So many cities have successful composting programs—why not Benicia and Vallejo? You may have been asking yourself this question. Or maybe you are unsure of the benefits of city-wide composting programs. It’s all part of the big changes coming our way on January 1, 2022, in an effort to reduce food waste in landfill.
As you may be aware, methane is a greenhouse gas and one of the main contributors to global warming. Our landfills emit plenty of it. The problem is that we allow far too much food waste to enter our landfills. To address this situation, the California Senate passed SB 1383 back in 2016. Now, over five years later, its rules will go into effect for every city and county in California on January 1st.
The bill calls for a 75% reduction of organic waste disposal in landfills by 2025. It also requires the rescue of at least 20% of currently wasted surplus food in the same timeframe. It’s an ambitious goal, and it’s a good thing so many other Bay Area cities are ahead of the curve on this. Now it’s our turn to catch up.
How much food gets thrown away? Shockingly, 40% of the food produced in California alone goes uneaten. 6 million tons of food goes into our landfills and makes up 56% of their content. At the same time, we have urgent food needs in our state, as one in four Californians go to bed hungry. In Solano County alone, it is estimated that up to 15% of our residents are food insecure, including 17% of the children here, who are often ineligible for federal nutrition programs.
Food businesses will be required to donate edible food to local recovery organizations instead of throwing it away. It’s estimated that this could help feed almost all the Californians who don’t have enough to eat.
Add to this the fact that around 45% of Solano County residents have limited access to healthy and affordable food, it makes a lot of sense to open the county’s first food co-op right here.
How will the impact you? If you aren’t already composting your food waste to use in your garden, you’ll now be able to compost it in your green bin. In addition, our cities will be required to use it for renewable energy, mulch, and compost for city green spaces.
For more information, please contact your local haulers and government officials below:
Karkin, Patwin, Miwok, Wintun, Yocha Dehe, Cortina…do you recognize these names? These are some of the people who lived and still live on the lands we now know as Vallejo and Benicia. In fact, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, along with the Kletsel Dehe and Cachil Dehe, have a historic government-to-government agreement and California’s first ever “cultural easement” to protect burial sites at the 15-acre park on the Glen Cove waterfront in Vallejo, part of their traditional ceremonial lands.
However, with the continued decline in diversity of agriculture and traditional Native foods comes a decline in the nutritional quality of our Native community’s diets. Not only that, many of these food traditions are being lost. Sadly, this brings with it many diseases which are becoming far too common, such as obesity and diabetes. Not only that, many of these food and cultural traditions are being lost.
Fortunately, there is a growing awareness of the importance of biodiversity and preserving traditional food sources. Professional Native American chefs are leading the way. Chef Sean Sherman—also known as the Sioux Chef—has written a cookbook and has cooking videos on YouTube. He founded the Indigenous Food Lab educational kitchen to train tribal communities on re-integrating traditional foods into their diets.
At CCFC, we envision having our own educational kitchen with culinary teachers from throughout our incredibly diverse population. This intention is rooted in our co-operative principles, specifically Principle 5 (Education, Training, and Information) and Principle 7 (Concern for the Community). In this setting, our varied, individual communities can learn more about their own traditional foods, and we as a whole can learn more about each other through sharing this knowledge and delicious food. What a delicious way to Cultivate Community!
The wheel of the year continues to turn, and once again we find ourselves at harvest time. Pumpkins are everywhere. But why do we carve them, and where did the name “Jack-O-Lantern” come from?
In 17th century England, the term referred to a man with a lantern; if you didn’t know a man’s name, you might simply call him “Jack.” So, “Jack with the lantern” got condensed into “Jack-O-Lantern.” In turn, this name was given to a natural phenomenon, a flame-like phosphorescence that occurs when plants in marshy areas decay. The glow reminded people of a man with a lantern.
This still doesn’t explain why the name got applied to carved pumpkins. Besides, the original practice in Ireland was to carve creepy faces into hollowed-out turnips and light them with coals to frighten off evil spirits. When immigrants brought this custom to the US, they likely found pumpkins more plentiful, so began using them instead of turnips.
According to Merriam-Webster, there is a theory that the illuminated pumpkins were often set out by young people to scare others. The name for the swampy, glowing phenomenon was probably known in the US, so these ghoulish gourds became known as “Jack-O-Lanterns.”
