Almost one year ago exactly we wrote about a congressional briefing being hosted by Congressman Chaka Fattah, whose district includes both Weavers Way and Mariposa co-ops. The briefing was prelude to a bill known as the National Cooperative Development Act (H.R. 3677) that Fattah introduced in mid-December and which has been cosponsored by Congressman Brady and Congresswoman Schwartz along with six other members of Congress. Full text of the bill can be found here. The bill, summed up nicely by The Campaign for Cooperation will:

• Provide loans and seed capital to groups who are attempting to form cooperatives;
• Award grants to nonprofit organizations, colleges, and universities so that they can provide technical assistance to operating cooperatives or groups that are attempting to form cooperatives;
• Provide guidance, information on best practices, and technical assistance to communities seeking to establish cooperatives;
• Provide funding for training of providers of technical assistance and supporting existing professional development training for organizations engaged in cooperative development;
• Establish cooperative development centers in areas that currently do not have them; and
• Authorize $25 million yearly for four years.

All over the world people are seeking alternatives to the system that enables corporate scandals and encourages greed. Because cooperatives are democratic and focus on member-owner needs rather than maximizing return for shareholders, they are perfectly situated to provide such an alternative. The National Cooperative Development Act is both an outgrowth of, and will help to support, this historic surge of interest in cooperatives as a means to build a better world. In case you don't remember what you learned in American Government back in high school, this bill still has a LONG way to go before it becomes law and will require the support of everyone in the country who would like to see the cooperative movement expand and thrive. One obstacle to overcome is getting companion legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate. So, Pennsylvanians, please contact Senators Casey and Toomey and ask them to introduce companion legislation for H.R. 3677 - the National Cooperative Development Act. Tell them it will be good for farmers (it will) and cities (it will). That pretty much covers all of PA right there. And if you happen to be reading this from a congressional district not covered by the 9 co-sponsors of the bill (which means you live in one of the 426 other districts), please contact your representative and ask him or her to sign onto Congressman Fattah's bill. To find out more about the legislation and how you can support its passage, visit www.campaign.coop.

I've had this sitting in my email inbox for just over a month and finally am getting around to sharing it. Co-op Board President Alison Fritz (full disclosure: my beloved wife) emailed it with the suggestion that each of these points would be great for talking about the Co-op and co-ops in general with people that we're trying to recruit as new members. So for all of our current members out there who are trying every day to get the Co-op to our first goal of 250 Founding Members (this link takes you to our new, easy-to-use online member-owner application!), feel free to commit these to memory as great little talking points for why a cooperative would be such a good thing to have in our neighborhood. In the near future we're hoping to compile a similar list that is more specific to the South Philly Food Co-op itself. (I don't want to promise that it will be a top 10 list, mostly because I don't want to limit us to just 10!) And please consider jumping over to Co-opoly's site and pick up one of these really cool Top 10 Reasons Co-ops Rock posters for yourself for just a $5 suggested price. It'll make me feel less bad for reprinting them in their entirety below. But you really should see them on the poster... very cool looking. So here they are.

1. Cooperatives are democratic businesses and organizations, equally owned and controlled by a group of people. There are worker co-ops, consumer co-ops, producer co-ops, financial co-ops, housing co-ops, and more. In a cooperative, one member has one vote.
2. Because cooperatives are democratically owned by community members, co-ops keep money (and jobs) in their communities.
3. Cooperatives aren’t a far off theory. Cooperatives offer achievable and practical solutions to many economic, environmental, and social problems that can be implemented right now.
4. Co-ops aren’t charity; they’re empowering means for self-help and solidarity.
5. Members of cooperatives equally share the burden in hard times and equally share the benefits in good times.
6. Cooperatives are more resilient in economic downturns and in impoverished communities. When other businesses may shut down or lay off workers, co-op members pull together to work out solutions.
7. Cooperatives are an international movement. There are thousands upon thousands of cooperatives around the world that are making major differences locally and globally.
8. Cooperatives strive to make people’s lives, communities, and economies more just, equitable, and democratic.
9. There’s no one right way to do a co-op. They can be flexible to fit different community and individual needs. There are big co-ops with thousands of members, and there are small co-ops with 3 members.
10. Cooperatives are viable and just alternatives for meeting our economic and social needs in contrast to corporations that exploit people and the planet.

