United Natural Trading LLC dba/ Woodstock Farms Manufacturing is recalling bulk cases of Rice Cracker Mix because they may contain undeclared peanuts. People who have allergies to peanuts run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.

All recalled product has been removed from Seward Co-op shelves. Affected product was potentially sold between July 20 and October 20, 2014, with the following barcode numbers (or “PLU’s”), weights, and price per pound:

PLU 2294, Woodstock Farms Bulk Rice Cracker Mix, $6.49/lb.

Recalled products will be fully refunded at our Customer Service desk.

Seward Co-op’s Education and Outreach Coordinator LaDonna Sanders-Redmond was on Fox 9 this morning, sharing a collard greens recipe for National Co-op Month.

Great tips from LaDonna on cooking greens and how to get the texture just right. Recipe here on the Fox News site.

With a Honey Cashew Chicken recipe and scrumptious dish in hand, Seward Co-op’s Tom Vogel (Marketing Manager) and Ladonna Sanders-Redmond (Education and Outreach Coordinator) went on Kare11-TV yesterday to talk co-ops, Equal Exchange cashews, and our Friendship store expansion.

As an important source of protein, an alternative to peanuts for those with allergies, and a unique ingredient for many traditional dishes, cashews are a key staple sold at Seward Co-op. Cashews are so popular with Seward customers, in fact, that we’ve sold over $56,000 worth since the beginning of 2014.

So when our long-time partner in sourcing international food, Equal Exchange, asked us to lend a hand to a cashew-growing partner in El Salvador, Seward agreed to help.

“We look to Equal Exchange to find and vet internationally traded product,” said Tom Vogel, Seward’s marketing manager. “So when they tell us about a small producer in peril and ask for help, we consider that a worthwhile cause.”

Equal Exchange has resided in Seward Co-op’s coffee aisle for almost 30 years. In 1987, they were the very first company to make a “fair trade” claim on coffee in the United States, and today they continue to innovate, making inroads to U.S. markets for small farmers who wouldn’t otherwise have access.

Equal Exchange continues to innovate, proposing to raise $200,000 over a five-year period for Aprainores — a cashew producer cooperative of 62 farming families in El Salvador — and help strengthen the productive capacity of the cashew cooperative as a whole.

Aprainores drew Equal Exchange’s attention because its story is particularly harsh. After the end of the Salvadoran Civil War in 1992, the cashew cooperative was formed. It did well selling to various fair trade groups, but in 2005, found itself $350,000 in debt after serious malfeasance by its managing director. Today, after almost 10 years of barely treading water, the co-op’s farmers are in dire need of upgrading their operations, in addition to being saddled with massive debt. Adding insult to injury, a devastating storm wiped out their crops earlier this year.

Phyllis Robinson of Equal Exchange was present in El Salvador when Aprainores’s new General Manager, Alex Flores, explained to the co-op farmers that it would be another year without profits.

“He reminded them that much of their hardship was due to the significant debt they were carrying,” Robinson said. “Nevertheless, he tried to encourage them. In seven years, they had paid off more than two-thirds of the debt; a few more years and they would be in the clear.”

After meeting personally with co-op management and taking a look at their books, Equal Exchange believed Flores was correct. By 2012, under his skilled guidance, the co-op’s 55 producer members had consolidated, fair trade and organic certifications were earned, and they’d purchased a processing plant that now employs 30. Furthermore, demand for cashews in the international market vastly outstrips supply.

With all this in mind, Equal Exchange began organizing food co-ops in the United States to join them in helping Aprainores over the next five years.

“We would like to invite 15 of our most committed and loyal food co-op and natural food store partners to join with us to help. Through this project,” Equal Exchange said in a statement to potential grocery co-op partners, “our goal is to increase the amount of cashews available for export [from Aprainores] by 33 percent.”

As a co-op thoroughly dedicated to the sixth principle of cooperation (cooperation among co-ops), Seward has decided to join the project as one of the 15 “loyal food co-ops.”

“This is a great example of co-ops working together to strengthen an international farmer co-op and tell Aprainores’ story to our owners,” Vogel said. “It’s also a wonderful way to demonstrate the potential impact of cooperation during Co-op Month.”

Seward owners can take part in the project as well. From October to December, Equal Exchange will donate 50 cents per pound on Aprainores cashews sold at our store, and Seward Co-op will also donate 50 cents per pound.

“We have only just begun this work, and we are so excited and so proud of the enthusiasm and the commitment we have received already,” Robinson said. “Hats off to Berkshire Co-op Market [Massachusetts], River Valley Market [Massachusetts], Weaver’s Street Market [North Carolina], and Seward Community Co-op for being the first food co-ops to understand the value of this initiative and give us a resounding ‘Yes.’”

