March 2014 Newsletter

THE GREENE HILL FOOD COOP - MARCH 2013 NEWSLETTER

In this issue Relief: Spring is on its way! With spring will come great produce and more chances to shop during our new Sunday hours. Help us plan how to staff them at our next general meeting. It’s also time once again to add members to our board and choose a secretary. Will it be you? Don’t forget to invite your friends and neighbors to shop on March 22nd, and pick up a free tree in our backyard. Learn how to make a great chili with cool beans, and how you can start getting your seafood at the Co-op. Finally, check out our interview with the farmer behind our new eggs from pastured chickens, and find new ways to fulfill your work shift.

Greene Hill News Next General Meeting: Thursday, March 27th 7-9pm South Oxford Space (138 S. Oxford St., between Hanson Pl. and Atlantic Ave.) Join us on Thursday, March 27th, at 138 South Oxford St. from 7-9pm for our next GM - you’ll get work credit, have a chance to bring up your burning questions about how the store works, and participate in running your Co-op. And save the date for the subsequent meeting on April 29th. At the March meeting, we will discuss our Sunday-hours survey results and pick a start date for Sunday openings in April. We’ll also discuss possible staffing structures to get Sundays successfully off the ground. (We’ll consider some different ideas: staffing a Sunday directly with interested members, or offering shift-banking opportunities for current members, and/or trying an approach that may help deactivated members get back on board.) Allison and Nick will coordinate. We welcome your interest, input, and availability to help with this BIG exciting step! Please come to our General Meeting to show your support, or be in touch by emailing membership@greenehillfood.coop, or stop by and talk to us at the Store. For more on what will be up for discussion, check out the meeting agenda. Elections to the Board of Directors will take place on April 29 Have you been a member of the Co-op for over a year? Are you looking to get more involved in the leadership of the organization? The Co-op is looking for a few new members to serve on the Board of Directors and a new secretary. Membership on the board means that you will be taking a very active role in the business of the Co-op, and of course you get work credit for your time. See the “Help Wanted” section below for details. Shift Leader Training on April 6th Our next shift leader training will be Sunday, April 6th, at 4pm. The focus of this meeting will be to get new shift leaders up and running for Sunday shopping hours later in April. All shift leaders and future shift leaders welcome. Please RSVP to Allison@greenehillfood.coop. The operations committee is back up and running The ops committee helps to ensure that our store is clean, organized, and smoothly running. If you are interested in joining and/or attending a meeting, email ops@greenehillfood.coop.

Events Saturday March 22 Open Shopping Day & Free Tree Giveaway Are you or someone you know not yet a Greene Hill member? Looking to spruce up your lawn, schoolyard, or community garden? Curious about composting? Come join us on Saturday March 22nd! The store will be open to everyone, whether or not you are a member, all day long (10am-4pm). That same day in the backyard from 10am-12pm, we are giving away 100 free trees in partnership with the Million Tree Project, plus doing a composting workshop. Learn more about the tree giveaway or register for a tree in advance. Questions? Would you like to help unload trees or assist with tabling during the event? Contact the Events Committee at events@greenehillfood.coop Check out the Facebook event and invite your friends. Sunday hours survey needs your input! We so appreciate the 300+ responses we've received to date to help determine our new Sunday opening hours. If you have not yet voted either online or in the store, please do so via this link by Monday, March 24. Seeking neighborhood food lore Co-op member Sara Cornish is seeking neighborhood stories about food for a grad project. Have a famous family recipe or ghost story from the old chocolate factory? Did you host a legendary block party? Have memories of a now-gone eatery? Stories from folks young and old, new and veteran welcome. Email Sara or come by the Co-op on Saturdays in March to share. Non-members are free to participate too.

