The Sioux Chef works to educate and make indigenous foods more accessible. Attend this year’s Annual Owner Meeting Tuesday, Oct. 30, 6-8 p.m., at the University of Minnesota’s student union, to enjoy a meal designed by founder and CEO chef Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota) and executed by Seward Co-op Creamery Café. The results of the board election will be announced, as will our 2019 Community Choice SEED grant recipients.

Informed by The Sioux Chef’s mission to re-identify what is recognized as North American food, the dinner will feature indigenous foods and ingredients native to this region. Expect fruit, vegetables, meat, foraged ingredients and no sugar, gluten, wheat or dairy. Vegan and vegetarian options will be available.

While Sean is sometimes misidentified as The Sioux Chef, the name actually refers to the entire team. The Sioux Chef is a group of Anishinaabe, Mdewakanton Dakota, Navajo, Northern Cheyenne, Oglala Lakota and Wahpeton-Sisseton Dakota. The team includes chefs, ethnobotanists, food preservationists, adventurers, foragers, caterers, event planners, artists, musicians, food truckers and food lovers.

Tickets for the Annual Owner Meeting are $5 in advance or $15 at the door. Children (5-12): $3; Children 4 and under are admitted for free.

Menu
Roasted Native Harvest Veg with Maple + Pepita
Wild Rice Salad
Hominy and Squash Soup
Smoked Turkey + Sunchoke (Vegan Option is Smoked Forest Mushrooms + Sunchoke)
Sweet Blue Corn Pudding + Dried Fruit + Berries

The menu is naturally free of gluten, dairy, soy, processed sugar, beef, pork and chicken. Vegan and vegetarian options available.

Purchase tickets via Eventbrite.

A Leader in the Indigenous Foods Movement

Sean has been cooking across the United States and Mexico over the past 30 years. He is internationally renowned in the culinary movement of indigenous foods.

In 2014, he opened The Sioux Chef as a caterer and food educator in the Twin Cities area. He and his business partner, Dana Thompson (Wahpeton-Sisseton/Mdewakanton Dakota), also created the Tatanka Truck, a food truck featuring pre-contact foods of the Dakota and Minnesota territories.

In October 2017, Sean and his team performed the first decolonized dinner at the James Beard House in Manhattan. His first book, “The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen,” earned the James Beard medal for Best American Cookbook for 2018.

This year, Sean was selected as a Bush Fellow. The Sioux Chef team of 12 people continues to spread their mission to as many communities as possible through their recently founded nonprofit NATIFS.

Why The Sioux Chef?
Seward Co-op hosted Tunde Wey at the 2017 Annual Owner Meeting. Tunde is a Nigerian chef who led staff in the preparation of a Nigerian meal and a discussion with LaDonna Sanders Redmond, the co-op’s diversity and community engagement manager, about Blackness, immigration and labor in America. This year, Sanders Redmond wanted to go deeper—into the impact of white supremacy on Indigenous people. She invited Sean and The Sioux Chef team to design the menu and offer teachings on indigenous food sovereignty.

Come meet the farmers who grow our food! Wisconsin Growers Co-op will be providing samples of their sweet potatoes Saturday, Oct. 6, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at the Franklin store as part of our Know Our Grower series.

About Wisconsin Growers Co-op
Wisconsin Growers Co-op was founded in 2006 to help 20 families maintain ownership of their farms. Its members are dedicated to the idea that if farmers take “good care of the soil, the soil will pay back with high-quality produce.”

This mindset has proven effective; Wisconsin Growers often brings us produce all year long, from greenhouse radishes at the first sight of spring clear around the calendar to over-wintered parsnips.

The key to the longevity of their growing season are labor-intensive, fossil fuel-free farming methods. On nearly 40 acres of the co-op’s land, these farmers plant, tend, and harvest crops exclusively using horses, horse machinery, and hand tools.

Local businesses and entrepreneurs showcased their efforts at the Powderhorn Shark Tank at Powderhorn Park on Saturday, May 19. Attendees shopped local goods at the marketplace, grabbed free samples and voted for one of the 15 finalists.

