Just six weeks into our capital campaign, Seward Co-op owners have invested $788,500 — 31 percent of our $2.5 million goal. With roughly ten weeks left in the offering, we are well on our way to securing the investments needed to build the Friendship Store and renovate the Creamery. In addition to purchasing shares of Class C stock or making a loan to the co-op, Seward Co-op is offering another opportunity to contribute to the success of these projects. Beginning this week we will be selling a t-shirt designed by Minneapolis artist Tammy Ortegon and 100 percent of the proceeds will go towards our capital campaign.

The Friendship store is anticipated to open in the summer of 2015. Recently we closed on the six properties owned by private individuals and the Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. The co-op now owns seven of the eight project properties, and we are in the process of purchasing the final property, which is owned by the city. We continue to work with the architects on design development and have scheduled a groundbreaking event this summer on July 12. This progress is exciting and each day makes the Friendship store more and more tangible.

The redesign and renovation of the Creamery Building is also underway. Currently, we are addressing the accessibility of the building through the design of a new entryway and elevator. We are also in the midst of a remodel of the second floor, which will offer much-needed office space. We are excited about the developing design and how our choices will positively impact the possibilities for the first floor where we plan to include food production facilities and a small café.

In the past five years, Seward Co-op’s ownership has nearly tripled, so it’s not surprising that owners have already invested $674,500 — 27% of our goal — in Seward’s Friendship Store & Franklin Creamery Projects.

But in case you didn’t know about Seward’s twin expansion projects or haven’t heard anything recently, here’s a brief recap/update:

1) The Friendship Store — Groundbreaking for the Friendship Store is slated for this July, and the store could open as early as summer 2015. It will be a full-service natural foods grocery on the corner of 38th St. and 3rd Avenue South. Sometime in July, we’ll have a big celebration for the groundbreaking. Stay tuned.

2) The Franklin Creamery on Franklin and 26th Avenues (pictured, from 1924) is being leased by Seward Co-op for badly needed office space (upstairs) and to expand our bakery, sausage and other meat production. The downstairs space may include a small retail café (so much depends on how much investment money we raise).

The Franklin Creamery was a dairy and milk delivery co-op back in the days when nearly all food was local — and a lot of it was cooperatively owned.

The initial campaign launch to ask Seward owners to invest began on March 11, with the co-op looking to raise at least $2.5 million by June 30, 2014. To do this, we’re offering an investment opportunity to owners; we aren’t asking for donations, these are stocks and loans with a rate of return.

In short, we’re offering Seward owners an opportunity to make money while in turn, empowering their cooperative to grow.

Our target return on investment for what we call “Class C Stock” is 4%, which many owners have reported is a better deal than their credit unions and banks have been offering. “Owner loans” are another option and interest rates for owner loans vary between 3.5–5.5%. More information is available in the offering summary, found in investment packets that you can pick up at the Customer Service Desk in the store. Or, call 612-314-2012 to speak with Jill Livingston, Seward Co-op’s Owner Capitalization Coordinator.

If you’d like to stay current on Seward’s investment progress, there’s a tracker on the left hand side of this page, and Jill is posting weekly updates on the “Invest in the Co-op” page as well.

We have 75 days to gather $2 million.

How can you help?

1) Become an owner. You can’t invest if you aren’t an owner (that’s the law).

2) Invest. Call Jill and decide what kind of investment is best for you.

3) Spread. The. Word. Do you know other Seward owners? Start talking, sharing links to articles like this one, and encourage them to invest and spread the word, too. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, email, dinner parties. We all have to start talking about how much we can make the Friendship Store and Creamery project a reality.

Because this is how co-ops grow — you, me, and our neighbors lifting this project up on shoulders. There is no national management or corporate CEO that will swoop in and grow the co-op for us. If Seward is going to grow, we have do it ourselves– stock by stock, and loan by loan — old school, just like Franklin Creamery Co-op did it way back in the day.

What do you say? Ready to roll up your sleeves and lend a hand growing a co-op?

