging.

The food we sell at the Coop is very fresh. For example, cereals on the shelves are delivered several times a week and each particular cereal is restocked two to nine times a week. We try very hard to sell our refrigerated products with extended dates. Milk and produce arrive six days a week. Sushi twice a day. We don't have space in our basement to store an entire week's worth of food.

BTW, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are very, very good evenings for shopping. We receive many deliveries early in the week, the shelves are fully stocked, and the store is not nearly as crowded as on the weekends and Monday and Friday evenings.

vegetable and flower seeds coming march 1st

Our seeds packets from Artistic Gardens, Fedco and Seed Savers should arrive in the beginning of March. This year we have added dozens of tomato, pepper and herb varieties. Look for the seed near the potatoes in the produce aisle. We usually sell out of many varieties in the first few days, be sure to check for them. -Delia