The Board spends a lot of time thinking about Common Ground's Ends - those four little sentences that spell out what the co-op is going to accomplish. (Well, other than being the best little food store Chambana has ever seen - that goes without saying.) If you've never read our Ends, stroll back to the deli and look up. They're right there on the wall between the local dairy and the fresh, fair trade coffee.
 

This year a lot of our collective brain power is being spent thinking about the upcoming expansion, but that doesn't mean we aren't thinking about our Ends - far from it! We've set aside time at every Board meeting to think about how we can use the expansion to achieve our Ends. This month we've been thinking about our fourth End - our local food chain is more equitable, robust and environmentally sound.

There are a lot of reasons you might want your co-op to emphasize local food - local food isn't shipped across the country, so less energy is expended to get it to your table, and it builds the local economy by putting money straight into the hands of local producers. Research has shown that when money is spent at a local business, more of that money stays in the local economy - an effect called the Economic Multiplier Effect. That's because local businesses and local producers are more likely to spend their money locally. Common Ground is a great example of this. When you make purchases at Common Ground, your money isn't going to pay marketing executives in another state - your money pays a living wage and benefits to 35 community members. Common Ground also puts money into the local economy by selling goods produced by over four dozen local and regional producers. Last year your co-op sold over $400,000 of locally produced foods! That's money that goes to the hard working farmers and producers in our area.
 

That's a great start but the Board knows we can do better. The Expansion means more floor space and more resources, but it also means more opportunities to make our local food chain more equitable, robust, and environmentally sound. More floorspace means more room to offer food and goods from local producers. A bigger Co-op also means more resources to educate our owners and the public about the importance of buying locally-produced goods. But is there some other way we can use the expansion to achieve this End? At this month's Board meeting we'll be discussing the Economic Multiplier effect and how your co-op can use our Expansion to make our local food chain more equitable, robust, and environmentally sound. Come join the discussion and help shape the future of your co-op!

Education - what is it, really? Some claim it is simply the provision of information to a passive audience. Though some parts of formal education have taken this turn, I think education, the ideal, is quite different. Education is learning and sharing what tools are available to help you engage critically with the surrounding world. In the ideal world, education is far from a passive experience.

In this spirit, we have undertaken a new initiative: the first annual Sustainable Food Scholarship. Each year, the scholarship -a monetary contribution towards college tuition- will be awarded to a different high school senior who wants to apply his or her education to food sustainability. The Sustainable Food Scholarship is an educational initiative in two ways - most obviously, in helping a young adult gain a college education, but also in nurturing him or her to be a resource in our community. Here at Common Ground, we don't think of education as just learning - it is also sharing. Therefore, at the end of the academic year, each Scholar will share with us what he or she has learned and how he or she will apply that knowledge to food sustainability. We hope this will be the start of a lifetime of learning and sharing.

We need your help with this - we want to make sure this scholarship goes to a student who is passionate about the sustainable food movement. You might know this student, or your friend could. Let anyone who might be interested, or who knows someone who could be interested, know this is an opportunity - any college-bound high school senior within 100 miles of Common Ground can apply to the scholarship. We'll start accepting applications on February 15, and continue to accept them through March 31; applications will be available in store and on our website.

If you have any questions about the Scholarship, or would like to contribute to it, please email me. I look forward to receiving the applications and watching this Scholarship -and our Scholars- grow. Good luck to our applicants!

Healthy Finger Food Sampling

Growing Your Own Food: Gardening Tips From a Farmer

Owner Appreciation Day!

Common Ground Story Time

Eating Healthy on a Budget

What I love most about this salad is its versatility. As is, it works great as a nutrient-packed side salad with a hint of sweetness. With the addition of other ingredients -tuna and mayo, or kidney beans cooked with curry- it turns into a hearty main dish. Don't like walnuts? Other nuts and seeds substitute really well - try sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or a handful of sliced almonds. The possibilities are endless!

1 cup grated carrots

½ cup raisins

½ cup chopped walnuts

4 cups packed spinach, rinsed

Combine ingredients and toss well. Enjoy!