October Equity Drive & Little Library Progress
We're halfway through our October Equity Drive! This month we're trying to raise $10,000 in Equity and welcome 25 new Member-owners! In addition to the fun & prizes we have in store for this drive we are also decorating a Free Little Library and welcoming you to be a part of this community staple and art piece!
Read more to see progress pictures of the Little Library & learn how to participate!
Read moreHarvest Jawn is coming to Juniper!
Fun for all in the fall!
Lavish-Li Made
Winton Glass
Jean Broden Art
Goodlands Food Co.
Sidewalk Press
Mohrdoesart
HanFran Studio
Sapphic Knits
Mystical Treasures
Shadowfishtank
Pearls & Chain
Aasterisms
Doug LaRocca ART
Latch Key Records
Pistolas Del Sur
Lancaster Farm Fresh
HOT TOMATO SUMMER 2023
TOMATO SZN IS HERE! 🍅🍅🍅 We love local tomatoes here at South Philly Food Co-op, and we are thrilled it’s finally their time to shine.
To celebrate our second year of HOT TOMATO SUMMER, we asked chefs throughout Philly to share their favorite tomato recipes, and here they all our!
Click to see HOT TOMATO SUMMER recipes from Chef Monica Glass, Chef Jen Carroll, Chef Billy Riddle, Chef Amarildo Bojko, Chef Kelly Guerrero, Chef Saudamani Gray, Chef Char Nolan, Chef Kiki Aranita, Chef Nok Suntaranon, Chef Dionicio Jimenez, and Chef Lila Colello.
Read more2022 Accomplishments
What a wonderful year of accomplishments we had in 2022:
We supported 12 incredible community organizations with over $2,500 in donations via our Round Up at the Register program, all of which we're keeping in touch with and continuing to support in various ways. If there is an organization you'd like to see join our Round Up program in 2023, please let us know.
We brought in 33 new local brands on our shelves increasing local product sales by 43%. We highlighted all of them in our local producer e-zine (https://www.southphillyfood.coop/we-love-local)
We continued to grow our Shop South Philly Program which is currently over 40 local businesses strong. We encourage our members to support these businesses by offering deals and discounts that are only available to SPFC members. If you're a local store interested in joining our program, please send us a DM! We'd love to support you and amplify you on our platforms.
We went on a field trip to Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op and had a community volunteer day at Novick Urban Farm.
We held 6 Owner Appreciation Days and partnered with dozens of local producers to make them all a big success!
We held over a dozen community events — kids art contests, mural making workshops, cooking classes, volunteer days, composting workshops, donut decorating events, and so many more! If you have any ideas for events in 2023, please reach out.
Our sales program grew significantly in both grocery and produce... including lots of owner sales! We plan on keeping this going next year.
We supported many community organizations via food & gift drives, pumpkin decorating, Susan's lemonade stand, Taylor & Ash's holiday cards, and more!
We displayed lots of artwork on our walls thanks to the kids in our community and the students next door at Southern.
We had more holiday products on our shelves than ever before throughout the year. We even more than doubled the number of turkeys we sold this year from last year! If there’s a holiday item you'd like to see that we didn't carry, please send us a note.
We completed the community mural on our back wall thanks to artist, Danielle
We welcomed in 166 new member-owners, raised over $45k in new owner equity and other community capital. We still need to raise $13K to reach our working capital needs. Consider joining, adding equity, or gifting a membership to your favorite local foods enthusiast this year!
We were approved as NCG (National Co-op Grocers) members! This is a HUGE accomplishment in itself. You'll be seeing more about this in the new year.
We're so proud of how far we've come and recognize that we couldn't have done it without our staff and community. Thank you, everyone, for helping us use Food as a Force for Good this year. We can't wait to see what 2023 brings for our store!
SPFC Back to School Recipe Series & Challenge with Chef Monica Glass
Back-to-School Recipes with Chef Monica Glass
We have a yummy Back-to-School treat and challenge for you this month! South Philly Chef Monica Glass will be sharing four different easy to make recipes that are PERFECT for Back-to-School snacks featuring the following five local products from our shelves:
Week 1 - Conscious Culture Vegan Cheese & Habitat Farms Honey
Week 2 - Soom Tahini
Week 3 - Mother Butter Seed Butter
Week 4 - Local Apples
YOUR MISSION IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT: If you make all 4 of Chef Monica's recipes in September, you get a FREE Habitat Farms Honey, Mother Butter, Soom, Conscious Culture, or local apple!
Rules: Tag SPFC in a video or photo of each recipe on social media or email them to [email protected]. Once we get all 4, we'll reach out to you to arrange which FREE GIFT you want.
Below is a sneak peek of all 4 recipes:
Board Statement on Supreme Court Ruling
Dear Member-Owners and Neighbors,
We want to begin by acknowledging the profound impact of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court ruling. We stand with National Co+op Grocers, a cooperative of nearly 150 food co-ops across the country, in affirming the human right of bodily autonomy and the liberty of women, trans, and nonbinary people to make decisions about their own bodies, including healthcare decisions.
