Dear Seward Co-op Owners,

Just months from now is the scheduled opening of the Friendship store, which is a realization of the co-op’s long-term vision of expanding our community-owned business. In October 2015, nearly 2,000 households that are current owners of Seward Co-op will have a store less than 1½ miles from their home. We are writing to address the conversations the board of directors has been having, and the questions and comments we have been hearing regarding the Friendship store.

We started this project over two years ago when The Carrot Initiative, a non-profit formed by residents of the four neighborhoods around 38th and Chicago to attract a grocer to the community, invited Seward Co-op to consider opening at the former site of the Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. Their building had been on the market for a couple of years. It proved to be a good site. We decided to call it the Friendship store to honor this history. We believe it will be a place to bring neighbors, family and friends together.

Since our very first community meeting at Sabathani Community Center in July 2013, co-op board, management, and staff have been engaged in conversations and outreach with the neighborhoods surrounding the Friendship store. For example, members of the co-op management, staff, and board have attended and participated in the Future of East 38th Street community meetings; engaged in conversations and education with community members through door-to-door outreach; and attended many neighborhood events, fairs, and educational programs. The board is energized by the support and encouragement the co-op has received in our direct conversations with members of the community throughout the surrounding neighborhoods of Bryant and Central.

At our May meeting, the board welcomed owners who presented a petition and wished to discuss the decision to postpone the conversation regarding creating a Mutual Benefits Agreement (MBA). After that meeting the board expressed its continued agreement with the decision made by Bryant Neighborhood Organization (BNO) and co-op management that our focus needs to be on opening the Co-op Creamery Café and Friendship store. We responded to those owners who signed this petition to inform them of our continued support of that decision.

At the June board meeting, representatives of Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization (CANDO) were given time to state their reasons why Seward Co-op should accept the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that they drafted as a starting point for negotiations. The board discussed their request and decided to continue, as planned, with the decision made by Seward Co-op and BNO to defer this conversation until after the Friendship store opens. You can find a letter to CANDO on our website.

The board agrees that management’s efforts to enter into an MBA is the correct approach. The proposed CBA is not congruent with co-op values. However, we want to be clear that this does not mean that the co-op’s board and management have ceased our conversations with the community or compromised our goals, aspirations, or ideals related to the Friendship store. To the contrary, many of the provisions that have been proposed in the CBA have already been addressed by the co-op, independent of the recent proposal by CANDO. For example:

• The co-op voluntarily set construction hiring goals that are used by the City of Minneapolis.
• The co-op has set hiring goals to be a more inclusive workplace.
• The Seward Co-op Nourish program offers both a needs-based ownership option and a discount.
• Seward Co-op has used the Minneapolis living wage model for more than eight years. Factoring in discounts, benefits and insurance, all vested co-op employees earn at least $15 per hour.
• Seward Co-op has engaged in outreach and partnerships throughout the neighborhoods surrounding the store. We have supported, and will continue to support, many Bryant-Central based organizations and nonprofits.

Our website has more information about the co-op’s efforts with respect to the Friendship store. In addition, we must note that the CBA proposed by CANDO has several provisions that could potentially put the co-op in fiscal jeopardy, including a stipulation that the co-op can be fined $1,000 a day (up to $100,000) if it does not operate in accordance with the CBA. We cannot accept these kinds of terms as a starting point for any conversation.

The board believes that management’s actions and decisions on these issues are entirely consistent with and further Seward Co-op’s Ends Statement and the International Cooperative Principles. The board supports management’s efforts to ensure that any agreement that the co-op enters into be consistent with the International Cooperative Principles. Finally, and fundamentally, the board believes that the co-op has had, and will continue to have, a positive effect on the communities within which the co-op operates.

From the beginning of this process, we heard concerns regarding racial equity and social justice. We invite owners to review our Scorecard to see our progress on our goals. Make no mistake, we still have work to do, and we look forward to doing that work in the months and years to come. We thank everyone who has been involved with the Friendship store to this point. Promoting healthy food, living wages, affordability, accessibility, and concern for community have long been a priority of the cooperative and we look forward to building trust and meeting the expectations that our shared values require.

In Cooperation,

Leah Janus – President, Board of Directors
Joe Riemann – Vice-President, Board of Directors

For a list of common questions we have received and how we are responding, follow this link.

Seward Co-op is planning on the creation and installation of original pieces of artwork for the Friendship store. The building design designates two wall locations for local art work, one on an exterior wall, and one on an interior wall that will be visible from the outside.

Our goal is to honor the history of the site and its cultural impact. We want to celebrate the communities and events that have made the neighborhoods around Friendship home.

For more information, contact LaDonna Sanders-Redmond at lsandersredmond@seward.coop.

Download the RFP for the project here.

Please submit proposals via email. The submission deadline for proposals is 10 p.m. on Friday, July 31, 2015.

For a brief background on the cooperative movement within the African American community, read these articles by LaDonna Sanders-Redmond:

Additional historical materials:

Bryant Central Co-op 1977 (PDF)
Bryant-Central Co-op facade (image)
Kenneth “Mo” Burton (image)

This Monday, July 13! Join Seward Co-op and other Seward members at Fair State Brewing Cooperative for happy hour 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. Bring your Seward ownership card and enjoy a beer at half-price (one per person).