Whatever you’d like to call them, carved pumpkins are a ubiquitous sign of the season. In order to use your pumpkin for puree, be sure to use a battery-operated votive light instead of an actual candle. It’s much safer and will keep the inside of your pumpkin from getting charred.
Be sure to check out our recipe corner for lots of things to make with your pumpkin!
After our national celebration of workers this weekend, it’s a good time to think about which local organizations in our community are looking for some extra helping hands. Why should we volunteer? It’s not only for the good feeling of helping others.
Without volunteers, many programs that serve the community could not exist. In fact, start-up co-operatives like ours are volunteer-run in the beginning, and have a strong need for volunteers to help us grow our ownership so we can ultimately put “doors on the store”. We like the quote: “You don’t have to steer the ship, just help us paddle!”
There are so many benefits to volunteering. Here are just a few:
Builds Communityand Ends Loneliness and social isolation, which improves mental and physical health, brain function and lowers risk for depression and anxiety. You also improve your immune system.
Builds Bonds and Creates Friends, closer relationships, and better connections with people when you work together.
Reduces stress and improves well-being and self-esteem by giving you an increased sense of purpose.
Promotes Longevity and keeps us young
Provides Better Job Prospects as employers overwhelmingly look favorably on job applicants who have volunteered, and volunteering can often lead to a job, for those who are looking.
Adds Fun to Your Life and can create change on a global scale. It is incredible to think that one person’s efforts can change the life of someone else somewhere in the world. However, the best part, and often overlooked is that volunteering is just plain fun.
Now that you know all the benefits, perhaps you’re considering volunteering and are not sure where to go. Well, we have you covered! Join Community Cultivators, our team of Owner volunteers. Not only do we have our own volunteer opportunities with the co-op at events like the Farmers’ Markets and our upcoming Owners meeting, we also partner with various organizations within our community. This is directly in line with co-op Principle 7: Care for the Community. Please contact Marina at marina@cultivatecommunityfood.coop for more information and to sign up to be a Community Cultivator!
Source: adapted from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/unexpected-benefits-of-volunteering-4132453
You’ve heard the phrase, “the dog days of summer,” but what exactly does that mean? And how on earth does this have anything to do with Co-op Principle #7 (P7)?
The Dog Days of Summer are the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11. They are considered the days of the worst summer heat and humidity, although we can have plenty of hot days into September and even October. We need to be especially aware of our own and our neighbors’ needs, to make sure everyone in our community is safely getting through this heat.
But why are they called the dog days? They coincide with the time of year when Sirius, the Dog Star, rises before the Sun. As the brightest star in the sky besides our Sun, it is easy to find. In fact, in ancient Rome, people believed that the luminescence of Sirius added to the Sun’s power to make the summer heat so uncomfortable (it doesn’t). This celestial activity also coincided with the ancient flooding of the Nile river, on which the ancient Egyptians relied to replenish their parched farmland.
This brings us to Co-operative Principle #7 (P7): Concern for Community. This means that as a co-operative, we work for the sustainable development of our co-op and our community through policies approved by our owners. For example, we don’t operate as a non-profit, so we can return our profits to our owners in the form of a distribution or reinvest them in our store, depending on what our owners vote to do.
We also have a commitment to working in the best interest of our local community, which is what directs our outreach efforts. This is why we created Community Cultivators, our owner volunteer team. Whether it’s tabling at our local Farmers’ Markets, participating in community events, or helping other organizations package food donations for families in need, we are there to support our community even before we have a brick-and-mortar store.
So while we all await the end of the dog days of summer, we can care for our community and look out for one another!
July 4th is our annual celebration of the birth of the USA and our independence from England. The Declaration of Independence sets forth the founding principles of our democracy, just as the seven co-operative principles form the foundation for our co-op. So how do the 4th of July and Principle #4 align?
As you may already know, co-ops operate following the seven cooperative principles:
Voluntary and Open Membership
Democratic Member Control
Member Economic Participation
Autonomy and Independence
Education, Training and Information
Cooperation among Cooperatives
Concern for Community
Principle #4 stresses that co-ops are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled and governed by their owners. By retaining owner control, we are not beholden to any government, ideology, or other potential influences. We maintain our independent, democratic governance (principle #2) and work to serve the needs of our owners.
How do we maintain our independence and autonomy? Our policy is, one owner, one vote. This prevents anyone from taking undue advantage. When our store opens, we will work with several local suppliers rather than becoming overly dependent on just a few large suppliers. Our Board maintains ongoing participation in development and educational offerings (principle #5).
