Buy Local Food In Kitsap

WANT TO OWN A GROCERY STORE?

Last modified on 2009-09-02 19:26:08 GMT. 2 comments. Top.

Kitsap Community Food Co-op Offers First Memberships at Public Meeting

(Bremerton, WA) The Kitsap Community Food Co-op is welcoming its first members at their fourth Semi-annual Public Meeting Monday, September 14th from 6 to 8 PM at the Seaside Church located at 1317 Sheldon Boulevard in Bremerton. The Co-op’s goal is to open a full-service member-owned community grocery store. Meeting attendees will be given the chance to be among the first to sign up as a Co-op Member/Owner. The meeting will also contain presentations and updates from the Board of Directors on the progress of the co-op, the benefits of Membership, and more.

For those unfamiliar with the model, in its most basic terms a cooperative is a type of business in which the members are also the owners. Some recognizable cooperative businesses include: Ocean Spray, an agricultural cooperative; Ace Hardware, a retailer-owned cooperative; REI, a consumer cooperative; and here locally, the Kitsap Community Federal Credit Union, a not-for-profit financial cooperative – all of them member-owned. The Kitsap Community Food Co-op, a consumer cooperative, will be open to everyone to shop, but only members will enjoy the unique benefits, including profit sharing (otherwise known as “patronage rebates”), store discounts, and a chance to participate in many of the decisions and direction the store takes.

The idea to form a co-op began in January 2008, culminating with the first Semi-Annual Public Meeting in February 2008 to gauge community interest. Approximately 150 community members turned out for this first meeting, which encouraged the founding team to continue forward. Since that time, the Board has made a commitment to create a grocery store which strongly supports the local economy by purchasing as much as possible from local farmers and producers of crafts and value-added grocery products, such as jams and soups. And while they hope there will be a large presence of local food and products in the store, the Board’s intention is to build a full-service grocery store that will suit most, if not all, of the grocery needs of its customers and members.

“Many people in the community are anxious for us to have opened yesterday,” comments Laura Moynihan, Board President. “As a responsible board, however, we have learned how critical it is that we adopt good business practices which includes research, planning, gathering capital, building awareness setting policies, and so on. We want to ensure we have done everything within our abilities to make sure the Co-op keeps its doors open not just in the short term, but for a very long time.” One co-op success story she noted was Seattle-based PCC Natural Markets, which began as a buying club in 1953, and had gross sales in 2008 of $133 million with its nine store locations. “Cooperative grocery stores can be highly successful – with enough community and member support,” she points out.

For those who are interested in membership but are unable to attend the meeting, an application may be downloaded at www.kitsapfoodcoop.org/Membership after the Public Meeting on September 14. More information on the Kitsap Community Food Co-op may be found at www.kitsapfoodcoop.org, by contacting Board President Laura Moynihan at (360) 813-1301, or by sending an email to info@kitsapfoodcoop.org.

WANTED: “Kitsap Broccoli”

Last modified on 2009-02-14 22:05:17 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

LAST SEEN IN GROCERYSTORES:

June, 1958

If you are one of the many concerned residents seeking Kitsap Broccoli,
Come One, Come All to a Public Meeting of the
Kitsap Food Co-op
Saturday, Feb. 21, 3 – 5 pm
Seaside Church, Bremerton, WA (in Evergreen Park)

Bid in the Silent Auction! Hear about our newly forming Board!
Go to www.kitsapfoodcoop.org for directions and details,
or email info@kitsapfoodcoop.org

Kitsap Broccoli stands about 10” tall, with a
stalky build and a large, bright green top. Needs
little or no pesticides when grown in small, local
farms, so if you encounter Kitsap Broccoli,
beware that he may be dangerously tasty.
Wanted by local residents of Bremerton, Port
Orchard, Silverdale and outlying areas for
consumption in soups, or steamed with cheese
sauce as a side dish. Has not been seen since
huge mono-crops of broccoli invaded Kitsap
County from states and countries far away.

If you are one of the many concerned residents seeking Kitsap Broccoli,

Come One, Come All to a Public Meeting of the Kitsap Food Co-op

Saturday, Feb. 21, 3 – 5 pm
Seaside Church, Bremerton, WA (in Evergreen Park)
Bid in the Silent Auction! Hear about our newly forming Board!
Go to www.kitsapfoodcoop.org for directions and details,
or email info@kitsapfoodcoop.org or download the KFC Public Meeting Flyer here.

Holiday Fruit From and For The Kitsap Food Co-Op

Last modified on 2008-12-13 03:57:30 GMT. 2 comments. Top.

Rob Story has recently contacted me to let me know that the fruit fundraisers will be able to continue throughout the winter and spring, as he has found other farmers who can provide him fruit through the cold season! The co-op will receive a percentage of sales for every order from us, so I hope you will consider taking advantage of this opportunity to support the co-op and receive some tasty, fresh, organic fruit.

Orders are due Dec. 16th by 8pm. Deliveries take place Dec. 19-20. Read more below for more information and fruit quantities available.

Thanks for your continued support!

Laura Moynihan
__________________________________________

We hope things are moving along well for your holidays and you are all well. We have been busily working to identify more organic orchardists to include into our business for next season so that we can expand your choices and our overall quantities of fruit.

This week we have cemented an alliance with a small group of conscious, long term organic farmers over in Okanagan County. Their apple season runs later than Royal City and they have apples available for us this season.  The apples are stored on the farm in a climate controlled room so they are still tasty and farm direct. Our plan is to offer their apples once each month during the months of December, January, February and possibly March.

With this email, we are opening up the order process for December which will be in time for Christmas. As our standard, we guarantee your satisfaction.

