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2011 Education Recap
Sarah Hoyle-Katz, Education Coordinator
It's hard to believe 2011 is almost over. It's been a busy year here at Common Ground: owner visioning sessions, everything to do with expansion (proforma, owner loans, build out decisions, etc.), increased product diversity, awards ranging from Economic Development to Bicycle Friendly Business, and more! Here are some of the big things we did in education this year:
Classes and Events: We held over two dozen Common Ground classes and educational events this year, from Japanese Character Bento to Vermicomposting and beyond. We also presented Grow On programs in a handful of classrooms, and talked to dozens of children and parents about food and nutrition at three different wellness and environmental events.
Expansion: We developed a new set of class policies for 2012 to ensure fairer wages for our instructors and the best classes for everyone. Per these new policies, we will start offering classes on a trimester basis in January: information about the classes we will offer January-April, May-August, and September-December will now be available on the first day of the respective trimester.
Newsletters: We sent out twelve editions of our monthly e-newsletter, From the Ground Up, to nearly 3,000 community members. In addition, we sent out two e-newsletter Action Alerts about national-level food issues.
Blog: In the past few months, we started blogging about food issues like nutrition, gardening, organics, and more. The CGFC Education blog has ten posts right now with over 300 views total, a handful of comments, and even a couple of followers. (Did you know you could click the little plus sign in the bottom right hand corner of the CGFC Education blog to "follow" it?)
Local Media: Local media consulted Common Ground for numerous articles and stories, on topics ranging from the SNAP Challenge to bicycling to healthy food. We are proud to be a community resource on food and sustainability issues.
Here's to an even more productive and educational new year!
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Store Updates
Jacqueline Hannah, General Manager
It is a core piece of Common Ground's history to not only make organic and locally-grown food available to our community, but also to work to make healthy food accessible to everyone who walks into the Co-op. When the Co-op (that was its name at its founding, just "The Co-op") was started in 1974, it was started to meet the fresh food needs of those who lived in the low income community surrounding the Illinois Disciples Foundation. By the time the name became "Common Ground Food Co-op" and regular indoor shopping hours were established, the mission had broadened to bringing high quality organic and local food to the C-U community. However, the passion for making food accessible to all stayed a strong thread in the Co-op's efforts.
With every growth of Common Ground and its work, the dedication to accessibility has been renewed. We kicked off our first new year in Lincoln Square by launching the Food For All program, and now we are preparing to welcome your co-op's next phase of growth with a renewed commitment to the program and by taking it to new levels.
- In our entry way, you will see prominently displayed a brand new Food For All information pamphlet that outlines all of the pieces of the program, how to use them, and which contains the applications for the need-based equity grant and store discount.
- The Food For All Staples List has been reworked with more items and vastly increased discounts. Our original 20 item list has been expanded to over 40 core healthy pantry items, and at a time when food prices are about to go up again all over the US, we've actually deepened the discounts on all the staple items! You can find the new Staples List in our entryway or request a copy at the register.
- We are now offering our free, monthly Eating Healthy on a Budget class outside Common Ground's doors to Champaign County Health Department support groups for those living with serious illnesses, and to groups at the Center for Women in Transition. We are currently training more Common Ground staff to teach the class and will offer the class to more organizations throughout C-U in 2012.
- We are also starting to plan hands-on Food For All cooking classes, which will be held in the new health-code-certified teaching kitchen that will be a featured part of our 2012 expansion.
- Speaking of classes, we are developing a Food For All Education Grant program, which we'll implement after the opening of our new classroom space. This program will allow anyone with economic need to apply for a grant to take a Common Ground class at no cost.
- We'll be reevaluating Common Ground's discount program in 2012 with your help. Currently, your co-op offers a 5% need-based discount through Food For All, as well as a 5% senior discount based on age. Co-ops all around the country have moved to having only a need-based discount and have been able to increase that discount by doing so. If we chose to make this change, Common Ground could increase the Food For All need-based discount to 10%. Is this the right move for our co-op? I'll be asking owners to engage with this topic in 2012 and share their opinions with me.
Increasing the size of our co-op will mean Common Ground can dedicate more resources to education and serving the community - what other ways can we dream up to make our co-op more accessible to all? I welcome your thoughts and comments at jacqueline@commonground.coop.
Here's to a bigger, brighter, and more accessible Common Ground future!
Jacqueline
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From Your Board of Directors
Clint Popetz, Board Member
 7, 17, 27, 37. That list of numbers confronted a group of 40+ owners of the Co-op on November 12th. The Co-op just turned thirty-seven years old, and as a group we asked the question, "What impact do we wish the Co-op to have in our community in the next seven, seventeen, twenty-seven, and thirty-seven years?" Co-op owners huddled in small groups, looking at the Co-op past, present, and future, and answered questions about who we have been, who we are, and who we are becoming.
