"Pear"fect Contest

The Neighborhood Food Co-op took 2nd place in a national display contest sponsored by USPears:

Neighborhood Co-op Grocery has won 2^nd place and a prize of $750 from USA Pears for a charming display of pears, wine, and cheeses entitled “Pearfect Together.” Last year, the Co-op won third place in this national contest.

USA Pears holds this annual contest to promote pears to US consumers, most of whom focus on apples and bananas, says Co-op Produce Manager, Chris Neville. “Pears are considered an impulse buy in the produce world. This display contest helps customers become familiar with different kinds of pears.”

Displays are required to include Anjou, Red Anjou, and Bosc USA Pears, and stores are encouraged to include other varieties “The Co-op also included Barlett, Comice, and Seckel pears,” reports Neville, “and we sampled them daily to give customers a chance to decide their favorites and take advantage of the great sale prices.”

Foodie Film Fridays

Starting July 3:

As a ramp up to their Eat Local Challenge and Fall Farm Crawl, Neighborhood Co-op Grocery is hosting free screenings of foodie films on Friday nights in July at Scratch Brewing Company in Ava, IL.

The films were chosen to inspire and inform the public about the value of small-scale farms, the history of co-ops and all things local. Whether it's craft breweries, heirloom vegetables grown on small farms, handcrafted wine or specialties like grass fed beef or free range bison, Southern Illinois has local in spades! We want to celebrate our region by getting people excited to shop local markets, eat dishes at local restaurants that include locally grown ingredients and get to know their farmers by going on the 2015 Fall Farm Crawl. 

Lisa Smith, Brand Development Manager at The Co-op, said, "I am looking forward to these screenings at Scratch. They have something kind of magical going on out there and we are thrilled to be a part of it! As a matter of fact what they embody is the essence of what we are trying to get across with the screenings - that local businesses and makers of all sorts is what makes the tapestry of Southern Illinois so rich! We need to invest in our local food systems and be willing to see the products made or grown here as something special, something exceptional! 

Small businesses, like our local farms and restaurants are working hard and doing great things that are an expression of who they are and what they are about. I hope the folks who come out to see these films and are so inspired that they want to more actively help us reclaim some of the $1.8 billion that we spend on food here in Southern Illinois. It's important to know that right now much of that money is leaving the area because it is spent on foods grown elsewhere and because it is spent with retailers who are based far away from this region. Shopping local first will make all the difference for our region's economy and our food system."

Links to the trailers are below and can also be found at www.Neighborhood.coop.

July 3

Women Who Brew: Breaking the Glass Ceiling for the Love of Beer

This program follows a large number of women who have found success and fulfillment as brewery owners, pub owners, hops farmers, home-based and large-scale beer artisans, and other positions in the industry. Focusing on the Pacific Northwest’s burgeoning craft beer market, the film introduces thriving entrepreneurs and highly valued employees who have defied the assumption that beer is just for men. Award-winning brewmaster Tonya Cornett, celebrated publican Sarah Pederson, respected hops producer Gayle Goschie, and craft brewery pioneer and Pink Boots Society founder Teri Fahrendorf are among the many industry luminaries featured.

Wanna Buy a Cup?

Saturday April 25 at the Neighborhood Food Co-op:

Neighborhood Co-op Grocery is proud to be hosting Southern Clay Works Spring Cup Sale on April 25 from 9 am - Noon in front of the Co-op. Southern Clay Works is the registered student organization for ceramics at SIUC. Their ceramics program is highly regarded across the country with many of their graduates going on to successful careers as artists and teachers. This annual fundraiser is extremely popular with the public, so participants are asked to come early to find their favorite cups or mugs, which are all handmade by students and faculty. And, when you buy a mug, the Co-op will fill it with hot, Fair Trade coffee from Equal Exchange, too!

"I have collected many ceramic mugs over the years, all handmade by artists and craftspeople. Each morning when I select a mug for that day's coffee, the one I select is something like a reflection of me and how I am on that day. Really it is a very personal form of expression, the pottery we choose, which is what has driven me to collect so much pottery.", said Lisa Smith of her pottery collection.

Funds generated at the Spring Cup Sale go on to support student research and travel. The coffee has been donated by Neighborhood Co-op Grocery.

Co-Op Minutes

Here're the minutes from the most recent meeting of the Neighborhood Food Co-op board, if you're so inclined to peruse them.

Raid on Ohio Food Co-Op

With the local farmer's markets reopening soon, I thought this story on a raid by Ohio officers on an unlicensed food do-op timely. The Peach Chicken blog paints a significantly different picture of what happened.