Maybe it’s because I am pregnant and due in the New Year (surprise! – for those of you who didn’t know), but I am more excited about all the FOOD and FAMILY and FESTIVITIES this year than ever before.

With Amber Sallaberry, the Co-Op’s co-founder and former GM, returning from ‘one of the best years of her life’ sabbatical to co-manage the Co-Op until 2015, we are in a special place – having more resources on board than we have ever had.

As your fearless leaders, we’ve hit the ground running. Needless to say, there is al-ways so much work to do! In conjoining our management forces, we have been able to take on several long overdue co-op projects. Having brought our finances back in house,

we are now in the process of overhauling several financial systems to allow for much improved tracking of key management indicators. Our goal is to create efficient and strategic operational systems so that we can better meet our ENDS. (GBCFC’s ENDS may be accessed on our website under ‘About Us - Purpose Statement and Ends’. )

We distributed, and are now analyzing, our every-other-year GBCFC customer survey, which proved incredibly insightful. The majority of the feedback that we received from you were in reference to Ends #4 and 5.* A continued commitment to ‘local’ and offering better prices both rang out loud and clear as the cornerstones of most survey participants’ responses. Thank you to all you folks who took the time to share your opinions and feedback.

We also completed a successful Visioning exercise with you, our Member Owners, Community Partners, staff, HOOs, & board directors. See a refined summary in our Board President’s, Armando Ornelas, article on Page 9, more info will follow in our Annual Report due out in the next newsletter around mid-February.

Our annual member drive proved effective once again with over 298 new members and membership renewals within two weeks. Isn’t that amazing? Your equity is not only an essential part of the financial health of the organization but also prompts a reminder of Co-Op Principle #3, Member Economic Participation – WE OWN OUR OWN GROCERY STORE! Each person’s equity is an equal share of OUR company. In comparison with the lack of commu-nity orientation in the business models of the vast majority of corporate entities, we

couldn’t be prouder of ours. Did you know that community owned co-ops re-invest 20% more back into our local economies than any other type of retail entity?

Our emphasis on community focus prompts us to strive to purchase as many locally grown products as possible. Hence, we are committed to contracting with even more of our small, sustainably run local farms. We have been working with our department leaders to establish new benchmarks and metrics to help us achieve more local purchases in every department. See the Food News & Politics article on the next page for an update on these efforts and also exciting news about our Distributors of Regional and Organic Produce and Prod-ucts (DROPP) system developments.

We will use our data for the past two years’ purchases of out-of-state produce — mainly from small, always organic farms in California’s Central Valley as the basis for our transitioning effort back to our local foodshed. We have already begun to contract healthy percentages of our purchases with farmers with whom we’ve had longstanding, successful relation-ships. Now that our own growth is starting to stabilize, we’re able to focus more on becoming an even bigger player in helping GROW our COMMUNITY.

*End #4 - An economically viable, cooperatively owned business that creates a social and economic network that is just, trustworthy, and transformative.

End #5 - A stronger local food system which includes a marketplace that uses fair and just buying practices to support growers, vendors, and artisans from within our foodshed.

we grow community vol. 3 #1 ~ november 2014Co-Op NEWS

A quarterly publication for members of the Great Basin Community Food Co-op and surrounding communities

contents

yay for the holidays!Co-GM Report

By Amber Sallaberry and Jolene Cook, General Managers

FEATURES:

Food News & Politics: Back To Our Roots ....... 2-3[Co-] Op Ed: The Plastic Bag Ban .......................3Farmer Highlight: Nevada Ag ...................................................... 6-7

Board Communication: The Co-Op is a Vision .........................................8

DEPARTMENTS:

The Co-GM Report .............................................1Local Flora & Fauna ............................................5Health & Wellness: Holiday Wellness Tips ..........9Directors’ Notes: 3rd Quarter Financial Update .............................10HOO Highlights .................................................11From the Co-op Kitchen ...................................12

2 november 2014 www.greatbasinfood.coop

Downtown LocatioN240 Court Street • Reno, Nevada 89501 • (775) 324.6133

Open 8 am to 9pm daily

www.greatbasinfood.coopfacebook.com/gbcfc

twitter.com/gbcfc

The Co-op News is published on a quarterly basis. Look for the next issue in February 2015.

Please contact Jolene Cook at jolene@greatbasinfood.coop, or 775-324.6133 x110 to discuss your article idea or advertising inquiry. You may also mail them to us, Attention: Co-op News.

EditorS Glee Willis, Jolene Cook, and Gillian Logan

Staff Liaison/Coordinator Jolene Cook

Newsletter Layout/Design Double Click Design

Opinions expressed in the Co-op News are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Co-op staff, board of directors, Co-op advertisers, or anyone else. Co-op members are welcome to respond.

vol. 3 #1 ~ november 2014

Purpose Statement: To promote our local food system* and to serve as a sustainable cooperative model for access to wholesome food.

*What is a food system? A food system includes all processes and infra-structure involved in feeding a population: growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food and food-related items.

Our Slogan: “We Grow Community.”

Ends (as of Board 2013 retreat): Under the Policy Governance model adopted by the Board of Directors, “Ends” describe the desired outcomes of the GBCFC cooperative community. Our Ends take into account a “triple bottom line” that reflects the co-op’s economic, social, and environmental values. The co-op’s General Manager implements and measures achievement of Ends with oversight by the Board. As a result of our efforts, we will have:

ENDS:• Broadaccesstolocalandorganicfood.• Aknowledgeableandempoweredcommunitythat canmakeinformed

food choices.• Agatheringplacewherepeoplecangainagreaterawarenessofthe7

cooperative principles through engagement, ownership, and community.• Aneconomicallyviable,cooperativelyownedbusinessthatcreatesasocial

and economic network that is just, trustworthy, and transformative.• Astrongerlocalfoodsystem,whichincludesamarketplacethatusesfair

and just buying practices to support growers, vendors, and artisans from within our food shed.

• Alocalbusinessthatmodels,practices,andpromotesenvironmentalstewardship.

• Acooperativeworkenvironmentthatisrespectfulanddiverse,providinga livable wage and benefits to a kind and knowledgeable staff.

Great Basin Community Food Co-op

Local Food News & Politics

back to our Roots

By Amber Sallaberry, Co-GM

It’s good to be back! Jumping into things at the Co-Op in the middle of harvest season and bringing our finances back in house at the same time makes for a fast and no BS kind of re-entry. Scrutiny of our local food and finance systems provided me with ample opportunity to pour over the numbers, create spreadsheets and compare Year-Over-Year metrics and data. This crash course also helped me to wrap my brain around the big financial picture of where our co-op is today. Examining some key indicators such as inventory turns by department and percent of local food sales allowed me to see what we are doing well and also where we can grow the most — our co-op’s commitment to buying and support-ing local farmers, ranchers, artisans and producers!

GBCFC’s lineage of developing and nurturing local food systems has been echoed again and again as one of the primary reasons why our members and shoppers support us. Over the years we have done our very best to track this local data. When the Co-Op started in 2005 we purchased goods from three local farms: Lattin Farms, Sierra Valley Farms and Churchill Butte Organics, and one local ranch: Smith Family Farms. Back then we did our best (with no formal accounting or data tracking systems) to just take a head count of our local producers. Beginning in 2008 we entered the world of Quickbooks and POS systems and we started breaking out annual local and regional purchases.

www.greatbasinfood.coop NOVEMBER 2014 3

The graph below shows our co-op’s lo-cal and regional sales growth and the percentages that these categories are of our store’s total purchases:

This coming year marks yet another exciting point of data extraction for our co-op – DROPP sales and purchases and COPOS FLONS reportings (meth-od of tracking green attributes through our register system). Wait, wait!! Don’t get too excited over the possibility of accessing more purpose-based data — nor the expansion of our vast co-op spreadsheet world — just let me tell you the best part: for the first time ever we have been able to track a higher level of local food purchases, regionally grown goods and even our co-op’s sales of items like fair trade, NON GMO, and goods bought from small Ma and Pa type of independent companies!

Now that you’re at the point where you can’t wait to join the GBCFC dream data team (also known as ‘Team Sum Function’), I thought I would share the greatest highlight: all of this data has been used to help us set up and create the most ag-gressive local food contracts for the 2015 growing season.

We mined the last year of produce sales data that we’ve bought out of state — mainly from small, organic farms in California’s Central Valley. Organic California avocados, you say — wha!? Well, you asked for them and you buy them like crazy! Let’s save for another time the conversation on the disconnect between what consumers say they want (in our highly greenwashed market where ‘Farm Fresh’ and ‘Local’ is now at your neighborhood gas station) and where we actually spend the bulk of our money – that is coming soon . The bottom line is that until some genius up here in northern Ne-vada creates a microclimate for organic bananas we will con-tinue to purchase these kinds of organic goods from outside

of our foodshed. But for everything else: carrots, greens, kale, potatoes, you name it — let’s transition that contracted $$ back to the local farmers in our area! Recently we held our first meeting of this nature was with one of our foodshed’s finest: Gary Romano of Sierra Valley Farms. In 2013 we bought 3,000 bunches of organic bunched carrots from Califor-

nia. This year Gary contracted with us to grow 1,000 bunches of those carrots in his growing season. Why not all 3,000 bunches, you ask? Well, our customers want bunched carrots all year round. Gary can produce them from the last week of July until Thanksgiving, that’s roughly 1/3 of the year and he contract-ed for 1/3 of our demand. Math, pretty simple deductions.

This is just the beginning, we have another 1.5 months to meet with as many of our great producers in the area to contract out as much of our customers’ demand from goods harvested right here in the Great Basin as possible. Think you can grow lemons in Nevada or carrots in March? Hit me up! We will have lots to talk about: amber@greatbasinfood.coop.

GBCFC Local and Regional Sales GrowthPercentage of Store’s Total Purchase

**The GBCFC defines locally/regionally PRODUCED goods as those that are altered in a local or regional area. This includes roasting coffee, value added goods and anything that does not contain 100% local ingredients.

*The GBCFC defines locally/regionally GROWN goods as anything that is grown or raised 100% in our local or regional area. This can include value-added goods if every single ingredient is locally or regionally grown.

4 November 2014 www.greatbasinfood.coop

Less junk, but more junk sci-ence. That’s what I found when I began to investigate the decisions leading up to Cali-fornia’s recent single-use plastic bag ban.

If you’ve been wanting some background on the new policy, here’s the short ver-sion: the law prohibits single-use plastic bags to be distributed at grocery stores and large pharmacies. This prohibition will be phased in by July 1, 2015, and allows stores to charge at least 10 cents for bags made from recycled paper or from compostable material. Exceptions exist, such as for produce and carry-out food.

The aim of this law is to reduce plastic bag waste, as plastic does not degrade in land-fills and often finds its way into waterways, wetlands and of course, the ocean. The costs of disposal and removal of plastic bag waste in California was mounting and one factor motivating this regulatory change. Reducing waste and contamination of re-cycling and composting programs will also save taxpayer dollars.

California’s governor, Jerry Brown, made this statement at the law’s signing ceremo-ny: “This bill is a step in the right direction – it reduces the torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself.”

The pushback on this bill has been stag-gering. I’ve shared a few quotes from news articles criticizing this ban to paint a wee picture of the ruckus that’s being raised against the ban:

“[The bill is] a back room deal between the grocers and union bosses to scam California consumers out of billions of dollars without providing any public benefit – all under the guise of environmentalism.”1 - The American Progressive Bag Alliance

“This was an exercise in punishing an industry, and the thousands of hard-working Californians it employs, that Big Green finds politically distasteful … Jobs will be lost and food-insecure families will be forced to appropriate precious money for bags. No protein for you tonight, Jimmy, because mommy had to pay for bags.”2 - Forbes

Other responses to the law predict jeop-ardizing thousands of jobs, fault lawmak-ers for transferring millions of dollars to “grocers and their union bosses”, and accuse California of “descending into madness” by micro-managing every aspect of its citizens’ lives.

I feel as if I’m reading something out of The Onion. In my search for responses to this ban, it was far easier to find angry criticisms of the ban than it was to find solid evidence supporting these state-ments of opposition. In fact, I struggled to find evidence that was, for either side, independently produced or disseminated.

The scorecards on both sides of the debate seem to depend on what criteria are being considered: CO2 emissions in production, water used in production, energy in joules used in production, ability to recycle, ability to biodegrade, incidence of litter vs. recycling, volume of municipal solid waste, etc. My intention in writing this newsletter article was to analyze these facts from the point of view of our independent grocery store. How-ever, this virulent (and interest-laden) debate actually shifted my attention in another direction.

So is this bag ban long ahead of the curve, or is it long overdue?

This debate begs the question of whether or not we are seeking a solution in the right place? It seems that we’re debating marginal improvements in one direction or the other — in terms of solid waste or energy inputs, or… or…. Relying on one

[Co-]Op-Ed:

PLASTIC BAG BAN:AhEAD OF ThE CuRVE, OR LONG PAST DuE?

By Meghan Collins, GBCFC Outreach Coordinator

www.greatbasinfood.coop November 2014 5

type of recycled paper or compostable bag or the other still relies on continued investment of energy, resources and landfill space.

What if we’re due for a shift in how we transport our food from store to home? What if we question the assumptions about how people shop which, in this de-bate, default to either disposing, littering or recycling the bags?

In Reno, single-use plastic bags are not accepted at present for recycling by Waste Management. Some grocery stores accept a specific subset of plastic bags for recycling. To reduce the waste stream, the Co-Op receives paper bag donations by customers and keeps them circulating.

Estimates report that over 1 trillion sin-gle-use plastic bags are distributed yearly worldwide, which is over 2 million per minute3. From a sustainability point of view, this is a heavy burden, in addition to the packaging that helps much of our food reach the kitchen safely and without spoiling. The plastic bag is just the last step in the journey to your mouth.

So what do you think? Can you imagine an alternative universe where ‘disposable’ doesn’t exist? Would reusable grocery bags be used in place of this, or some other system entirely?

Considering this at the Co-Op, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Please email me with them at outreach@greatbasinfood.coop.

1American Progressive Bag Alliance. http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article2616122.html2Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/real-spin/2014/10/22/california-outlaws-plastic-bags-and-ignores-the-scientific-evidence/3Earth Policy Institute http://www.earth-policy.org/plan_b_updates/2014/update123

What if we’re due for a shift in how we

transport our food from store to home?

When I ask the majority of people “What do birds do to cope with the winter?”, I invariably get the response, “Migrate!” It is true that many of our summer avian residents move to the southern hemisphere during the winter to take advantage of the abundant food and milder climate available there, but there are a subset of birds whom we call year-round residents that spend the winter around the Biggest Little City. These year-round residents face a number of challenges during the colder months, but one of the largest is meeting their caloric needs. Unlike the lucky members of GBCFC, who have an amazing co-operative calorie source right on Court Street, some birds’ food sources disappear as fall moves southward. This selective pressure has led to an amaz-ing array of adaptations that help birds cope with limited food availability and the need to conserve energy.

Many omnivorous birds, i.e. those who eat both plants and animals, completely switch their diet for the winter. One bird that employs this wintry dietary change up is the Western Scrub-Jay. The Scrub-Jay can be found across northern Nevada and, in partic-ular, across the scrublands surrounding Reno. During the spring and summer Scrub-Jays can be seen eating small vertebrates (organisms with spines), but as animal-based food sources become scarce, the jays begin eating primarily plant material.

Scrub-Jays’ winter diet consists of high-calorie foods like acorns, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, and juniper berries. To hedge their bets, Scrub-Jays will hide seeds so that they can consume them at a later date, which behavioral ecolo- gists call “caching“. In addition to caching their own food, Scrub-Jays actually watch other birds create caches, then steal the hidden seeds. Pilfering is so common that the jays will actually try to fake-out onlookers by mov- ing hidden seeds if they believe they are being watched. In order to keep track of their many caches, jays have excellent spa-tial memory, but they are not the only bird that exhibits this amazing caching behavior.

Researchers in the Pravosudov Lab of Cognitive and Behavioral Ecology at the Uni-versity of Nevada, Reno have been studying caching in the Mountain Chickadee. Like the Scrub-Jay, the Mountain Chickadee switches its diet with the seasons. During the spring they consume mostly insects, but when the snow falls they switch primarily to seeds that they have stored. These very small birds, who weigh around 0.4 oz (the same weight as one of the clear plastic containers in the bulk section of our co-op), require a massive amount of plant-based fat to make it through the harsh winter. Interestingly, members of the Pravosudov Lab have found that birds in harsher environments at high elevation actually have more neurons and larger hippocampi, the portion of the brain involved in making and storing spatial memories, than their lower elevation coun-terparts who experience a less harsh winter. Additionally, researchers in the lab are investigating how urbanization might shape the cognitive ability of the small birds and are currently looking for urban backyard areas in and around Reno to collect data. For more information, readers can contact dkozlovsky@unr.edu).

As the winter comes to Reno, keep an eye out for some of our year-round feathered friends. You can even attract them to your backyard with some simple black-oil sunflower seed, and watch this amazing seed caching behavior in action (check out http://www.bestbirdfoodever.com/ for a great local source). As for me, I will be taking a page out of the chickadee’s book by exchanging some of my animal-based diet for the healthy fats in pine nuts, almonds, and flax seeds (which I may or may not be burying in the backyard for later!)

Local Flora & Fauna

winter 2014By Jake Francis, HOO Extraordinaire

6 NOVEMBER 2014 www.greatbasinfood.coop

The beginning of fall marks the time when we say goodbye to the summer abundance in our foodshed. Goodbye to our local farmers’ cucumbers, broccoli, cabbages, peppers, melons, basil, and summer squash. We have a last taste of a delicious tomato while canning up the last few jars of preserves until next season…..and we say hello to the hardy greens and storage crops of the winter, such as onions, potatoes, sweet carrots, winter squashes, and the items that will persist in hoop houses such as greens, herbs, and radishes. We usually say hi to a lot of produce sourced from California to the Equator.

Thanks to the efforts of one local farm, Nevada Ag, we have been enjoying in the winter the summer produce that it is growing in our area. Last winter we enjoyed tomatoes and peppers throughout most of the winter months. Despite the frosts that hit most of our local farms in late September, we have been eating, without interruption, local Armenian cucumbers, peppers, basil. We hope to source tomatoes from this farm as soon as February of 2015.

Nevada Ag is a farm in Wadsworth, Nevada situated on 13

Farmer Highlight

By Nicole Sallaberry, Local Food & Sustainability Coordinator

Nevada Ag

www.greatbasinfood.coop NOVEMBER 2014 7

acres right next to where the Truckee River makes its bend to head north to Pyramid Lake. Nevada Ag is operated by Spencer Scott, an experienced or-ganic farmer who spent the last decade in the Okanogan Valley in Washington growing organic commercial pears, soft fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Nevada Ag is owned by Don Evans, a visionary and the founder of multinational company, EVCO Plastics. Don is from the Reno/Tahoe area and has a vision of increas-ing the food security in our region. Don and Spencer met about five years ago. In 2013, they decided to make the vision a reality. Don invested in the infrastruc-ture; Spencer and his family moved to the area to start raising the plants. The first 4,000 square foot greenhouse was built and Nevada Ag was born. Its goal

is to provide high quality produce and products for the Reno/Tahoe Basin 365 days a year and to fill in the gaps in our local food supply. Spencer grows field crops, as well as in the greenhouse crops. This year, Nevada Ag is working on completing its second production greenhouse which is even larger (one full acre in size). Nevada Ag has five full acre production greenhouses in the works and plans on building one per year. Any rainwater that is collected by the greenhouses is filtered, then used for the plants or for cooling the green-houses, when needed, in the fashion of a huge swamp cooler. The greenhouses also use the EPIC system invented by Jonas Sipaila. The plants grow in a sand medium (in this case the sand is sourced from a local quarry). Nutrients are

introduced via water that is a foot below the surface of the sand, and capillary ac-tion brings the nutrients up to the roots of the plants.

Nevada Ag is continuing to work on building its greenhouses, tending its crops, investigating the potential for harvesting geothermal energy on their property, and securing water rights. Don and Spencer have enjoyed being suppliers in the Reno market and look forward to providing more food to our region, as well as custom growing for restaurants and stores. It is on track to becoming certified organic and its next venture is to fill in one of the biggest gaps we have in our local food system — fruit! This winter, look for these vibrant crops for sale from the crew at the Co-Op or on the DROPP website: bell peppers, mini sweet bell peppers, sweet Basil, Thai basil, purple basil, Armenian cucumbers, Straight 8 cucumbers, and tomatoes coming mid-winter.

Other local winter delicacies available at the Co-Op include: pea and sunflower greens from New Harvest Farm; Hawai-ian baby ginger from Custom Gardens; basil and Shisito peppers from Ster-ling Farms; sweet Nantes carrots from Avanzino Farms; horseradish, water-melon radish and rainbow carrots from Sierra Valley Farms; sprouts from Mary Alice’s Sprout Farm; greens from Span-ish Spring Greens; winter squash and garlic from Lattin Farms; sunchokes from Mewaldt’s Organic Produce; greens, herbs, and winter squash from Salisha’s Delicious; butternut squash from Pioneer Farms; specialty potatoes from Mathis Farm; and a variety of onions from Peri and Sons… to name some of the produce and the farms and ranches supplying it to us, along with much more: honey, milk, cheeses, eggs, jams, jellies, pickles, horseradish mus-tard, beef, lamb, goat, pork, and bison. Thank you, Nevada Ag, as well as all of our other local producers!

8 NOVEMBER 2014 www.greatbasinfood.coop

Board Communication

the co-op is a vision

This past September’s board election resulted in a change for three (of seven) board seats. The Co-Op’s member-owners elected Matt Johnson, Marcia Litsinger and Jeannette Smith. A warm welcome to each of these GBCFC members who will volun-teer their time and talents to help lead the Co-Op over the next two (at least) years. The board also extends a heartfelt “thank you” to outgoing board members Greta de Jong, Laura Fillmore and Dagny Stapleton for their service to the Co-Op.

The board’s work in the coming year will be informed in part by two outreach ef-

forts. One is the recently completed online survey of our member-owners. Thanks to the over 320 people who participated in taking this detailed survey. The second is the Co-Op’s Visioning process. The board is now working with Jolene Cook and Amber Sallaberry, our co-GMs, and a committee that includes other Hands On Owners (HOOs), to distill and prioritize your ideas and input to create an updated Vision for the Co-op.

The Co-Op exists to serves its members and our common goals through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled business. While we are still studying the survey results and input from the vision-ing process, some major themes are clear, including that our membership desires:

✓ Broader access, which encompasses objectives such competitive prices; a greater selection of products; and, in time, a larger and/or additional stores.

✓ More organic and locally produced food, as well as the Co-Op continu-ing to play a lead role in the develop-ment of a local food system.

✓ More service as a community hub and vehicle for fostering just, coop-erative and environmentally sustain-able business practices.

In the coming months and years the Co-Op’s board and staff will continuously

strive to refine our business model to achieve and balance these and other goals, such as being an employer of choice. We understand that accomplishing these ends requires the Co-Op be a viable business, and that we face growing competition from both existing and new-to-the-market grocers. The Co-Op must adapt and evolve to survive, and accept that we’ll need to emphasize different goals at different times. We realize each member-owner, each household that shops our store, has their own needs and priori-ties, but we encourage you to continue supporting us, and thus your priorities, by “shopping the Co-Op first.” Please

continue to tell us what is important to you and to vote for your own priorities with your household dollars. Only in this manner can we cooperatively achieve our common goals and our vision.

By Armando Ornelas, GBCFC Board President

more organic & locally-produced foodas well as the Co-Op continuing to play a lead role in the development of a local food system.

more serviceas a community hub and vehicle for fostering just, cooperative and environmentally sustainable business practices.

Broader Accesswhich encompasses objectives such competitive prices; a greater selection of products; and, in time, a larger and/or additional stores.

www.greatbasinfood.coop NOVEMBER 2014 9

When it comes to the holiday sea-son, Halloween feels like the starting line of a long two months, and the countdowns seem to start earlier and earlier every year! Preparing for the holidays is half the fun. After all, the best part of the holidays is en-joying time with family and friends! When it comes to this blissfully busy season, have a happy, healthy holiday by remembering to care for yourself, both body and mind!

Adding key supplements to our daily routines can help strengthen our immune systems. Upstairs in the Wellness Depart-ment we love our probiotics. More and more research shows that a healthy gut leads to overall wellness, especially during cold and flu season. We love Flora Udo’s Choice Adult Probiotics and Garden of Life’s Primal Defense Ultra. Both provide ample healthy bacteria to bolster the bacteria in your gut! In addition to a healthy gut, we also recommend Oreganol’s Oregano Oil for its immunity-boosting properties. Oregano oil is powerfully effective against bacteria, germs, and viruses; taking a daily supplement of oregano oil can help strengthen cells! Or consider an organic mushroom supplement from Host Defense since they, also, have been found to be beneficial when it comes to boosting immunity. Host Defense Mycoshield Throat Spray is a great on-the-go option as it’s small enough to carry!

To help prevent colds and flu, eating foods rich in vitamins and minerals is just as important as adding key supplements to one‘s diet. We’re lucky at the Co-Op to have access to delicious, organic produce. Veg-etables that promote healthy liver functions not only help with immunity-boosting by delivering vitamins and minerals but they also encourage natural detoxifying processes to clean out the gunk that’s not aiding your body in recovery. These veggies include kale, broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage. Try the varieties from some of our local producers and taste the difference! Ad-ditionally, many of our seasonal favorites,

such as pumpkin, figs, pomegranates, and cranberries, are brimming with healthy vitamins that not only make us feel beauti-ful on the inside but on the outside, too!

Stress is one thing that can defeat your attention to eating well and boosting your immunity with supplements. We can eat healthy foods and take supplements, but if we’re stressed, we’re putting our body in a state of tension. Alex King, HOO extraordi-naire, suggests meditation (even/especially if you’re stuck in holiday shopping traffic!) Stuck at a large intersection in the Truckee Meadows? Take 5 seconds and breathe in deeply. Find a quiet place in your home, set

an alarm for five minutes, and start to fo-cus on your breathing, If you find your thoughts racing in the middle of your meditation, don’t worry — just start over and concentrate on your breath-

ing. You can check out more of Alex’s meditation tips on his blog: evokebliss.com

We can’t end our holiday article without mentioning a few great gift

finds in our Wellness Department. With a range of locally produced personal care and beauty items, check out the goodies offered by a couple of our local producers Sacred Seed Herbals (handcrafted by our very own Willow Romska) and Golden Monarch Herbals. With decadent lip balms, bath scrubs, and muscle soothers, you’re sure to find something for everyone on the list! Customers continue to praise Sacred Seed Herbals Vegan Lip Balm and Golden Monarch Herbals Golden Glow Scrub! We are also loving the Michael Roger, Inc. Decomposition Notebooks, and greeting cards from Sanctuary Spring! From cookbooks to candles, and check out our second annual Holiday Fair upstairs in the Community Space on December 6th from 11am-3pm featuring over a dozen local vendors!

Health & Wellness

holiday Wellness TipsBy Gillie Logan, Wellness Team Member

Co-operative Principles

The Seven

These seven (7) Co-operative Principles were established by the first successful co-op in Rochdale, England in the 1840s. They were later amended by the Interna-tional Co-operative Alliance in 1996. All true cooperatives use these guidelines to put their values into practice.

• Voluntary and Open Membership — Co-operatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of mem-bership, without gender, social, racial, politi-cal or religious discrimination.

• Democratic Member Control — Co-op-eratives are democratic organizations con-trolled by their members, who actively par-ticipate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elect-ed representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, mem-bers have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.

• Member Economic Participation — Mem-bers contribute equitably to, and democrati-cally control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the com-mon property of the cooperative. They usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capi-tal subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the coop-erative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

• Autonomy and Independence — Co-opera-tives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, includ-ing governments, or raise capital from exter-nal sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.

• Education, Training and Information — Co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected repre-sentatives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the develop-ment of their cooperatives. They inform the general public — particularly young people and opinion leaders — about the nature and benefits of cooperation.

• Cooperation among Co-operatives — Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through lo-cal, national, regional and international structures.

• Concern for Community — While focus-ing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their com-munities through policies accepted by their members.

Photo courtesy of MeditationMusic.net

10 NOVEMBER 2014 www.greatbasinfood.coop

Anyone who loves great local produce (who doesn’t?) knows that late summer and fall are a special time to be a GBCFC shopper. More and more people realize that putting real organic food from local farmers and ranchers on the dinner table not only makes sense from the standpoint of personal and environmental health, it makes for much better tasting meals. And as this movement and awareness around great local food continues to take hold, it’s not surprising that sales at the Co-Op continue to grow with it. After all, our co-op is not only the best place in town to buy local food; it’s the only place that makes it one of its top priorities. Because of this, we are happy to report that, even though marginally below original forecast, sales during the quarter ended September were the highest on record.

The Co-Op finished the September quarter with $740,215 in sales compared to sales of $667,850 in the same quarter last calendar year which represents yet another quarter of year-over-year double digit sales growth. However, strong sales are only one piece of

our goal of achieving sustained profitability. Having an emphasis on providing superior locally sourced food also brings added costs and complexity, which can pressure margins. Anyone who has run a business knows that providing a superior product at a competitive price is no easy task. However, we continue to make meaningful strides to this end, albeit at a slightly slower pace than originally forecast.

The included table highlights actual versus budgeted financial performance for the quarter ended September. The bottom row of the table is the “big picture” row that we are focusing on as a business. Operating cash flow includes total net revenue less expenses (excluding depreciation). The second quarter of this calendar year was the first in which we experienced positive operating cash flow. And while we slipped into a negative position again this past quarter, we continue to expect that we will more consistently reach this important financial goal in the near future.

Looking ahead to the final quarter of the calendar year, we are hopeful the strong

sales momentum will continue and the longer-term trend of improving cash flow will persist. The Co-Op’s commitment to local organic food, combined with the most stringent buying guidelines in town for all products, make us the single best place in Reno to shop for consumers who value putting healthy and responsibly sourced food on their family’s table. We are confident that our commitment to these high standards along with the democratic, community based business model that the Co-Op provides will translate into a healthy bottom line.

If you would like more information or would like to talk to us about the Co-Op’s finances, please feel free to attend any one of the monthly Board meetings, which are held the third Monday of every month at 6:00 PM on the second floor of the Co-op. Remember, being a Co-Op member means you are an owner of the store, so your input is always appreciated.

To contact the board, e-mail board@greatbasinfood.coop

Directors’ Notes

GBCFC 3rd Quarter 2014 Financial updateBy Steve Edmundson, Director

SUMMARY FINANCE REPORT FOR GREAT BASIN COMMUNITY FOOD CO-OP

Q3 2014

Revenue Actuals Q3 2014 Budget Q3 2014 Difference

Sales $740,215.10 $753,500.00 $(13,284.90)

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) $(493,791.05) $(495,606.00) $(1,814.95)

Other Income $3,211.35 $720.00 $2,491.35

Total Net Revenue $249,635.40 $258,614.00 $(8,978.60)

Expenses

Staffing $176,283.51 $174,650.00 $1,633.51

Occupancy $46,082.47 $44,050.00 $2,032.47

Operating $15,345.53 $17,150.00 $(1,804.47)

Depreciation $24,253.56 $24,300.00 $(46.44)

Marketing $11,595.28 $13,550.00 $(1,954.72)

Governance $2,493.44 $2,800.00 $(306.56)

Administration $15,169.79 $10,900.00 $4,269.79

Total Expenses $291,223.58 $287,400.00 $3,823.58

Net Income $(41,588.18) $(28,786.00) $(12,802.18)

Operating Cash Flow (excludes depreciation) $(17,334.62) $(4,486.00) $(12,848.62)

www.greatbasinfood.coop NOVEMBER 2014 11

Name: Galen Gorelangton

how long have you been a hOO? Around 4-5 months

When you aren’t a hOO, what do you do? I am currently finishing my degree at UNR in philosophy with a minor in English. I practice tai chi and qi gong, too! I love animals and sometimes help out at the ASPCA. I also enjoy gardening and cooking (my partner tells me I’m an excellent cook!).

What made you want to hOO? I love the Co-Op; it’s been an integral part of my life for a while now. My mom got involved early on and I’ve gotten to watch it grow! I love the community aspect of the Co-Op and how it brings people together. I wanted to be a part of this as I really believe in its mission.

What kind of things do you do as a hOO? I do a bit of everything! I help out in grocery or wellness, depending on the need. I’ve done everything from stocking to helping customers out to their cars. I chat with folks, get to know the staff, and spread the word about the GBCFC!

What are your hopes for the Co-Op? Dreaming big? I’d love to see the Co-Op serve as an integral mind, body, and spirit center, focusing on health and wellness through nutrition and education. I’d love to see the Co-Op continue to connect within the community to spread the word on eating local!

Encouragement to others thinking about hOOing? Whatever skill set a person possesses, you have something to offer the Co-Op! The HOO program is flexible and there’s always an interesting task that needs a dedicated HOO to help with!

Your most memorable hOO experience? Every day the staff makes me laugh! I’m glad to be part of the Co-Op! We’re really transforming Reno in a positive way!

hOO hIGhLIGhTShighlighting Wonderful hands-On Owners of the GBCFC

By Gillian Logan, HOO Coordinator

If you would like to learn more about becoming a Hands On Owner (HOO) at your co-op contact hands-on@greatbasinfood.coop. The benefits of joining the HOO Program are immense! You get to meet other wonderful co-op members, you are eligible to receive in-store discounts, you help YOUR co-op to thrive and you can place bulk special orders at wholesale cost. What are you

waiting for?

TEN REASONS CO-OPS ROCK!

•Cooperativesaredemocraticbusiness-es and organizations, equally owned and controlled by a group of people. There are worker co-ops, consumer co-ops, producer co-ops, financial co-ops, housing co-ops, and more. In a cooperative, one member has one vote.

•Becausecooperativesaredemocrati-cally owned by community members, co-ops keep money (and jobs) in their communities.

•Cooperatives aren’t a far off theory.Cooperatives offer achievable and practical solutions to many economic, environmental, and social problems that can be implemented right now.

•Co-opsaren’tcharity;they’reempow-ering means for self-help and solidarity.

•Membersofcooperativesequallysharethe burden in hard times and equally share the benefits in good times.

•Cooperativesaremoreresilientineco-nomic downturns and in impoverished communities. When other businesses may shut down or lay off workers, co-op members pull together to work out solutions.

•Cooperatives are an internationalmovement. There are thousands upon thousands of cooperatives around the world that are making major differ-ences locally and globally.

•Cooperatives strive tomake people’slives, communities, and economies more just, equitable, and democratic.

•There’snoonerightwaytodoaco-op. They can be flexible to fit differ-ent community and individual needs. There are big co-ops with thousands of members, and there are small co-ops with 3 members.

•Cooperativesareownedandgovernedby their members! This gives those taking the service or buying the prod-uct control of the organization–in the coop world the consumers are the ones who determine the corporation's values as well as what to do with profits.

From The

Co-op Kitchen

Look for additional coupons in each quarterly newsletter!Member Name: _____________________

Member #: _________________________ Date: _____________

save 10%

Member-Owners!Save 10% on your next purchase! Not eligible for member equity payments, gift cards, or special orders. Must have coupon present

to redeem. Limited to one coupon per member per quarter.Valid until February 15, 2014

VEGAN PuMPKIN ChEESE CAKE!!!Ingredients 1 (12 ounce) package firm silken tofu 1 (8 ounce) container vegan cream cheese1 cup pumpkin puree 1 cup granulated sugar3 tablespoons flour1/2 teaspoon ground ginger1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves1/2 teaspoon baking soda1 graham cracker crust

Preparation1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Except for graham cracker crust,

purée all ingredients in a food processor.

2. Pour into the crust.

3. Bake for 50 minutes. Let cool and refrigerate.

You might notice that you have too much filling for a pie crust, maybe even for an over-sized pie crust.

Options for Extra Filling:a. Increase the recipe to use one whole can of pumpkin and make two pies. To the remaining pie filling, add 1 to 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and some chocolate chips to make some awesome cookies. c. To the remaining pie filling, blend in vanilla nondairy milk until smoothie-consistency to make yourself a pumpkin-cheesecake-smoothie.d. Use the rest out of the blender or food processor as pudding. I know I do. I might even try making pumpkin-spice pancakes out of the extra...

Preparation Time:  10 minutes;

Baking time: 50 minutes

Turkey BrineIngredients2 gal. cold water2 cups kosher salt1 cups granulated sugar3 teaspoons crushed garlicfresh rosemary, thyme, and sage – 4 twigs of each herb*1.5 teaspoons cracked allspice berries1 teaspoon ground black pepper1 stick of cinnamon3 bay leaves

*If you use dried herbs, use about 1 tablespoon of each herb.

Yield: Enough brine for a 12 to 15-Pound Turkey

PreparationThis is enough for a 12 to 15 pound turkey, but if you have to increase the amount of water to cover the turkey, add proportionately more salt, sugar, and herbs.

1. For each gallon of water: 1 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and approximately 1 teaspoon crushed garlic, 1 to 2 twigs of the herbs, about 1/2 teaspoon of cracked berries and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

2. Submerge the turkey in the brine, top with a plate and put a large can on that to hold the turkey under the brine. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

3. Before roasting, rinse the turkey well and pat dry. Roast without added salt following your favorite recipe for roasted turkey.

on your next purchase