I've had this sitting in my email inbox for just over a month and finally am getting around to sharing it. Co-op Board President Alison Fritz (full disclosure: my beloved wife) emailed it with the suggestion that each of these points would be great for talking about the Co-op and co-ops in general with people that we're trying to recruit as new members. So for all of our current members out there who are trying every day to get the Co-op to our first goal of 250 Founding Members (this link takes you to our new, easy-to-use online member-owner application!), feel free to commit these to memory as great little talking points for why a cooperative would be such a good thing to have in our neighborhood. In the near future we're hoping to compile a similar list that is more specific to the South Philly Food Co-op itself. (I don't want to promise that it will be a top 10 list, mostly because I don't want to limit us to just 10!) And please consider jumping over to Co-opoly's site and pick up one of these really cool Top 10 Reasons Co-ops Rock posters for yourself for just a $5 suggested price. It'll make me feel less bad for reprinting them in their entirety below. But you really should see them on the poster... very cool looking. So here they are.

1. Cooperatives are democratic businesses and organizations, equally owned and controlled by a group of people. There are worker co-ops, consumer co-ops, producer co-ops, financial co-ops, housing co-ops, and more. In a cooperative, one member has one vote.
2. Because cooperatives are democratically owned by community members, co-ops keep money (and jobs) in their communities.
3. Cooperatives aren’t a far off theory. Cooperatives offer achievable and practical solutions to many economic, environmental, and social problems that can be implemented right now.
4. Co-ops aren’t charity; they’re empowering means for self-help and solidarity.
5. Members of cooperatives equally share the burden in hard times and equally share the benefits in good times.
6. Cooperatives are more resilient in economic downturns and in impoverished communities. When other businesses may shut down or lay off workers, co-op members pull together to work out solutions.
7. Cooperatives are an international movement. There are thousands upon thousands of cooperatives around the world that are making major differences locally and globally.
8. Cooperatives strive to make people’s lives, communities, and economies more just, equitable, and democratic.
9. There’s no one right way to do a co-op. They can be flexible to fit different community and individual needs. There are big co-ops with thousands of members, and there are small co-ops with 3 members.
10. Cooperatives are viable and just alternatives for meeting our economic and social needs in contrast to corporations that exploit people and the planet.

I'm not going to go out on a limb and say that just because you join the Co-op means that we'll bring thousands of new, well-paying jobs to South Philadelphia. But it is worth noting that the Co-op would be a piece of an overall food system puzzle in which the owners of the enterprise (you) place a value on supporting the other pieces of that puzzle, which themselves create and sustain good jobs all over the region. I bring this up because of a recent Treehugger piece which made the point about the job creation power of small, family farms. In fact, the numbers on the return on investment on many different programs that support these kinds of farms are staggering. A program meant to help tobacco farmers transition to sustainable farming of more diversified agriculture "awarded $3.6 million in three years to 367 farmers, created 4,100 new jobs, and had an economic impact of more than $733 million." As for the Co-op, it's important to remember that while large retailers have their ups and downs (and the downs are mostly suffered by the people at the bottom of their organizational charts), a Co-op can be a more resilient business model because the member-owners come together in times of trouble to see the Co-op through until the economy picks up again. And now, while we're just starting to come out of  some pretty big economic trouble, wouldn't it be good to be prepared for the next downturn? (Join the Co-op today... we've made it easy with our new online form.)

I'm not going to go out on a limb and say that just because you join the Co-op means that we'll bring thousands of new, well-paying jobs to South Philadelphia. But it is worth noting that the Co-op would be a piece of an overall food system puzzle in which the owners of the enterprise (you) place a value on supporting the other pieces of that puzzle, which themselves create and sustain good jobs all over the region.

I bring this up because of a recent Treehugger piece which made the point about the job creation power of small, family farms. In fact, the numbers on the return on investment on many different programs that support these kinds of farms are staggering. A program meant to help tobacco farmers transition to sustainable farming of more diversified agriculture "awarded $3.6 million in three years to 367 farmers, created 4,100 new jobs, and had an economic impact of more than $733 million."

As for the Co-op, it's important to remember that while large retailers have their ups and downs (and the downs are mostly suffered by the people at the bottom of their organizational charts), a Co-op can be a more resilient business model because the member-owners come together in times of trouble to see the Co-op through until the economy picks up again. And now, while we're just starting to come out of  some pretty big economic trouble, wouldn't it be good to be prepared for the next downturn?

(Join the Co-op today... we've made it easy with our new online form.)

