In the News.....

LA Times has a review of the various "milks" you can find in our dairy case and in Aisle 3A. It gives a nutritional profile of each and, for those of you with allergies, also what each does not contain. Soy is no longer the only non-dairy alternative to milk. The new "milks" have cut into sales of soy milk at the Coop.



Grab a glass of O.J. before rushing out the house each morning? Persuade your kids to drink one too? Buy Tropicana because it is not made from concentrate? "Not from concentrate" seems to be a term of art--it actually is pasteurized, stripped of oxygen and stored in huge aseptic tanks. When it is packaged for sale, "flavor derived from orange essence and oils is added to make it taste fresh," according to Alissa Hamilton, whose book, Squeezed: What You Don't Know about Orange Juice, has just been published by Yale Press. The citrus juice industry is dominated by Pepsi (Tropicana) and Coca Cola (Minute Maid), and the juice is increasingly being imported from Brazil.

The Smart Choices food labeling program is being phased out as reported in NYTimes. A major concern with the program was that the largest food companies (Kelloggs, General Mills) were applying the label to highly processed foods. The FDA is allegedly considering establishing standards for front of the box nutrition labeling.

And in case you missed it, the work requirement at the Park Slope Food Coop made the Metro section today (and the online version, Friday). The online version has a terrific evening photo of the coop compared to the dreadful drawings in the print version. Lots of comments--

Dancing Deer cookies have moved

We've found a home for Dancing Deer brownies and cookies in Aisle 7A. It is a little squished but we know that you'll make the effort to find your favorite brownies.

VOTE! T-SHIRT! CONTEST! VOTE! T-SHIRT! CONTEST! VOTE! T-SHIRT! CONTEST!

The entries are in for the Coop’s first-ever T-shirt design contest, and now it’s time for you to vote for your favorite(s).

Check out the entries and vote online or in person at the Coop.

The winning design will be made into a T-shirt to be sold at the Coop in time for the holidays! (Did we mention the lucky winner gets a year’s worth of FTOP shifts?) 

California Cheese Invasion!!

Celebrating the 98th anniversary of the discovery of Ishi, give a warm welcome to 7 new cheeses from the Golden State:

Two Cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes Station:

Just North of the San Francisco Bay, Mt. Tamalpais rises like a monument to Northern California's natural beauty. In deference, Cowgirl Creamery named its signature cheese MT TAM. It's a smooth, creamy, elegant, 10-oz, triple-cream - made with tasty organic milk from the Straus Family Dairy. MT TAM is firm, yet buttery with a mellow, earthy flavor reminiscent of white mushrooms.



Cowgirl Creamery captures the essence of West Marin with its Red Hawk, a triple-cream, washed-rind, fully-flavored cheese made from organic cow's milk from the Straus Family Dairy. Aged six weeks and washed with a brine solution that promotes the growth of a bacteria that tints the rind a sunset red-orange, Red Hawk won Best-In-Show at the American Cheese Society's Annual Conference in 2003.


Two Cheeses from Bellwether Farms in Sonoma County:


Carmody is an artisanal cow's milk cheese made with the milk from Jersey cows. The cheese is aged for at least 6 weeks. This gourmet cheese has a golden color, a smooth texture and a wonderful flavor with buttery intensity. As it ages the flavor becomes sweeter with hints of caramel.

Rich and buttery with stiff notes of tart yeast to balance it, Crescenza is modeled after the centuries-old Italian cheese, Stracchino di Crescenza. Bellwether's Crescenza is a soft-ripened cow's milk cheese without a rind to hold back the luscious ooze. Spread it over crackers, bread, fruit -- anything you want imbued with creamy intensity.

And Three cheeses from Redwood Hill Farm in Sonoma County:

Camellia is a luscious, goat milk Camembert-style cheese. It has a mild, buttery flavor and firm texture when young, becoming softer and more complex with age.

Crottin has a wrinkly, geotrichum candidum rind, a fluffy texture and robust, earthy flavor.

Redwood Hill Raw Goat Milk Feta is a pure raw goat milk formed it into blocks by hand. It is then brined for 18 hours before being bagged for aging.

It's chilly! It's chili!

So I know it's not that cold yet but it will be soon and you need to be prepared. You can't expect to make it through your day in a freezer fueled by salads and berries anymore. You need a good warm meal if you want to even have a chance of getting through the frigid months ahead. What is the best weapon in this war on cold? CHILI! Normally I would suggest putting a big pot on the fire and making your own. Such practices build character and are good for the community (don't be selfish, you need to share the pot of chili) but when you have Manhattan Chili Co. at your finger tips, I say go for it. Less time in the kitchen means more time fighting the good fight!