Cooperative Development Services consultant Art Sherwood (also an organic farmer and co-op board member in Bloomington, Indiana) led the exercise, and it was an exciting experience for me, in particular because I was participating not as a Board member, but as an owner. My voice was one of many, and together we tried hard to engage in blue-sky thinking, a process rare in organizations and rarer still in grocery stores.
In the afternoon members of your Board, along with General Manager Jacqueline Hannah and members of her management team, tried to coalesce this information into a set of themes for the Board and management to engage with over the coming year. We'll be picking topics of study, inviting speakers, developing reading lists, and eventually creating a strategic vision for Common Ground, driven by the goals and values articulated by its owners. In addition, based on feedback from owners at the visioning event, we'll be creating an ongoing visioning process so that owners have more frequent engagement with the direction of the Co-op.
Thank you to all the owners who volunteered their Saturday morning to help us envision a better world, and to provide guidance to your Board and management as we try to make some part of that vision a reality. We'll be providing ongoing reports as the process evolves, asking for your feedback, and creating opportunities for participation. The expanded store and its services already promise to make 2012 an exciting year. This visioning process hopes to do the same for the years that follow.
In cooperation,
Clint Popetz | Have any thoughts, questions, or comments about this article or for your Board of Directors? Email the Board at board@commonground.coop.
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Local Producer Profile: PrairiErth Farm
Q & A with Hans Bishop
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 What does your farm name mean to you? How did you choose this name?We see ourselves as stewards of the land. It is our daily responsibility to care for and preserve this prairie earth that we call home and raise our produce, animals, and other crops. Farming organically is the best way to preserve this prairie earth and PrairiErth Farm and for future generations to share the bounty these prairie soils have to offer with everyone.
Where is your farm located? How many miles do you travel to reach Common Ground?
We are located just outside of Atlanta, IL and about 50 miles from door to door.
What do you grow, raise, or produce on your farm? What is your signature product?
We grow and raise a little bit of everything. We raise cattle for beef, chicken for eggs and meat, and pigs for pork. We grow many different kinds of vegetables; some more common like tomatoes and carrots and other less common like celeriac or bok choi. We also have bees for honey, flowers from our one acre of restored Illinois prairie and an established orchard. We also grow row crops like soy beans, corn, wheat and oats, all organically. One of the products we're really proud of is our lettuce. Whether it's romaine, bibb or our salad mix, we are always getting compliments on the size, color and taste. Restaurants really like the salad mix because it has an amazing shelf live and the heads of lettuce are almost like a bouquet of flowers in the sense that their colors and beauty are so delightful to look at!
For how long have you been farming?
Dave purchased the farm in late 1978 and farmed conventionally till the late 80s when he quit using drugs on his cattle. Happy with the results, he quit using chemicals on other various parts of the farm too. The farm was initially certified naturally grown, then converted to certified organic in 2004. Hans grew up on the farm, then went to work in Bloomington at an insurance company. In 2010 he decided to begin growing produce and sold what he grew on the farm at the Downtown Bloomington Farmers' Market. In the fall he gathered members for a CSA which allowed him to quit his full time job and concentrate on growing. Katie, Hans's wife, has been a big help in keeping the farm rolling. She concentrates on advertising and social media relations, raises some flowers and helps with market and wholesale harvests. Andy Zeal will join PrairiErth Farm in 2012 to partner with Hans in raising produce. In 2011 he founded Amaranth Acres, selling his produce at the Downtown Bloomington Farmers' Market, to restaurants/stores, and through a CSA. He was in the Peace Corps for two years in Uganda helping small villages start up sustainable farms and interned at Henry's Farm in Congerville for a year and a half.
Do you use organic or natural farming practices?
Everything we raise is certified organic by the USDA (except for the pork; however, it's raised using organic practices). Farming without the use of pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics, etc. is just common sense to us. We want the animals and soil to be healthy for future generations so that the food tastes good and is safe to eat.
What do you enjoy most about farming?
There is a connection between the land, the seasons, and how you react to the combination of the two. There are never two years alike, and never a right and wrong answer. Equally as exciting and enjoyable is the connection we have with our customers. Not only can they find out how we grow their food, but through us or farm visits they feel the same connection to our land as we do.
What do you find most challenging about farming?
There is never a moment when there isn't something to do. We must prioritize; often times that forces something to get put on the back burner. It can be a challenge to figure out which task to do first and only time tells if you made the right choice.
What is your philosophy/perspective on farming and agriculture?