Try This at Home: Turkey Chili with Beans WHAT YOU’LL NEED 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 5 cloves garlic, chopped 1 medium yellow onion, chopped 1 1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste) 2 tsp chili powder 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tbsp tomato paste 1 tbsp sriracha sauce (or to taste) 1 lb ground pastured turkey 12 oz. chicken broth 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 (14 1/2 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes, with juice 1 cup adzuki or other dried legumes (or 1 can beans, rinsed and drained) garnish: avocado and cilantro WHAT YOU’LL DO If using dried beans, soak overnight or at least 2 hours, then Rinse and drain. Heat olive oil in a pan over low to medium heat. Add onion, garlic, salt, chili powder and oregano and saute until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and sriracha sauce and cook for another minute. Add the ground turkey and break up with a wooden spoon, and cook until meat is no longer raw. Add the chicken broth and apple cider vinegar and simmer for about 10 minutes. Mix in canned tomatoes and beans, breaking up the tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Lower to simmer. If using canned beans, cook for 15 minutes more; if soaked dry beans, cook covered for 45 minutes and then uncovered for 15 more or until beans are tender. Ladle chili into bowls and serve topped with avocado and cilantro or whatever garnishes you choose. Why adzuki beans? According to Dr. Andrew Weill’s website, adzuki beans are often referred to as the “weight loss bean” because they are so low in calories and yet so high in nutrition. They are a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese and B vitamins. In addition, because they are much easier to digest than most other beans, you will experience less flatulence....always a good thing!

Product Spotlight: How to Get Your Seafood at the Coop For the past year, on Saturdays between 1:30 and 3:30, the Mermaid's Garden Community Supported Fishery (CSF) has been distributing fresh seafood at the Co-op. Much like a CSA functions for farmers, CSF is a model that connects fish eaters to fishermen. Participants commit to an agreed upon season, during which they receive regular “shares” of fresh fish. CSFs seek to reconnect coastal communities to their food system, promote sustainable fishing practices, and strengthen relationships between fishermen and the people they feed. The main forces behind Mermaid's Garden are Bianca Piccillo and Mark Usewicz. Bianca's background is in marine biology, and Mark has a culinary education. Mermaid's Garden offers a wonderful array of of local Long Island and New England fishes year round: Black Bass, Bluefish, Haddock, Hake, Monkfish, Pollock, Porgy, Skate, Striped Bass, Summer Flounder, Redfish, Swordfish, Tilefish, Tuna, Wreckfish and more. Winter shares also include Southern Atlantic and Gulf fishes, like Cobia, Drums, Groupers, Mahi Mahi, Mullet, Snappers, Triggerfish and Wahoo. Members can subscribe to weekly shares, either half-shares (1-1.25 lbs/week) for $66/month or full shares (2-2.5 lbs/week) for $132 per month. They also offer weekly specials of different kinds of shellfish: shrimp, oysters, mussels, razor clams, to name just a few. Want to know more? Visit Mermaid’s Garden online to find out how to join and get fresh, delicious, local, sustainable fish.

The Co-op Q&A: John Stoltzfoos of Millport Dairy This month's interview is with John Stoltzfoos, who raises hens for their eggs at Millport Dairy in Lancaster, PA. We recently started carrying their pastured eggs; they have delightful bright yellow — almost orange — yolks. John is pictured at home with his son and some of the chickens they raise. You’ll also find him at the Union Square market on Wednesdays and Fridays. Q: Where are you from and where do you farm? A: I was born and raised in Lancaster, PA, where we have the farm, Millport Dairy. Q: When did you start farming? A: I was born on a farm and now work on a farm. And you know how that is — you work your way through. Millport Dairy is my uncle's farm, John King. I help him make the cheese. Q: At The Co-op, we just started carrying Millport Dairy's eggs. Can you tell us a little bit about your chickens? A: Our chickens are pastured, with no hormones and no antibiotics — they are all natural. They eat bugs, worms, grass, corn wheat and oats. We have 2000 of them, but they don't all run together: we have 4 pastures with about 400-500 hens per pasture. Q: What kind of chickens do you have? A: Red Sex Link chickens. (They are the result of crossing two heritage chicken breeds — the pure Rhode Island Red Chicken rooster with a Delaware Chicken hen.) Q: What are some things that make your farm sustainable? A: We're just a small farm, versus a commercialized one: we don't use antibiotics and stuff like that. We let our animals do a lot of grazing. It's more of a natural process. Animals live outside instead of in a cage or inside a barn. A lot of people raise their animals in barns and call them "free range," but they're only roaming inside a barn. We believe that animals need to get outside and get some fresh air. Q: What other animals do you raise? A: We have horses on the farm, who help us with tilling, planting, harvesting. We also have pigs, steers, and cows that provide us with raw milk for cheese. Q: If Co-op members wish to purchase some of your cheeses, beef, pork, canned goods, and baked goods, where can they find you? A: We are at Union Square on Wednesdays and Fridays, Dag Hammerskjold Plaza on Wednesdays, Columbia on Thursdays, 97th St on Fridays, Brooklyn Borough Hall on Saturdays, and Union Square and Tribeca on Saturdays.