Our co-op’s mission is to use food as a force for good - at our tables, in our community and for our planet.
In response to Dobbs, using food as a force for good at our tables means:
- Reviewing our in-store benefits package to ensure coverage for reproductive health and abortion care;
- Committing to improving our benefits coverage for reproductive health and abortion care when we next have the opportunity to renegotiate our benefits plans; and
- Expanding in-store health coverage to provide Board-funded travel benefits in the event that Pennsylvania adopts restrictive abortion laws to ensure all staff have equal access to necessary health care.
Using food as a force for good in our community and for our planet means:
- Supporting local advocacy organizations through partnerships and our Round Up at the Register program;
- Educating folx about the significant impact reproductive choice and bodily autonomy have on food insecurity in our community;
- Collaborating with our neighbors on special events, like Judy Ni of bāo • logy for a two-day community outreach event and bake sale with Bakers Against Racism; and
- Working to promote voter registration and participation throughout South Philly.
We encourage you, and everyone you know, to attend Bakers Against Racism’s Abortion Access Edition August Bake Sale on Sunday, August 7th and Monday, August 8th. The event aims to provide community education about choice, healthcare, human rights, and to raise funds and awareness for the upcoming election cycle. SPFC will serve as an order pick-up spot on Monday, from 2-7pm.
We welcome all member-owners to help us continue to think about how we can collectively advance the dialogue on reproductive justice, the human rights of women and any individual who has the capacity to experience a pregnancy (planned or unplanned) and women’s and gender-expansive individuals’ health more generally. Member-owners are encouraged to email our Board with their thoughts.
In Cooperation,
Chad Hooper, President
Mita Banerjee, Vice President
Sharon Ulak, Treasurer
A Procik, Secretary
Molly Devlin
Brendan Duffy
Zaire DuRant-Young
Eliza Kinsey
Jenn Ladd
Beckett Woodworth
National Gardening Day Activity
National Gardening Day is just around the corner — and it happens to be the same day as our Owner Appreciation Day! So, during Owner Appreciation Day on Thursday, April 14th, we'll be hosting a gardening activity from 3pm-5pm.
Here at the co-op, we are so excited for warmer weather and all of the possibilities a new season brings. One of our most anticipated hobbies this spring is growing food, flowers, and herbs! The benefits of gardening are exponential — both for our personal selves and for the planet.
This event is all ages, kid friendly, and pay as you plant!
We’ll be talking about all things gardening, including how to get started, community resources, container gardening in small city spaces, an interactive e-zine for kids and more. We’ll even have a raffle to win a variety of seeds from our friends at Southern Seed Exposure.
Check out full details about the event here.
We hope to see you there!
April Ownership & Equity Drive
- Join today! $300 equity investment. Installment plans available. $25 gets you started (or $5 limited income)
- Raffle entry to win:
- Pair of Phillies tickets OR
- $100 SPFC gift card
- Special 10% discount coupon
- Free tote bag (for new members)
Energy Co-op Guest Post
Thank you to our friend Noah at The Energy Co-op for this guest blog post!
By Noah at The Energy Co-op:
Shopping for renewable electricity can be as easy as shopping for your groceries. But it’s important to understand the quality and source of both the food that powers you and the energy that powers your home or business. Through April 30, 2022, South Philly Food Co-op members who become new members of The Energy Co-op by enrolling in its Renewable Electricity program will be eligible to receive $50 in Co-op Cash. Quality nourishment, quality power!
The Energy Co-op is a different kind of renewable electricity supplier that was founded in 1979. As a member-owned, nonprofit cooperative, we offer 100% renewable electricity with 100% transparency and have done so since 1998. Our members know every cent is going towards our mission of helping them affordably and sustainably buy, use, and understand energy. So, keeping in mind the commitment by both South Philly Food Co-op and The Energy Co-op to building a sustainable community, we invite you to learn just how easy shopping for renewable electricity in Pennsylvania can be.
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Choose a Pennsylvania supplier.
If you’ve decided to power your Pennsylvania home with renewable electricity, why not support your local, clean energy economy by choosing a local supplier? When you do, your renewable electricity dollars have the most impact - not only reducing carbon emissions, but also creating local, clean energy jobs and investment in our region.
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Choose a Pennsylvania supplier that offers 100% Pennsylvania renewable electricity.
There is no better way to support investment in local, clean energy jobs than by buying renewable electricity generated right here in Pennsylvania. Members of The Energy Co-op have the option to power their home or business with renewable energy produced in our home state, which can help drive local renewable energy costs even lower.
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Choose a Pennsylvania electricity supplier that only offers renewable electricity.
In Pennsylvania, the least expensive renewable electricity is offered by large, vertically integrated companies that also generate and supply electricity produced with coal, natural gas, nuclear, and other non-renewable fuels. Renewable supply often makes up less than 10% of the electricity generated by these companies. There’s no assurance that the dollars you spend on renewable energy won’t be invested in non-renewable fuel projects.
Buying from a supplier like The Energy Co-op that only offers renewable electricity provides peace of mind about where your clean energy dollar is going.
