EXPANSION VISIONS by Sage Turner, Finance & Expansion Project Manager
Opportunity Engagement Purpose Viability Visioning Values Principles Understanding The time has come! Your support and commitment to the Co-op has led us all to an incredible opportunity. We’ve been listening to your feedback and a bigger, better store is on the horizon. With several years of amazing growth behind us and huge leaps in ownership, we recognize we are busting at the seams and ready for expansion. We own our property, another parking lot, and have an option to purchase on our neighboring property. We have commissioned studies to determine feasibility of a larger store in our location and in other locations and learned that we have great potential on our current site. The Co-op’s vision is to be a transformative force in our community and work and to serve as a model of a sustainable business alternative that nurtures social and economic well-being in an environmentally sensitive manner. 2015 is our 40th year and we are stronger than ever. We currently support community programs like LEAF in Schools & Streets and Go! Kitchen Ready
job training. We pay a Certified Living Wage. We focus on local food, organics, quality, and product sourcing. We host a 44-tent farmer’s market. We issue rebates to owners based on purchases and offer monthly and quarterly discounts to owners. We are doing wonderful things! Which begs the question, could we be doing more? Every dollar spent at co-ops reinvests $.38 into the local economy, compared with $.24 at other grocers. With so many successful natural grocers in the area, could we be capturing more sales dollars and thereby infusing more dollars into our local economy? Should we be looking into more options than just grocery? Other co-ops are doing community kitchens and cooking classes, co-op computer labs, co-op libraries, and shared office space. Some have ventured into parking structures and affordable housing. continued on page 2
Expansion Visions continued from page 1
SHOULD WE?
COULD WE?
WOULD WE? In March we hosted our first Co-op Expansion Community Input meeting to hear your opinions. 100+ people attended and shared their ideas for our future. We let the group decide the topics and break out groups discussed each topic at length. In the end attendees used stickers to display their desired priorities of topics discussed. Here are the top priorities from the meeting: Expanding into other opportunities like office space, residential, rentals, and greenspace were hot topics. Parking continually surfaced as a problem that must be addressed, and building sustainably also made the list. A Development Committee is working with the Board of Directors to research and develop our options. Surrounding property owners have expressed interest in a community project, growing our potential to 2 acres of downtown property. We have hired a team of engineers to review our parcels of land. They will provide us with some realistic and best case scenarios, using your chosen topics as guides. What’s next? When will you hear more? How can you stay informed and get involved? The simplest way is shop and visit us often. You can update your contact information at check out and ensure we have the right email and mailing address for you. You can also find us on Facebook. June 7 is our Annual Meeting, 40th Year Celebration, and Expansion Update. We hope to have the engineering studies available to share at the meeting and will update you on our progress. Please join us! Not an owner or on our mailing list? You can become one! Sign up online 24/7 or in the store on your next visit. Enjoy 5% off the day you sign up. www.frenchbroadfood.coop Below is the final drawing from our Expansion Input Meeting. Thank you to Caryn Hanna for her beautiful graphic art:
Bobby Sullivan General Manager
Sage Turner
Finance & Project Manager
Clare Schwartz
Outreach Co+ordinator
Ryan Prenger
Grocery Manager
Darren Stroupe
40 Years Young! Alanna Hibbard, Board of Directors
From a retail perspective, the FBFC has some pretty intense competition. What makes us special? You do. We are currently the only cooperatively-owned grocery store in Asheville, and we are coming up on our 40th anniversary. Amidst a sea of non-local corporate chain stores, we are humbled by your support. Thank you!
Produce Manager
Greg Mosser Deli Manager
Melissa Fryar
Health & Body Care Manager
FBFC Board of Directors Justina Prenatt President
Danielle Goldstein Vice President
Perhaps you have heard the buzz recently that we are poised for expansion. It’s true! This an exiting transitional period – and we REALLY want to hear from you. What kind of COOP do you want for the future? A bigger building? Garden-terraced parking palace? Community lounge? How do you see us achieving what you want in the context of a natural foods store? We are listening. No idea is too big, too small or too weird. It is deeply important that our expansion represents the owners. It’s your COOP, and we exist because of member support. There are many ways to reach us. You can email us, comment on the FBFC Facebook page, Tweet to us, or fill out an in-store comment card. Even better, we love to hear from you in person! If you check the FBFC event calendar, there are numerous opportunities for connection. A prime example is the next Annual Owner’s Meeting (details below). Board meetings are another opportunity- we begin each meeting with an owner comment period. Meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 5:30 PM in the Movement & Learning Center which is located above the store. Speaking of the board, if you have ever thought about running for a board seat, now is an excellent time to apply. Applications can be found online: http://www.frenchbroadfood. coop/about-us/board-of-directors/ We are a diverse group of individuals who all work together to represent you, our owners...and we are always seeking interested applicants. This year, the FBFC turns 40. For the upcoming Annual Owner’s Meeting, we are working to create a celebratory gathering. There will be business, but there will also be fun. Food! Drinks! Raffle! It will be a great outlet to share your visions and connect with your community. We also know that some of you have been with us for a long time, and we would love to create a platform for you to share FBFC stories and/or pictures at the meeting. If this interests you, please contact us at board@frenchbroadfoodcoop.com. The meeting is scheduled for Sunday, June 7, 2-6 PM, at 76 Biltmore Avenue, right next to the store. Help us cross the threshold into our fifth decade!
