Next General Meeting: Tuesday, January 21

7:00 pm, South Oxford Space (138 S. Oxford St., between Hanson Pl. and Atlantic Ave.)

The General Meeting is the best place to keep on top of what’s going on at our Co-op, and to make your voice heard! This month, the Co-op will consider whether to open on Sundays, discuss the cost of installing refrigeration equipment and crediting member shifts cancelled due to inclement weather, and talk about committee communication. A meeting agenda is available here.

Officers Elected

Nick Collins, president

Renee Bergan, Vice President

Sean Mullane, treasurer

Michael Randazzo, secretary

At the General Meeting held on December 6, members elected officers for the 2013-2014 year. Nick Collins was re-elected president, Renee Bergan was elected vice president, Sean Mullane was re-elected treasurer, and Michael Randazzo was re-elected secretary. Congratulations to all winners and to all who ran, and thank you to the members present to vote at the General Meeting.

Make the Co-op part of your New Year's Resolutions! Are you resolved to eat healthy in 2014? Is supporting small businesses important to you? Make the Co-op part of your New Year's Resolutions by joining today! Greene Hill Food Co-op is your neighborhood source for affordable organic products, locally-sourced meats and produce, delicious dairy goods and more! Get started now!

Already a member? Share your healthy New Year's Resolutions with us in the store or on Facebook. Make the most of your membership this year by shopping, working a shift, attending a General Meeting, or joining a committee. In 2014, we'll be putting together some additional benefits for our members, like discounts at other local businesses. Stay tuned!

New Members’ Orientation

Beginning at the end of January, we will hold monthly orientations for new members. These orientations will provide background on the Co-op, its mission and guiding principles, our pricing and purchasing policies, the work requirement, and a general overview of the Co-op's various functions and capacities and how members fit into all of this. All current members with questions are welcome to attend the first session on Sunday, January 26th. Existing members will be there to answer any questions.

Here is the schedule for orientations for the next six months:

• Sunday, January 26th, 4:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, February 25th, 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, March 30th, 4:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 29th, 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, May 25th, 4:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, June 24th, 7:30 p.m.

New members will be advised of the orientation schedule and should RSVP to membership@greenehillfood.coop.

We also need a projector and screen for use at the Co-op on these dates. If you are able to provide one, please contact membership@greenehillfood.coop as soon as possible.

Winter Co-op Movie Night!

When: Friday, January 24, 2013 at 7:30 pm

Where: The Outpost, 1014 Fulton Street (between Grand and Classon Avenues)

Cost: Free but donations are welcome

Save the date for a screening of No Impact Man, a documentary that follows the New York City-based Beavan family as they abandon their high consumption lifestyle to follow their liberal values. Watch as the family learns first hand what it means to live a no impact life. Stay for a Q&A with Colin Beavan, featured in the film. Co-op members and non-members alike are welcome!

Low on hours? We need volunteers to help with canvassing, tabling, and babysitting for the event. Email events@greenehillfood.coop if you are interested

• High Quality Coconut oil: has antiviral and antibacterial properties; very good for overall skin care. Quality baking soda: promotes alkalinity in the body, very effective at eating bacteria and removing odors. In small amounts mixed with fresh squeezed lemon, baking soda helps fight off the cold and flu.
• Arrowroot/ Organic cornstarch: used to help the body absorb wetness.
• Essential Oils: Used to achieve a pleasurable odor; also, depending on the essential oil used, has health promoting properties. For example, the essential oil of cinnamon (as does regular cinnamon eaten) helps to balance blood sugar.

Ingredients (all available at the Co-op except the essential oils)

• 1/2 cup melted unrefined virgin coconut oil (which corresponds to 4 tablespoons of solid coconut oil)
• 1/3 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup corn starch (non-GMO) or arrowroot
• 10 drops of essential oils (try peppermint and cinnamon or select your favorites) glass jar with lid

Directions

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add the melted coconut oil and essential oils and stir well. You’ll end up with a fragrant paste which should be poured into a jar before it solidifies. (Remember, coconut oil’s natural state is solid).

Leave it to cool naturally before placing it in the fridge for extra solidification. You can keep it at room temperature for easier application but you can also keep it in your fridge. The amounts can be adjusted to make a larger batch as desired.

*The Co-op does not currently carry Essential Oil; price is courtesy of Amazon.

Pierre Andre has his masters in Social Work from New York University. He currently works in a New York City high school as a social worker. He has developed a passion for health after watching his father develop diabetes over 10 years ago. He came to the realization that he needed more information in relation to health. The more information he found on how to avoid this degenerative disease and what daily choices promote health or illness, the less he found pharmaceuticals were necessary. Pierre is trained as a CDC Diabetes Lifestyle Coach. He enjoys sharing information with people to educate them on how their body wants to heal itself.

