by Kenna S. Eaton, General Manager of The Food Co-op

Each month, I report to the board on what is happening in the store as well as our progress on our long-term goals, which we call our Ends. These Ends reflect our aspirations—what we want to accomplish—and they are part of what makes us different from a regular grocery store. We publish these reports as a blog to keep our member-owners up to date on what we are doing.

Our Ends

The general manager strives to provide these benefits to our member-owners and community while operating a strong grocery store:

• Strengthen and advocate for our local food system, with a vibrant culture of appreciation and support for local farms and producers.

• Treat people well, increasing equity and access by providing a safe, welcoming, and educational environment.

• Treat the planet well, by modeling environmental stewardship and regularly sharing our accomplishments and challenges with member-owners.

December Update on Store and Progress on Ends

Working Together to Nourish our Community

Store Update

November was all about giving thanks, whether it was for the amazing food we grow here in Jeffco, our friends and family, or for the people we work with. I want to express my gratitude for the staff at the Co-op, who worked tirelessly preparing for the holidays and did it all with grace and a smile—well done, team!

November has also been an opportunity to showcase Field Day, our great-quality, low-priced everyday line of goods.  So far, we have sold almost double the number of Field Day items when compared to October 2023. Customers are excited both about the great prices and the donation to NATIFS (North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems), a non-profit dedicated to revitalizing Indigenous food systems and promoting cultural preservation with Native American communities. 

And lastly, but not the least for sure, we won BEST GROCERY and BEST PRODUCE for Port Townsend in the Annual Best Of competition for the PT Leader. Thanks for your votes, everyone!!

Ends Update

Local

While we have no new local vendors this month, we have quite a few local seasonal items that are here for only a short while. 

Local 5: Look for Two Crows Bakery pumpkin spice and white chocolate macadamia cookies and Wild Crow Pie Company pear-cranberry gluten-free pie

Local WA: Bite Me Cookies cranberry-cardamom Russian tea cakes, Dragonfly Cakes mint tea cakes, and Beechers cheese & cracker variety pack.

Did you know we have over 20 varieties of apples and pears from Tonnemakers? Just about every week from cherry season on, we get a truck filled with fruit. We have received several tons so far this season, almost 3 tons of Fuji apples alone. This is the first year that they have had Cosmic Crisps to sell to us, and on occasion we even receive some experimental varieties. Earlier this fall, we had TC-5, a blend of Pink Lady and Honeycrisp.

People

• In November we celebrated the retirement of two long-time Food Co-op employees, Marcia and Layne, with a combined service of 37 years!

• Our LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group is planning how to use and disseminate the wisdom learned from their meeting last month with Beau Ohlgren.

• During Thanksgiving week, we continued the tradition of feeding busy Co-op employees lunch in the breakroom with delicious chili, soup, salad, and fixings, so that they wouldn’t have to add to the lines of customers checking out with their Thanksgiving purchases.

• We finalized our Change for Change numbers for October and will be donating $8,972.61 to our Twin Pines Cooperative Community Fund. The profits earned from this endowment fund are in turn donated annually through our GROW fund to a local non-profit of our choosing.  

• We started mentoring sessions with the PT High School, which include working with the 9th graders on their Food Innovation Projects, creating a value-added product using locally grown products, as well as working with the Culinary classes on how to start and manage a food truck.

Yours in community,

Kenna