Guess the Weight of the Giant Pumpkin!
October is National Co-op Month
Happy National Co-op Month! During October, cooperatives across the country are celebrating and raising awareness of this trusted, proven way to do business and build communities. This year’s theme is “Build Back for Impact,” cooperating together to face some of the biggest challenges, including a global pandemic, climate emergency and systemic racism.
“As we build back an economy that works for everyone, our biggest impact comes from embracing the values and principles that make us truly unique,” according to coopmonth.coop.
Astoria Co+op General Manager Matt Stanley said co-ops are more ubiquitous than we might think.
“Nearly 12% of global economic activity is thought to occur through cooperatives,” Stanley said. “There are 64,000 cooperatives operating in the United States alone. It is a growing model that could be part of a solution for the vast inequality pervasive worldwide.”
We will be running an ownership drive during the week of October 24-30, when we will be promoting new member sign-ups with some giveaways. Learn about becoming a member here.
CO-OP MONTH FUN FACTS:
- Minnesota was the first state to declare an official Co-op Month proclamation in 1948.
- Co-op Month has been a nationally recognized celebration since 1964, when U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, a former Minnesota governor, proclaimed October Co-op Month.
- The first national Co-op Month theme, in 1964, was “Cooperatives: USDA Helps Build a Better America.”
- The U.S. Government sponsored Co-op Month from 1964-1970.
- Every October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases its annual Co-op Month proclamation.
Choose Fairtrade. Choose the World You Want
October is Fair Trade Month and National Co-op Month, so Fairtrade America partnered with National Co+op of Grocers to put on a campaign called ‘Choose Fairtrade: Choose the world you want.’ It’s a way for shoppers, retailers and businesses to show their support for the nearly 2 million Fairtrade farmers and workers around the world. The Fairtrade movement works to balance the inequalities that exist in trade that prevent farmers and workers from getting a fair deal on their products.
We at Astoria Co+op are proud to celebrate why we #ChooseFairtrade this month.
Our goal is to help U.S. consumers connect the dots between their CHOICE to purchase Fairtrade certified products and the differences made in the lives of people who produce and grow our food. Now more than ever, we need to work together to promote fairer trading conditions, and in turn combat issues like poverty, child labor, gender inequality and climate change.
Fairtrade is a simple and powerful way for people to make a difference. Fairtrade envisions a world in which all farmers and workers can enjoy secure, sustainable livelihoods, trade is equitable, and they have the freedom to decide their own futures. When consumers choose to buy Fairtrade products, they are part of an ecosystem that enables farmers and workers to get a fair deal and have access to the resources needed to farm sustainably.
Look for the Fairtrade Mark when you are shopping! We have a special display of several Fairtrade items and additional products throughout the store, including Equal Exchange coffee and chocolate bars, Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate bars, Lubanzi wine, Tulsi tea, bananas and more.
Celebrate Fair Trade Month by entering for a chance to win a prize pack that includes a mural print, a tote and Fairtrade certified goodies from Conscious Step, Divine Chocolate, Kicking Horse Coffee, La Riojana, Nature’s Path and Reese Specialty Foods!
Staff Highlight: Shannon O’Donnell
Shannon O’Donnell, the lead baker at Astoria Co+op, said she’s always loved to bake.
“In high school all my friends would come over and I’d make them biscuits and honey for an after-school snack,” O’Donnell said.
Her passion for baking was perhaps inherited from both her grandmothers, one of whom, Veronica, loved to bake.
“My grandma Evelyn didn’t love it, but she loved that I did, and she would help me with projects,” O’Donnell said. One such project was making truffles for friends on Valentine’s Day. “She thought it was great that I wanted to try it.”
After years of self-taught baking experience, O’Donnell attended a year-long French intensive culinary school. There, she learned valuable skills like mise en place, keeping an organized workspace.
She began working at the co-op deli in January 2020. Starting as a prep cook, she transitioned into her role as the lead baker.
Some of her favorite items to bake at the co-op are the fresh fruit pies and the chocolate chip cookies. She’s also looking forward to baking holiday favorites this fall and winter, such as pumpkin and pecan pies for Thanksgiving and an Italian Christmas bread called panettone.
“I’m glad to be here,” O’Donnell said. “I love the bakery.”
In her spare time, she enjoys going for hikes and exploring the area with her dog, Lula. Gnat Creek, Ecola State Park and Saddle Mountain are some of her favorite hiking destinations.
She also recently enjoyed camping in Yachats after a year of not leaving town much during the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Soil amendment sale!
Get 20% off organic potting soil, manure, bark and peat moss while supplies last.
Why should you work on your soil now that we’re going into the fall season? Our floral expert Julie Skopal has your answer.
“Top dressing your garden now will help the plants during the winter and get them off to a great start in the spring. I would recommend steer and chicken manure. I personally use steer manure, which is lower in nitrogen, because you don’t want a big grow right now as we’re going into winter.
Bark is also on sale. Putting bark around plants now will help keep the rain from pounding the soil down. It will be muddy out here, so bark makes a great pathway. Bark will suppress the weeds in the spring.
You can get the sphagnum peat moss for acid-loving plants like your camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas and of course your blueberries.
