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Greetings from Common Ground Food Co-op!
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Run for Our Board of Directors:
Election Packets Available!
Open Board Seats
If you an owner of our Co-op, YOU can run for a seat on our Co-op's Board of Directors! We have four seats open for the elections in September!
If you are an owner in good equity standing, YOU can vote in the Board of Directors & 2018 Round Up For Good Organizations. All you have
to do is e
nsure that your
equity
i
s paid in full by
the end of
your first year of ownership.
About our Board of Directors
Our Co-op is governed by an elected Board of Directors. They meet regularly and report on the state of the co-op. The Board also oversees annual elections, Meeting of our Owners, and any updates to the Co-op
Bylaws
, the legal documents that define and guide the co-op. Directors must look after the best interests of the co-op as a whole, in a changing business environment.
This Friday, July 7th: 5:00-6:30pm: Board Meet & Greet at the Co-op's Deli
Monday, July 10th: 5:30-6:15pm: Candidate Information Session at Urbana's Civic Center
Deadline to Submit Election Packet: August 15, 10pm!
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Ice Cream Social Success:
To everyone who joined us for our Ice Cream Social last week,
thank you for supporting Eastern Illinois Foodbank!
We are happy to announce that we raised
$1,979.06 for
Eastern Illinois Foodbank
, topping last year's total by over $700. This total converts into 9,895 meals that will go towards our hungry neighbors in our community- within 17 counties of Eastern Illinois! This total separate from the thousands of dollars that will also be donated due to our Round Up For Good Program!
Enormous thanks goes out to our two local farms Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery and Kilgus Farmstead for their continued support of this EIF fundraiser, year after year.
- Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery donated huge pans of their goat's milk gelato, starring Salted Caramel Swirl, Rhubarb Swirl, and Lily's Dark Chocolate. Find more of their gelato in aisle 6, because we know you've been longing to try more.
- Kilgus Farmstead also donated their local Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Creams. Those 25 gallons of ice cream flew!
- An additional gratitude to our musicians & entertainment: Sambolo, Jason Reinglass, and Michael Moxie!
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Thank you for your hard work, Satina!
Satina has served the co-op with great integrity, energy, and operational savvy during a time of dynamic and challenging market conditions in the food retail sector. We thank her for her dedicated service and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.
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GM Search Committee Update
Since Satina's resignation announcement last month, your Board has been busy laying the groundwork for a search for a new General Manager. The committee dedicated to these efforts conducted a survey of Board and management staff members to determine required and desired qualifications for the GM. The results from this survey were used to create the job description and advertising materials. The GM position is now posted locally and nationwide. Please help us spread the word about this important opportunity!
To apply: Please submit a cover letter, resume, and three professional references to
[email protected] by July 31, 2017.
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July 1st-4th: Enjoy a $1 off Whole Pies
July 5th-11th: Enjoy 15% OFF Pie Slices & 1/2 Pies!
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Imbibe Urbana's First Friday: July 7th, 5:30-7:30pm at the Co-op
We're celebrating July's National Ice Cream Month, by offering ice cream samples during Urbana First Fridays, July 7th from 5:30-7:30pm! What's not to love?
We will have tastes of local goat's milk gelato from Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery, local Kilgus Farmstead ice cream, dairy-free ice creams from Talenti & NanaCreme and more!
We are also hosting Maria Merkelo for music on the Porch!
Our Friday Wine Sampling will also take place during the same time! We hope you'll join us.
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Local Cheese Feature:
Ludwig Farmstead Creamery
Delicious cheeses for snacks in the heat!
15% OFF Local Ludwig Cheese through July 11th
- Mozzarella
- Kickapoo
- Sangamon
- Vermillion River Blue
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July's Round Up For Good:
Black Lives Matter-CU
This month of Round Up For Good donations will go to Black Lives Matter-CU, our local chapter in Champaign-Urbana!
Some of the many goals of BLM-CU include:
- To engage with (Black) youth in our community through involvement in schools and community organizations and activities, specifically targeting issues like the school to prison pipeline;
- To become involved in groups and organizations that work to address anti-Black racism in the local criminal justice system;
- To bring awareness and open discourse to issues related to the mental health of Black people, provide educational materials, and partner with mental health services;
- To connect and partner with both campus racial justice organizations and community racial justice organizations;
- To maintain visibility in the community and ensure organizational sustainability;
- To promote and initiate activities around environmental justice including food justice and economic justice;
- To advocate for, initiate activities with, and seek to provide empowerment tools for Black marginalized communities including: Black poor, Black queer, Black single mothers, Black immigrants, and Black folks with disabilities;
- To hear from general members of our community (namely non-academics) through testimonials, focus groups, interviews, and surveys.