A committed ownership is at the core of Seward Co-op’s success. In the past five years our ownership has nearly tripled. This growth is directly linked to our financial achievements, as well as our role as a positive contributor to our community and the environment. As we prepare for the upcoming expansions, owner support through co-op patronage, the purchase of Class C stock, and owner loans will enable the co-op to serve even more of our community and allow us to continue to thrive.

The Friendship store is anticipated to open in the summer of 2015. Recently we closed on the six properties owned by private individuals and the Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. The co-op now owns seven of the eight project properties, and we are in the process of purchasing the final property, which is owned by the city. We continue to work with the architects on design development and have scheduled a groundbreaking event this summer on July 12. This progress is exciting and each day makes the Friendship store more and more tangible.

Once open, the Friendship store will offer the Bryant-Central neighborhoods more fresh, healthful, sustainable food options. It will provide a communal space for gathering and education. The Friendship store will be a part of the community, respond to its needs, and give back through the SEED program and other efforts. We anticipate this second store will create 80–100 new living-wages jobs with benefits. We hope many of our new employees will reside in Bryant-Central neighborhoods. Furthermore, with 15 percent of our owners currently residing near the Friendship store, its presence will likely ease the congestion at the Franklin store resulting in a more pleasant shopping experience at both locations.

A month into our capital campaign, we have experienced great enthusiasm and generous support from our owners. This past week we surpassed half a million dollars in investments with $674,500 raised —27 percent of our goal. Thus far, investments have ranged from single shares of Class C stock at $500 to loans over $100,000. This speaks to the diversity of our ownership. With appealing investment opportunities and compelling projects, we are confident that in the next few months we will receive the support from our owners needed to make our expansions a reality.

We have had a promising start to the campaign. At the end of February Seward Co-op was awarded a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation of $8 million by the Midwest Minnesota Capital Development Corporation. The NMTC will result in substantial debt forgiveness and along with owner capital makes this project more attractive for bank financing.

We have also begun to receive owner investments. Since March 30 Seward Co-op owners have invested $283,500 in a mix of owner loans and Class C stock. Class C stock can be purchased at customer service or by contacting me at 612-314-2012. You can also contact me to schedule an owner loan closing appointment.

We endeavor to reach our goal by the end of our fiscal year on June 30th in order to maintain the proposed construction schedule. Updates on our progress toward our goal will be available here and at the co-op.

Thank you to those who have invested and to all of our owners for your continued support of Seward Co-op.

Jill Livingston,
Owner Capitalization Coordinator

It’s citrus and citrus and citrus these days – the Produce department virtually glows orange. The varieties change so quickly it’s hard to keep track, but they are, in general, superlatively good. An unusual item that is worth a try before they are gone is Mandarinquats (pictured). Two bites full of juice and rind that combine an intense citrus flavor with sweet, bitter and tang, they are best out of hand as a snack.

Kent Mangos. When I lived in Ecuador, I bought them fifteen for a dollar in a long plastic bag, and gorged on them. That was in January, February and into March, when they really were ripe, lushly soft and gloriously messy. Everyone ate them all the time everywhere. You could tell because the streets were littered with discarded pits. But I find that mangos can be so disappointing here in the States. Here’s why: farmers want to get the best price, so they harvest them before they are truly ready and rush them to market, hoping to take advantage of low supply and high demand. Plus it’s easier to ship a green mango than an even slightly soft one. The way to pick a good mango is to find one that is truly soft, like a ripe peach. Handle it delicately and enjoy it the same day you buy it, ideally. A mango that is shriveled and has only a little give to it is likely to be pale colored and rubbery inside-edible if sprinkled with chili and lime like in Mexico, but probably not what you were after. Variety is also important – Tommy Atkins tend to leave you with fibrous bits between your teeth, but Kents are usually not so stringy.

Avocados. Here are some tips for selecting a good avocado: Find one that is heavy and full figured. Check around the stem end with your thumb. Are there hollow spots below the skin in evidence? Don’t buy that one. Pick one that still feels a little firm. Is the little nub of stem still there? Pry it out gently to see the state of the flesh beneath. Is it green? The avo is probably good.

