This great offer just came through the Facebook pipeline: In appreciation of the sustainable agriculture supported by food co-ops, the Morris Arboretum is offering half-price admission to anyone showing their co-op membership card! Offer good through Sunday, October 28; must show card for discount. More info on Morris' offerings: Spend time with family and friends exploring the Arboretum’s 92-acre lush and colorful gardens. Discover your favorite garden spaces and learn from 13,000 labeled plants, trees and flowers. Sign up for some of the more than 100 classes, educational tours and lectures offered in spring and fall, catering to visitors of all ages. An ever-changing color palette in every season keeps your senses focused on nature. See the forest from a new perspective from 50 feet up in the treetops on the Out on a Limb canopy walk, part of the Arboretum-wide interactive Tree Adventure exhibit. Enjoy events all year long. There’s so much to experience at Morris Arboretum! If you head over on October 28, be sure to check out Bloomfield Farm Day for beekeeping workshops, tours, live music and more. Click here for more information.

In anticipation of next week's Fall General Membership Meeting (October 25, 6:30 p.m., at the EOM Athletic Association; click here for more details), please take a few moments to review the minutes from the Spring General Membership Meeting, held on May 22. Hope to see you on the 25th! South Philly Food Co‐op Spring 2012 General Membership Meeting South Philadelphia Older Adults Center 1430 East Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19147 May 22, 2012 Attendance: 63 member households 1. Welcome/Introductions (6:30pm) a. Alison Fritz, Board President welcomes the membership, says we set a steep goal of 250 member households by this meeting, and we made it. The Co‐op officially reached 250 members on Saturday, and is at 256 as of the start of the meeting. Press release to be sent tomorrow. 2. Election/proposed bylaw changes/voting procedures a. Matt Egger from Leadership Committee reviews voting procedure. Points out that there are 5 people up for election, and proposed bylaws amendments, copies of which are on every table with the changes in bold. Voting will close at 8:00pm, and results will be announced before end of meeting b. Raffling co‐op mugs and a tote bag‐‐‐everyone who votes will get an entry 3. Approve minutes from October membership meeting a. Maria Camoratto explains minutes from October’s meeting are on table and asks for a vote. Joe Marino makes a motion to approve, Dan Pohlig seconds, motion passes unanimously 4. Committee Updates a. Business Outreach i. Dana Mitchell explains how Business Outreach works, explains businesses can allow for palm cards to be left, hosting events or making donations, gives examples of various businesses that have been partners, including Shop South Philly program that includes 17 local businesses. ii. 2nd round of letters has been sent out to businesses to strengthen connection with local businesses. Dana asks people to come see her for/with more information about business outreach initiatives. b. Grants i. Maria Camoratto give grants update and explains how the committee was formed. ii. To date, we have received a grant from the Howard Bowers Fund for training, we have submitted a proposal to the Philadelphia Activities Fund and a proposal to the Reinvestment Fund is in process. iii. Maria asked for anyone who is interested in helping discuss or write for grants committee to please contact her c. IT i. Erika Owens explains how ad‐hoc IT committee has become standing committee, and describes recent focus on Civi‐CRM database program that tracks and organizes member information and communication ii. Erika explains exciting opportunity for funding a position for someone who can dedicate time to build the system and asks for people who may be interested in helping out with IT d. Leadership i. Matt Eggers explains how leadership committee works (pulling together ballots, ensuring we are following bylaws with eligibility requirements) ii. Leadership could use help before next meeting to help with the nomination and ballot process e. Legal i. Josh Richards explains how ad‐hoc Legal committee meets only when needed ii. Josh is currently the only person serving on the committee, asks if anyone interested in getting involved to talk to him, explains upcoming events that may require help. f. Marketing and Communications i. Dan Pohlig explains that the role of committee is reaching out to membership and public at large, maintaining consistency in voice and messaging ii. Dan describes the efforts around the redesign of website and print materials, outreach to press for local PR, and that these initiatives have helped get coverage without needing to spend co‐op funds iii. M & C is looking for anyone with experience in writing to get involved. The next meeting is scheduled for next week and anyone interested should talk to him or Stephanie Rupertus (current chair) for more information iv. Explains how important it is to get the word out about the co‐op g. Membership i. Cassie Plummer explains how the co‐op tracks membership and where members come from, explaining that 40% of new members since January 2012 were on our mailing list in December. ii. Describes how committee tracks membership data (equity, volunteer hours) and needs help with data collection and processing memberships, see Cassie if you want to help. iii. Committee also is in charge of volunteer hours. Current volunteer coordinators are stepping down, and now we have new committee members to help manage volunteer activity. iv. Member orientation training will be happening over the next few months, looking for hosts of 10‐20 members for the training on how to talk about the coop and help recruit new members. Contact Cassie for more details or to help out. h. Programs and Events/Speakers Bureau i. Sarah Radcliffe explains responsibilities of committee—recruit members, raise money and build membership community ii. Explains how committee meets monthly and brainstorm events and gives examples of events like mushroom log, container garden workshops and gives ideas for future events like home brewing and soup swap iii. There will be upcoming events—Spirit Night at Rita’s on May 31st, table at Fleischer ArtSpiration Event, Gold Star Park in July and August, Garden Tour on September 8th iv. To help out, contact Sarah or Leigh Goldenberg (chair) 5. FY 12 budget recap a. Jay Tarlecki explains Fiscal Year 2012 budget summary and that 100% of the equity collected to date is restricted is for costs directly related to opening the co‐op 6. Market Study from Keystone Development Center a. Rachel Brennesholtz describes the Keystone Development Center Feasibility Study b. Keystone completed a Primary Trade Area Analysis looking at our competitors, conducted community and member Focus Groups, and analyzed food spending in the PTA. The PTA is includes South Philadelphia from South Street to Oregon and Front to Broad Street. West of Broad