Frugal Dad did the work and invited anyone to embed this useful infographic about the consolidation of the American food industry. It's yet another reason to help a place like the South Philly Food Co-op come into existence and thrive. Enjoy... and learn. Source: Frugal dad  

[caption id="attachment_2573" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Huh?"][/caption] At least, it enjoys legal vegetable status according to the United States federal government which essentially means that I can eat pizza and get my daily serving of vegetables. Never mind that (1) a tomato is a fruit and (2) seriously? do I have to say why this is ridiculous? That's just one of many outrageous bits of news to be found in this story about Congress pushing back against the Obama administration's attempts to promote healthier school lunches. I posted this story on our Facebook page and asked the question of why government attempts to promote healthier eating are considered by conservatives to be "overreaching" while changes made to a spending bill at the behest of "food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers" are perfectly fine. It would seem to depend on whose behalf they're doing the reaching. I rarely get so political on this blog. And I write all of this as someone who believes in government and its capacity to effect positive change. That's what makes this all so darn frustrating. I prefer to keep my writings on this blog about why it would be so good for there to be a food co-op in South Philly. So I'll end with this point. Our elected government failing to act on behalf of public health by making it easier for children in the low-income, federally funded school lunch program to have access to more than just pizza and french fries is a prime example of why we need to take matters into our own hands. There are numerous examples of how government policy that was written to please large corporate food manufacturers has resulted in a system that is unsustainable, unhealthy, profit-driven, unaccountable and unsafe. There are plenty of good reasons to become one of the South Philly Food Co-op's 250 Founding Members. One of them is that it is our chance, at least in this little corner of the world made up of four zip codes, to take control, establish a place that we own and where we get to decide that pizza, however awesome it is, is not a vegetable. And here is the usual disclaimer about how the opinions expressed in this piece are mine and mine alone and do not reflect any policies or opinions of the South Philly Food Co-op, its members or its board. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments section of this post or via email at dan.pohlig (at) gmail.com.

 

At least, it enjoys legal vegetable status according to the United States federal government which essentially means that I can eat pizza and get my daily serving of vegetables. Never mind that (1) a tomato is a fruit and (2) seriously? do I have to say why this is ridiculous?

That's just one of many outrageous bits of news to be found in this story about Congress pushing back against the Obama administration's attempts to promote healthier school lunches.

I posted this story on our Facebook page and asked the question of why government attempts to promote healthier eating are considered by conservatives to be "overreaching" while changes made to a spending bill at the behest of "food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers" are perfectly fine. It would seem to depend on whose behalf they're doing the reaching.

I rarely get so political on this blog. And I write all of this as someone who believes in government and its capacity to effect positive change. That's what makes this all so darn frustrating. I prefer to keep my writings on this blog about why it would be so good for there to be a food co-op in South Philly.

So I'll end with this point. Our elected government failing to act on behalf of public health by making it easier for children in the low-income, federally funded school lunch program to have access to more than just pizza and french fries is a prime example of why we need to take matters into our own hands. There are numerous examples of how government policy that was written to please large corporate food manufacturers has resulted in a system that is unsustainable, unhealthy, profit-driven, unaccountable and unsafe. There are plenty of good reasons to become one of the South Philly Food Co-op's 250 Founding Members. One of them is that it is our chance, at least in this little corner of the world made up of four zip codes, to take control, establish a place that we own and where we get to decide that pizza, however awesome it is, is not a vegetable.

And here is the usual disclaimer about how the opinions expressed in this piece are mine and mine alone and do not reflect any policies or opinions of the South Philly Food Co-op, its members or its board. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments section of this post or via email at dan.pohlig (at) gmail.com.

Whether we grow our own veggies or receive too much in our CSA or scramble to the farm market to get the last of our favorite produce before the end of the season, sometimes we end up with too much. Freezing is a great way to keep the goodness of seasons past on hand and ready for a meal. But just throwing most vegetables into the freezer isn't the best route to ensuring that today's harvest tastes fresh a few months from now. I've acknowledged that my freezer overflows with homemade foods and preserved produce and bits of things (butter wrappers for greasing pans, ends of bread for making breadcrumbs, and all the leafy, scrappy ends of things I save for stock). About once a week, I look in the fridge and figure out what's just not going to make it onto our plates in time, and then I get a pot of water boiling. I use my biggest pot. This pot happens to have a strainer component, which is helpful but absolutely not necessary. If your pot doesn't have a strainer - and really, whose does? - just be prepared to use a slotted spoon later on. I turn the heat on to get the water boiling and then I prep my veg. I'm really not one to boil vegetables, so what's going on here? Yes, I'm going to drop these nice fresh, crisp veg into boiling water, but I'm not going to cook the heck out of them and end up with something mushy and grey, I'm just blanching them to stop them from ripening. The freezer isn't magic. So you've got veg, let's say it's a carrot, and it's firm and crisp and wonderful, but if you wait too long, the same enzymes that caused it to ripen and turn into a delicious carrot will keep going with their ripening until they've gone too far. You've seen it happen in your fridge. Yesterday's bright, crunchy carrot turns soft and flexible and dark. Yuck. Just freezing most vegetables doesn't stop the enzymatic ripening process, and freezing doesn't kill all of the bacteria. So, gross things can happen, even in the freezer. Since we want out veg to be fresh and wonderful when we pull them out next week or next month, we blanch the veg first. Blanching is just about boiling briefly, then chilling immediately. Today I have carrots, kale, and spinach to freeze. The spinach just needed a good washing. The kale gets de-stemmed and washed. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="tired kale"][/caption]