It’s hard to avoid a little bruising with such a tender fruit. Even just sitting in a box, the avo’s own weight can cause a small indentation on the side that meets the surface of the box. Generally, this does not adversely affect the flavor of the avocado. The simplest, most delicious way to enjoy an avocado is this: Warm up a couple of corn tortillas (I recommend the Sonoma homestyle corn ones), fill with slices of avocado, cilantro sprigs, and chopped green onion. Finish with a spritz of lime, a sprinkle of coarse salt and write your name in sriracha on top.

There are still a few items out there from local farms. It doesn’t seem that exciting, but green cabbage is a real workhorse of a vegetable. Since it doesn’t respire as quickly as other cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, it maintains its nutrient levels for a much longer time. My favorite way to prepare it is roasted. Simply cut the cabbage in wedges, a rough eighth of a cabbage each, and rub the cut side with oil. Roast it at 450 degrees until it is toasty on one side, and then flip it and let it go until that side is similarly browned. Likely this will take 15 minutes to a side, but I recommend checking at ten minutes in on each side, because while carmelized cabbage is a many layered and tender confection, charred cabbage is not even for the birds. You can eat this with a vinagrette and call it a warm salad.

“If you build it, will they come?”

That’s the essential question of NPR’s article It Takes More Than A Produce Aisle To Refresh A Food Desert that’s been making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds this week.

As it happens, the article is a nice bit of synchronicity for Seward. As we contemplate the how’s, when’s, and why’s of opening the Friendship Store in South Minneapolis, our co-op community is thinking lots about “food desert” issues of late.

The NPR article, above, asks hard questions about food access by covering a new study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine which examined the impact of a new store on a Philadelphia food desert. Researchers “surveyed residents of one low-income community in Philadelphia before and after the opening of a glistening new supermarket brimming with fresh produce. What they’re finding, [Penn State Prof. Stephen] Matthews says, is a bit surprising: ‘We don’t find any difference at all. … We see no effect of the store on fruit and vegetable consumption.'”

Surprising to Prof. Matthews and NPR, maybe.

To those of us in the business of selling natural foods (since 1972, in Seward Co-op’s case), we know you can’t just open a store anywhere and expect hordes to come a-shopping, particularly if the product mix is unusual for the locals. The study found that only 26% of the local “low income” population was shopping at the store. I wouldn’t call that a failure to eliminate a food desert, I’d call that another day in the grocery business. Unless the store in question is driving an aggressive marketing campaign and/or taking a loss on prices (the article does not say what steps the supermarket took to attract local customers), no, people aren’t going to change where they shop.

And why should they? People shop where they find good value and where they feel comfortable and welcome. And that’s true, ahem, regardless of a neighborhood’s relative income level. Drop an awesome store lush with local produce in a wealthy neighborhood or middle-class suburb, and it won’t automatically change buying habits because of the virtue of its veggies, either.

But that begs the question: What’s the real measure of success here? As of 2006, over 50% of Minneapolis lived in a food desert, with South Minneapolis being one of the most vast. Is the goal to simply reduce that desert acreage by opening groceries strategically (the London study says no)? To change dietary habits of the local low-income population? To reverse epidemiological data showing that diabetes is rampant in a given low-income area? To drive down the city’s mean BMI? To put Popeye’s out of business? To make a lot of money? Is it fair to expect that a run-of-the-mill grocery store would undo a food desert in the first place?

No, of course not. There’s no money in hunger advocacy. Expecting a profit-driven business to prioritize and market to low-income shoppers is like hoping liquor stores will offer affordable poodle-grooming.

The rest of the NPR article is more on-point, by discussing the politics and particulars of hunger with public health researcher Alex Ortega who works to create effective healthy food hubs and educating low-income city dwellers about eating well. The article ends by deciding that the jury is still out as to whether outreach and education work.

The evidence may yet to be gathered on Ortega’s excellent work, but there is an available model that researchers should be looking at, one that specifically targets getting food to the people who want it in areas where the food they want isn’t attainable, and doing it in a way that doesn’t ask farmers to take the hit so that the food can be sold as cheaply as possible.

Food co-ops.