in included in the PTA but it is a more jagged boundary and not all census tracks are included. Two census tracks were used in the analysis (2000 and 2010) because 2010 data was not always available during the project timeline. c. Rachel explains demographics throughout the PTA, and then reports the description of the average person who shops for organic and/or natural foods based on national data trends. She went into depth comparing the co‐op’s PTA to national data (household size, education, income, home prices), discussing competing grocery stores, and explaining that the PTA is not a “food desert” d. Review of food sources in South Philly and competitors e. Explains results of focus groups and the main themes from the groups (price, label and choice fatigue, diversity of members, local food) f. Overview of market potential based on food spending in Philadelphia g. Explanation of Keystone recommendations and summary—be cautious moving forward because real estate and parking availability in the PTA are a concern, but there is room for optimism because of strong membership commitment, changing demographics in the PTA, and shopping behaviors among members and in the PTA generally. h. Main take away: “Proceed, but with caution. Finding an appropriate location will be difficult.” 7. Timeline and proposed budget a. Julia Koprak and Alison Fritz from Operations Committee and the Board present the timeline: where we’ve been, where we’re going b. Explanation of timeline’s organization is based on the 4 Cornerstones (Vision, Talent, Capital, Systems) in 3 Stages from CDS Consulting Co‐op (Cooperative Development Services) c. Large format of the full timeline was available to membership on back wall of meeting room d. Explanation of Stage 1 – Organizing and explanation of Time Frame, Membership Target and Key Decision Points e. Overview of Stage 1 accomplishments (membership drive, Garden Tour, Shop South Philly) f. Overview of Stage 2a—Feasibility i. Explanation of membership target and key decision for moving on to next stage. ii. I stage 2A we will begin working on: Business plan, real estate committee, continued feasibility assessment. Co‐ops build their market base first (democratic association of people, i.e. membership), and then develop the sustainable enterprise that meets their needs, a different business model and structure than most people are used to. iii. The Co‐op must make sure that internal systems and infrastructure can keep up with growing membership before we can move to stage 2b. g. Overview of Stage 2b—Planning i. formalizing business plan, secured site with contingencies in Stage 2b h. Overview of future stages and membership goals for each stage i. Overview of other steps ahead i. Member loan campaign, site analysis, external financing, signing a lease, hiring general manager when confident of financing, continued membership recruitment j. Operation Committee needs volunteers with business expertise to help with future stages k. Anna Kisiel, member of the Operations Committee, presents the Sources and Uses budget i. Key assumptions: 2,500 sq ft store retail space, and that we will lease the location ii. Overview of start‐up costs presented in a table—estimated total of $1.2 to $1.5M for start‐up iii. Numbers based on store size and comparison with other co‐op expenses iv. Overview of potential sources include member equity, bank loans, member loans, city/community organizations, preferred shares, investors, pre‐selling and others v. Operations Committee needs help with future fundraising and plans for raising equity, as well as putting together a comprehensive financing plan. l. Alison Fritz gives an overview of “How do we get there?” i. Challenges everyone in the room to get someone to join the co‐op, give money, help fundraise at events and raffles, ii. Alison explains that the co‐op hasn’t touched any member equity to date and our fundraising events and initiatives help make that possible iii. The co‐op needs more member involvement through the next phases— background or experience is not important, the co‐op needs people willing to give time and energy, and willing to learn. iv. By working together and learning together is how we have gotten this far and how we will move forward 8. Q & A Alison Fritz opens for questions at 7:45pm with Josh Richards (Board member) moderating. Questions: a. What is behind the numbers for membership milestones at each stage of development? i. Numbers based on common CDS benchmarks and ‘best case practices’ learned from other co‐ops b. How many shoppers will be needed in a month for store to stay afloat? i. Rachel Brennesholtz answers that $135,000/mo in revenue would be needed to stay open ii. John Raezer explains that store will be open to non‐members, but financial assumptions are based on only members shopping iii. Cassie Plummer explains that the more members the co‐op has, the more sources the co‐op has to rely on so it doesn’t need as much outside financing iv. Joe Marino explains that the more members we have, the more likely we will be to get financing v. Anna Kisiel explains that once the business grows, more people will see that coop is something they might want to join. c. How is planning of co‐op being coordinated with other city planning programs? i. Josh Richards explains we are in touch with civics ii. Alison Fritz explains that PTA is too big right now to pin down a specific area to build those kinds of partnerships‐‐‐‐coming in next stage d. How is building diversity of membership built into the plan? i. Alison Fritz describes civic outreach from river to river and grant proposals for translating materials into other languages, partnering with local churches, etc. She asks for those with connections to any of these groups to let her know. ii. Josh Richards says that we’re always at local tabled events, and Alison Fritz asks for any ideas or events where the co‐op should be iii. Dan Pohlig says most outreach has been based on free marketing and asks for help reaching other communities and those not digitally connected iv. Josh Richards explains that once we have a physical location in mind, it will be easier to reach out to local community e. How will real estate committee be formed? i. Josh Richards explains that real estate committee is directed by the Board and will persist even after location is found 9. Present election results (8:30pm) a. Matt Eggers announces that all Board candidates were elected to the Board and all proposed bylaw amendments were passed. Election Results (submitted via email May 25, 2012) Ballots issued: 54 Votes for At‐Large Directors: • Alison Fritz ‐ 54 • Anna Shipp ‐ 53 • Jay Tarlecki ‐ 54 • Josh Richards ‐ 53 • Julia Koprak ‐ 54 Votes for bylaw amendments: • 4.5 Voting Rights of Members – 54 • 4.7 Decision Making – 54 • 5.4 Elections ‐ 54 10% of members were needed for a quorum. A majority of votes was required to pass each amendment and elect each director. Accordingly, all candidates were elected and all proposed amendments were passed. 10. Adjourn (8:15pm)

