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As a community-owned business, the Co-op is a cornerstone and launching point for many community members, businesses, and organizations.If you are involved, or interested in getting involved, with a local, regional, or global issue, and would like the Co-op to promote your involvement, please feel free to contact our Community Outreach Manager, Rachael Darden, at rachael(at)skagitfoodcoop(dot)com.Skagit Valley Food Co-op member-owner Deb Langhans of San Juan Island has prepared the following fact sheet and petition to prevent further global impact of the Fukushima Disaster. Thank you, Deb for your commitment to the environment, and for including the Co-op in your efforts.
PLEASE ACT NOW TO HELP PREVENT GLOBAL DISASTER AT FUKUSHIMA
ISSUE & PETITION BACKGROUND
On March 11, 2011, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami tragically crippled Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing structural damage, equipment failures, nuclear reactor meltdowns and releases of radioactive materials. Since that horrific accident, reports about Fukushima’s status and leaking radiation into the Pacific Ocean and atmosphere have continued to be shocking and contradictory; facts about the facility’s actual deterioration have been withheld from the public. Read more Member-Owner Corner: FUKUSHIMA Petition …
Sedro-Woolley Farmers Market Offering ‘Double Up EBT Dollars’ Program
Sedro-Woolley, WA – July 2013 – Following the lead of farmers markets around the country, the Sedro-Woolley Farmers Market began accepting EBT (food stamps) benefits this year, enabling lower-income people to have greater access to fresh fruits and vegetables. At the same time, United General Hospital’s Community Health Outreach Program is working on a five-year Healthy Communities Initiative to promote healthy eating in east county communities with disparate rates of diet-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. A key to preventing and reducing these diseases Read more Great EBT news from Sedro-Woolley Farmers Market …
HERE COMES the Skagit Letterbox Trail!
 We are preparing for the best Watershed trail adventure yet, along with the Art for Learning Watershed Science workshops, the Kickoff (an open house celebration with live music and family activities at Padilla, where the clues are first unveiled) and the End of the Trail Celebration also at Padilla, where we will honor the Trail with an accentuation of light from the Art for Learning Watershed Species Luminaries.
Look for these great little boxes full of handouts, a thematic stamp and small journal, a hiding place and a fun, narrative clue for the Letterboxers to decipher the location of the hiding place from the Letterbox Partners.
The Kickoff at Padilla Bay is on Sunday, June 30th. Clues go online July 3rd. Visit SCEA for more information.
And the End of the Trail Celebration is set for the early evening to beyond dusk of October 10th at Padilla. That’s a Thursday – an evening prior to a day off for students in Skagit County.
  Susan and Douglas the dog led a tour through the blueberries at Bow Hill yesterday, and gave us the lowdown on the newly evolved North Sound Food Hub!
We hosted the Skagit Wholesale Market in our parking lot for a few years, giving farmers a place to connect with wholesale size buyers, like hospitals (big shout out to chef Chris Johnson at United General who started Farm Fresh Fridays at the hospital’s Coho Cafe!), schools, and restaurants. Bow Hill Blueberry owners Susan and Harley Soltes have assumed hosting responsibilities, providing cold storage, aggregate and customer pick up opportunities. This project is shepherded by NABC, who secured USDA grant monies to cover delivery to Seattle and fees for the internet platform. The North Sound Food Hub is running an indiegogo campaign to help pay the overhead for the refrigeration and aggregation part so it can be free to the farmers. Eventually there will be fees so it can stand on its own legs as a sustainable business model.
There has never been a better time to pitch in a few dollars to help support the building of this piece of our local agricultural economy, namely coordinated deliveries to the Seattle market (so close and yet such a hassle of time and energy for farmers to make individual deliveries to our neighbors in the South), and improved systems for local product to stay local.
We’re working on a longer article for our August newsletter, meantime, help us spread the word about our new Food Hub – tell your favorite restaurants that it’s here, and ask for more local, every time you eat out – re-localizing is possible, and it’s happening right now.
Please Call Senators Murray and Cantwell for a
Better Farm Bill and a healthier food system!
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