by Kenna S. Eaton

Each month, I report to the board on how we are progressing on our long-term goals, which we call our Ends. These Ends reflect our aspirations—what we want to accomplish—and they are what makes us different from a regular grocery store. We publish these reports as a blog to keep our member-owners up to date on what we are doing.

The reports are organized by our five Ends, although not all are discussed in every report. Our refreshed Ends say that, as a result of all we do—

-      Our community is well-served by a strong cooperative grocery store, integral to the lives of our customers, our farmers, and our producers.

-      Our community has a resilient local and regional food economy, supported by our Co-op and our community partners.

-      Our staff and board have the knowledge, skills, and passion to make our cooperative thrive.

-      Our members and customers are proud to shop at a local cooperative grocery that is working to reduce its impact on the environment.

-      Our community is informed, engaged, and empowered to join us in making a difference.

November General Manager’s Report

Market Relevance

At the end of October, we began accepting e-WIC debit cards. WIC (Women, Infants & Children) is one of the federal food access programs—administered at the state level—that we participate in at the Co-op. This program gives healthy food to families in need, and until now, the help came in the form of checks that itemized the qualifying foods for that particular purchase, which was rather complicated and cumbersome. Now the benefits are issued though an EBT card that allows more flexibility, faster purchases, and improved customer service.

October was Co-op month, so I want to mention a new vendor, Just Coffee Co-operative, from Madison, Wisconsin.  We stock three varieties of their packaged coffee. Also, have you admired our new bulk coffee bins we received in August? This is in partnership with Equal Exchange, a worker co-operative that purchases from many small farmer co-operatives.

Food System Development

The Eat Local First Olympic Peninsula (ELF/OP) team (including our marketing manager, Andrea S.) have been busy developing the upcoming local “Farm to Table" trade meeting, which will be held November 18th. It's an opportunity for producers and growers to connect with buyers across the region who are looking to purchase locally sourced food. Several Co-op buyers are already signed up to attend, and they are looking forward to seeing if there are any new connections to be made.

We had three new Local 5 vendors in the last month: Lucidity Co., in Port Townsend; Western Red Brewing, a new brewery in Poulsbo; and Simple Harvest Farm, on Whidbey Island.  Lucidity makes a skin balm and sage wands for illuminating your dreams. We have three new beers from Western Red Brewing, some of the first items they were offering for sale. From Simple Harvest Farm, we received only one shipment of kiwi berries this year, but we hope to see more product from them in 2020.  We brought in sixteen new Local WA items in the last month, including two new lines: Acme ice cream from Bellingham and Ravens’ Brew packaged coffee from Olympia.  Acme participates in Eat Local First in Whatcom County. 

Lastly, we added a “new to us” distributor, Azure Standard, out of Moro, Oregon, which will help us fill gaps in UNFI availability, specifically Bubbies pickles, which we had on our first order.  We will be ordering from them on an as-needed basis for now. 

Thriving Workplace

Once a year we bring all staff together for an in-depth work session. This year we spent our time digging in to our newly revised mission and values statement: What do they mean to us and how can we use them in our work place? Our goal was to leave that meeting with a richer understanding of our values and some ideas on how we can work with them in the upcoming year. This is also a great time for us to thank staff for their hard work by having fun, working together, and sharing a meal. 

Environmental Stewardship

One way the Food Co-op tries to mitigate its impact on the environment is by purchasing Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). This year we upped the amount of RECs we purchase to 75% of anticipated electrical usage in 2019. In essence, these credits ensure that one megawatt hour of electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy source and was fed into the shared system of power lines which transport energy. This means the energy we take out of the pool was generated by renewable energy sources even though we don’t have any of our own—yet!

Outreach

This October brought many exciting events and classes to the Co-op.  We launched a 4-week cooking series at Blue Heron Middle School, focusing on international cuisines. The first class featured Mexico! We wrapped up our Market Kitchen hands-on cooking classes with Glorious Foods of Greece. Linden returned to teach a Kitchen Medicine Lunch and Learn, focusing on edible mushrooms and highlighting Wellness products and fresh produce.

Our Grow Fund Committee decided to award this year’s funds to the Food Bank Farm and Gardens for two separate projects they have in the works.  Additionally, we bought two tickets to the Harvest Dinner supporting the Community Wellness Project, which were raffled off to staff.