Currently there are three different kinds to try, with the possibilities of more to come in the future. High Plains Turkey is a medium heat chili filled with tomatoes, corn, and white beans. Totally Vegetable is a mild vegan offering with kidney beans, bell peppers, corn and peas. Finally, we have Ginger Chicken. Ginger Chicken? We were also a bit skeptical about this one. "What is this impostor doing here? This stuff has ginger and mushrooms in it. We were given strict orders to eat chili!" After extensive testing and research, we have approved this chili for deployment to your bellies. Eat well, smile at your friends and most importantly, stay warm.

MELT your butter

MELT Buttery Spread is a new choice in the Butter Case. It's made primarily with organic virgin coconut oil. Not your mama's butter.

Smart Choices in the news....

If you occasionally shop at a supermarket, you may have already seen the green "Smart Choices Made Easy" label on food packages. In an article entitled "Smart Choice Foods: Dumb as They Look" in Forbes, the writer, Rebecca Ruiz, details the absurdity of the label. The subhead for the article says it all: "Processed-foods giants spent more than $1 million to create nutritional guidelines for a labeling system that favors their own products."

So what products made the cut: Fruit loops and Fudgsicles. I haven't noticed the Smart Choice label on any products that the Coop carries--maybe Kellogg's Raisin Bran is too, too healthy. But then I haven't looked.

Have you tried these delicious new Lebanese products yet? Made in the neighborhood at Tripoli Restaurant on Atlantic Avenue—now that's LOCAL!

 NEW PREPARED FOODS FROM TRIPOLI RESTAURANT:

Mujadra Burgule (lentils with cracked wheat) Pint- $3.93

Mujadra b’ riz (lentils with rice) Pint- $3.93

Wara Anib b’ zeit (vegetarian grape leaves) 8 oz $3.80

Baba ghanouj 8 oz $3.75

Hummus 8 oz $3.15

Bamia b’ zeit (okra w/tom & pomegranate) 8 oz $3.33

Khair ‘b leban (cucumber salad) pint $3.15

Spinach pie 2 piece- $4.11

Foul m’damas (fava beans and chickpeas) pint $2.42

Baklava 4 oz. $3.63

Rice Pudding 4 oz. $3.63

 Black Olives (in the Cheese case) $2.52/lb

 NEW NON-REFRIGERATED ITEMS INCLUDE:

Ancient Tree Olive Oil 750 ml $9.68

Distilled Rose Water 250 ml $7.05

Distilled Orange Blossom Water 250 ml $7.05

Pomegranate Nectar 350 gm $7.87

(Non-refrigerated items are currently being stocked on the display end cap across from the chicken.)

Ancient Tree Olive Oil Soap 5.33 oz $3.03 (located in aisle 5A)

Three new cheeses from Valley Shepherd.

Let's give a warm welcome to Valley Shepherd, a creamery located in Long Valley, NJ in the heart of Morris County. The 600 East Friesan ewes graze on over 120 acres of wild pasture and the cheeses are aged in caverns built directly into the hillside. The result is cheese worth eating.

Valley Thunder is raw mixed milk cheese (cow and sheep milk) hand milled in a process similar to traditional Cheddars. Crumbly but smooth - cave-caged a minimum of 9 months.











Oldwick Shepherd - is a raw sheep milk cheese in the Ossau-Iraty style - semi-firm and smooth with a nutty flavor. Cave-aged a minimum of 3 months.









Nettlesome - another mixed raw milk cheese with stinging nettle leaves. Smooth texture and chive-like flavor and aroma.

Pur replacement water filters are now in stock

Our previous supplier of the Pur products was recently sold, and we were unable to get the Pur replacement filters. Karen tracked down a new supplier, and we expect to be able to get these filters on a regular basis.

Saffron in the news

Saffron--the world's most expensive spice topping off at $3,000/lb according to WSJ. Adulterating saffron was a cause for burning at the stake in medieval times! Must be picked before sunrise! Eat too much and it'll shut down your liver! Lots of other facts in this WSJ article, accompanied by a video of a former Deadhead, who is from Iran, purveying by bicycle the world's best saffron to NYC's finest chefs.

The coop does indeed sell a low-grade saffron, packaged by Roland, hanging in Aisle 2A over the bulk spices.

Supplements in the news

Interesting article on supplements in today's Wall St Journal. The message seems to be you can never be too careful when taking supplements, especially those claiming to lead to weight loss and/or muscle gain. But even the most basic multivitamin may be suspect. The FDA does little to nothing to regulate the industry. At the end, the article cites some sources which may help in selecting a supplement.

Taza stone ground organic chocolate

It's not smooth or milky. But no, it's not like eating cocoa-dusted ground glass either. Taza chocolate is grainy, crunchy, chocolatey, not too sugary, with a hint of vanilla. And that's all that goes into it, all organic and minimally processed. It's produced by a small, environmentally- and socially-responsible company based in Massachusetts. Find it on the display endcap across from the Coop Tees.

