Sierra Vista Market Awarded $9000 Grant

The Sierra Vista Natural Foods Cooperative, Inc. (aka Sierra Vista Market) is the proud recipient of a $9000 grant from the Food Co-op 500's Seed Fund, presented at the beginning of 2007.

The Food Co-op 5oo awards Seed grants and Sprout loans to start-up food co-ops across the country and has the mission of "stimulating and supporting the development of new food cooperatives in the U.S. contributing to an industry-wide goal to increase the number of food co-ops from 300 to 500 by 2015."

In return for the grant, the Sierra Vista Market is providing matching funds and also gives monthly and quarterly progress reports to the FC500.

"We envision a support system that enables a faster and more effective start-up process, resulting in new food co-ops successfully serving their communities," reads the vision statement for the FC500.

The Sierra Vista Market is receiving support from FC500's cooperative development specialist, Stuart Reid, and will soon hire their market analysis specialist, Pete Davis, and one of the FC500 board trainers, Marshall Kovitz, to assist with the development of the co-op, select a good location for the store, and help the board of directors and program manager better serve the Sierra Vista community.

The Sierra Vista Market is currently applying for a Sprout loan of up to $25,000.

You can learn more about the Food Co-op 500 at www.foodcoop500.coop.

More Grocers Seeking Organic Certification

JULY 03, 2007 -- Chasing the success of Whole Foods Market Inc., and the announcement last year that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. would double its organic products, several regional grocers are going deeper into the market with a government-backed seal as "certified organic retailers," reports an Associated Press article in The Boston Globe. In recent years, smaller supermarket chains such as The Kroger Co., Lund Food Holdings Inc., and now Maine-based Hannaford represent a growing number securing the certification.

While organic foods are certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as free of pesticides and hormones, this designation says the retailer will comply with handling standards nearly as meticulous as those for kosher or vegan foods.

At its simplest: Organic broccoli cannot be stacked atop conventional broccoli, organic apples cannot be washed with regular apples, and organic ham cannot be exposed to the same deli slicer as the traditional cold cuts, for fear that chemicals will be transferred.

Sam Beattie, a specialist at Iowa State University's Institute for Food Safety and Security, said the certification is the best way for regular supermarkets to get a leg up in the organic food industry, where sales in the United States went from $6 billion in 2000 to $14 billion in 2005.

The stores voluntarily agree to subject themselves to on-site inspections by San Diego-based Quality Assurance International, one of a number of third parties chosen through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The move by Hannaford is being watched carefully by other chains considering similar measures, such as Massachusetts-based Shaw's Supermarkets Inc. and Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., according to spokesmen for both companies.

Santo Carnabuci, who manages the Hannaford in Quincy, said customers were beginning to demand reassurance as they became more in tune to what organic really means.

"People that are totally into buying organic foods, they understand that it cannot coexist with something that isn't organic," he said. "Our responsibility is making sure the products stay organic from point A to point B, when it's in your hands. If you don't take all of the steps and keep things separate, it nullifies it."

Rain!

Despite the downpours this afternoon, intrepid Sierra Vista Market co-op volunteers manned our booth at the farmers market.

Amazingly, people were still out shopping at the farmers market in the mud and mess! Our canopy provided shelter for several folks in need when the rain was the worst.

One current member stopped in at the booth and purchased another share for a relative, putting us up to 252 members and 314 shares sold.

A big thank you to our volunteers who braved the deluge: Elsa, Kay, Gloria, and Greta.

Consumers Want COOL: Consumer Reports Poll

JULY 12, 2007 -- WASHINGTON -- A whopping 92 percent of U.S. consumers say they want to know where their food comes from, according to a survey released by Consumer Reports magazine this week said.

According to the consumer publication, food scares about such products as peanut butter and spinach have spurred Americans to wish to discover origins of what they eat.

"I was definitely shocked at how high these numbers were," the study's co-author Dr. Urvashi Rangan, a senior scientist and policy analyst at Consumers Union, the nonprofit organization that publishes Consumer Reports, told Reuters. "It's much like a nutrition label or an ingredient label in that it needs to be part of the general information coming in about imported foods."

The survey was conducted with via 1,004 telephone interviews between June 7 and June 10. Also last month, USDA said it would extend public comment to its "country-of-origin" labeling measure until August 20.

The twice-delayed start date for the meat-labeling requirement enacted by Congress in 2002 is now scheduled for Sept. 30, 2008.

Despite strong consumer support, industry figures are sounding a cautious note.

