The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) continues an effort to secure land for an indoor urban farm project that would bring affordable housing, urban food production, a coffee shop and a bicycle shop to the small southside neighborhood.

The project would be part of the Hiawatha Campus expansion. The city of Minneapolis is planning to relocate and consolidate the Public Works Water Distribution Maintenance and Meter Shop operation from three sites to a centrally located facility, replacing the existing Water Distribution facility. Learn more on the city’s website.

EPNI is encouraging supporters to show up—with signs—to upcoming meetings of the Hiawatha Advisory Committee. It started as a 7.5-acres project when EPNI was negotiating the purchase of the site in 2015—and EPNI continues to hope to secure at least 2 acres for a sustainable urban farm project and save the building on the site from demolition.

Ways to Show Support
EPNI is asking for support at a community meeting Monday, June 17, at 6 p.m. at the East Phillips Park Gym, 2307 17th Ave. S., Minneapolis. Dinner will be served.

Sign a petition in support of East Phillips community plan for green jobs and green infrastructure.

The EPNI is asking folks that live in Ward 1, Ward 3 and Ward 4 to contact their councilperson and ask them to support the two-acre East Phillips Community Vision.

Read and share this feature story by City Pages.

Follow the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute on Facebook to stay up to date on news and opportunities to show support.

Round up throughout May for Appetite for Change in North Minneapolis.

All donations made at the register go to our SEED grant recipient, and often total over $20,000.

Thank you to everyone who rounded up for Sexual Violence Center in April. We are currently tallying totals.

Our SEED program really speaks to the power of our cooperative community. In March, 51,381 shoppers collectively donated $22,728 for Soup for You Cafe, a radical soup kitchen down the street from the Franklin store.

About Appetite for Change
Appetite For Change advocates for food justice and economic development in North Minneapolis, with SEED funds supporting our Youth Training and Opportunity Program and our policy and advocacy work through Northside Fresh Coalition.

About Seward Co-op’s SEED Grant Program
For more than 45 years, Seward Co-op has been committed to giving back to our community. In 2011, we introduced SEED, a new way for customers to participate in this commitment. This simple yet powerful community giving program allows customers to round up their grocery or Seward Co-op Creamery Café bill for recipient organizations that share our commitment to a healthy community. As part of the staff-led selection process for 2019, owners and shoppers were invited to contribute further by voting for Community Choice SEED recipients. Learn more about becoming a SEED grant recipient here.

Thank you to our farmers and to everyone who attended the 2019 CSA Fair on April 27 at Seward Co-op Creamery Café.

Midwest Food Connection offered a seed planting activity for kids and kids at heart. Seward Co-op’s board members staffed the welcome table and talked about their work on behalf of owners.

Huge thank you to Sitka Salmon Shares for partnering with us on a giveback campaign and for donating the fish for our cafe specials. For each Community Supported Fishery share sold through the fair, Sitka donated $25 to Seward Co-op’s April SEED grant recipient, Sexual Violence Center in Minneapolis. With 12 shares sold, Sitka donated a total of $300!

Three farmer talks were livstreamed and featured Emily Hanson of Shared Ground Farmers’ Cooperative, Naima Dhore, a Somali-American farmer who grows certified organic vegetables, and Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin of Regenerative Agriculture Alliance. View the talks on Facebook now.

Thank you to the vendors and farmers who joined us. If you weren’t able to attend the CSA Fair, farmers may still have some shares available. Visit their websites to learn more!

Amador Hill Farm & Orchard (Women’s Environmental Institute)

Big River Farms

Blackbrook Farm

Burning River Farm

Buttermilk CSA & Folk School Retreat

EB Ranch LLC

Featherstone Farm

Growing Lots Urban Farm

Hmong American Farmers Association

Johnson Family Pastures

Little Big Sky Farm

Nelson Grass Farm

Northwoods Mushrooms(formerly Cherry Tree House Mushrooms)

Racing Heart Farm

Shared Ground Farmers’ Cooperative

Shepherd Moon Farm

Sitka Salmon Shares

St. Croix Valley

Tangletown Gardens

Treasured Haven Farm

Turnip Rock Farm

Untiedt’s Vegetable Farm

Thank you to everyone who attended and made possible the 2018 Annual Owner Meeting at Coffman Memorial Union on Tuesday, Oct. 30.

We were honored to have Sean Sherman of The Sioux Chef create the menu of indigenous foods. Thank you to the Seward Co-op Creamery Café staff who prepared the meal.

Diversity and Community Engagement Manager LaDonna Sanders Redmond, who was the facilitator for the event, invited Sean Sherman to share teachings on indigenous foods. Sean’s presentation was livestreamed and can be viewed on our Facebook page. Thank you to RedBone Singers, a Twin Cities drum group, for singing prior to Sean’s talk and to Brian Heart for offering a prayer in Dakota. Thank you also to Dana Thompson, co-owner and COO of The Sioux Chef for making arrangements and attending the meeting.

It was a packed house and a packed night. Results of the board election were announced, the 2018 Scorecard was made available and our 2019 SEED grant recipients were announced, including the four Community Choice picks. A video about the Community Foods program debuted and can be viewed on YouTube.