Follow them on Facebook and
contact BLM if you would like to volunteer!
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11 Ways to Prevent Food Waste
1)
Place produce front and center
The beautiful produce you just bought needs attention and priority. Sometimes the produce drawer in your fridge needs to be adjusted closer to eye level, so you see those the items when you first open the fridge.
2)
FIFO: First In, First Out
Rotate your stock in your fridge by putting new buys behind what needs to be used up first, so nothing gets lost or ignored.
3)
Keep dairy & eggs out of the fridge door
The door is actually the warmest part of the fridge, so food kept there is more susceptible to spoilage. Stable sauces, jellies, and marinades are good replacements for the fridge door.
4)
Buying in bulk costs less
Skip the additional packaging costs by buying bulk.
5)
If you can't see it, you probably won't eat it
Invest in a nice set of clear containers for food storage. Mason jars work great for things like leftover rice, soup, and more.
6)
Prioritize Fresh
Always use fresh foods first with meals. Save those cans and stable pantry staples for another day that week.
7)
Freeze your extras
If there is too many fresh items or leftovers that you won't realistically eat in time, put the items in a gallon freezer bag and save them for a rainy day!
8)
Bread can handle the Freezer
If your household won't eat the whole load while it's fresh, store the second half in the freezer where it won't mold or go stale. Make sure it's sliced, so you can pull one slice at a time.
9)
Plan meals around Sales
You can use our Co-op Deals Sales flyers as a helpful hand at saving money on meals for the week. Stock up on stable food goods when they go on sale. Everyone will need diced tomatoes sometime soon!
10)
Sell By Dates aren't a line in the sand
With all the industry standards that are changing the "Best By", "Use By", "Enjoy By", many of these dates are just used to indicate when the product is at its peak quality. If it is moldy, toss it (the exception is hard cheese, just remove the mold and a little extra). Eggs are often still good 3-5 weeks after their date (put them in water- if they sink they're good, if they float, they're not). Yogurt is often good 2-4 weeks past date, says Dana Gunders, author of T
he Waste Free Kitchen Handbook.
11)
Cooking for yourself is the real money saver
If you cook your food yourself, you'll save money every time and it can be healthier! Use simple but quality local ingredient and you'll be surprised at how satisfying it will taste. Plus, the tip you get to keep.
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Co+op Explorer's Art Gallery Reception: Draw with your community!
A Kids & Community Event!
Bring your Co-op Explorer to our Art Gallery Reception for an Art Day, July 21st starting at 5pm! With supplies from the Art Coop and the I.D.E.A. Store, we will throw an art-making reception, with delicious food & yummy drinks.
Get inspired by the work of 6 local artists (including 3 artists ages 5, 6, & 11) and make collective artwork with others in your community.
We welcome everyone to join this event, people of all ages! There will be c
ollective art making on most surfaces- walls, floors, & tables!
Let's celebrate local art by creating local art on July 21st from 5-7pm in our Flatlander Classroom!
- Lars Anderson, age 11, son of Co-op owner
- Co-op staff members & couple Jessica Rasmussen, Gray Sutton and their 5 year old daughter Alina Sutton
- Co-op staff member Tia Oliver and her 6 year old son Valentin Oliver
(Artwork by Alina Sutton)
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Class:
Season Flower Bouquets
with
Delight Flower Farm
July 14th, 6-7pm
Friday, July 14th, 6-7pm in the Flatlander Classroom
Local Flower Farmers from Delight Flower Farm will be leading this class! They will teach you their tricks for using seasonal floral cuttings to make the best arrangements. You will learn about different plant varieties and walk out with the confidence to happily arrange bouquets.
All flowers and cuttings used in class will be grown and harvested by Delight Flower Farm.
$5 owner/ $10 non-owner
Food For All grants are available, email or call us
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Happiness Workshop: July 27th, 6-7:30pm
Thursday, July 27th, 6-7:30pm in the Flatlander Classroom
Class led by Becky Howell, Co-op owner & author of
My Happiness Book
.
Join us for our Happiness Workshop with co-op owner, author and life coach, Becky Howell, where she will help you create your own understanding of happiness, learn how to keep your emotional power, and manage life's ups and downs!
To receive a Food For All Discount on this class, email us
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CBD at Common Ground
From our General Manager
We've had a lot of requests from a diverse spectrum of Common Ground owners and customers to bring in CBD products, so we've been doing our research over the past few months and our staff cooperatively decided to bring in Queen City Hemp.
The products offered include high-quality tinctures and vape kits. The most significant differences between vaping this product and smoking are the ingredients and the minimal heat used in vaping. This is not a tobacco-based product and it is free of
propylene glycol, glycerine and nicotine.