We also don’t raise capital through IPOs (initial public offerings) or venture capital investments. Those type of funds come from people who may not ever patronize the co-op and are just looking for a high return on their dollar. Worse, they may want to influence the direction of the co-op and insist on having a seat on the Board of Directors. In order to maintain our independence, we raise our funds through owner shares, owner loans, and capital campaigns, which keeps full control with our owners. In addition, we will pursue loan funds and grants which are available specifically for cooperatives.
So as you continue to celebrate during the month of July, you can also celebrate being part of the independent and autonomous Cultivate Community Food Co-op!
As shocking as it may be to those unfamiliar with this part of history, not all slaves were freed as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation. While most enslaved African Americans finally had their freedom when the Proclamation took effect on January 2, 1863, others were forced to wait even longer. The state of Texas was still under Confederate control. It wasn’t until two and a half years later—on June 19, 1865—when Union troops arrived in Texas to take control of the state. The military announced that the enslaved people there were free. The day was memorialized as Juneteenth and is our nation’s second Independence Day.
The next year, the freed people of Texas had the first of what would become an annual celebration and commemoration of Juneteenth. As Blacks moved to other states, the tradition spread across the country. Texas made Juneteenth an official holiday in 1979. Although Congress has still not made Juneteenth a national holiday, 47 out of 50 states recognize it as a state holiday.
Today, there is a significant trend to making Juneteenth a company holiday. It continues to grow in popularity, and celebrations sometimes take place all month long. People from across the country and all walks of life are joining in to acknowledge that time in history, which continues to profoundly impact the African American community today.
The second Sunday in May is a celebration of mothers in the US. It’s one of the busiest days for phone calls and florists. Its origins may surprise you. With the goal of teaching local women proper child care, Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia helped form Mothers’ Day Work Clubs before the Civil War. During and after the war, these clubs unified a divided region. Jarvis went on to set up “Mothers’ Friendship Day” in 1868, where mothers gathered to promote reconciliation with former soldiers from both sides of the war.
Jarvis was not alone in focusing on mothers. Julia Ward Howe, suffragette and abolitionist, wrote the “Appeal to womanhood throughout the world,” now called the Mothers’ Day Proclamation. This was in reaction to the horrors of the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. In 1873, she called for June 2 to be an annual “Mother’s Peace Day,” but was unsuccessful.
The official holiday came about through the efforts of Anna Reeves Jarvis’ daughter, Anna. She wanted a day set aside to honor the sacrifices mothers make for their children. The first official day was in 1908, backed by a department store. After many years of lobbying, the second Sunday in May became the official date in 1914 with President Woodrow Wilson’s signature.
As the celebration grew more and more commercial, Anna Jarvis began to fight against it. This was not what she envisioned—she saw it as a day for families to have personal celebrations together, not the huge event it is today. She even tried to get it removed from the calendar!
What does this story have to do with co-operatives? As a community-owned, democratically-run entity, we all have a say in what our co-op will be like. Maybe we are more like the “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs,” working to give our community a healthy place to shop, meet, and learn. We will be profitable, of course—we must be to survive and flourish, yet not in a way that compromises our commitment to our co-operative values and our community.
The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. It was organized by a bipartisan group of Congresspeople and activists working together. By the end of 1970, Congress had passed the EPA, the Clean Air Act, and several other environmentally minded bills.
The environmental movement had its first big wake-up call with the publication of Rachel Carson’s best-selling book Silent Spring, in 1962. Carson made clear the link between our own health and the health of the planet. With this growing awareness, more and more people became concerned about the environment. After the devastating oil spills in Santa Barbara in 1969, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin felt it was time to act. He gathered a group of bipartisan politicians and student activists to organize the first Earth Day, including Republican Pete McCloskey and activist Denis Hayes. The event energized 20 million Americans to attend rallies across the country and helped unite the numerous environmental organizations around a single day. It was the catalyst that activated Congress to pass numerous environmental bills.
Twenty years later, in 1990, Earth Day was celebrated globally, and led to the UN creating an Environmental Summit in 1992. In 2000, the focus was on global warming and advancing clean energy. Today, over fifty years after it was founded, Earth Day is now the largest non-religious celebration across the planet. It continues to be a day where we can unite to work on innovative solutions to the environmental challenges we face.