Q: When did you become a member of Greene Hill Co-op, and what is your role in the Co-op?

A: I have been a Co-op member for less than a year. I started with a general shift--stocking shelves and closing on Mondays--but my role is now to coordinate and maintain our compost.

Q: What is your background in composting?

A: I am a science teacher and have worked to create several food waste systems in schools and community gardens. I helped get the compost pickup started in Fort Greene Park that Grow NYC now runs and has expanded.

Q: What happens to organic waste at the Co-op right now? Do we currently compost?

A: We are composting the spoilage from the produce department, and I will coordinate with Design Build which is planning the yard where it will be used. One of our Co-op members, Jenny Blackwell, who works at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, joined with Design Build folks to get compost bins built for us last spring. We have been working together on the system ever since.

Q: What are our composting goals? Where are we at right now in terms of these goals?

A: I would love to see us ultimately selling finished compost in the store but that will require a bit more of a team to manage the screening and bagging of the compost.

Q: How can members get involved with composting?

A: At this point, we do not currently take household waste at the Co-op, but folks can drop theirs off at most Greenmarkets or compost at home (check the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s website for more info).

I’m not sure how members can be involved in our composting project at this time. There is still a fair amount of development in the yard that needs to happen so I am guessing that someday we will be able to handle more waste from households. The most important thing for members to do right now is to make sure that all waste is chopped thoroughly if they are working the floor/closing up and need to bring out compost during their shift.

URGENT: Projector and Screen Needed!

The Membership Committee needs to borrow a projector and screen for its New Members' Orientation, which will take place in the first half of 2014. If you are able to provide a screen or projector on any of the dates listed, please email membership at membership@greenehillfood.coop.

Note orientation dates: Sun., Jan. 26; Tues., Feb. 25; Sun. March 30; Tues., April 29; Sun., May 25; Tues., June 24.

Join the Newsletter and Work From Anywhere

The newsletter team is looking for two new members to help with coordinating newsletter activities, editing submissions, and covering Co-op happenings. This is a great job for someone who prefers a simple, out-of-store shift that can be done from anywhere. If you’re interested, write us at newsletter@greenehillfood.coop.

Health Coordinator Needed

The Co-op needs a member to take leadership on creating procedures in order to ensure that our store remains clean, healthy and safe! The person will design procedures and create a manual to ensure that healthy practices continue at the store, and will train shift leaders on how to conduct cleanings and inspections. Please email board@greenehillfood.coop if you are interested or have any questions.

Help Rebuild the Membership Relief Council

The Membership Relief Council needs new folks! Are fairness and equity important to you? Are you responsive to emails? The Membership Relief Council was created to help think out and find consensus on policies pertaining to membership dues, household members, and labor. Since its creation, we have successfully discussed and agreed at our General Meetings to implement policies such as general, parental and medical leave as well as amendments to our Apple membership plan.

We are delighted that Erin (former Membership co-chair) has agreed to help facilitate future requests submitted by members, but we need 2-3 members to join Erin to prepare recommendations to be brought to our General Meetings. By joining Membership Relief, you could help the Co-op make important policy decisions (without a big time commitment). If you would like to be part of this process, please email us at membershipreliefcouncil@greenehillfood.coop.

Join the Membership Committee

The Membership Committee needs at least five new members in order to fully staff the membership office shifts in-store, and to accommodate time-sensitive projects. These projects include:

• Finalizing an in-house orientation for new members to be held once a month at the Store, starting in January.
• Incorporating updates to our existing Members Handbook, an important tool for all members.
• Updating the membership portion of the website, and
• Above all, finding 1-2 new co-chairs to join our existing co-chair.

Contact us at membership@greenehillfood.coop.

Current members of the Membership Committee. Please join us!

Office Work Available

Interested in doing some office work at the store? One of our members is a professional bookkeeper who's stepped up to coordinate accounting at the Co-op. She's organized bookkeeping tasks at the store into easy, well-structured steps: handling invoices, entering data into our accounting software, and so on. You'd get all the training and guidance you need, while working at a dedicated Finance desk and computer. And you'd be helping the Greene Hill produce financial statements on a regular basis. You can set your own hours!! Please email finance@greenehillfood.coop if you'd like to join us.

Interested in Building Our Financial Infrastructure?

The Finance Committee needs more members with financial experience, and with interest in helping build our business, that is, members interested in working more than the minimum 2 hours every 4 weeks. Our start-up business still requires a lot of work, as we build up our accounting, budgeting, financial control and forecasting systems. If you'd like to help us build Greene Hill's "financial infrastructure," please email finance@greenehillfood.coop.

Join or follow the Greene Hill Food Co-op!

Interested in joining the Greene Hill Food Co-op? Check out our website to learn about membership, like us on Facebook, or stop by our store at 18 Putnam Ave. (off Grand Ave.) with any questions!