Our true desire is to serve as many people as we can with this opportunity. Please share this with your friends.  If there are folks on very tight budgets, we welcome them to contact us so that we may help where we can and get them fruit. We also have a developing website at http://allonefamilyfarm.com.

**ALL ORDERS ARE DUE BY TUESDAY DECEMBER 16, 2008 AT 8:00 PM PLEASE PLEASE**

Fruit will be available as follows:

Friday 12/19:
Everett – (We will receive the fruit here at 0700.  We can meet families local in Everett first thing. Let’s talk) Snoqualmie Fall City Carnation Duvall Woodinville Bothell Udistrict /Seattle (If needed) Kingston

Saturday 12/20:
Kingston
Bremerton/Silverdale – Pickup at Luigi’s Port Orchard Poulsbo Chimacum/Port Townsend

All apples and pears are available in 5# increments with no quantity limit.  A full box is 40#. Descriptions of first two apple varieties are at the end of this email. A description of all the apples is on our website at allonefamilyfarm.com

On future apple runs we plan to box ourselves from the bins so that there is more variation in apple sizes and the overall cost is lower.

Extra Fancy Grade (Perfect and uniform size like at PCC, Whole Foods, Central Market, etc) Pinova – $1.80 per #.
Mutsu- $1.80 per #.

Granny Smith- $1.45 per #.
Braeburn – $1.45 per #.
Fuji- $1.45 per #.
Cameo- $1.45 per #.

#2 Sorted (Some minor bumps from hail, no broken skins, more variation in sizing) Braeburn – $1.25 per #.
Fuji- $1.25 per #.

Pears – A grade
Asian Ar-Ri-Rang – $2.00 per#
D’Anjou – $1.40 per#

In order to keep our prices as low as possible we appreciate anyone who can pay with cash.  Checks are fine too and no one is turned away for financial reasons.

POTATOES

Believe it or not we will be purchasing our seed potato in two weeks for next seasons plantings.  In order to make sure we grow enough we are asking folks to consider their potato needs for next season.  Potatoes will be available August through Late November.  Our target maximum price is $1.50 per#. I am hopeful that we can offer them for less.  All potatoes will be Certified Organic.  Please let us know how many pounds you might be interested in during this time. There is no upfront $ commitment to get potatoes.  We just need to know how many to plant!

Potato Varieties:
Yukon Gold
Russet
Red Skin (White flesh)
All Blue
Austrian Crescent

APPLE DESCRIPTIONS

Pinova – Pinova (also called Sonata and Corail) is a new apple variety with old-fashioned apple flavor. Bred in Dresden, Germany, the variety was introduced in 1986 and has since become very popular in Europe. Its family tree includes ‘Duchess of Oldenburg’, ‘Cox Orange Pippin’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ varieties. The fruit is exceptionally crisp and juicy, with a firm, dense flesh. It has a mild, well-balanced sweet-tart flavor, which actually improves in storage. The apples have a distinctive dark red blush over a yellow background color with prominent lenticels. The Pinova stores exceptionally well, retaining its distinctive crisp and crunchy texture for many months. If you like a crisp, sweet, and juicy apple (and who doesn’t?) you don’t want to miss this promising new variety.

Mutsu- Mutsu, also known as Crispin, is an exceptional apple that was developed in Japan as a cross between Golden Delicious and Indo. Its most ardent supporters are in Japan and the Eastern U. S. This is a very large apple that matures late and stays in perfect shape in storage for months. The fruit is yellow-green which tends to draw comparisons to Golden Delicious or Granny Smith, but Mutsu’s tender-crisp flesh and complex flavor make it a much more interesting apple that either of those more common varieties. Mutsu is best enjoyed as a dessert apple, but it makes tasty sauce and cider also.

We look forward to seeing you soon and thank you for your participation.

We will gladly receive your boxes from the last fruit runs so that we can recycle them.  If you still have them please bring them when you get your fruit.

Our door is always open so please contact me with any questions you may have.  No issue is too small!

Best regards,

Rob Story
360 643-0306

Kitsap Co-op Initiative

Last modified on 2008-08-01 02:48:31 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Laura Moynihan has a big idea. When she and her husband, Greg, moved here from California they moved to Bremerton because of its affordability and because, well, they liked the place. They liked the trees, the water, the mountains, the feel of the neighborhoods. But one thing was missing…a food co-op.

A food co-op? Doesn’t Bremerton have a bunch a grocery stores. What was the big deal?

Well, Laura and Greg had lived in places where they had thriving foods co-ops and almost without knowing it, the co-op life had become an integral part of their lives. Sure, they liked being able to purchase healthy delicious, food and they liked the benefits that co-op members get like discounted prices and cash rebates but there was a lot more to it than just that. When she and Greg were co-op members, they felt a sense of ownership when they entered the store. And they made a bunch of co-op friends, who shared their sense of ownership. It became a place where they could hang out and be with friends so their trips to the store grew in length and served double duty as a social outing. Pretty much everybody felt that way.

So, in spite of its many charms they felt that Bremerton could use a place like that. A place where you could get good food at good prices, where the shoppers could feel a sense of ownership and where friends could gather together. When Laura began to talk to her new Bremerton friends, she found that the idea struck a chord with them. Some told her, “We’ve been waiting for 25 years for this!”.

So, even though she had never started a co-op before she set out to start one in Bremerton. They’ve had a pretty good start and she has put up a website to chronicle her progress. Laura and I had a conversation recently about her plans and the reasons she has begun this quest. When you listen to it, Laura will relate a few surprising reasons why she thinks Bremerton, Port Orchard or maybe Silverdale would be the best places in the county to found Kitsap’s first food cooperative.

Speak soon.