The carrots get scrubbed and cut into rough sticks. I don't peel my carrots, but this is the time, if you're going to. Of course, you can cut them into whatever shape you like, but carrot rounds remind me too much of canned carrots, so I just avoid that shape. These sticks will work nicely in a stir fry.

When the water is boiling, we're ready to go. This is when I think about the order of things. Sure, you can use fresh water for each vegetable, but I don't. Instead I think about how the veg will affect each other. I'm going to do greens first and then carrots, because if the carrots get infused with a bit of the goodness from the greens, that's no problem, but I might not want any of the sweetness of the carrots to leech out into my greens. This probably isn't a thing, but it's something I think about. Of course, if you're dealing allergies or strong preferences in your house, you'll want to separate your veg accordingly. I dropped the kale into boiling water. Then waited for a few seconds to be sure the water had come back up to a boil, and then set the stop watch. You only want the kale in there for two minutes. This is true of all greens, except collards, which need an extra minute. This is the time to prep your chill bowl. Cold water and ice, enough to cover your veg when they come out of the pot. When my two minutes are up, I pull the strainer basket up out of the pot. If you don't have a basket, use a slotted spoon to remove the veg. And drop the kale right into the ice water. The kale need to chill in the ice water for at least as long as they boiled (2 minutes). Then I drain it - well - squeezing and such. And into a zipper bag. Squeeze the air out well, and use a plastic straw if you have one handy. I like to use masking tape and a Sharpie to label them. That way when you're reusing your bag you don't have to cross out whatever was in the bag last. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="My husband, Sous Chef Brian, was excited at this point in the labeling"][/caption]

The spinach is done the same exact way. Boil 2 minutes, drain, ice for 2 minutes, bag and freeze.

I gave the carrots a minute longer. There is science to this (and actually, the science says just two minutes on the carrots, but I cut mine pretty big). [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="I think Sous Chef Brian was bored with the labeling at this point.  He actually does like carrots. "][/caption] Veg like this keep a good 6-9 months in the freezer, and after that they don't spoil but they lose some of their flavor. How do you know how long to blanch your veg for freezing? The Internet is your friend. The National Center for Home Preservation provides guidance on blanching and freezing, canning, drying, smoking and more. If there's a vegetable you're itching to freeze that isn't listed, just Google "blanching rutabega" and you'll get the appropriate time from something like Colorado State University Extension Center or New Mexico State University. Lots of schools have great info on preservation. My most common veg are:

• Greens - 2 minutes
• Corn on the cob - 9 minutes
• Eggplant - 4 minutes
• Green beans - 3 minutes

You'll find tables with more veg at the links above. Just remember, as much time as they spend in the boiling water, they should spend the same on ice before you drain them and pack them up. A few tips that should be obvious, but I've messed them both up in the past.

• Label your veg. You don't want to think you're pulling out spinach one day and find out after the first bite that it's actually mustard greens.
• Freeze them in the quantities you're going to want them in once they're defrosted. No, you're not going to successfully break off half a block of frozen carrots. The advanced technique, which I do when I have bigger quantities, is to blanch, drain, and then lay out on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment or silicone) in the freezer. Then, once each piece is frozen, drop them in a bag or other storage device. That way you can get at just some of them, like how your supermarket veg are frozen.
• Of course, if you use your freshest veg, they'll be more delightful when you defrost them.  But this is how I clean out my fridge.

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

Whether we grow our own veggies or receive too much in our CSA or scramble to the farm market to get the last of our favorite produce before the end of the season, sometimes we end up with too much. Freezing is a great way to keep the goodness of seasons past on hand and ready for a meal. But just throwing most vegetables into the freezer isn't the best route to ensuring that today's harvest tastes fresh a few months from now.

I've acknowledged that my freezer overflows with homemade foods and preserved produce and bits of things (butter wrappers for greasing pans, ends of bread for making breadcrumbs, and all the leafy, scrappy ends of things I save for stock). About once a week, I look in the fridge and figure out what's just not going to make it onto our plates in time, and then I get a pot of water boiling.