Diversity. Everything on our farm we try to maintain a high level of, whether it is tomatoes or overall products we offer. In an area of monoculture where off farm inputs are high (petroleum based fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides), we close the loop. The manure of our livestock combined with other plant wastes feeds our compost, eliminating the need to purchase off farm fertilizers; chickens graze parts of our vegetable fields when not in production; and cattle graze parts of our cornfields in the fall. The land feeds us and the animals, the animals feed us and the land. We see systems like this as more sustainable, and the future for farming and feeding our communities.
Is there anything else you'd like Common Ground's customers to know about your farm?
Next season we will be at Urbana's Market at the Square. We are really excited about serving the Champaign-Urbana area with our delicious nutritious food.
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Holiday Recipe: Sleigh Driver
Skeeter Riddle, Produce Manager
The hol idays are often filled with gatherings and parties. Food and sweet treats often take a front seat, but that doesn't mean that beverages shouldn't be seasonal and unique. This is a fantastic mocktail that will make every party bright and tasty. This recipe and picture are from the Eating Well website.
Active cooking time: 15 minutes Total time: 50 minutes 1 cup water 1/2 cup sugar 1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced 3 pears, chopped into bite-size pieces, divided 2 quarts apple cider 1 lemon, halved and sliced 1 tablespoon ground allspice 1 cup fresh cranberries 2 tablespoons vanilla extract Combine water, sugar, ginger and 1 pear in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Strain out the solids and return the mixture to the pan.
Add the remaining pears, cider, lemon and allspice and heat over medium-high heat, stirring often, for 15 minutes.
Add cranberries and vanilla and reduce the heat to medium-low (the liquid should be simmering, not boiling). Let simmer for 10 minutes more. Serve in heat-safe mugs.
Make Ahead Tip: Let cool, cover, and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Reheat on the stovetop over low heat or in the microwave on medium.
10 servings, about 1 cup each
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December Sales!
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| Check out our current sales here!
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DECEMBER ROUND UP FOR GOOD
 | | This month we are
rounding up for The Center for Women in Transition. The Center is a not-for-profit organization
that provides housing and supportive services for families experiencing homelessness or who are victims of domestic violence. Please help support this local cause by rounding up your change at the register.
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| COMMON GROUND GIVES BACK
As part of our mission to BUILD COMMUNITY.....
COLLECTIVELY
WE HAVE
RAISED
OVER $480
FOR THE BIKE PROJECT!
Thanks to everyone who participated in our monthly Round Up! |
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MEET YOUR VEGGIE
 Blue Moon Carrots | | Here at Common Ground there are a few products that have a significant legacy and reputation. In the produce department, one of those products is the carrots from Blue Moon Farm. We have worked with Blue Moon farm for many years, and the carrots they bring us are so fresh that they maintain a great deal more natural sweetness than carrots that have to travel a thousand or so miles to get to us here in central Illinois.
The day we got the first of this year's carrots in the door, a murmur began on our receiving dock. Within moments, everywhere I looked people were nibbling, and everyone had the look of a familiar cartoon character. Sweet and crisp, delightful and good for you, Blue Moon carrots live up to the hype, and can be a part of your dinner plans throughout December, and a part of your New Year's resolutions in January.
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Common Ground Rewards!
 | | Did you know that if you hike, bike, or take the bus to shop at Common Ground, you can enter a biweekly drawing for a CGFC gift card? You can! Just ask your friendly cashier for a bike drawing card to fill out (only one per day), and you might win our next $20 gift card!
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Common Ground Classes in 2012
 | | Starting January 2012, Common Ground will offer educational classes and events on a trimester schedule. Information about the classes we will offer January-April, May-August, and September-December will now be available on the first day of the respective trimester.
Discounts on classes for owners will change January 2012 as well, from 50% off on all classes to discounts on all classes. This change will enable Common Ground to more fairly compensate instructors for their work and to offer a greater diversity of classes.
If you have any questions about these changes, please contact the Education Coordinator.
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STAFF PICK:
Dark Chocolate Coconut Bliss
 | Here's why deli cook Angela loves dark chocolate Coconut Bliss ice cream: "I've never found another non-dairy ice cream that rivals the taste and texture of the 'real' thing like Coconut Bliss does. Coconut Bliss doesn't taste too much like coconut, but the coconut undertone with the dark chocolate is really amazing!"
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click here for more details
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Owner Appreciation Day
Tuesday, December 13, ALL DAY
FREE! No registration required.
Location: Common Ground Food Co-op
Common Ground is owned by over 3,000 CU community members, and we want to thank them all! Owners, come out to our next Owner Appreciation Day and receive 10% off the vast majority of items in the store! There will be fun and exciting giveaways and delicious samples throughout the day. Don't miss the last Owner Appreciation Day of 2011!
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