Consider: Seward Co-op has its roots in the People’s Pantry which was started around 1970. From Growing with Purpose about the history of Seward Co-op, the pantry was started because, “People wanted an alternative to heavily processed food” and “a place where one could get natural bulk foods at low cost.” By 1971, the People’s Pantry on the West Bank of Minneapolis had morphed into North Country Co-op which in turn gave birth to Seward Co-op further south on Franklin Avenue in 1972. Numerous co-ops were springing up all over the Twin Cities in the early seventies because the supermarket boom of the early 1960s was no longer serving everyone’s needs — and started creating food deserts. So began the hard work of creating a more socially just food system, where people who wanted healthy food would have access to it.

Changing a food desert is more than just opening a store and effectively marketing it for a few months, though — it’s hard “yeoman’s work ” for many, many years. For Seward, doing our small part to undo the damage that over-centralizing the food system has inflicted on Minneapolis has meant decades of saving pennies, paying good local farmers good prices season after season, offering classes on cooking to co-ops owner-members, and eventually putting together a business that has the financial muscle to open a second store — forty years after Seward Co-op first opened its doors! A business that values only one bottom line — the financial one — might be able to expand sooner, but they’re not really the answer to food access, as the NPR article pointed out. Big, glistening supermarket stores are what created food deserts to begin with. To water food deserts, seed them, and bring them back to sustaining communities again, it’s going to take businesses that value multiple bottom lines.

Specifically, they need to embrace their entire community, not just the shoppers who can afford the fresh veggies and have the time to cook. To change a food desert, grocery stores will have to help their shoppers get creative the way Alex Ortega’s UCLA project did. They’ll also have to take part in WIC and SNAP programs and actually reach out to shoppers who use federal assistance. These stores must have it in their mission statements to embrace low income shoppers, saying, “We see you as part of our community, and therefore, our reason for doing business.” If they don’t, they’re just a grocery store in a food desert.

Seward Co-op is one example of a store that honors multiple bottom lines, that is, we value economic equality, inclusiveness, and sustainability, not just making a profit. Shoppers who receive federal assistance can join our co-op at a reduced rate and receive a 5% discount on all purchases. We’ll maintain this policy when we open the new Friendship Store and we’ll do it without shorting farmers on the hard work they do.

One more thing, NPR and Dr. Matthews. The assumption that those living in a food desert are totally ignorant of food issues, eat unhealthily, are unwilling to pay for fruits and vegetables, and only know how to order drive-through food is a huge slice of Twenty First Century prejudice and very sloppy thinking. Here’s what a Facebook reader had to say about Seward’s involvement with WIC and our policy of subsidizing certain foods in order to comply with that program:

“As a SNAP [a.k.a., “food stamps”] recipient who tries her best to feed her family nutritious, local and sustainable food, but faces the reality that most of these products are out of my reach, I commend you. If more companies cared more about the people in their community, agriculture around the world and the Earth itself more than their bottom line, the world would be a much better place.”

I’d argue that Seward Co-op’s strategy of reaching out to everyone in our community — low-income eaters, local farmers, and every link in between on that “food chain” — is already working if we’re making low-income folks feel like they belong in our Franklin Avenue store.

Like it says on the front of the current building: “Everyone Welcome.”

~

NOTE: Seward opened its doors in 1972, not 1974. The post has been edited to make that correction.

Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables started in 1995 as Jack Hedin and Jenni McHugh’s five-acre garden at the Zephyr Valley Land Co-op near Winona, Minn. Since then, the farm has relocated to land near the town of Rushford, Minn., and now employs nearly 50 people working on over 250 acres of optimal vegetable-growing ground. Beginning in late May with leaf lettuce, through a summer’s harvest of zucchini and cherry tomatoes, into winter squash and carrots in the winter, there’s hardly a month that Featherstone isn’t represented in the co-op’s Produce department. The farm is certified organic and is dedicated to creating a truly sustainable agriculture system. That includes geothermal heating and cooling for the packing shed, as well as a solar array that generates about 60 percent of the farm’s energy. Featherstone Farm was the featured Know Our Grower Sept. 18 – Oct. 1. Meet the Grower: Sunday, Sept. 29.

