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Beat the Heat!
Sarah Hoyle-Katz, Education Coordinator
It's summer! Time to relax in hammocks, play in pools, go camping, take strolls, and generally enjoy the dog days. Here are some basic summer safety tips to help you stay healthy and happy all season long!
Food Temperature
Summer is a wonderful time to cook and eat outside! However, both of these things lead to the highest peak in foodborne illness cases in the year. Am I going to tell you to not grill or picnic? No - go ahead! I always think food tastes better eaten outside. Just follow common safety precautions: wash your hands thoroughly in potable water before and after handling food items; thoroughly wash utensils, plates and boards that contacted raw meat before using them for cooked food; store raw meat separately and securely in a cold location; cook your food thoroughly; and eat or refrigerate food within two hours of preparation or removal from refrigeration (food starts becoming unsafe to eat after about two hours. If it's at or above 90 degrees outside, food is safe to eat for only one hour).
Read more here!
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Expansion Update
Jacqueline Hannah, General Manager
You might say, it's just a phase we're going through at your co-op. Well, actually, five phases.
Expanding at any food co-op is a big project, but the expansion your co-op is currently going through is particularly complex because we're attempting to stay open for business all but one single day throughout the entire build out project. In order to find enough room for everything you, the owners, said you wanted to accomplish in your expanded store we had to get pretty creative with the space that was available at Lincoln Square. This creative use of space necessitated breaking our project into five distinct phases. Right now, we are just about to finish Phase 1 and embark on Phase 2. What does that mean for your store? Read on here!
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From Your Board of Directors
Julie Zilles, Board Member
 Last November a group of forty or so CGFC owners, staff, and Board members participated in a visioning process. As facilitated by Art Sherwood, the visioning was organized as five groups brainstorming a given topic in parallel, with mixing of the groups between topics. What happened afterwards? The ideas expressed during the visioning are guiding your Board as we set objectives for the next five years. Here we share the top six themes that emerged for the short term, seven-year horizon of the visioning session. A full compilation of ideas expressed that day, including our collective vision of what our community could look like in 27 years, is available online.
1. Expand education and outreach. Across all the groups at the visioning, there was a consistent message that owners want to see the Co-op continue and expand its educational efforts, in areas ranging from nutrition and cooking to the politics of food to cooperatives.
2. Participate in policy and lobbying efforts. Most groups expressed that they would like to see the Co-op play a role in lobbying for policies that are friendly to local food production and cooperatives at the local, state, and national level.
3. Build more stores. There was a strong expression of support for expanding to additional locations and in particular for a Champaign store to better serve existing owners, to reach new people, and to increase profits that could be used to support educational efforts and other cooperative goals.
4. Expand programs for schools. Several groups expressed support for outreach designed for children, whether as children's programs and classes, programs offered in schools, or in the longer term by providing school lunches.
5. Increase community space/support for the arts. Providing space that encourages connections and builds community was also widely supported. We're taking two major steps in this direction with the upcoming expansion, which will feature a classroom and café seating.
6. Increase accessibility and affordability. Continuing and expanding efforts to make fresh, local food available to everyone rounds out our list of the top six themes.
Although I don't recall hearing the Ends of CGFC -our primary statement of what we are all working towards, listed below- presented at the visioning session, the level of agreement between the themes and Ends is striking. All six themes map to at least one End, and most of them would contribute to multiple or even all four Ends. The themes provide valued insight into what owners collectively want, suggesting specific directions for working towards our Ends. Thank you to all who participated.
- The Co-op is the center of a vibrant, inclusive community
- The cooperative movement is strengthened
- The Co-op serves as an educational resource on food issues
- Our local food chain is more equitable, robust, and environmentally sound
Moving forward, we'll be using these themes to guide both the Board and the staff as we identify specific priorities and objectives for a post-expansion five-year plan. Expect an update at the annual Meeting of Owners (MOO)! | Want to express support for these six themes, or a subset of them? Don't see your favorite direction represented? Contact your CGFC Board at board@commonground.coop.
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Expansion Quiz!
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Think you know the answers? Shoot marketing@commonground.coop an email with your answers. All 100% correct responses will receive a brand new CGFC shirt (see a sneak peek to the left)!
- When is expansion expected to be completed?