Also look for Taza discs—for hot chocolate, cooking or eating out of hand. They come in flavors like yerba maté, guajillo chili and salted almond. Don't bother looking for instructions on how to turn those discs into hot chocolate anywhere on the packaging. It's not there. But it's here, from Taza's website. You won't see it below, but Taza's detailed recipe mention something about adding rum, bourbon, tequila, vanilla...

Field Day Facial Tissues--100% Post consumer

We just replaced the Marcal facial tissue "cubes" with Field Day tissues. The Field Day tissues are softer than Marcal, yet made of 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Please consider making the switch from Kleenex, which has no recycled paper content. And you'll save money--Field Day is at least 40% cheaper than Klennex.

You can download Green Peace's recommendations for purchasing paper products here.

Tales of the Unexspeckted

You may have noticed the cured meat item next to the new prosciutto and pancetta down in the meat cases. The La Quercia brand. And you may have wondered, what the heck is Speck?

Speck is a smoked prosciutto from the Tyrol, a region on the border of Italy and Austria. After being cured in salt and spices, the ham is cold-smoked, using a hardwood like beech or (as ours is) applewood.

Okay, so what does this mean to us?

In short, it means we now have a delicious and comparatively low-fat alternative to smoked bacon, which can be used in dishes that call for prosciutto or pancetta but in which you want a hint of smoke flavor. Or in dishes that use smoked ham or bacon, but you want to strike a more subtle note.

The classic Roman pasta all'amatriciana is a fine example. This simple combination of bacon, onion, and tomato benefits enormously from the flavor of speck. The other night I sauteed 3 ounces (one package) of speck, chopped, in a tablespoon of olive oil. When it began to color I added a chopped onion and a few gratings of black pepper. When the onion went transparent, in went a half-dozen large quartered plum tomatoes. A half-hour of simmering yielded a thick and aromatic sauce to be stirred into cooked linguine and topped with grated asiago. Best all'amatriciana we ever had...and I've made in in the past with everything from deli ham to guanciale.

When we sampled the La Quercia pancetta and prosciutto, we didn't think speck was something that would become a Coop favorite. But after tasting it, everyone here agreed that it certainly deserved to be.

Two New Buffalo (Bufala) Cheeses

Casatica di Bufala - A soft-ripened wonder with a soft, delicate and sweet flavor










Moringhello di Bufala - A semi-soft table cheese with a natural-mold rind. Intense and slightly spicy but well balanced.

smooze! coconut ices

Now that they are about to disappear as it will soon no longer be the season....... Smooze! coconut ices have been a big hit this summer. They come in shelf stable packaging, ten to a box, that you freeze. Four flavors--passion, mango, guava and pineapple. The aseptic package is admittedly difficult to wrangle: you need kitchen shears rather than kiddie scissors.

They are vegan, relatively inexpensive, not too heavy on the calories (70) and refreshing. But soon they will disappear along with the ever-popular Cool Fruits pops, so stock up now.

Tour of the Rear End-cap

Q:So what IS all this fancy stuff anyway?

A: The rear end-cap is where we put strange and mysterious items that don't have a regular spot or we're trying out or that are seasonal or temporary.

Q: No, you didn't hear me. What IS it?

A: Oh, I'm sorry I misunderstood. On the top shelf there are vinegars and oils, the next shelf is honeys and condiments and . . .

Q: Could you just go through each item please?

A: I thought you'd never ask.



On the top left of the case are some lovely vinegars ranging in price from cheap to very expensive.

From right to left are Delouis Bordeaux wine vinegar - a great mid-priced salad vinegar, Mutti tomato vinegar - unique and inexpensive, two wine vinegars from Unio in Spain: Cabernet and Moscatel, and the Benimosu Purple Potato vinegar from Japan - very expensive and hard to find.

At the end, on the right is Verjus Du Perigord - a great item to use in place of cooking wine or a pan de-glazer.

The Casa Forcello mostardas, compotes and confitures are cheese condiments that will expand your cheese plates and make a splash at you next dinner party.

The mostardas (whole fruit and pectin, flavored with mustard essence) are available in Plum, White Watermelon, Crab Apple and Green Tomato. These are great paired with roast meats and hard cheeses.

The Compotes (Pumpkin Ginger and Strawberry Balsamic) are excellent paired with fresh goat cheeses and chicken dishes.

The Blood Orange Confiture - captures the essence of the fruit, with just the right amount of zest - it is the perfect accompaniment to many, many foods.

On the next shelf down are an assortment of syrups and glazes.
On the left is a line of vinegars and savory toppings from Vincotto. We carry the Original, Orange and the Fig Vinegar.
The next in line is Terra de Espana Sherry Glazes - amazing on roasts, chicken or poured straight on ice cream!
Saba. What can I say? Its cooked grape must, similar to the vincotto, sweet and mellow - great drizzled on beets!
Crema Balsamico - a white balsamic reduction. If you know what it is, you know how expensive it is.
Pomegranate Molasses - a middle eastern syrup that makes a great tangy dressing when mixed with olive oil.