Grower: Jack Hedin

When did you begin farming and what inspired you to pursue farming as a profession?
In 1987, the summer between my junior and senior year at college, I started an internship at New Morning Farm in Pennsylvania. I hoped to get applicable, real life skills for the community development work I was planning to do in developing nations. Instead, I fell in love with vegetable farming, and I never looked back.

Can you describe your approach to farming? Are there any unique components to your farm that may be different from other local farms?
We’re trying to be as sustainable as possible. With climate change right here and now, this should be first and foremost in our minds. We do this with our solar panels, our geothermal heating system, our cover cropping and rotational systems, and in general looking toward how we can work more toward a closed loop ecosystem on our farm.

What distinguishes your products from other local produce?
Our 17 years of farming experience shows in the high quality of our produce; over the years, we’ve selected crops that we grow well. If you ask our customers, our carrots are certainly a standout crop for their incredible sweetness and flavor.

What is your favorite way to enjoy your own produce?
I absolutely love winter squash, which is why we grow so many great varieties. There’s nothing better than popping a kabocha squash in the oven on a chilly winter day and letting it warm you up. Kale is also a favorite of mine.

Hoch Orchard and Gardens is owned and run by Harry and Jackie Hoch. Located near La Crescent, Minn., Hoch has a long tradition of growing fresh fruit. A handful of the farm’s original trees, planted in the 1940s, are still on the farm, though production is concentrated on newer varieties. Besides 50 varieties of apples, Hoch Orchard also grows grapes, plums, apricots (cold-tolerant varieties they have developed right on the farm), cherries and berries. It is a testament to Harry and Jackie’s farming ability that they are able to grow such high-quality fruit organically, as apples are very vulnerable to pests and disease. Hoch Orchard and Gardens was the featured Know Our Grower July 31 – August 20. Meet the Grower: Sunday, Aug. 4.

Grower: Jackie Hoch

When did you begin farming and what inspired you to pursue farming as a profession?
Harry has been involved with fruit farming most of his life; I began farming 26 years ago when Harry and I met. Producing good food for our family and sharing the bounty with others are motivating reasons we farm. Developing a sound system that respects the environment and brings diversity to the farm is one of the many reasons we continue to farm.

Can you describe your approach to farming?
We are trying to become a closed loop system and the integration of animals to the farm is essential to meet that goal. Nowhere in nature is there a system that doesn’t include animals. The pigs and chickens are strategically rotated to help us with disease and pest control. The pigs eating the apples in the fall after harvest removes the potential insects that could have been in the fallen fruit. The pigs also help us be eating the pumice (apple waste like skins and seeds) we produce when making cider.

What distinguishes your products from other local growers?
The fruit and products we have are both local and certified organic. The sauce, juices and jellies are made from the fruit we produce. Our fruit is harvested and delivered directly to the store so the time from harvest to the consumer is not very long. Sometimes we have apples that are picked and packed one day and to the store the next day. It can’t get much fresher than that.

What is your favorite way to enjoy your own produce?
For fruit, the best way to enjoy it is fresh picked! The peak flavor and textures make the fruit fantastic!

Welcome to spring! At Seward Co-op, we are very proud of our Bulk foods department. Bulk has been a keystone of the co-op from its earliest days, and it continues to be one of our greatest successes.

Whether shopping in bulk is a new prospect or you’ve been shopping bulk exclusively for decades, we have a rare treat for you: a 10-percent-off sale on all bulk items on May 1! All day — for one day only — everything in the Bulk department (even including sale items) is 10 percent off.

Please join us Wednesday, May 1, in the Bulk department, where extra staff and product vendors will be on hand to answer questions and assist you in shopping the best way possible — in bulk!

Throughout the day, enjoy samples of bulk products like May Day trail mix, Barsey’s almonds and Rishi chai. Also, visit with a handful of our suppliers, including: Peace Coffee, Equal Exchange and local grain producer, Whole Grain Milling.

(The May 1 bulk sale does not include: reusable glass and plastic containers; items sold per pound in other departments, such as Produce; and Wellness soaps/shampoos.)