I'm not a perfect locavore in any way. I try to buy local, in-season produce, but then sometimes I find myself with a pineapple, or a banana, or a mid-winter red pepper. But I try pretty hard. In the warmer part of the year, I get the majority of my food from a CSA and a farm market, and in the cooler part of the year, I rely on a buying club and can get almost everything I need from local folks. Don't look too hard in my fridge at the pickles or the worcestershire. There are huge advantages to eating this way. You can get to know the producers. You understand what you're eating. You help the local economy. Your food is fresher. You get more variety, year round. One of the tiny drawbacks, however, faces me every time I go to use an egg. I get my eggs from my CSA right now, and when that's over I'll get them from another fairly local farm. That means that my eggs aren't always sold in new cartons that are clearly labeled with the date. So sometimes, eggs are a gamble. Did we get those eggs two weeks ago, or was it the week before that? Which of the two cartons in the fridge is newer This is a big deal because I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to spoiled food, and I really don't want to open up a bad egg. REALLY don't want to. I'm the kind of girl who cuts my apples with a knife to get an advance peek and avoid surprises. So eggs can get me all anxious and sweaty, especially when I lose track of the date. But even with a date, eggs can last way longer than what's stamped on the side of the carton. And we throw out way too much food, both as a society and in my own kitchen. It was many months ago - really, it was early spring - when I was cooking with a friend and asked her to crack the eggs and told her why. She's not nearly as easily rattled as I am, so I thought she could handle it better. She looked at me, surprised, and said, "Don't you know how to test an egg?" Nope. I had no idea how to test an egg. She pulled a drinking glass out of my cabinet, filled it with water and slowly dropped an egg in. It sunk to the bottom and she declared it safe to eat. Eggs that float, apparently, have begun to create gas inside the shell and are spoiling. I wasn't sure I should believe her - especially since all my eggs sunk - so I Googled. And this is a known trick. So I'm not sharing anything new here, just new to me. I planned to write about it and tell you all - but I had one big problem... all my eggs sat at the bottom of my drinking glasses, fresh and gas-less. I had no example of the other outcome to share. My eggs were lasting forever in the fridge. Two seasons later, I have good news: one of my eggs spoiled! Yay, a rotten egg!

