Expansion Update! By Sage Turner, Finance & Project Manager
First off, a big thank you to everyone that continues to shop, support, volunteer, and work endless hours for our community owned Co-op. We’re doing it. We’re making a bigger and bigger difference in our community. We’re also making great strides in expansion planning and we have some new ways to fill you in and keep you up to date. We’ve now had 2 public meetings and 2 owner council meetings. The most recent one was on the 3rd of this month. Most attendees had signed up for owner council info at previous meetings held in March and June, and we want to make sure to extend an invitation to all owners to attend. Here is the official description of the Owner’s Council: An adjunct, ad hoc committee of the board of directors of the French Broad Food Co-op consisting of creative owners with positive, meaningful suggestions and ideas to be considered during the expansion process of the FBFC. We will offer input and work to encourage the full and enthusiastic support of all the FBFC owners for this historic project. Here are other ways you can find out what is happening with the expansion: • www.frenchbroadfood.coop look for the “Expansion” tab • COOP NEWS bulletin board at the front corner of the building, outside of the store. • Submit your email here: www.frenchbroadfood.coop/stayin-touch/. • Call list. If you do not have regular access to email or web and would like a call or text, please call us and we’ll add you to the list. • Flyers at the register. Staff are getting more and more questions. That is great! But we also need to get customers through busy lines and recognize that staff are all working harder than ever and may not want to be the champions of updates. We will now have a pamphlet/flyer to pick up at the check-out.
If you have questions about the expansion you send them to: Info@frenchbroadfood.coop Hopefully you saw the articles recently shared at Ashvegas.
com (Oct 29) and in the Asheville Citizen Times (Oct 30) and Mountain Xpress (Oct 31). A few staff and an area affordable housing guru chimed in. Their thoughts are also below in the press release at the bottom of this update. Where we are at now: • We have created a Development RFPQ – a Request For Proposals & Qualifications. That means we are reaching out to developers with the ideas we have created as a team and with your input, and asking them to propose ways their organization could be involved and to what extent. Ideally we will find a Master Developer, and it is possible we will form relationships with several developers - Mountain Housing Opportunities, for example. We’re asking them to evaluate how much of a role they can play and what they envision that looks like. We’ve also talked to Self Help, who champions Impact Lending and builds low income housing and commercial space. • The RFPQ deadline is Feb 1, 2016 • The Timeline for Development is to finish planning in 2016 and begin construction in 2017 • Multiple local organizations are submitting what is called continued on page 3
Bobby Sullivan General Manager
Sage Turner
Finance & Project Manager
Clare Schwartz
Outreach Co+ordinator
Ryan Prenger
Grocery Manager
Darren Stroupe Produce Manager
Greg Mosser Deli Manager
Melissa Fryar
Health & Body Care Manager
FBFC Board of Directors Justina Prenatt President
Danielle Goldstein Vice President
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
GREAT DEALS for Keeping Warm
The November-December edition of the Co+op Deals coupon book is packed with money-saving coupons on your favorite products.Stop by the co-op to pick up your copy today, and save on great products from companies (and cooperatives!) like Organic Valley, Blue Diamond and many more. Co-ops like ours are helping to build a better world, locally, nationally and internationally, and we couldn’t do it without the support of our member-owners and shoppers like you. We are stronger together! Learn more about the positive impact food co-ops have on their communities at www.strongertogether.coop.
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an LOI – a Letter Of Intent. The LOIs tell us what each proposed tenant or partner would want. For example, the Recyclery is detailing how much square footage they’d like, if they want private restrooms, a garage door, a high ceiling, etc. Whether they want to own, or rent and continue our current relationship. This process of LOIs is about capturing ideals and understanding what interest is out there and from whom. Please contact us if your business would like more info or to submit an LOI. The date of the next Owner Council meeting will be determined soon, and will likely fall in early Dec. Please sign up your email at the site above to make sure you get invited. We are still looking at 3 core concepts: One that is just a store expansion onto the current building. One that is mid-range in size, includes a few other commercial spots for other businesses, and has an area for housing and increased parking. The third concept involves working with all of our neighbors to put together 6 parcels, 2.15 acres, and working together to build a community hub of businesses, housing, parking, gardens, and our amazing Co-op at the epi-center of it. We have done feasibility studies on a co-op at 10k, 12k, and 14k square feet and plan to build a 17k+ footprint to house a 14.5k store with some back space and offices above, similar to now but bigger. Last, but not least, we continue to be and get more excited in our planning. We will be able to bring the community so many more options, so much more hot and grab n go food, and so many more living wage jobs. Grocery is about volume, so the bigger we are the more effective we are in our community.
We are happy to answer questions and continue to host meetings. Again, send questions to info@frenchbroadfood.coop This was the press release: In case you hadn’t noticed, the community owned French Broad Food Co-op is a local socioeconomic powerhouse. What began in 1975 as a group of citizens trying to source better quality foods has evolved into a growing engine of community fervor and impact, channeling $20M through Asheville in the last five years. Notably, the Co-op became the nation’s first certified living wage grocer and became a primary sponsor of LEAF in Schools & Streets, LAAFF, and other area causes that support community. They added a hot bar, filled it with food made by GO! job training programs, and completed the cycle by sending leftover hot foods to area shelters each night. They’ve hosted urban homesteading fairs and brought chickens, rabbits, fruit trees, and classes into town. The Co-op has hosted a downtown’s farmer’s market for 18 years, added downtown’s first rooftop honeybees, sent their CEO to Capitol Hill to fight for GMO labeling, and maintained sales growth in one of the most saturated natural
foods markets in the US- even after multiple big box chains opened. The Co-op has always looked to local producers and farmers first and focused on ways to get affordable foods to the public. Getting involved means saving money on groceries, and quadrupling in size means increased opportunities for many local businesses and farms, as well as 60+ new permanent jobs, and hundreds, if not thousands, of temporary jobs during construction. Sage Turner, Finance & Project Manager says, “This expansion is about the Co-op first. Owners want a full shopping experience, want us to remain financially strong, and want us to continue our community-building work. Our Owners are also bright and innovative folks, quickly voting mixed use and sustainability to the top of the priorities list. One Owner inspired me, saying, ‘It isn’t affordable housing if our Co-op staff can’t afford it.’ The Co-op can limit the expansion to only a larger footprint store. We’ve run the studies. We can see growth, but also limits. The conversation has become, is just a store the highest & best use? Can we do more? If we can find the right partners we can help address several economic woes. We may be Beer City and Best Destination this and that, but we are also top ten food insecure and have a .9% vacancy rate. And let’s not forget the over crowded streets, infrastructure demands, loss of revenues due to legislative changes, and the community’s desire for more public space in downtown. Everything comes down to viability. We won’t put the Co-op at risk, we’re simply saying let’s have this conversation.” Bobby Sullivan, the General Manager of the Co-op says, “Co-ops offer a dynamic business model that nurtures authentic relationships with the local community to make sure local people have a say in how businesses develop in their city. We think we have a unique opportunity here, to anchor this side of downtown to be everything local people want for the future of Asheville.” Cindy Visnich Weeks, VP & Director of Community Investments at Mountain Housing Opportunities says, “MHO is committed to visionary projects like this. They change the development paradigm while meeting the housing and economic development needs of our local citizens. Infill, mixed use, redevelopment projects may be more difficult to finance and construct but they are more sustainable and are always the ones we are proudest of.” Clare Schwartz, Outreach Coordinator for the Co-op says, “It’s such an exciting time for the Co-op and the greater community of Asheville. I invite you to become an Owner & join our vision to support local, create healthy & sustainable jobs and relationships and, as our Global Ends Policy states, serve as a model of a sustainable business alternative that nurtures social and economic well-being. We’ve extended our Owner Drive through Nov 5. Come see us.”
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LETTER from the BOARD
SPONSOR A TURKEY
Greetings, All!
What a lovely few months it’s been here in Western North Carolina! Your Board of Directors has been hard at our joyful work, with a retreat planned for this winter as well. One of the tasks we have been chipping away at is updating the Co-op’s bylaws. It can be dry and tedious work but we have been making real progress in the last year. We’ve been reading through the bylaws bit by bit, studying the language, and sometimes recrafting the structure to ensure that they will best serve our Co-op. In the spirit of cooperation, we’ve been talking with some other co-ops as well as we move through each section. We are hoping that we will finish up as the year draws to a close, and at that time we will also update the bylaws on the web site. On a personal note, my family and I attended LEAF in October and we really enjoyed the Co-op’s participation in this important community event. I took a shift or two in the Co-op’s well-stocked camp store and had a wonderful time chatting with festival-goers and introducing some of them to the cooperative business model. I’m so proud of FBFC and really enjoyed sharing it! It was also really wonderful that our logo was on the wristband bracelets of the thousands of attendees! Clare, Bobby, Sage and the rest of the Co-op team do an impressive job with each LEAF festival; their dedication and passion really shine. As we look toward the future of FBFC, I’ve been taking a peek at our past. I’ve been working on compiling stories about our cooperative history. If you or someone you know remembers parts of our co-op’s past and is interested in sharing stories with me, please email me at moonstonekelly@gmail.com. Anything about the Co-op’s inception, different locations, etc, I look forward to hearing about your experience and what you remember about our past. From the root to the fruit! As we move into the holiday season, we will again be partnering with MANNA foodbank to help aid folks here in our community. One way we plan on supporting their work is by offering shoppers a chance to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar at the register. The difference will be gifted to MANNA in their effort to assist our friends and neighbors. Please keep this option in your mind as you shop the Co-op; and please consider rounding up if you have the means. Wishing you all a most merry and joyful season; good cheer and health to all! ~ Kelly Fain
What better way to show you care? By choosing to sponsor one or more of our rescued resident animals, YOU are helping to provide them with nourishing food, shelter, supplies, veterinary care and more. If you would like to sponsor Xander the Turkey, or any other of the rescued animals at Full Circle Farm Sanctuary, you can do so at http://fullcirclefarmsanctuary.org/get-involved/sponsor/ or fill out your sponsorship card and donation at any register.
Monday 11/23 thru Wednesday 1/25
here come the
HOLIDAYS! Melissa Fryar
Well, another turn of the year and here come the holidays! I love the varied traditions at this time of year, and as diverse as our community is, certain things are universal: the smells of spice, the delicious and hearty winter food, and of course family and friends. No matter what your traditions are, my hope is that our Co-op can provide what you will need to make your traditions fun and delicious!
We have many new seasonal items in stock or on the way, including: • chanukah candles • local beeswax candles for gifts and to illuminate the dark • Andes gifts alpaca hats, scarves, and gloves • Assorted socks from Maggies Organics and Rock N Socks • Taproots Herb Print Clothing • Assorted hemp accessories make great gifts! • A heap of new calendars, including the ever popular We’Moon Datebooks • Books! Books! Books! cooking, herbalism, gardening, healing... check our titles out! • Gypsy & Lolo hats scarves, handwarmers, etc. These are upcycled and american made items! • A great wellness section with all that you need to stay healthy during the cold and flu season! • ICU eyewear- readers and sunglasses • Holiday soaps and bodycare items for stockings and gift giving • A bulk herb section loaded with all you need to enhance your feasts! From long cinnamon sticks to assorted teas...pumpkin pie spice and elderberries...garlic and celtic sea salts...we have what you need! • New to us is Dr. