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Happy Anniversary Common Ground!
Jacqueline Hannah, General Manager
 Can you believe it has been a year?
On this day last year,
we were exactly 21 days from opening the beautiful new Common Ground
Food Co-op store that we all love and enjoy today. The excitement level was unbelievably high. On Market Saturdays you could watch dozens of Co-op owners stop and press their faces to the new glass windows, peeking in as the project's contractor and our fellow Co-op owner, Tim Gibbs, directed builders and worked at all hours to get the store done on schedule. Our website featured weekly photo updates of progress on the store, and we inundated members' email boxes with progress reports to keep everyone abreast of the almost-daily new developments.
Over those next few weeks, the co-op staff worked a crazy number of hours putting together lists of products to fill all that new shelf
space, entering codes and prices for thousands of new items into the
register system, and overseeing the receiving of huge orders that were
up to five
times the size of any previous Co-op order. Dozens of Co-op owners
volunteered night after night to get the store ready, doing everything
from caulking to cleaning off layers of construction dust to stocking
shelf after shelf. Owners who didn't lift or clean made homemade meals for the work crews, had pizzas sent over, and sent emails of support. Every owner was spreading the word: a new, fantastic Common Ground store was about to open and everyone was welcome!
On Saturday morning, August 23, 2008, Common Ground threw
open its new doors to Co-op owners and the public alike. One year
later and here we are - look at what we have accomplished together!
The dream that you supported with hard work, loans, donations of time
and money, extra equity shares, and love has become more successful
than we'd imagined was possible in our first year of expansion. In
just one year, over 400 members of the C-U community have become new
owners of the Co-op, sales are
far beyond our projections, we've won the honor of being 2008's Small
Business of the Year, and we've become the leading community resource
for information and access to local and organic foods. You've made
this possible with your continuing support of the Co-op. This year has
been a testament to the power of what real community can do.
Come out to your Co-op on Sunday, August 23rd
to celebrate Common Ground's momentous year! It will be our biggest
Owner Appreciation Day yet, with 10% off all discountable items in the
store, balloons, live music, giveaways, free samples, punch, and a
giant Common Ground birthday cake!
With gratitude for all my fellow owners have done to make the dream a reality,
Jacqueline
P.S. August 23rd
is special to me for another reason too. It is the exact day I started
working for the Co-op in 2006. Thank you for three great years and the
opportunity to do meaningful work in our community. You guys rock.
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Local Producer: Kilgus FarmsteadQ&A with Kilgus Farmstead
What does your farm name mean to you? How did y ou choose this name? We thought long and hard about our product name! Any other milk produced in Illinois is taken to a factory and mixed with other cows' milk and then sent out to retailers. We have eliminated this step and we bottle on our farmstead. We felt the two words Kilgus Farmstead embody more than just a name. Where is your farm located? How many miles do you travel to reach Common Ground? Our farm is located 1 mile south of Fairbury, IL. We are 50 miles northwest of Champaign.
How long have you been farming? Our family farm was started by my grandfather Duane back in 1958. Now my uncle Paul and I own the operation. Paul has been farming for over 20 years and I started after college in 2000. Also, Justin and Trent (Paul's sons) are involved with the farming and bottling.
What do you grow, raise, or produce on your farm? Along with the milk we produce, we grow corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa, and a few different forages for the cattle.
What is your signature product?
So far, our signature product has been our skim milk. People are tasting and seeing the nutritional advantages of Jersey milk and love the flavor.
Do you use organic or natural farming practices? We try to use as many natural farming practices as possible. The cows are on pasture from April until November. We do not use any chemicals on our pasture land, and our cows do the natural fertilizing. Our dairy herd does not receive BST (artificial growth hormone) and we only use medicine on a cow if she is ill. If medicine is given the milk is then kept out of the food chain for several days. Because our cows spend most of their time out in the pastures, sick cows are pretty rare around the farm.
What do you enjoy most about farming? Being in nature is the most enjoyable part of farming. Working on the land, planting crops, and watching them grow are all very rewarding.
What do you find most challenging about farming? There are a lot of challenges in farming today. Now it seems like everything has to be bigger and better to survive. We were at a tough size to survive so we had to take a risk and try something different that virtually nobody else in Illinois is doing.
What is your philosophy/perspective on farming and agriculture? Our perspective is that bigger isn't better, but diversification may be the only way to keep doing what we love to do. We feel there is a rising awareness of where food comes from and we want to support the local food movement.
Is there anything else you'd like Common Ground members to know about your farm? I would like to make sure that Common Ground members know they are welcome at any time to come up and visit our facility. We have a viewing area where visitors can watch us bottle milk on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and an on-farm retail shop that has our milk, some specialty cheeses, and beef we raise on our farm. Common Ground has been an excellent market for us and we want to keep building this relationship.
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Staff Pick: Italian Volcano Blood Orange Juice
Jessy Ruddell, Produce Manager
 Flavor Eruption!
Volcano Blood Orange Juice is
not your average O.J. It's richly red, with a flavor that's decidedly
orangey, but as complex as wine. It's packaged like wine, too, in a
750 ml glass bottle that lets its sumptuous color show. It's less
sweet, more tart, and more densely concentrated with flavor than plain
old orange juice. Staffers who tasted it described it variously as
"like grapefruit, but smoother, with a hint of raspberry," "vitamin
C-ey," and "like a cocktail." Its price, too, is above average at
$7.69 per bottle, but the party in your mouth is worth the money.
Volcano Blood Orange Juice, along with its companion, Volcano Tangerine
(a favorite of one of our board members) is available in the fruit
cooler in the produce section.
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Local Food Recipe: Easy Pico de Gallo
Jessy Ruddell, Produce Manager
 3 medium ripe tomatoes (a combination of colors looks beautiful)
1/4 red onion
1 bunch cilantro
1-2 jalapeno or serrano peppers, to taste
1 clove garlic
salt
Finely
dice the tomatoes, red onion, and cilantro, and place in a medium
bowl. Mince the garlic and peppers, removing pepper seeds for less
heat (or leaving them in for more), and add to tomatoes and onion. Add
salt to taste, and eat with chips, grilled fish, or a spoon.
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| Green Living: Eco-Friendly Lunch Containers
Meagan Luhrs, Outreach Coordinator
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With the unseasonably cool temperatures we've been enjoying lately, one might think that summer could last forever! Alas, August is here and that means school is right around the corner. Given that we live in a university town, many thousands of young students, college students, graduate students, teachers, administrators, and professors are preparing to go 'back to school.' And I'm sure many of th em are starting to think about what to pack for lunch! Unfortunately, food lunch waste amounts to almost 3.5 billion pounds every year! Yikes! To lessen that waste, Common Ground is introducing many convenient lunch containers that are stylish, eco-friendly, and best of all, reusable!
For kids (and adults who enjoy aliens and bright colors), we have the ever popular Laptop Lunches, American-style bento boxes in convenient carrying cases. Laptop Lunches are reusable, recyclable, and dishwasher safe; plus, they contain NO phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), or lead. Even better, each set comes with a book of healthy lunch ideas and recipes! Also from Laptop Lunches, we have sturdy stainless steel "On-the-Go" Lunch Jars (18 oz & 26 oz) that are perfectly suited for soup, stews, and prepared meals. We also have some great options from New Enviro, including small stainless steel lunch boxes and Lunchopolis. The Lunchopolis sets look more like a traditional lunch box, but contain stackable containers and a water bottle. These, too, are lead-free! And, last but not least, watch out for bamboo utensil sets! We don't have them in the store yet, but they are on their way!
The staff at Common Ground Food Co-op care deeply about making healthy, local, and organic food available to the C-U community, but we also care about how that food gets used and transported! Make the commitment to use reusable lunch containers and watch your lunch waste disappear! |
From Your Board of Directors
What Matters?
Aviva Gold, Board Member
 Co-op "Ends Policies" are created by the Board of Directors and reflect the owners hopes for change in our community. They are passed on to the management team who turn this vision into concrete action. The Board adopted new ends policies in the Spring, and now intends to develop, study, learn, and communicate about these ends in turn. Read Clint Popetz's great explanation of our ends policies and where we're at with them, and then help us move forward by letting us know what Co-op issues really spark your interest. Take our survey, comment on the blog, drop a comment card in the store, talk to us at the store (this month we'll be at the store on Saturday, August 8 from 10-noon) or email us: board@commonground.coop.
Your Board continues to work steadily on making sure the proposed bylaws changes are well understood by Co-op owners. Bylaws changes are time-consuming, expensive and involve lawyers, so it's important that we get them right. This is the time to look them over and discuss any concerns you have, because we won't be able to address any issues after early September. Members will vote up or down on the new bylaws as a whole at the General Membership Meeting on October 23.