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Choose a Pennsylvania electricity supplier that only offers wind and solar power.
Wind and solar power are the two fastest-growing electricity generation sources in the U.S. But in many states, including Pennsylvania, electricity produced from a wide array of sources, including hydroelectric dams, wood pulping, and even coal mine methane is designated as “renewable” or “alternative.” Now is not the time for 19th century technology. In the 21st century, make sure all of your renewable electricity is 100% wind and solar power.
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Finally, buy renewable electricity from yourself!
The Energy Co-op is a nonprofit cooperative, owned by its members. We don’t have customers. There are no tricks or gimmicks. As a cooperative, The Energy Co-op’s business is entirely transparent to its members, and becoming a member of The Energy Co-op also supports the growth of a network of local, community-focused cooperatives like South Philly Food Co-op.
If you’re shopping for renewable electricity in southeastern Pennsylvania and want to check all the boxes, there’s only one choice—The Energy Co-op. As a Philadelphia-based cooperative, we offer only 100% wind and solar powered, renewable electricity to our members, many of whom choose our 100% Pennsylvania power option. Learn more at theenergy.coop and get in touch at [email protected] or 215.413.2122.
October 2021 | Long-Time Owners Increased Investment, Saving Co-op Amidst Pandemic
Dear Member-Owner,
This blog post is for our founding member-owners who invested in the co-op prior to October 2020.
Happy Co-op Month! This October, we wanted to thank you for investing in your community-owned cooperative! Your $200 equity investment provided vital funding needed to get our doors open last December!
Simply put, we would not be where we are today if it weren't for your support!
Last October, our membership voted “yes” to an increase in our equity share price from $200 to $300. When our membership voted, they were looking at both the short-term and long-term needs of our Co-op. Our financial projections demonstrated that we needed to raise additional equity from both current and future owners to ensure our success.
This change and the way we structured it was about our immediate survival, positioning the co-op to reach our long-term potential, and ensuring equitability amongst founding and new members alike.
Immediately after the vote, 300 long-time members sprung into action, adding their additional $100 by December. This gave us the final $30K push needed to open our doors after facing major set-backs caused by Covid-19. The pandemic caused construction delays, cost increases, and added necessary improvements to keep our staff and customers safe, healthy, and satisfied. We would not be open today without the support of those 300 owners.
Since then another 190 long-time members added their $100, bringing us up to $49K in additional grassroots community capital. This additional $19k allowed for us to make additional improvements to our space, product selection, and staff compensation and benefits all of which were needed to keep our young store afloat in an challenging, ever-changing environment that left countless well-seasoned businesses floundering.
Now, it’s your turn. We are writing today to encourage you to take the next step in building our financial foundation. If you are still at the $200 equity mark, and there's no better time than now to pay your $100 balance in order to reach the full $300 equity!
We rely on a growing base of owner equity to ensure a strong financial foundation that will allow our store to continue to grow and improve so that we can do more to live our mission of "Using food as a force for good - at our tables, in our community and for our planet."
Owner Equity is fundamentally important to our Co-op and this blog post explains why.
Here are two easy ways you can help our October Ownership & Equity Drive and pay off or start to pay off your equity owed:
- Pay it off! If you are able, please add $100 to your equity investment today!
- If you are not able to add $100 right now, please sign up for an installment plan, or simply add an amount you can afford today.
Your investment will help us reach our October goal of raising $8,000 in additional equity. It will also ensure that you will be a member in good standing so you can enjoy the continued benefits of member-ownership which include:
- Our Community & Store - Build the local equity needed for South Philly to thrive.
- Democratic Elections - Elect and have the opportunity to run for the board.
- Owner Appreciation Days - Get special discounts and enjoy free product samples (this is coming up on 10/19!)
- Bulk Discounts - Save on case quantities and get special deals.
- Patronage Refunds - Share in the profits based on patronage of our store.
- Local Business Discounts - Save at over 40 participating local businesses.
- Workshops & Events - Participate in free community workshops and events.
We are asking every member-owner who is not yet at the $300 equity level to sign up for an affordable, flexible installment plan by the end of the year in order to stay active.
As a consumer co-op, we own the co-op equally and that’s why we ask everyone to contribute the same amount of equity. If you need an extended payment plan, we’re here to work with you. Just $5/month will keep you active. And if you are facing economic hardship, our Community Equity Fund is here to help.
We know that the holiday season can be busy and that is why we’re asking you to take this important step today.
*BONUS* If you add equity in October you'll get:
- Entered into a raffle to win a $100 SPFC gift card or a pair of Eagles tickets for a game in December
- A 10% off coupon good through the end of the year
- A shout out on the wall in the store
*For raffle: $10 minimum equity to enter and one entry per day max
If you need assistance with making your payment online, these instructions may help. You can also stop by the store and add equity or sign up for a CEF scholarship with the help of one of our friendly cashiers.
Your additional Equity will make a lasting impact on your Cooperative, setting us up for success so that we can continue to navigate the changing landscape and advance our mission for the better of our whole community. We know we can do it with your help!
In Cooperation,
Lori Burge, General Manager