Photo: Aprainores Cashew Co-op farmer courtesy Equal Exchange.

Love GMOs? Then Label ‘Em!

A coalition called Right to Know Minnesota (RTK-MN) has organized a campaign supporting passage of a labeling bill to require foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to be labeled as such. This joins with over two dozen other state initiatives for GMO labeling and 64 countries that currently label. RTK-MN members include state representatives, farmers, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, food co-ops, chefs, the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota, and a variety of environmental organizations. While there are varying views about GMOs among members, we all respectfully agree that they should be labeled.

According to recent national surveys done by Neilson, “GMO-free” is the fastest growing health and wellness claim among stores’ private labels, and a 2010 Thomson-Reuters poll found that over 90 percent of Americans want genetically modified foods to be labeled. With this kind of citizen support, Minnesota is well-positioned to become a national leader in the fight for transparency in food labeling.

Minnesota’s 2015 legislative session will include discussion of H.F. 3140 and S.F. 2865, bills that would mandate the labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. These bills are sure to be controversial, as they pit the interests of consumers and health/environmental advocates against those of large-scale agribusiness and the biotechnology industry.

Stay informed about the latest on these bills by following Right to Know Minnesota on Facebook, Twitter and sign up for alerts here. Also, on the RTK-MN website: find a voter guide with information where about candidates stand on GMO labeling. See if your candidate(s) answered and what they said.

In support of this action, Seward Co-op is:
• A Right to Know Minnesota coalition member.
• A supporting retailer of the Non-GMO Project.
• A partner in the Just Label It campaign.

Seward Co-op’s product standards include a specific statement about prioritizing non-GMO-verified products.

At Seward Co-op: GMO Right to Know Event
Saturday, Oct. 18, noon–4 p.m.

On Saturday, Oct. 18, join us in recognizing GMO Right to Know Month by learning about the co-op’s relationship with the GMO labeling movement. Meet Right to Know Minnesota board member and Birchwood Café owner, Tracy Singleton, and sample Birchwood’s amazing, non-GMO-verified granola with Kalona organic yogurt. Also, say hello to local, small-scale producer Kadejan, while sampling their free-range chicken and learning about their effort to raise money to build an on-property mill to process non-GMO feed.

On August 6, 2014, Seward Co-op General Manager Sean Doyle wrote a letter to Michael Potter CEO of Eden Foods in regards to the company’s widespread public controversy (there’s a decent synopsis of the issue in this CNN op-ed) and Eden Foods’ falling sales at Seward Co-op. Sean Doyle’s letter can be read here.

Below is a response from Demian Potter, Vice President of Sales at Eden Foods.

19 August 2014
Mr. Sean Doyle, General Manager
Seward Co-op
2823 East Franklin Avenue
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406

Re: Seward Co-op’s letter to Eden Foods postmarked 6 August 2014

Mr. Sean Doyle,

Thank you for contacting us and for sharing. Like you, we have received an energetic response as a result of frequent and dramatic mischaracterizations of Eden Foods relative to a recent decision by the Supreme Court. We regret that you, your staff, and your co-op have been affected by this. We would love to see people become so motivated in support of organic agriculture and toward the improvement of our nation’s food system, goals we share.

After nearly half a century of pioneering work in support of organic food and agriculture Eden Foods remains one of few independent food companies leading our industry in authentic organic food, BPA-Free can linings, and Non-GMO food.

While it is impossible to address all things that our action is not, Eden Foods provided statements offering clarity. You may find facts therein contradicting characterizations presented in your letter.

Eden Foods issued the attached statement 11 July 2014.

On 3 July 2014 we posted the following on our social media platforms:
Clinton, Michigan- Eden Foods is a principled food company. We were convinced that actions of the federal government were illegal, and so filed a formal objection. The recent Supreme Court decision confirms, at least in part, that we were correct. We realized in making our objection that it would give rise to grotesque mischaracterizations and fallacious arguments. We did not fully anticipate the degree of maliciousness and corruption that would visit us. Nevertheless, we believe we did what we should have.

The objection we filed has never been part of the Hobby Lobby lawsuit.

Eden Foods provided a letter last year in response to feedback we received after news of our objection to mandates in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A link to that letter is here.

I hope Eden Foods’ statements are helpful in clearing up misconceptions. We invite you to share them as you deem appropriate.

Thank you for your pragmatic response. We appreciate the merchandising you provide Eden food and value being part of, and a contributor to growth at Seward Co-op. Please let me know how I might be of service.

Very truly yours,

Demian Potter
Vice President Sales

Sunflowers, Wild Yeasts, and Red Turkey Wheat Flour

Bread baking is said to be a winter activity, but actually, you may find that loaves turn out better in warmer weather.