That October meeting also serves as the start of voting week for Board of Director members. We'll have one incumbent running and two additional open seats (assuming our new bylaws pass and the board membership increases from seven seats to nine). If you're interested in participating in Co-op leadership, now is a great time to sit in on a meeting or two and find out what the heck we really do. The Board meets the second Monday of every month from 5-7:30pm in the meeting room on the lower level of Urbana Free LIbrary.
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August 23rd
Owner Appreciation Day!
This month's Owner Appreciation Day falls on our One Year Anniversary
at Lincoln Square Village! Owners enjoy 10% off their entire purchase*
and everyone enjoys FREE cake and punch to celebrate a fabulous first
year in the expanded Common Ground Food Co-op! Come by anytime from
9am to 9pm!
And tell your friends! It's great day to join the Co-op!
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August Sales!
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Check out this month's sales here!
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Did You
Know?
Berry season is here, and it's short! Luckily, it's easy to preserve your harvest in the freezer. To freeze raspberries and blueberries, line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Spread the berries out in one layer on the lined tray and freeze overnight. In the morning, transfer the frozen berries into freezer bags or containers. When you want a taste of summer in the dark of winter, it's easy to take just the amount of individually-frozen berries you want.
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~Jessy Ruddell
Produce Manager
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New Farmers Market in Champaign!
Farmers Market on Historic North First Street
Location: North First Street, Champaign; in the North end of the parking lot of the Champaign Police Department.
Start and end date: June 18th to August 27th; Thursdays from 3-7 PM.
Featuring:
fresh fruit, veggies, baked goods, meat from local farmers, BBQ vendor, and live entertainment!
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For more information visit the Market's Blog
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AUGUST EVENTS AT COMMON GROUND!
The Tomato Triumvirate
Led by General Manager Jacqueline Hannah & Produce Manager Jessy Ruddell
Wednesday, August 12, 6-7 pm
$8 for Owners / $16 for non-owners / Limit 6 participants
Garden overflowing with tomatoes? Never know how to use up all those gorgeous
tomatoes you bought at the market? Join
produce manager Jessy Ruddell and general manager Jacqueline Hannah in Common
Ground's kitchen where they'll teach you how to make their three favorite fresh
(and easy!) tomato dishes - pico de gallo, a zippy bruschetta topping, and Caprese
salad - while giving you copies of the recipes, and tips on the ideal use of different varieties, storage,
and more!
Cheesemaking Workshop
Led by Co-op Owner Anna Barnes
TWO DATES! Monday Aug. 3, 6-8 pm OR Sunday Aug. 16, 3-5 pm
$12 for owners / $24 for non-owners / Limit 10 participants
Making cheese is easier than you think. In this course we'll make and sample Indian paneer; its Italian cousin, ricotta, as well as mozzarella. Recipes and source list will be provided.
Canning Workshop
Led by Co-op Owner Anna Barnes
TWO DATES! Saturday, Aug.22, 3-5 pm OR Monday, Aug. 24, 6-8 pm
$15 for owners / $30 for non-owners / Limit 6 participants
The class will cover the basics of water bath canning which is suitable for jams, salsas, tomato sauce, pickles, and other acidic foods. Anyone can do this type of canning with equipment they probably already have in their kitchen. Handouts will be provided, but bring a pencil to take any additional notes. Wear older clothes or bring an apron. We'll likely be making some type of berry jam or pickles depending upon what's available locally. Participants will take home a jar of whatever food is made in the class.
Owner Appreciation Day & Anniversary Party!
Sunday, August 23, 9am to 9pm!
FREE! EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO JOIN THE FESTIVITIES!
This month's Owner Appreciation Day falls on our One Year Anniversary at Lincoln Square Village! Owners enjoy 10% off their entire purchase* and everyone enjoys FREE cake and punch to celebrate a fabulous first year in the expanded Common Ground Food Co-op! Come by anytime from 9am to 9pm! And tell your friends! It's great day to join Common Ground Food Co-op!
Eating Healthy on a Budget
Led by General Manager Jacqueline Hannah
Wednesday, August 26, 6-7 pm
$3 for owners / $6 for non-owners
Learn cooking techniques, tips, and time-savers to feed your family for less! Take a tour of the Co-op aisles and learn how to make every dollar count. Participants will receive recipes for dozens of meals that you can cook for just $1.25-$1.75 per serving!
*Some items are not discountable.
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