Help Wanted: Work & Shift Opportunities All members work a 2 hour shift every 4 weeks. It's part of being a member /owner. Here are some opportunities to earn work credit. Board of Directors seeks two members and a Secretary Have you been a member of the Co-op for over a year? Are you looking to get more involved in the leadership of the organization? The Co-op is looking for a few new members of the Board of Directors and a new Secretary. Membership on the board means that you will be taking a very active role in the business of the Co-op, and you get work credit for your time. The Board of Directors oversees the monthly general meetings and helps to see through to action any decisions made by the membership. The directors are expected to attend the meetings as often as possible to ensure a quorum. They may also meet outside of the general meetings to discuss and take action on important topics. The Secretary is responsible for ensuring that minutes are taken at the monthly general meetings and at board meetings, and ensuring that they are kept in a safe, accessible repository, and posted on the Co-op’s website. The Secretary is not required to attend every monthly meeting and board meeting, however, s/he is responsible for delegating the task of minute-taking to another individual s/he cannot be present. To be the Secretary you must be a member in good standing with the Co-op. To be a director you must be a member in good standing with a minimum of one year of membership. So if this is you, and you would like to become more involved in the workings of the Co-op, send an email to governance@greenehillfood.coop with a bit of explanation about any experience that you might have that would make you a good candidate for the GHFC Board of Directors. Good luck! Events Committee needs your help Love to party? Need to make up additional hours? Shifts at the store not for you? Come help the Events Committee plan the May 9th Film Screening and other happenings. Minimal meetings are involved and most work is done from home. We also need volunteers during the events. Please get in touch no matter how many or few the number of hours you can commit. As a bonus, you'll get to meet some cool co-members! Email events@greenehillfood.coop. New members and board chairs needed on the Governance Committee The Governance Committee needs at least three new members in order to continue to ensure that the Co-op complies with local, state and federal laws, as well as our own by-laws. Regular governance committee member tasks include: Running General Monthly Meetings and the Annual Meeting, and conducting interim Board/officer elections as needed. Assisting with getting necessary permits and licenses. Maximizing our organizational capacity through occasional formal strategic planning meetings, ongoing informal project management efforts, and a variety of process suggestions. Getting answers to legal issue questions as they arise. Above all, finding 1-2 new co-chairs. Contact us at governance@greenehillfood.coop. Office Work Available Interested in doing some office work at the store? One of our members is a professional bookkeeper who has 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 Co-op 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. Help Build Our Financial Infrastructure The Finance Committee needs more members with financial experience, and with interest in helping build our business. We need members interested in working more than the minimum two hours every four 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.

Et cetera Credits: Chili photo and recipe by Jill at Crave Health; John Stoltzfoos photo from Local Roots NYC CSA. The Greene Hill Food Co-op Newsletter is edited by (in alphabetical order) Anna Avrekh, Carola Burroughs, Debbie Grossman, and Alexandra Miller. Contact us with any feedback, suggestions, or requests at newsletter@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!