This shelf has a few items that you should know about.

The first is the various quince pastes (Membrillo) that we carry - original and Plum. Serve with hard Spanish cheeses - a classic with Manchego.

Date Almond Cakes. Another lovely addition to any cheese plate.

Dill and Fennel Pollen - Italian cooks swear by these products - they add them to everything. Tell me what you add them to.

Take the Cure!

Our determination to find the finest cured and smoked goodies for the Coop Protein Case has led us to La Quercia Artisan Cured Meats. La Quercia products have been praised by the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Bon Appetit, and slews of those terribly famous celebrity chefs you see on the teevee. Vogue food critic Jeffey Steingarten wrote that La Quercia makes "the best American -- or imported -- prosciutto I've ever tasted." The meats are produced through traditional dry-curing, using only sea salt -- no lactic acid, nitrates, or nitrites. Made from humanely raised, anitbiotic-free Berkshire pork.

We're carrying the following items, all presliced and in 3-oz. packaging.

Prosciutto Americano: dry-cured ham sliced thin, and usually served uncooked as an antipasto, or on sandwiches.

Pancetta Americano: pork belly that has been salt-cured and spiced (bay, pepper, juniper). Often used to flavor other dishes, especially pastas such as carbonara and all’amatriciana.

Speck Americano: juniper-flavored dry-cured and smoked ham originally from Tyrol, a region partially in Austria and partially in Italy. The light smoking (over applewood) differentiates it from the sweeter prosciutto. Use like prosciutto, or as a substitute for bacon.

Due to lack of space in the Red Meat Case, look for La Quercia in the 12-foot Poultry Case, down near the terrines, pates, and other charcuterie.

New Local Cheese line for September

Let's all give a warm Park Slope Food Coop welcome to Cooperstown Cheese Co. I've brought in four great cheeses from them:



Toma Celena - A recent American Cheese Society winner in the Best European Style Cheese category, this natural-rind, semi-hard cheese is very nutty and complex. It goes well with hearty red wines and flavorful beers like Ommegang's Rare Vos.


Here we are cutting open a wheel in the basement.









Toma Con Brio - A nod to the bloomy rind cheeses of France, Cooperstown adds a unique twist by making the wheels double thick. Single cream (less that 60% milk fat by weight), but with a wonderful consistency and earthy flavor. Pairs well with dry Chardonnay or thick, heavy porters.









Jersey Girl - We all have a certain New Jersey girl that we have a secret crush on, don't we . . .?

This one is made with the Colby procedure (similar to cheddar, but does not undergo the cheddaring process), but is much more flavorful because the milk is raw and from a single herd of grass-fed Jersey cows.








"Scape" From New York - No, this one does not star Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, it stars plenty of New York State garlic scapes all mixed into a raw milk cheese aged just 60 days. The Park Slope Food Coop is the only place you'll find this cheese in NYC.

I've never tasted anything like it. Addictive and flavorful, I don't think you'll be able to get enough.

Sprouted Sunflower Seeds

Our friends at Kaia Foods have come up with a new way to feed your raw snack cravings: flavored organic sprouted sunflower seeds. Yummy flavors include Cocoa Molé, Sweet Curry, Garlic & Sea Salt. Kaia says "All we do to our sunflower seeds is sprout, season and dehydrate them at low temperatures instead of roasting them. The nutrients (and great taste) stay intact and aren't processed away." Pick up a cute reseal-able pouch in Aisle 7A.

Barrel-churned, old-fashioned creamery butter

The butter case in the Coop just got a lot more interesting. It now contains butter from Mendon Creamery in Mendon, Mass, just 200 miles from Park Slope. Gabrielle Proia, owner of Mendon Creamery, has been churning butter for about three years in a "farmstead" operation. She rents space on a 150-herd dairy farm to produce and hand-pack six varieties of butter. She is frequently the one milking the cows as well. Proia churns about 1,000 lbs of butter a week. Using the barrel churn creates a butter with a distinctively fresh, sweet taste. "Butter is the perfume of dairy," says Proia. We say "Move over, Land O'Lakes."

Raw, Probiotic, Fermented... Salad Dressings?!?

Yes it's true, Zukay Live Foods has introduced a line of salad dressings made from raw, fermented vegetables. In addition to all that raw probiotic goodness, they are:

• Versatile: Not just for salad, they also work as marinades, over veggies, etc.
• Not just for Raw Foodists: Use them on cooked vegetables or meat.
• Low Calorie: Only 5 calories per serving -- not bad, considering the typical salad dressing has somewhere around 100 - 150 calories per serving.
• Low Carb: No added sugar

So try them already! They are in our Egg/Tofu case because they are refrigerated.

Berkshire Blue

Its here. Rich, creamy, delicious: Berkshire Blue

It's So Delicious

New in the Coop: So Delicious Coconut Milk. Half-gallons. Original and Vanilla. Refrigerated. Delicious.