Visit Vallejo has organized The Big Clean on April 24—help make Vallejo so clean. They are giving away 100 tickets to Six Flags! http://visitvallejo.com/thebigclean
The topic of bringing a Trader Joe’s to Benicia has once again popped up on social media. In some ways, it is encouraging to see so many people who live here voice support for new grocery options in our area. But it is disheartening because there is already a growing grassroots effort under way to bring a food cooperative to town. It’s a more sustainable and equitable option. One that I am convinced if more people knew about, they would abandon their calls for another chain.
When I’m out talking to residents of Solano County they tell me, “I wish you would bring the food co-op to our town.” My response is simple, “Every town should have a food cooperative. But it’s a matter of having people in your town with a vision to get it started.”
I’d like to clarify a few things and share a few ideas because there seems to be some misinformation in these social media threads.
You do not need to be an owner to shop at the store. We need owners and non-owners to shop at our store. The owners will simply get more discounts, discounts that eventually pay for the ownership. So that’s a no-brainer. In addition, the owners have a say in to what goes on in the store. Owner shares are $300 with a $5 service fee per household. Payment plans available.
Big government and big business do not care about our little town. WE care about our little town! Time and time again, history has shown that when people unite and work hard for a purpose, things change!
Food cooperatives have grown up! No longer are they the hippie, granola, food buying clubs of the seventies. Today, food cooperatives are well-oiled machines that drive the cultural and economic centers of communities. They come in all shapes and sizes and are unique to the needs of each community. They have personality!
Given the choice, why on Earth would anybody choose to have a cookie cutter store that looks exactly like the store just down the highway which lines the pockets of a German billionaire than to get behind the idea (and a grassroots effort that is actually happening now! In our town!) of having a beautiful, unique, thriving, community owned store that puts millions of dollars back into our community. It’s because people don’t yet know the potential of a food cooperative. These people would rather stick with a broken system that is familiar to them, (broken because it’s intended to keep the rich getting richer and the rest of us working harder and harder), than to have the tenacity to created a new system!
Just ask Kim and Luke of Fairyella Pure Pops (formerly Ice Pops), our town jewel. For the past seven years, while we were out playing every weekend, they were tabling at farmers markets. When they finally made it into the Whole Food Market, they thought they had made it, but NO! They have been put through the ringer by Whole Foods Market. WFM bullied Fairyella into sales and promotions for their profit (FPP took the hit for these discounts) and didn’t honor the terms of their contract agreements, (keep the product stocked regularly) causing slow sales and lost opportunities to scale up and go national. Mind you, FPP loves food co-ops! They sell to food co-ops all over the Bay Area and have a more equitable relationship with them. They will sell their pops in our store! As a result, FPP plans to quit shipping to retail and restructure as a non-profit in hopes to deliver to hospitals, schools and continuer their relationships with local food co-ops, at a better price for all.
One of our core values is community. “CCFC is rooted in our community, owned by our community and we reinvest in our community” and that is why having a commercial kitchen in our store is so important to us. This commercial kitchen would be used for several things: education for school aged kids, cooking classes, and renting to food producers at a very reasonable price so they can actually make a profit on their product.
When our local food vendors order raw materials to make their products, we could join forces where we can order in volume so they can get a discount. These are just a couple of ways that cooperatives work together to: a. Help their suppliers create a successful business where they can live a higher quality of life and enjoy their families instead of being stressed to the max by big grocery and b. Bring the cost of food down while still making a profit. See, in a food cooperative nobody has to be exploited to bring the cost of food down. Instead, we work together to find solutions so that everybody benefits.
We know there are doubters in our community. Just know that we are not doing this alone, we are not reinventing the wheel. There is a proven model that has been used in communities all around the country. it will only be a matter of time until we get to the tipping point and then to our goal of 1200 founding owners.
Other towns have successfully brought on co-ops that are thriving and provide a framework for a business model that can and will work for Solano County.
We really are creating history here and there will come a day when people will use the phrase “before the co-op and after the co-op” when talking about the history of our town. The question I have for all of you is “What side of history do you want to be on?”
As an incentive to attract new founding owners to CCFC, Fairyella Pure Pops has gifted our latest Owners from February with a free case of Watermelon Pure Pops (18 pops ea.). Eighteen households will be receiving this special Thank You gift. Now that is the kind of cooperative spirit I’m talking about. More of this please! Thank you so much Kim and Luke!!