We would like to thank the University of Minnesota, wait staff from Hire A Host, Eureka Recycling for partnering with us on our compost- and recycling-only event, the Wedge Co-op for providing bar service and snacks, Birchbark Books & Native Arts for offering books for sale, and Sunshine Tree Child Development Center for providing childcare. Thank you to our language interpreters and to all of the staff who organized and executed the event.

This aromatic cabbage, sauerkraut, sausage stew hails from central Europe and is Poland’s national dish. It brings together some of our favorite seasonal items that also happen to be on sale at Seward Co-op through Oct. 16. Seward-made Nürnberger sausage is $2 off per pound for everyone and organic gala apples from Hoch Orchard in La Crescent, Minnesota, are $1.50 off per pound for co-op owners. Visit our specials page for more ways to save.

Sausage and Cabbage Stew
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil
12 ounces Seward-made Nürnberger sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 pound smoked ham, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 large yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces mushrooms, cut in 1/2-inch slices
1/2 pound green cabbage, shredded
1/2 pound sauerkraut, drained
1 apple, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation
In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Brown the pieces of sausage and smoked ham. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for several minutes until the onion starts to soften. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Lower the heat, cover and continue to cook for 45 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes or so to prevent sticking.

Serving Suggestion
Traditionally, this stew is served with potatoes and rye bread, and is often made a day ahead of time, allowing the flavors to mingle overnight. Deviled eggs or creamed herring are served as an appetizer with this dish. For a lighter meal, add a fresh green salad, or lightly-steamed broccoli, carrots, or green beans.

Recipe courtesy of National Co-op Grocers.

Community Foods is a new Seward Co-op labeling program featuring producers that best align with our cooperative values and mission to sustain a healthy community. Community Foods replaced P6 on Thursday, Sept. 27, at all Seward Co-op locations.

With Community Foods, we’re focusing on the real stories of our producers that support Seward Co-op’s Ends.

Community Foods purchases are important, everyday investments in a sustainable and equitable food system. Look for Community Foods logos around our stores to find and support our producers that are local, small, cooperative, sustainable and/or inclusive.

Launch Celebration
Join us at the Franklin and Friendship stores for the Community Foods Launch Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 13, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.. We’ll have producer samples, Community Foods-themed giveaways and more!

Community Foods Producers
To qualify for the Seward Co-op Community Foods label, producers must meet at least two of the criteria outlined below:

Local—products from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa
Small—products direct from producers
Cooperative—Businesses run by and for people, with democratic governance and profits shared proportionate to use
Inclusive—historically underrepresented producers
Sustainable—producers who are stewards of the land
and environment

Why is the program called Community Foods?
The name of the program is the culmination of a process that spanned many months and included a number of stakeholders and conversations. Ultimately, we chose Community Foods because it simply speaks to who we are—it’s in our name (Seward Community Co-op), in our Ends (sustain a healthy community) and in the international principles that guide the way co-ops operate (Concern for Community).

Thank You
Seward Co-op staff thanks everyone who took part in the Community Foods online survey earlier this summer. Your input helped shape the program and its messaging and informed shifts on some items, such as the tagline. The co-op is owned by its shoppers and exists to benefit them. Community Foods is another way we hope to serve you, our owners and community.

Community Foods debuted Sept. 27 in both co-op locations. The program will also be featured in Seward Co-op Creamery Café.

Learn more about the program on the Community Foods page.

Seward Co-op’s 17th Annual Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Fair was held Saturday, April 21, at a new location—the Creamery Café! We lucked out with weather and it was once again a huge success, both for farmers and attendees—what a difference a week can make weather-wise. For the fourth year in a row, it was a sunny, temperate spring day for the event, which showcased more than 30 area CSA farms.

We added new activities and programmatic elements to the fair this year. Midwest Food Connection taught children how to plant seedlings by leading them through the process. Community organizers, focused on the sustainable food movement presented informative Farmer Talks. Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA) shared the history of how Hmong people came to the United States, and talked about the HAFA programs focused on providing immigrants with land access. Michael Cheney, of Project Sweetie Pie shared Farm Bill updates and encouraged community members to become more active and engaged in local politics. Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, shared his thinking around regenerative agriculture and how Main Street Project’s poultry CSA is making it a little easier for Latinos to become small-scale farmers. In case you missed the event, Facebook Live video footage is posted to our Seward Co-op Facebook page.

Inside, Creamery Café staff served up tasty brunch and lunch fare, and offered specials on taquitos and local beer from fellow co-op, Fair State. Thank you to all who were able to attend! It was a wonderful fair, which brought together neighbors and farmers, on a gorgeous spring day. Here’s to a bountiful growing season!Thank you to all who were able to attend! It was a wonderful event, which brought together neighbors and farmers, on a gorgeous spring day.

For folks still interested in exploring CSAs, both Franklin and Friendship stores are drop sites for a variety of local CSAs. Check out the weekly schedule below:

The Land Stewardship Project’s directory, is a great resource as well, posted on Seward Co-op’s website.