I use my biggest pot.

This pot happens to have a strainer component, which is helpful but absolutely not necessary.

If your pot doesn't have a strainer - and really, whose does? - just be prepared to use a slotted spoon later on.

I turn the heat on to get the water boiling and then I prep my veg.

I'm really not one to boil vegetables, so what's going on here? Yes, I'm going to drop these nice fresh, crisp veg into boiling water, but I'm not going to cook the heck out of them and end up with something mushy and grey, I'm just blanching them to stop them from ripening.

The freezer isn't magic. So you've got veg, let's say it's a carrot, and it's firm and crisp and wonderful, but if you wait too long, the same enzymes that caused it to ripen and turn into a delicious carrot will keep going with their ripening until they've gone too far. You've seen it happen in your fridge. Yesterday's bright, crunchy carrot turns soft and flexible and dark. Yuck. Just freezing most vegetables doesn't stop the enzymatic ripening process, and freezing doesn't kill all of the bacteria. So, gross things can happen, even in the freezer. Since we want out veg to be fresh and wonderful when we pull them out next week or next month, we blanch the veg first. Blanching is just about boiling briefly, then chilling immediately.

Today I have carrots, kale, and spinach to freeze. The spinach just needed a good washing.

The kale gets de-stemmed and washed.

The carrots get scrubbed and cut into rough sticks. I don't peel my carrots, but this is the time, if you're going to. Of course, you can cut them into whatever shape you like, but carrot rounds remind me too much of canned carrots, so I just avoid that shape. These sticks will work nicely in a stir fry.

When the water is boiling, we're ready to go. This is when I think about the order of things. Sure, you can use fresh water for each vegetable, but I don't. Instead I think about how the veg will affect each other. I'm going to do greens first and then carrots, because if the carrots get infused with a bit of the goodness from the greens, that's no problem, but I might not want any of the sweetness of the carrots to leech out into my greens. This probably isn't a thing, but it's something I think about. Of course, if you're dealing allergies or strong preferences in your house, you'll want to separate your veg accordingly.

I dropped the kale into boiling water.



Then waited for a few seconds to be sure the water had come back up to a boil, and then set the stop watch. You only want the kale in there for two minutes. This is true of all greens, except collards, which need an extra minute.

This is the time to prep your chill bowl. Cold water and ice, enough to cover your veg when they come out of the pot.



When my two minutes are up, I pull the strainer basket up out of the pot. If you don't have a basket, use a slotted spoon to remove the veg.



And drop the kale right into the ice water.



The kale need to chill in the ice water for at least as long as they boiled (2 minutes).

Then I drain it - well - squeezing and such.

And into a zipper bag. Squeeze the air out well, and use a plastic straw if you have one handy.

I like to use masking tape and a Sharpie to label them. That way when you're reusing your bag you don't have to cross out whatever was in the bag last.

The spinach is done the same exact way. Boil 2 minutes, drain, ice for 2 minutes, bag and freeze.

I gave the carrots a minute longer. There is science to this (and actually, the science says just two minutes on the carrots, but I cut mine pretty big).

Veg like this keep a good 6-9 months in the freezer, and after that they don't spoil but they lose some of their flavor.

How do you know how long to blanch your veg for freezing? The Internet is your friend. The National Center for Home Preservation provides guidance on blanching and freezing, canning, drying, smoking and more. If there's a vegetable you're itching to freeze that isn't listed, just Google "blanching rutabega" and you'll get the appropriate time from something like Colorado State University Extension Center or New Mexico State University. Lots of schools have great info on preservation.

My most common veg are:

• Greens - 2 minutes

 

• Corn on the cob - 9 minutes

 

• Eggplant - 4 minutes

 

• Green beans - 3 minutes

You'll find tables with more veg at the links above.

Just remember, as much time as they spend in the boiling water, they should spend the same on ice before you drain them and pack them up.

A few tips that should be obvious, but I've messed them both up in the past.

• Label your veg. You don't want to think you're pulling out spinach one day and find out after the first bite that it's actually mustard greens.

 

• Freeze them in the quantities you're going to want them in once they're defrosted. No, you're not going to successfully break off half a block of frozen carrots. The advanced technique, which I do when I have bigger quantities, is to blanch, drain, and then lay out on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment or silicone) in the freezer. Then, once each piece is frozen, drop them in a bag or other storage device. That way you can get at just some of them, like how your supermarket veg are frozen.

 

• Of course, if you use your freshest veg, they'll be more delightful when you defrost them.  But this is how I clean out my fridge.

Happy Freezing!

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