 This tip is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

This year I am going to plant some bulbs for spring.  I didn't do this last year because all my planting spaces were filled up with vegetables.  I did it the year before, though, and it was very nice to look out in the early spring and see little flowers coming up through the winter drab. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] my daffodils two springs ago[/caption] It's still too early for bulb planting - you need to wait until around the first frost or later.  Two years ago I actually planted my bulbs in January (shhhh) and they still came up nicely a few months later.  You just don't want to plant them while it's still warm out because the bulbs will start to grow and then the frost will kill them.  And you don't want to plant when the ground is frozen solid because...I think you all can figure that one out.  But you do need to let them winter over underground and then they will start growing when the weather turns warmer in the spring. Although daffodils and tulips seem to be the most prevalent bulbs out there, you could also choose to plant only bulbs of plants that sound like something four year old Sarah, who only wore pink, would make up:  snowdrops, snowflakes, starflowers... So this time I'm going for a mix, with daffodils (all yellow only, none of this yellow and white or orange crap), crocuses, snowflakes, starflowers, blue squill and some winter aconite.  And I think that's about all I'll have room for, unless I find some of these giant snowdrops, Galanthus elwesii, and then I will find a way to fit those in.

Member-Owner Wednesday - Soup Swap Wednesday, November 7, 6:30-9:30pm. Home of a Board Member at 12th and Dickinson Crisp fall weather is on its way so we’re kicking things off with a good old fashioned soup swap! Bring homemade soup, and go home with quarts of new soup and the recipes. Only 20 spots available for the swap, but friends are welcome to come, hang out, and watch the swap in action. Click here for swap details, rules, and to RSVP.