Everything is 20% off while supplies last so get it now! The amendments work well for the perennials we have here too.”
Order a Cake from the Co+op Bakery
The co-op bakery does special orders for 6″ and 9″ cakes, including this gluten free vanilla cake with Italian strawberry buttercream. Vegan cakes and a variety of flavors are also available. Call or order online at least 48 hours in advance so it will be ready for your celebration!
Owner appreciation
Co-op owners, shop between Sept. 12-25 to save:
- 10% off purchase under $100
- 15% off purchase of $100 or more
- 20% off purchase of $150 or more
Equity must be up-to-date to receive discount. Applies to items in stock and does not stack with case discounts. Thanks so much for your support!
Not a co-op owner? No problem, you’re always welcome to shop, but if you’d like to learn about the benefits of ownership click here.
Dry-aged steak is back in stock
Come get some dry-aged ribeye steaks from the co-op!
This steak was dry-aged at the co-op in a 30-day process that makes for extra flavorful, tender, premium steak!
Dan Levens, who works in the co-op’s meat department, said the co-op’s dry ager allows him to control time, temperature and humidity.
“What happens is that the meat will start to dry from the outside, so you get what they call a bark, and it keeps it really moist on the inside,” Levens said. “The whole point of dry aging is that it breaks down a lot of the things that keep the meat together, so it makes it more tender. It concentrates the actual flavor and the fat seals it in.”
Once he brings it out of the dry ager, he peels the layer of bark off, leaving moist, tender meat that he cuts into ribeye steaks.
The dry-aged ribeye steaks are on sale now through the end of September.
Invest: Together We Grow
In 2017 the co-op launched a capital campaign called Together We Grow. We raised over $2 million through the sale of preferred shares to help fund the completion of our new store. There are still some shares available to any member in good standing that are Oregon residents. We have two projects that are in the works that will require additional capital. First, we aim to install Electric Vehicle chargers in the co-op parking lot. Second, we will purchase a generator for winter storm resilience – we’ll be able to stay open during power outages! Additionally, if we can sell all of the remaining shares it builds co-op equity and strengthens our business balance sheet. It allows us to continue to invest in our business and increase our positive impact in the region.
The minimum investment is $2,500 and earns a 3% dividend. Investments $10,000 and up earn 4%. We will be paying out our first dividends this October. We think this is a neat opportunity to invest in a local community-owned business – one that you frequent regularly for all your healthy food needs. Please email our General Manager, Matt Stanley, at [email protected] for a prospectus and more information.
Staff Highlight: Julie Skopal
An avid gardener, bird watcher and cyclist, Julie Skopal is passionate about plants. She’s been working in the produce department at Astoria Co+op for more than three years.
“I’m proud to work at the co-op,” Julie said. “I love all of my coworkers; my customers keep my day lively.”
She’s been gardening since she could walk, picking flowers to put up on the windowsill in her childhood home when she was a little girl. She received her environmental degree from Sonoma State University. There, she learned that without thriving ecosystems we’ll never have a healthy earth. Organic, healthy living is a good start.
Julie previously worked in native plant and horticultural nurseries. She also did restoration work at Golden Gate National Recreation Area, primarily removing invasive plants like pampas grass and French broom.
“It was hard, wonderful work for such a good cause,” she said.
She and her husband moved from Sonoma County, California to Astoria when her husband got a job with the county. Finding a job at the co-op, Julie decided that the closest thing to working with plants in Astoria was to work in the produce department.
She said she appreciates the beauty of the fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers she works with.
“Everything is unique in its own way, the beautiful colors and textures,” Julie said. “It’s a feast for the eyes and the senses and I really enjoy that.”
The co-op keeps seasonal flowers and plants in stock, so soon Julie will be displaying fall mums. She recently got a big delivery of fall blooming perennials that are attractive to beneficial insects.
“As everything is connected, we would not have the produce and plants that we have without the beneficial insects and pollinators, so we need to keep the outside world as healthy as we try to keep ourselves,” Julie said.
She added she loves getting to witness the seasonal changes, starting with the wonderful produce of spring and transitioning into summer, fall and winter.
Some of the produce she enjoys during this time of year include grapes and yellow peaches.
“I’m eyeing the winter squash that’s coming in, so there’s anticipation for fall,” Julie said. “It’s like when you wait for a holiday when you’re a kid and get excited as you get closer to it.”
Her future goals are to bring in more beneficial and native plants.
“I’m thrilled to work with the little garden and nursery section we have here. I’m happy to help with plant questions if anyone sees me out there working and wants to talk,” she added.
She bikes or walks her four-mile commute to work practically every day.
“For me, I feel that there is no reason to use a car and contribute to one of the causes of climate change,” Julie said. “As the saying goes, ‘Be part of the solution, not the problem.’”
She and her husband enjoy vacations that include alternative forms of transportation, especially cycling. They pedaled their way through England and Scotland on a bike tour, and have done a thousand-mile bike trip from British Columbia to California.
“The longest day was 100 miles with the steepest hill at the end,” Julie said. “I didn’t think I’d make it but darn it, I wasn’t giving in!”