According to American Meat Institute president J. Patrick Boyle, the poll "underscores the value of the existing mandatory country of origin labeling rules for imported meat and poultry enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture."

Continued Boyle: "Despite the fact that these labels have existed for years, language in the 2002 Farm Bill requires labels on meat sold at retail to declare where an animal was born, where it was raised, and where it was slaughtered. This law has been called mandatory country-of-origin labeling, or COOL. That is a misnomer. These labels should be called KOIL, for Keep Out Import Labels, because that is their purpose."

Boyle notes that the law would violate the United States' obligations under the NAFTA and WTO treaties, as shown by complaints filed last week by New Zealand, Canada, and Mexico in Geneva. "By creating an onerous rule that applies to meat (and not poultry) and to food sold at retail (not foodservice), the meat industry will be forced to attempt to sort livestock and raw materials in a costly and logistically complex way or face huge monetary penalties," he said.

Such an outcome "only benefits protectionist livestock producers who seek to limit competition, disadvantage products from other countries, drive up livestock prices, and, in turn, drive up the price of meat for consumers," observed Boyle.

Another concern, added Boyle, was that shoppers might mistake the labels for a food safety program. "While some consumers may place high value on the labels we apply today that state the country of origin, the labels themselves do not offer a food safety benefit."

Visit Us At SV Farmers Market!

Come on down to the farmers market in Sierra Vista on Thursday from 2 PM to 4 PM and stop by our Sierra Vista Market booth. We have friendly volunteers who staff the booth at the farmers market every Thursday. So if you've heard about the natural food cooperative store we will be opening soon, stop in for more information on how you can help bring healthy natural and organic foods to Sierra Vista and how the store will help local growers and producers. We are all about reducing the carbon footprint and helping the community work together to improve everyone's health! See you at the farmers market in Sierra Vista tomorrow!

250th Member Owner Joins Sierra Vista Market!

The Sierra Vista Market reached a significant milestone last week when the co-op welcomed it's 250th member owner!

The community support for opening a natural foods cooperative store in Sierra Vista continues to be enormous. The support, measured in member shares sold, is a third again as much as we'd predicted...how great is that?!

As it stands now, the co-op has 251 member owners and they own a total of 313 shares in the co-op. Our Founding 500 Membership Drive goal is to reach 500 shares sold, so we are 62% of the way there already! You'll see the green apple juice glass to the right of this post...join 251 of your neighbors and help fill the glass by becoming a member owner of the Sierra Vista Market today!

4th of July Success!

Thanks to everyone who came by the Sierra Vista Market information booth at the 4th of July even in Veterans Memorial Park! We had a banner day visiting with folks who stopped in to learn more about our exciting effort to open a natural food cooperative store in Sierra Vista. Just about everyone who stopped by was curious and interested in the co-op and came away with an enthusiasm for the Sierra Vista Market. In fact, three new members signed up on the spot at the booth! Welcome aboard!

You can learn more about the Sierra Vista Market here on our blog or by going to our official website at www.sierravistamarket.com.

Membership applications are available for download under "Membership" on the right hand column of this blog.

Also look for our booth every Thursday from 2PM to 6PM at the Sierra Vista Farmers Market.

4th of July Booth

Please visit our information booth at Veterans Memorial Park tommorrow, July 4th, as we celebrate Independence Day! The Sierra Vista Market booth will be open from 9 AM until 5 PM, manned by members of our natural food cooperative who are volunteering their time. So come out and say hello and learn more about this grassroots community effort to open a natural food co-op store in Sierra Vista!

Board Meeting

Join us for a public meeting of the Sierra Vista Market board of directors tonight, Tuesday, July 3rd, at 6 PM at Plaza San Luis at the intersection of Paseo San Luis and Snyder Blvd.

Welcome to the Sierra Vista Market!

Healthy Choices, Natural Goodness! That's our motto here at the Sierra Vista Market, the only member-owned natural foods co-op in Sierra Vista. We are all about giving you healthy choices to enhance your active lifestyle. Our focus on natural foods includes organic and local products, as well as hard-to-find foods.

While we don't actually have a store yet, we are well on our way to opening the doors. We had our first annual member meeting on May 12, 2006 with a fantastic turnout of over 80 people and made the front page of the Sierra Vista Herald as a result. At the meeting, members got to sample a cornocopia of natural foods and while they were eating, approved the co-op's bylaws and elected a board of directors.

We are currently in a major membership drive to reach the goal of 500 member shares sold in the community. We call this the Founding 500. We are happy to announce that as of the end of June 2006 we have sold over 300 member shares and have over 240 members!