Made by Turtle Mountain (the same company that brings us those amazing non-dairy frozen desserts), their website claims that this is "The world's first coconut milk beverage." Certainly an interesting newcomer to the non-dairy milk scene, only time will tell whether coconut becomes a regular in the line-up that currently includes soy, rice, hemp, and nut milks. Look for it in the Milk/Juice Case next to the Almond Breeze.

Biscotti di Vecchio

We haven't had a great (locally-made) Biscotti since Fanciulla went out of business a few years ago. Enter Biscotti di Vecchio.

Danielle came to us through a mutual friend who is a coop member. Jerri said that Danielle made amazing biscotti and, well, to make a long story short. We now have five flavors of her delicious biscotti on the end-cap facing the express checkout.

Cayenne Cherry Chocolate Chunk.
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut.
Cranberry Orange Zest
Toasted Almond.
Pistachio Chocolate Chunk.

Read all about these flavors on her website (and see how much cheaper they are being sold here: $6.03 for a bag of 8).

Soy-onara, Silk!

The Silk line of products is manufactured by Dean Foods, the "largest dairy agribusiness corporation in the country." As we've learned more about the practices of this company, especially relating to their soy products, we think it's in the Coop's interest to find alternatives.

Please see Gillian's fabulous post concerning the discontinuation of Silk soy products and the Cornucopia Institute for more information.

Here in Yogurtland, you'll discover some exciting new developments: We've got 24oz. sizes of Wholesoy Vanilla and Plain to replace the Silk quarts. In the 6oz. size, we have Wholesoy in Blueberry, Peach, Vanilla, Strawberry, Raspberry - the same flavors we had in Silk - along with Lemon and *new flavors* of Banana Strawberry and Apricot Mango. We also carry Wildwood soy yogurt in 24oz Plain along with Blueberry, Strawberry, and Raspberry.

All you Coop soy yogurt eaters had already started this trend away from Silk towards Wholesoy with your purchasing power. Every flavor of Wholesoy has been outselling it's Silk counterpart.

The price in cents for Wholesoy is a tad higher - but when considering the price of continuing to support Silk, it's worth it. And Wildwood is cheaper! Learn more about Wholesoy and Wildwood at the Cornucopia Institute's website.

Awesome Foods

New to the Coop this week are some raw and crispy snacks from a local company called Awesome Foods. Fans of the much-loved but hard-to-come-by Kale Chips will appreciate the variety which includes: Kale Tempuraw, Zuchinni Tempuraw, Vegetable Tempuraw, Root Veggie Crackers and Vegetable Almond Crackers. All dehydrated at less than 118 degrees, all vegan, and all gluten-free. Look for them in Aisle 7A, hanging across from the other small chips.

Sprout Creek Farm

The local cheese of the month (I know I'm a little off on the month, timing-wise - but anyhoo) is Sprout Creek Farm I picked up five great cheeses from them and they'll be on the shelf later today.


Toussaint

A Robustly flavored cheese with a distinctive Alpine flavor.
Toussaint becomes more complex and peppery with age, and rounds out with a smooth, tight texture. Natural edible rind.






Ouray

An earthy buttery cheese with a sweet floral flavor, Ouray has a firm creamy paste with a crisp edible natural rind.




Batch 35

A crisp coppery rind sheaths a straw colored interior of this smear-ripened cheese. Smooth, with an open texture and a scattering of eyes, this cheese is meaty, pungent, and earthy.


Eden

Smear-ripened with an elastic texture and a golden interior, Eden has a pungent nose but a sweet apple butterscotch finish.

Sophie

Beneath the rind of this soft-ripened goats’ milk cheese is a white pearly paste with a balanced herbaceous flavor.

(Sorry that there's no pictures for all the cheeses - trust me, they're great!)

Bela is back! (Sardines not Lugosi)

Please welcome back Bela Sardines after the long absence and reported rumors of bankruptcy and insolvency. We're currently stocking all the flavors pictured: Olive Oil, Tomato, Lemon, Cayenne, and Boneless/Skinless. Enjoy!

Another bulk update plus, plus

TVP, or Texturized Vegetable Protein, is being discontinued in the bulk bins. TVP was a very slow seller. We are adding packaged Bob Red Mills organic TVP in Aisle 2A. Bob's TVP is a different texture but it is organic. Vegetarians may rely on TVP as a meat substitute, but it is hard to equate a highly processed product made with non-organic soybeans as health food. I had to resort to Wikipedia to jog my memory as to exactly what TVP is, but I read no further than "fibrous lamination of thermoplastic soy flour.."

The good news is that organic red quinoa is once again available in bulk. And if that isn't enough quinoa diversity, there is now Alter Eco black quinoa in Aisle 6A.

Alter Eco is a company specializing in Fair Trade products from cooperatives around the world.
We have just added two olive oils, "Planted, picked, and processed by fair trade cooperatives in Palestine, Jenin, West Bank," re Alter Eco's website.