We don't intend to send any negative message to children that are shopping with their families. Our hope would be that this product is seen as something adults can responsibly buy, like other age-restricted items we sell, and that it is okay to use alternative medicine that you are adequately educated about.
I reached out to our Wellness Manager, who manages the department this product is from, about CBD at Common Ground and she provided some very thorough information. We are committed to helping educate our owners and customers about our products and the food/supplement industry, as education is one of our ends.
-Satina Braswell, General Manager
From our Wellness Manager:
Can you explain to me why you have started carrying these items?
Co-ops are known for being forward-thinking and standing out from the typical grocery store, finding new ways to offer the best and even hard to find foods, supplements, and other products with the hopes of enhancing our community as well as putting money into local and regional farms and businesses.
We have had many requests for clean, high-quality CBD products from a wide spectrum of Common Ground owners and customers. We wanted to take our time to choose the right line of products and do our research.
QC Hemp is a regional company out of Ohio that is leading the way in ultra clean, high quality hemp products to help enhance the quality of living for many individuals dealing with a wide spectrum of issues. Leading medical research on CBD is showing relief may be found for people struggling with breakthrough pain, migraines, muscle spasms, seizures, panic attacks, Parkinson's and other tremor related disorders.
CBD products have become an increasingly popular choice for those seeking alternative therapy for pain, anxiety and/or inflammation. The endocannabinoid system assists in maintaining our normal body functions and homeostasis. It is a neurotransmitter system that allows our bodies to communicate to fight off infection and disease. It is a "lock and key" mechanism of the body that can be fostered by plant based cannabinoids. For a more in-depth look at the importance and role of the endocannabinoid system, see the resources below:
Resources:
How is vaping significantly different than smoking?
Traditional cigarettes are laced with over 200 chemicals, some act as a preservative for the tobacco leaf. Combustion of cigarettes produce carcinogens, which can be very toxic. Traditional nicotine E-cigarettes contain chemical solvents like propylene glycol and glycerine, which have been shown to convert to carcinogenic formaldehyde when subjected to high temperatures.
All of the QC Hemp vape products are free of propylene glycol, glycerine and nicotine. They contain sustainably sourced fractionated coconut oil (the liquid portion of coconut oil also known as MCT oil) along with hemp extract and natural flavors. The products are designed to work with low voltage batteries to deliver cannabinoids efficiently and discreetly with minimal vapor. Vaporizing is a quick delivery system that can be beneficial for some conditions (breakthrough pain, migraines, muscle spasms, seizures, panic attacks, Parkinson's, and other tremor related disorders ). Effects can be felt within minutes and last upwards of 1 to 2 hours, unlike taking a tincture, which can take up to 45 minutes for benefits to be felt. Also, because it uses minimal heat, the cannabinoids and flavors are vaporized, like steam, without converting the product into something unhealthy, like smoke.
Pharmaceuticals come with a host of side effects and can be very debilitating on top of what some people are already going through. CBD products contain many of the same benefits you would find in medical marijuana, but
without the psychoactive effect
and with minimal side effects. At the end of the day, people are trying to manage their symptoms, get off pharmaceuticals and/or street drugs and this could help them in that process.
What message does this send to the children that are shopping with their families at the co-op?
It is very important for the co-op to provide accurate and trustworthy information that can help parents answer questions from their children about these and other products. We do carry other adult products, such as alcohol and condoms, so we didn't see it as inappropriate to sell a CBD vaping product for adults-only. We've made literature available next to the display case and are working to provide additional educational opportunities about these products both in-store and via online media.
In good health,
Jessica Rasmussen, Wellness Manager
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From Margaret, our Board Member
In this day of chain grocery stores and big box stores, Common Ground represents something important and unique.
At most grocery stores, the consumer is left with little impact of their role. At Common Ground, everyone makes an impact no matter what your role is to the store. It could be an owner, staff, board member or the public.
Common Ground has four Ends to guide us towards improving our community. Our actions help us strengthens these Ends.
- Every time we purchase local foods we are strengthening our End of making our local food system equitable, robust and environmentally sound.
- Also, when we purchase products from other co-ops we are strengthening the cooperative movement both by increasing prosperity in the co-op producing the item and Common Ground.
- Attending classes at Common Ground is contributing to the End to be an educational resources on food issues.
- Finally, shopping at Common Ground allows the co-op to be the center of a vibrant and inclusive community. We all play a role in the success of Common Ground and meeting our Ends.
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Hear about our events on Social Media!
Check out our Facebook page for notifications about events, new products, recipes, and updates!
See our facebook
here and follow us!
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Email us with your updated contact information
and we'll send you July's newsletter coupon!
Thanks for reading!
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300 S. Broadway Avenue Suite #166, Urbana, IL 61801
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