Did you know Fair State Brewing is a co-op just like Seward? They have membership, a board of directors, and an annual election, just like we do. The one big difference?

THEY HAVE BEER.

Case in point, we’re particularly excited to try Fair State’s Hefeweizen, if it’s still available. City Pages calls this beer “a great addition to the local scene!”

So join let’s get a mob of Seward owners over at Fair State and get some co-operating done.

WHERE: 2506 Central Avenue Nordeast Minneapolis
WHEN: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. Monday, July 13

WHY: Well. Co-operation among co-ops IS a key principle…

Wirth Grocery Co-op Board of Directors

Wirth Grocery Co-op isn’t a brick-and-mortar store yet, but they’ve announced a location, 500+ owner-members have already signed up, and Seward shoppers donated nearly $20,000 in “SEED money” to the new co-op in May 2015, by rounding up at Seward Co-op registers.

Wirth Board members attended a small ceremony at Seward yesterday so that a check could be presented by our cashiers and other staff for the SEED total.

Seward cashiers have championed SEED and made it into a major force for food-related non-profits, food shelves, and co-operative efforts like Wirth Co-op in Minneapolis. We were all very excited to present this check to Wirth Co-op!

The new co-op will be located at Golden Valley Rd and Penn Avenue N., in the Willard-Hay neighborhood of North Minneapolis (Google Map).

Seward picks a new SEED recipient month. The SEED recipient for June is the Brian Coyle Food Shelf. Check out their website to learn more about this great community food shelf.

Spring is moving quickly this year. Availability lists from local farms have been getting longer each week with the help of greenhouses and warm, wet weather giving plants a little boost.

We’ve already had a few deliveries of green and red tomatoes from Wisconsin Growers Co-operative (Mondovi, Wis) which taste more like summer than early spring. Rhubarb, scallions, and bunched radishes are reliably locally grown. And each week more varieties of bunched fresh herbs arrive – tarragon, chives, garlic chives, mint, and lemon balm are just the first of many that will be available throughout the growing season.

Our selection of local bulk greens has also become more diverse and delicious with a bin each of Heartbeet Farm’s (Zumbro Falls, Minn) arugula and a spicy mix of baby arugula, mizuna, and mustard greens offered alongside local spring mix and spinach. Heartbeet has also been delivering limited quantities of rainbow chard and we received our first delivery from Featherstone Farm (Rushford, Minn) the first week of June with beautiful heads of romaine, green, and red leaf lettuce.

Multiple local growers have been keeping us in steady supply of asparagus and in the past few weeks have received deliveries of tangy, citrusy French sorrel from Garden Farme (Ramsey, Minn).

After months of citrus, the fruit selection is becoming more interesting as well. We are often cautious when stone fruit arrives as the first taste can set the tone for the entire season. If the first fruits are mealy and bland, folks might be apprehensive to make a repeat purchase. Luckily, this year the early harvests have been delightful – the nectarines in particular, both yellow and white, are fragrant with a rich, honeyed flavor and smooth, juicy flesh.

This time of year it is easy to build salads. A recent favorite of mine starts with a base of Heartbeet spicy salad mix. Add thinly sliced radishes and scallions, roughly torn leaves of mint and fava beans (shelled, blanched, and skins removed). Shave on a few slices of pecorino and finish with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkle of flaky salt and freshly ground pepper.

I have also been enjoying a composed salad of asparagus, blanched and refreshed, tossed in a sorrel infused butter, topped with a poached egg, and garnished with finely chopped sorrel and tarragon.

While nectarines are delicious eaten out of hand or in a dessert, they can also really star in a savory salad – especially when grilled. Halve yellow nectarines, brush with olive oil, and place flesh side down on the grill. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. Toss spring mix or arugula in a honey mustard vinaigrette (teaspoon honey, teaspoon Dijon mustard, teaspoon white wine vinegar, ½ cup olive oil, salt, pepper – taste and adjust), add toasted sliced almonds, crumble on feta or goat cheese, then place the grilled halves on top and finish with flaky sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Know Our Grower featuring Keewaydin Farms

Keewaydin Farms, founded in 1976 by Richard and Mary Haucke, is now run by their son, Rufus Haucke (above) with help from his children Karma and Aurora (in Rufus’s lap).

Previously a dairy farm run with sustainable practices, the farm is now a MOSA-certified organic vegetable operation. Rufus and his family raise 15 acres of produce for wholesale markets and a Community Supported Agriculture program.

Located in beautiful rural Southwestern Wisconsin, Keewaydin Farms enjoys the serenity found only in the quietest places. It is a place where the scenery nourishes the soul, and the bounty of the farm nourishes the body. In these times of global markets, Keewaydin Farms is rooted in providing high quality products to its local community, because they believe these products are not only better for the planet as a whole but that people who eat locally grown products are eating healthier, better-tasting goods.

Keewaydin Farms’ Organic Rhubarb is in stock at Seward Co-op (June 2, 2015)