Field Day for beans...

Our major health food distributor, UNFI, is developing a line of foods that is "private label," under the name Field Day. This is similar to Whole Foods 365 label. The goal is to develop high quality and less expensive items. They are starting with canned beans. The Field Day beans are guaranteed to be grown in the U.S. Westbrae does not reveal where their beans are grown, probably China. Eden beans are grown in the U.S. Field Day beans are less expensive than both Westbrae & Eden organic beans. We are replacing the Westbrae black, garbanzo, pinto and kidney in the small cans with Field Day beans. Replacing Bearito baked beans is also being considered. (Bearito is part of the Hain-Westbrae, etc. corporation.)

Bulk going local...

As changes keep happening around us, the world of bulk is no exception. Recently we switched three of our dry beans (black, navy and pinto) to locally grown. They are now coming from Cayuga Pure Organics in the Ithaca area upstate N.Y., as opposed to China for the blacks beans and Canada for the navy and pintos. You may have noticed a price increase for these local beans. We feel that it is in keeping with the Coop mission and important to support local growers whenever we can. Cayuga also has other locally grown products that we carry-Spelt Berries-and look forward to their Farro, Vinton Soy Beans, small Red Beans, Barley, Oats, steel cut and groats.

Most of our flours are now local too. Whole Wheat Bread flour is grown and milled in Ithaca at Farmer Ground, near Cayuga Pure. The Whole Wheat Pastry is milled at Daisy in Lancaster, Pa. The Spelt is also from Lancaster grown there and milled at Small Valley Milling. The exciting thing about these new flours is that not only are they local, but they are very fresh. They are usually milled a week or two before being delivered to us.

In a world where availability of products is uncertain, I will continue to bring in more local bulk when I can. Just a footnote: the price of Red Lentils will be coming down soon due to the fact our supplier International Harvest has them available again. They also will be selling us organic Chia (Mexico) and Black Sesame (India) Seeds at a lower price. These products are not grown locally.

Cheers till next time I see you in the bulk aisle

Ron

In the News.....

Who is controlling Organic Standards? Washington Post published a rather dismaying account of how the federal government is--or maybe, isn't--regulating the Organic Standards.

The Brooklyn Paper queried Whole Foods about the status of their proposed new home on 3rd St and 3rd Ave. Last week the Paper concluded that Whole Foods was abandoning the site, this week there is a slightly different story.

NYTimes reported fungal attack on Northeastern tomatoes. Allen & Julie say that so far Amy Hepworth, our major supplier of local tomatoes, has not been hit by this fungus.

Make your own granola

The Coop offers a lot of granola choices, but it is easy to make your own custom granola. You are able to control the amount and type of oil and sugars, plus easily add favorite nuts, seeds , dried fruit and spices. Actually, a good reason to make your own granola this time of the year is to not add dried fruit when there are so many fresh fruits and berries available. You can increase variety by using one or more of the organic Eden flakes now sold in Aisle 7B instead of just using rolled oats. Eden offers barley, spelt, kamut, rye and rice flakes.

Basic Granola (low fat, low sugar)

5 cups of organic rolled oats or a combination of other flakes, including spelt, rye, etc.

1/4 cup of oil. (My current favorite is Rapunzel sesame oil, Aisle 3B)
1/4 maple syrup (or agave syrup, honey, barley malt, molasses, rice syrup--your choice)
1/2 cup boiling water.
optional: 1 tsp of a spice such as cinnamon, or a tsp of vanilla.

4 cups of nuts, seeds, coconut flakes.

Preheat oven to 325.
Put the oil and sweetener in a large mixing bowl, pour in the boiling water and mix. Add the oats/flakes and stir until all are coated. Spread the flakes on a large baking sheet with sides. It takes about 30 min to toast the flakes, but check and stir the flakes to make sure that the edges don't burn.

I reduce the oven heat to 300 to lightly toast the nuts separately from the flakes to prevent burnng. I like a crisp granola, but you can skip this step if you prefer your nuts raw or if you purchased roasted nuts. Spread each type of nut, seed, etc on its own baking pan. Watch the oven like a hawk while roasting nuts. Coconut toasts in a flash. If using seeds, sesame and pepitas are ok to roast, but do not roast flax or chia seeds. Chop the nuts as coarsely or finely as your prefer. For almonds, it is easy to buy the sliced ones, which crumble easily when toasted.

Mix nuts with flake mixture, add dried fruit if you want, and store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator once it has cooled.

Last week Melissa Clark had a granola recipe in the NYT's Magazine using olive oil and salt. It looks delicious but it has 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar and 3/4 c maple syrup per 3 cups oats. So you can see there are lots of variation in granola recipes. At the Coop, the nutritional content of the granola is on the bulk containers. But if you make it yourself, you know exactly how much sugar you are getting.