I once had a fellow bread-baking buddy who swore by baking bread in summer and early autumn. I wasn’t convinced, but he’d wave his hand at me as if something smelled bad when I said I loved eating warm bread in winter.

“No, no, no, you have to make bread when the air is full of wild yeasts,” he’d say, and his eyes would bug out in manic glee. “They’re all dead in the middle of winter. Summer breads have so much more bounce!”

I think he was right. Every bread I’ve ever baked in the summertime naturally had more lift and, yes, even tasted better. Grainier and more flavorful.

For P6 Month, give this recipe a try, bakers of bread. It was written to maximize P6 ingredients, like Sunrise Flour Mill’s Turkey Red Heritage Wheat flour (in the Bulk department). This is a real treat for bread bakers, a chance to knead dough like the German-Russian immigrants from the Ukraine who brought Turkey Red wheat seeds to Kansas more than 200 years ago. Turkey Red is very different from our modern, industrialized wheat strains. It has a deeper root system for pulling in more nutrients to this taller wheat plant. I think you’ll taste the difference immediately.

This recipe also includes Driftless Organics’ Sunflower Oil, available in both the Bulk and Grocery aisles. This is an underrated, healthful, local oil, cold-pressed (which preserved nutritional integrity), unrefined, and adds a delicious nuttiness, which complements the Turkey Red flour (and wild yeasts) perfectly.

So not only is this a terrific loaf of bread, it’s also the perfect way to celebrate those farmers and producers who share your version of a smaller, more localized, and cooperative food system.

Summer Red Turkey Bread

“Starter”
2 tsp. instant yeast
2 Tbsp. Ames Farm honey (bulk)
¾ cup water

Wet Ingredients
1 cup lukewarm water
I egg, whisked
1 Tbsp. organic orange juice
2 Tbsp. Driftless Organics Sunflower Oil

Dry Ingredients
1 ½ tsp. salt
6 cups Sunrise Mills Red Turkey Whole Wheat Flour

Mixing

Mix the “starter.” This isn’t starter, as in, sourdough starter. It’s just how you’ll get the dried yeast started (i.e., activated). Make sure the water is warm but not hot to the touch or you’ll kill the yeast. The yeast is activated after it begins eating the sugars in the honey and, when fully activated, forms a nice, foamy head atop the water.

While the yeast is getting ready, add the salt to the flour and sift thoroughly in a large mixing bowl. Form a well in the middle of the flour.

Once yeast is fully activated, pour starter into wet ingredients and give it one or two gentle stirs, then pour that mixture into the well. Slowly stir flour into the wet mixture until it starts to turn stiff and sticky. (Add flour if too sticky or water if it’s dry and stiff.) Turn out dough onto a floured tabletop and knead steadily for 15 minutes.

Let the dough rise for two hours at room temperature. It should roughly double in size. Turn out and beat out all the gas bubbles. Let rise for another hour then turn it out again.

Shaping and Baking

Butter or oil an 8.5″ x 4.5″ bread pan or form into two rounds. To properly shape the loaves for sandwiches, stretch, fold, and other wise tuck the dough into an oblong, slightly football-shaped “loaf” that’s narrow enough to fit into your loaf pan. Form loaves with the crease on the underside of the dough (very important).

Let loaves rise for 30 more minutes.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake 45–55 minutes (longer if the loaves were wetter, a bit shorter if drier).

* Photo by Karl Gerstenberger

A consistent complaint about the organic and sustainable food market is price. Seward Co-op is too small a store to correct market realities single-handedly, but we do believe in making economic relationships in our co-op as equal as possible.

So we created “Nourish,” a program aimed at making healthy foods and buying co-op ownership more accessible for everyone.

So, Nourish is for YOU, if you:

• Want to save money shopping at Seward Co-op.

• Would like to cook great recipes that feed four — for $10 or less!

• Would like to attend free “Nourish 101” classes to discover healthier eating.

• Value simple living and getting back to basics.

We want to welcome folks to Nourish especially if you…

• Receive federal dollars for groceries.

• Want to buy ownership to the co-op but live on a very limited budget.

Here’s how you can take part in Nourish:

• Pick up a list of Nourish Staples (available at Customer Service) showing all the Nourish items in the store.

• Look for the white-on-green Nourish “N,” highlighting Nourish staples. These are some of the best values for your dollar.

• Try a Nourish recipe. These are easy to make, feed four, and priced under $10 (under $15, if the recipe includes meat.)

• Check out seward.coop’s calendar for opportunities to sample Nourish recipes at the store.

• Sign up at Customer Service for a Nourish class or check the website to see which classes are available. They’re free for everyone!

• All co-op shoppers who have financial need may apply for our everyday needs-based discount of 10% (previously 5%). Visit Customer Service to apply.

Stop by Seward Co-op on Saturday, September 6, for our big Nourish Kickoff!