Jennifer Gustafson Secretary
Bob LeRoy Treasurer
Sarah Oram Alanna Hibbard Kelly Fain Pauline Heyne Josh Littlejohn Daav Wheeler Rosemary Fletcher Jean Karpen Board Assistant
French Broad Food Co-op 90 Biltmore Ave. Asheville, NC 28801 Tel:828.255.7650 info@frenchbroadfood.coop www.frenchbroadfood.coop
Monday-Saturday 8am to 9pm Sunday 11am to 7pm page 3
Carolina Ground By Bobby Sullivan
Speaking the other day with Jen Lapidus from Carolina Ground, it struck me how amazing it is to have companies like hers here in Asheville. She was inquiring about us helping her get their bulk flours into Weaver Street Market, a 3-store co-op with a food production facility, all in the Carrboro/Chapel Hill area. The good news for Carolina Ground is that Weaver Street will be able to get their flour to a couple other co-ops as well. What’s so smart about this is that as a sustainable business model, Carolina Ground is looking for lasting relationships, which co-ops can give them. We of course understand when local companies look to get their products into the bigger corporate chains, but experience has shown in the long term these relationships are not able to be depended on. The more farmers and local companies align themselves with co-ops, the more stable their businesses become, because co-ops have commitments about business practices written into their bylaws. The French Broad Food Co-op served as a pilot project for Carolina Ground’s retail flours and we are currently the only place to get them in Asheville. We feature 4 of their flours in bulk: Type 85 Pastry, Crema Pastry, Type 75 Bread, Type 85 Bread & Whole Wheat Bread and we allow consumers to buy 25lb. bags by special order. They use the term, “Type” to refer to the degree of extraction of their sifted flours. So, whereas their Whole Wheat Bread flour is 100% -- no sifting, everything’s there -- their Type 85 flour has around 10-15 parts sifted out; the Crema, their most refined flour, has about 45 parts sifted out. Bread flour & pastry flour blended together produce an “all purpose” flour. Because their flours are stone ground -- with the germ still contained within the flour even after sifting -- their flours tend to absorb more liquid. They suggest, for bread formulas, that you increase your hydration, and for pastry, decrease your flour by about 1/8 cup. All of their flours are stone ground and cold milled. Their website says it like this: “Stone ground means the grain is crushed between stone. We do this in a single pass -- from grain to hopper, from hopper to stone. This way we produce whole grain flour, or divert the flour to our bolter to produce a sifted flour. Sifting removes the larger bran, but the germ remains, crushed into the endosperm spreading its oils, nutrients and flavor. The resulting flour is cream colored (not white).” “All of our grains are grown on certified organic farms in the SOUTH. Our bread flour is made from hard red winter wheat; our pastry flour is made from soft, red winter wheat. Our whole grain flours are just that -- grain to whole grain flour -- 100%.”
We knew Jen when she was the owner and operator of Natural Bridge Bakery, the first brown paper bag bakery that we know of in the Asheville area. Other members of their team include Kimberly Thompson, Tara Jensen, Sean Clark, Stewart Wedhoft & Bobo. Here’s more from their website www.carolinaground.com: Farmer + Miller + Baker Through Carolina Ground we link the farmer, miller, and baker. We offer a distinctly local Carolina flour for a distinctly local loaf of bread or pastry. We stone grind-- whole grain and sifted-- to produce a flour whose vibrancy and quality is recognizably local. For lovers of good bread, this means better bread. And for the farmer and baker, it means a tangible level of security and sustainability. Carolina Ground enables long-term relationships to be established between farmers and bakers, giving us the means to build our knowledge base of local grains both in the field and in the bakery and in the process, improving our daily bread from the ground up. Our story began with the baker. The year was 2008. And the price of wheat had just hit the roof. This was due to a number of factors-- on farm and on Wall Street (see our press page for the link to Harper’s article, The Food Bubble: How Wall Street Starved Millions and Got Away With It). At its worst, the price of wheat rose as much as 130% and the price of flour rose beyond what could be passed along to the customer. For the baker, it became all too apparent how disconnected we all were from this most essential ingredient of our daily bread. And so the North Carolina Organic Bread Flour Project was born, with the goal of closing the gap between the farmer and baker in the Carolinas. Currently we are working with growers from the far eastern section of NC to the Sandhills and Western Piedmont. We are proud to be working with growers Ben and Kenny Haines, Billy Carter, and Buddy and Chris Hofner. Bakeries, restaurants & institutions, please email: carolinaground@gmail.com for wholesale product and price sheet. For all other inquiries, please email carolinagroundinfo@gmail.com
The New FBFC Wednesday Tailgate Market by Veronica Sotolongo