Member-Owner Wednesday - Food Day celebration Wednesday, October 24, 6-9pm American Sardine Bar, 1800 Federal Street Food Day is a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. We'll celebrate by gathering with fellow South Philly Food Co-op member-owners and supporters to share a drink and learn about worm bins, aka vermicomposting. This is part of our monthly Member-Owner Wednesday program. Dana Mitchell will lead a workshop on how to start your own worm bin, and one lucky winner will take home the starter kit! You can create a mini-worm bin yourself - just bring a large glass jar and RSVP to Create Your Own Compost so we have enough supplies for you. The entire event is free to attend, and American Sardine Bar will provide a drink special just for our group. To learn more about Food Day, and the hundreds of events happening around the country that day, visit www.foodday.org RSVP online.

Bike Ride to Bartram's for The Switched-On Garden Sunday, October 14, 2pm Bike with fellow Food Co-op Member-owners and supporters to Bartram's Garden. Our trip coincides with Data Garden's event "The Switched-ON Garden 002," an opportunity to wander Bartram’s Garden and connect with their natural environment through live music, performance and sculpture. This afternoon is free and open to the public. If you'd like to bike with us, meet at the Passyunk Fountain at 2pm. The bike ride is about 8.5 miles. We'll return at dusk. If you'd prefer to drive, meet us at Bartram's around 3pm. RSVP online.

State of Young Philly DIY event Thursday, October 11, 5:30-8pm Kimmel Center, 300 South Broad Street The DIY event celebrates the revival of Do-It-Yourself in Philadelphia and aims to increase sustainability on the individual level. The Co-op will be included with several other and stations where participants can learn to make or do something using easy-to-find or reusable resources and their own labor and expertise. Free to attend! RSVP online.

I will make this short and sweet:  it's October and the peppers are turning yellow! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] peppers[/caption] Two thoughts: 1.  Some of them are very small, like the size of my fingertip. 2.  I don't even like peppers.

It's pasta salad, without the pasta. You could call it Low Carb Pasta Salad, if you were a carb-driven sort of person or you could call it All Vegetable Pasta Salad, if you were a vegetable-driven person, or you could stop lying to yourself about the pasta and just call it salad. You're in charge here. First, do up a spaghetti squash. Slice it in half longways, then into the oven at 400 for about 40 minutes. Then leave the kitchen because it's warm in there and you don't want to spend this time cooking. Take the squash out, let it cool until you can handle it (5 mins?) and scoop out the seeds. I use my melon baller for this, because I like to make sure my melon baller keeps busy and isn't just waiting around for melon. That'd be a waste of space. Then with a fork, shred the squash. It falls apart into "spaghetti" pretty easily. Put the spaghetti in a bowl. Next, I just chopped up some veg and called it a salad. A bell pepper. I had little sweet peppers but either way. Some pickled jalepeño. Fresh is great too, but I pickled all of mine. Some unphotographed onion and some tomatoes. I had cherries, so I cut them in half, but chopped tomato would be great too. All into a bowl. Plus black beans, which should be pre-cooked, defrosted or canned. I used two cups. The cheese is optional and honestly, didn't really change much about the dish so don't feel like you'll be missing some key flavor if you skip the cheese and call this dish vegan. I used some cheese curds we got from Greensgrow, but queso fresco would be great here, or cotija. Crumble that cheese on top, if you so choose. Toss it together and all you need is a dressing. I went with honey lime vinaigrette. I started with a good jar that sealed well, added a quarter cup each of red wine vinegar and safflower oil, a tablespoon each of honey and lime juice (use real lime if you have it), a pinch (1/8 teaspoon?) salt, and a bit (1/4 teaspoon?) of both cumin and ground chile pepper. I used these Aleppo peppers - they're not quite as hot as cayenne, but cayenne works too. Drizzle overtop and toss. Chill and serve cold. This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.   Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Salad Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 2 cups black beans, cooked or canned
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons jalepenos, diced
• 3 ounces mild cheese, crumbled (optional)
• 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup safflower oil (or other mild oil)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon lime juice (fresh is best)
• pinch salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chile pepper

Instructions Bake the squash, let it cool and string it with a fork. Toss squash with other veg.Add dressing ingredients to a jar and shake until well combined. Drizzle over salad and toss. Chill and serve cold.

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes
• Total time: 50 minutes

Yield: 4 servings