The Right Stuff: KBBK

Meet the NKOTB: KBBK - KOMBUCHA BROOKLYN! Coming to your belly "Straight Up" from BK!

We all love local stuff. And most of us love kombucha (I think unless everyone is just pouring it down the drain (which would be an expensive habit considering the thousands of bottles we sell every week)). I figured members of the Coop would LOVE local kombucha. But it's been impossible to bring it to you...until now!

Welcome our newest resident to Kombuchaland: Kombucha Brooklyn. The Brewmaster is Kombuchman. He's been brewing the 'buch for years and now is excited to help you to "drink the revolution" on a large scale starting right here in the Coop. To launch, the flavor is called "Straight Up" - cool like Paula Abdul, tasty like "Original" from the other companies on the block. "Note the taste of the whole stone fruit family," says Kombuchman. The blend of 3 teas is delicate and delicious.

Give it a try. There's more to come where that came from. Look for it in the weeks ahead...

One Crazy Summer (in the freezer)

First of all I want to talk about ice cream sandwiches. I think they're great. You can probably imagine how happy I was when some nice lady from Norwich N.Y. sent us some that she made. We have a vanilla ice cream and chocolate cookie sandwich made with milk from Evans Creamery (way to be local) and a vegan sandwich made with bananas and coconut milk.

So, remember the first time you heard about sweet potato fries and you thought "OMG! The people that came up with this awesome thing must be from the future or something!" And remember the first time you tried chipotle whatever and were like "chipotles are kinda like bacon in that you can put it in or on almost anything and make it taste way better!" Well, I found something that combines these two things and the first time you try them you're gonna scream "The future's gonna be awesome!" and your gonna hi-five the closest hand you can find. Buy the way, the new product is chipotle sweet potato fries from Alexia.

I want to apologize to those of you who thought this post would have something to do with that movie from the eighties with John Cusack and Demi Moore called "One Crazy Summer."

No More Silk Soymilk

The Coop will no longer be selling the half-gallon cartons of Silk Organic Soymilk. We will continue to sell Organic Valley Soymilk in the same four flavors that shoppers are used to seeing from Silk: original (plain), vanilla, unsweetened, and chocolate. This decision was prompted by recent actions taken by the Silk company (described below), and their integrity as a producer of organic soy products continues to be called into question. The major factors influencing our decision not to sell Silk are as follows:

1. In January 2009, Silk – whose soy products were formerly 100% organic -- reformulated their product line by converting almost all their products to conventional soybeans. They did this quietly, without telling retailers or changing the UPC code numbers on the products. Many retailers, including the Coop, didn’t find out about the change until consumers noticed and complained. The non-organic soymilks are labeled “Natural.” When we questioned Silk representatives about the change, we were told “there is a shortage of organic soybeans in North America.” However, it has been argued that Dean Foods (which owns Silk) “helped create these shortages by opting for cheaper organic imports instead of supporting domestic farmers with sustainable prices.1” (For the full report, please read the Cornucopia Institute's Soy Report & Scorecard)

2. Silk does not guarantee that all of their soybeans are free from GMO contamination. Organic Valley’s organic soybeans are 'Identity Preserved' - meaning each batch is tested to ensure there is no GMO contamination.

3. Silk is unwilling to share their sourcing information with consumers. Dean Foods “refused to transparently participate in the [Cornucopia Institute’s] study—depriving their customers of an independently verified review of their practices.” This stands in contrast to many other prominent soy food brands around the country that are fully transparent In their sourcing and production practices.

4. Silk brand is owned by Dean Foods - an agribusiness giant that owns over 50 milk labels around the country including Horizon Organic, a brand that heavily depends on factory farms each milking thousands of cows. Organic Valley is owned by CROPP Cooperative, a cooperative of organic family farmers. The Coop supports other cooperatives, wherever possible, and we try also to avoid companies that source from factory farms.

We will also replace the Silk soy creamers (made from non-organic soybeans) with Wildwood soymilk creamers (made from U.S. organic soybeans).

The Coop will continue to sell the quarts of Silk soymilk because this size is currently unavailable from any other company. Shoppers should beware, however, that these quarts are not organic. The quart sizes of Silk soymilk in plain, vanilla and chocolate flavors are all made from non-organic soybeans. Silk no longer sells their organic soymilk in a quart size carton.

1. Cornucopia Institute. (2009). Behind the Bean: The Heroes and Charlatans of the Natural and Organic Soy Foods Industry (1st ed.) [Report]. Cornucopia, WI: Charlotte Vallaeys.

Rawson Brook Farm Goat Cheeses

From the Great Farming for Justice website:

Every goat has a name. Susan tells me the stories behind each one as she places the milking machine on their udders. I was able to learn the technique very quick, as it takes a few days for some people.

There is quite the rhythm to the whole process.

Please look for the three flavors of Rawson Brook Monterey Chevre: Plain, Thyme & Olive Oil and Garlic & Chive.

more new frozen stuff.