Seward Community Co-op was one of the sponsors of the event and provided special prizes to support finalists using a cooperative or collaborative business structure. The two winners of the Seward Co-op prize for proposals with a cooperative or collaborative business structure were: Support Local Hustle ($100 Seward Co-op Creamery Cafe gift card) in the emerging business category and Fortress of the Arts ($50 Seward Co-op Creamery Cafe gift card).

The Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association gave away over $8,000 in prizes to small businesses. The event sponsors were Seward Community Co-op, U.S. Bank and AM950Radio. Learn more at www.ppna.org/powderhornsharktank.

On April 17, Traditional Medicinals announced a voluntary recall of its Throat Coat Lemon Echinacea Tea. An ingredient within this product tested positive for Salmonella in the samples retained by the supplier. Salmonella was not detected in Traditional Medicinals testing of this lot or in this product. However, out of an abundance of caution, they are recalling this product. No illnesses have been reported to date. Seward Co-op does not currently have affected product on the shelf, but could have sold affected product between Jan. 30—April 17, 2018.

Traditional Medicinals
Throat Coat Lemon Echinacea Tea
UPC: 3291700159
Lot Number: 19482

If you purchased this product at Seward Co-op between Jan. 30—April 17, 2018, it will be fully refunded at either our Franklin or Friendship store Customer Service desk.

Take Action: call Governor Dayton and ask for his commitment to VETO any packaging preemption bills.

Seward Co-op opposes preemption on single-use packaging fees and sustainable to go food containers. We’ve joined a large community of neighbors, local officials, environmental justice activists, public health advocates, businesses, and restaurants to stand together and oppose legislative measures seeking to prohibit cities’ authority to reduce packaging waste. (See full list of coalition members at right.)

• Eureka Recycling
• Seward Community Co-op
• Women’s Congress for Future Generations
• Environment Minnesota
• Minneapolis Climate Action
• Sierra Club North Star Chapter
• Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Seward Co-op supports the City of Minneapolis regarding ordinances like Green To Go and in any efforts that encourage more sustainable choices. We believe that the State should not revoke municipal movements towards environmental sustainability. Join us by asking MN Governor Mark Dayton to veto packaging preemption bills no matter where they show up. Cities should have the ability to respond to the needs of their community members and that includes regulating unsafe/unhealthy packaging and products that can harm people in their communities and their environment. Based on what we learned last year, we anticipate these measures to be added to omnibus bills that will be passed by the House and Senate, so we need the Governor’s commitment to oppose these measures.

Please call Governor Dayton and ask him to veto ALL packaging preemption bills: 651-201-3400

SF 3253/ HF 3814 would prohibit a fee on single-use bags or any problem food, beverage, or food/beverage packaging, but also prohibits going to the legislature to ask for a tax (money that would go to the city to support programs like litter cleanup) on problem food, beverages, or food/beverage packaging. We are expecting this will show up in the tax omnibus bill.

HF 3606/ SF 3135 would prohibit the regulation of single-use food and beverage containers and would overturn Minneapolis and St. Louis Park’s “to-go” packaging ordinances as well as not allow a city to place a fee on single-use bags. This bill has passed through the House Government Operations and Elections Policy Committee and we are watching for where it goes next.

Seward Co-op’s primary partner in this legislative advocacy is Eureka Recycling. Please reach out to Allison at Seward: 612.436.4043 or Megan at Eureka: 612-490-2900 with questions.
Thanks for joining us!

On March 15, Izzy’s announced a voluntary recall of Maple Nut ice cream pints because their nut distributor cross contaminated walnuts and peanuts. Seward Co-op does not currently have affected product on the shelf, but may have sold it between Dec. 16, 2017—March 16, 2018.

Izzy’s Maple Nut ice cream pints, $7.79, with the following lot numbers:

18012729
18024706
18025206
18028806
18020312
18028819
18020327

If you purchased any of these products at Seward Co-op between Dec. 16, 2017—March 16, 2018, they will be fully refunded at either our Franklin or Friendship store Customer Service desk.

Construction season is upon us in Minnesota, and this year the Bryant-Central neighborhoods are no exception. In March, the 38th Street Bridge closed and is scheduled to reopen mid summer 2018. We’ve provided detour routes for bicycles and cars below. We aren’t letting a little construction get us down, and neither should you—take the scenic route and check out the great locally-grown foods Seward Co-op has to offer!