When visiting the Wednesday Tailgate Market this season, you may be surprised to see some new faces and more offerings than ever before! We’ve changed the market’s layout, optimizing the space and adding several new vendors, including: Hillbilly Seafood, Second Spring Farm, Joshua Niven Studios, LaView Eye, Balm Mtn. Soap, Scott’s Knots, Mad Monks Glass, Juice Pure and Simple, Fun Frolic Farm, and Green River Picklers. Come on out Wednesdays from 2-6, and welcome these wonderful farmers and artisans! Besides the usual fare - produce, plant starts, baked goods, honey, cheese, sauces/jams, cut flowers, eggs, and meat, you’ll be able to find seafood, fresh-pressed juices, yummy treats made with cricket protein, soaps and beauty products, goat milk, gourmet pretzels, pickled products, fresh turmeric and ginger, arts & crafts, and more! Plus, you can expect to see more produce early and late in the season, as our vendors extend the season with hoop houses. Each week, you can enjoy local food tastings, creatively prepared by Michael Gentry, “the sustainable gourmet.” Michael specializes in vegetarian, vegan, and raw foods, favoring local, organic, and wild sources. Throughout the season, special guest chefs from Asheville restaurants will be joining us to offer food demos and tastings check us out on Facebook for updates. Bring the kids too! This year, we’ll be offering fun and educational activities for children at the market. Activities will foster awareness of our local food system and will include arts and crafts, fresh local food tastings, and scavenger hunts. If you are interested in volunteering in our kids’ area, please contact Veronica Sotolongo at tailgate@frenchbroadfood.coop.
SUN! Welcome Back
Well, the sun is back...finally. So much excitement and growth at this time. The gardens are growing, the area’s farmers markets are back and bountiful, and the eating is good! It is also time for the bugs, burns, and allergies that come with the season. We have welcomed Herb Pharm’s Pollen Defense to our allergy line up and folks are loving it! I also recommend some liver support to help soothe allergies. Many of our common weeds, such as dandelion and burdock are terrific liver support. Make decoctions of the roots or eat them in salads, roasted root vegetable blends or stir fry, or throw together a great miso soup with white miso (lighter for the season) and shredded roots, and maybe even add some fresh chickweed to garnish. For summer skin worries, we have many helpers: poison ivy soaps and sprays, salves for those scrapes and scratches from outdoor pursuits, and sunblocks and bug sprays to keep you healthy and safe. I often mix together the following: Melissa’s Sun Soother 1 oz. aloe juice 20 drops organic lavender essential oil (I like Simplers Botanicals) 20 drops organic peppermint essential oil 3 oz. distilled or spring water Mix together the aloe and essential oils, then add water to a 4 oz. spray bottle. Shake well and apply regularly when exposed to sun to prevent burns, or as a cool soother to already burned or over heated skin. Even more delicious when refrigerated! And and easy DIY bug spray for the season: Bug B Gone Spritz 1 Tbsp. Vodka Essential oils of: Citronella, lemon eucalyptus, rosemary, spearmint, and tea tree Distilled or spring water Place vodka in spray bottle and add essential oils to alcohol before adding water. The vodka helps the essential oils better blend with the water, though still give this mixture a shake before spraying to further disperse. Mix the essential oils to your nose and preference. I use between 40-60 drops of essential oils (total blend) per 4 oz. bottle. I love the lemon eucalyptus and it is effective against mosquitos, so my blend is heavy on that essen-
tial oil. If you want to repel ticks, add cedarwood or sage. This is effective against a host of creepy crawlies, including spiders, ants, etc. So, spray yourself, your doorways, and your bedding to help cut down on bugs of all kinds. In our lovely land of HBC, we have a few new items around. My favorite thus far, is Taproot Threads clothing. I discovered this company at the Mother Earth News Fair and fell in love. First, there are herb prints and phrases like “Hoe, don’t Mow!” and “Fermented”. Secondly, the blank clothing she uses is either fair trade, organic, or domestic. Lastly, she is a small company out of Greenfield, MA and in this land of mass production, I am looking to small, artisan companies to support and find unique items from. Every month, more and more of our lines are going mass market. Finding great, clean, sustainable product lines is more and more important. Thank you for supporting those lines! Also look for Non GMO Vitamin C from Threshold, and a few new products from the Herbalists and Alchemists line, such as AP Compound which David Winston calls the travelers companion. Host Defense has 3 new products out, blending the healing powers of botanicals and mushrooms. Look for Liver, Woman, and Brain formulas in this new trio. New books to love this summer: SouthEast Foraging by Chris Bennett Healing Spices by Bharat Aggarwal Trad Cotter’s Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation And do keep an eye out for new gardening and preserving books throughout the season. I wish for you sunny hammock swinging afternoons, feasts of fresh, local, delicious food with good people, and a beautiful spring! Melissa HBC Manager
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FBFC CALENDAR OF EVENTS
www.frenchbroadfood.coop • 90 Biltmore Ave. • Downtown Asheville • 828.255.7650