Sometimes I feel it's best to start a meal with dessert. That way it can not be withheld should I decide to leave some or all of my vegetables untouched. It is for this reason that I begin this post by telling you all about the new ice cream. I was able to add a bunch of new products to this freezer because Ben or Jerry (I'm not sure who's really in charge over there) decided to get rid of their organic line.

Haagen Daz has come out with a new line called "5". It is called "5" because that's how many ingredients are used. I started simple with Milk Chocolate, Vanilla, and Coffee.

If your not into lactose and you've had your fill of rice, soy, or coconut ice cream, hemp might be worth investigating. Living Harvest has been making hemp milk for a while and has decided to give ice cream a shot. We currently have Coffee Biscotti and Coconut Lime.


<--This lady Gaga is back. Not this Lady Gaga.-->
Gaga's Lemon Sherbetter took off for a while cause there were some problems getting it. Then we got it buy accident one day and I remembered how great it was. Eric, one of the produce guys, actually went gaga over this stuff and had to take a couple days off.

Enough with dessert. A coop member has teemed up with Blue Ribbon to make Naked Nuggets. Naked Nuggets are gluten free, grilled chicken nuggets.

GF PIE SHELLS!!!

So I don 't have tons of time because I have to go back to the freezer (it's the Summer and I get overheated if I'm out of the freezer for too long) and there are oodles of new products to write about but I needed to let some of you know about the new gluten free pie shells from Gillian's Food. The rhubarb and strawberries have been here and the blueberries are commin. Just think of all those potential contestants that could have been kickin butt in pie eating contests for all these years.

Gotta go.

In the News.....

Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on fortified foods--also known as "functional" food. Manufacturers are increasingly pushing this concept. Classic example of overkill: Tropicana orange juice "fortified" with Omega oils. Do you really need fish oil in your O.J? While the taste is being processed out of that fish oil, what is happening to the Omega 3's? Bottom line seems to be: eat whole foods, take a multivitamin if you must. You'll save a lot of money.

And speaking of fish, last Wednesday, the NY Times hosted a discussion on the choices (or lack thereof) facing fish eaters who want to be environmentally correct.

On a happier note, last week Martha Rose Shulman presented a series of recipes focusing on one of my favorite foods: polenta. Interestingly, she led off the series by recommending cooking polenta in the oven. I like to make polenta using DeLaEstancia polenta, sold in Aisle 2A. This polenta only needs to cook for about a minute on the stove and is delicious. Bob's Red Mill polenta needs to cook longer. The corn meal sold in the bulk bins also works and is the cheapest. Sixty of our members opted for the super fast method--buy the cooked polenta in the plastic tube sold in Aisle 6A. We were sold out on Monday. If you are a tube purchaser, make the leap and try the DeLaEstancia. Just bring it to boil and let it cook one minute. You'll never look back.

Christian Science Monitor profiled the CONACADO cocoa cooperative in the Dominican Republic. Equal Exchange purchases cocoa from this cooperative. The Fair Trade premium helps pay for basic needs in their community, including schools and plumbing. We sell lots of Equal Exchange Fair Trade organic chocolate bars in Aisle 7A.

West River Creamery

So, I'm starting a new program. Bringing in a new cheese producer each month (or as I remember) and highlighting all the cheeses they have to offer.

This month I'm featuring West River Creamery in Londonderry, Vermont.

I've brought in five cheeses from them:
Cambridge Classic - A traditional clothbound version of English style farmhouse Cheddar. Aged for a minimum of one year to develop full complex cheddar flavors.
Londonderry Classic - English style farmhouse Cheshire. Dry in texture, peachy in color. Mild and lightly salty when
young. Mature cheese acquire more piquancy with age.
Middletown Tomme - A brushed natural rind cheese. The texture is firm and smooth. Savory, complex with grassy undertones.
Three Mountain - A washed rind cheese. Semi-soft, bold and smooth, velvety, finishing with a salty tang. Aged for 60-80 days.
Equinox - Oil rubbed with a deep orange colored rind. Texture is hard and smooth. Flavor is complex with a strong herbal undertones.

Try all 5!

It's All Good...with Gardein

If you want a quick vegetarian meal and you're not opposed to a food in a pouch, try these products (in our egg/tofu case) from a company called Gardein which makes "it's all good foods":

Veggie Pulled Chick'n and
Veggie Chick'n Good Stuff

If you're wondering what Gardein is, so was I. Here's how the company describes it:

"Gardein is a savory blend of nutritious vegetable and grain ingredients, including soy, wheat, peas, beets and carrots, slow-cooked to have the authentic taste, texture and nutrition of premium, lean meat."

Products being discontinued by manufacturers

Some very popular products are being discontinued by their manufacturers including:

• Vitasoy soy milk
• Good Health Guppies
• Natures Path Heritage O's
• Beth's cookies