- Spring 2013
- Fall 2012
- Mid summer 2012
- Never
- How many phases are there in our expansion construction?
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 9
- Which of the following will we have after expansion? (Pick one or more.)
- Fresh meat
- Espresso bar
- Beer & wine
- In-house bakery
- How many staff members did we have when we moved to Lincoln Square in 2008, and how many will we have after expansion is complete?
- 4; 60
- 20; 100
- 10; 75
- 20; 83
- Which amenity was most requested through our 2011 Owner Survey?
- Teaching kitchen & classroom
- Beer & wine
- Fresh meat
- In-house bakery
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Local Food Recipe: Fried Green Tomatoes (and a sandwich)
Skeeter Riddle, Produce Manager
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Image by ninjapoodles, Wikipedia
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I have been eating fried green tomatoes all my life and I imagine that our love will continue to endure my entire lifetime. I use my grandmother's fried chicken batter, but there are many ways to fry a green tomato. Here is a very basic recipe that you can tweak in any number of ways. You can do beer instead of buttermilk, nutritional yeast instead of bread crumbs. Make them how you like them!
3 firm green tomatoes
Salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk or buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
Black pepper
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning (optional)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup canola, grapeseed, or vegetable oil
Cut tomatoes into slices and sprinkle with salt and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. Mix the egg and buttermilk together in a shallow bowl. Mix the flour, black pepper, and seasonings in another shallow bowl. Mix bread crumbs and cornmeal in another shallow bowl. Heat the oil in a skillet and dip tomato slices in the flour mixture, then the buttermilk mixture and then finally the cornmeal mixture. Place slices in skillet and fry the slices for 3-5 minutes per side or until a nice golden brown color. Pull from skillet and place on a paper towel to drain.
Fried green tomatoes go well on sandwiches. Try this out...
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click here for more details
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In Our Backyards
Led by Lisa Bralts and Kate Higgs
Saturday, July 14, 1-2:30 pm
$2 for owners / $7 for non-owners
Minimum 3 / Maximum 10 participants
Class Location: 909 Wabash Ave, Urbana
Common Ground Story Time
Led by Staffer and Lover of Tales Ellen
Wednesday, July 18, 10:30-11 am
FREE! No registration required.
Class Location: Common Ground Bag Tree Bag Painting Party
Saturday, July 21, 10am-12pm
FREE! No registration required.
Location: Common Ground Porch
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| July Sales! |  | Check out our current sales here!
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JULY ROUND UP FOR GOOD
 | The TIMES Center
| The TIMES Center is a soup kitchen and support system for homeless men in the Champaign-Urbana area. You can learn more about and donate to the Center at the registers any time this month.
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| COMMON GROUND GIVES BACK
As part of our mission to BUILD COMMUNITY.....
COLLECTIVELY
WE HAVE RAISED
OVER $530
FOR UC BOOKS TO PRISONERS!
Thanks to everyone who participated in our monthly Round Up for Good! |
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PRODUCE FORECAST
 | | We are looking into the heart of summer and that means cookouts, chirping crickets, and nightshades! We should start see some eggplants and green peppers. And lots of tomatoes! We should continue to see kale, chard, beets and more. However, we should also see our first melons. Peaches and more berries should also be arriving, too. I'm thinking cobbler...
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GROCERY SPOTLIGHT
 | | The Grocery Department is pleased to introduce some new items from Tierra Farm, a certified organic producer and roaster! Look in the bulk section to find Cocoa Dusted Almonds, dry roasted and then dipped in dark chocolate and finished with a light dusting of cocoa powder. These delightful almonds will satisfy your sweet tooth and supply healthy fats and Vitamin E. For another delicious treat, try their Very Berry Mix, a combination of tart golden berries, raisin varieties, blueberries and goji berries. This beautiful mix would be an excellent addition to any granola or cereal, and is chock-full of antioxidants. We are proud to offer these new organic products and hope that you enjoy them!
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CO-OP JOBS
 | | Love co-ops? Well, Common Ground is not the only co-op hiring in town! We're excited to announce the Art Theater Co-op is preparing to take over operations of the Art Theater this fall and is ready to hire a General Manager for Chambana's newest co-op! Click the link for a job description and more information on how to apply. Spread the word!
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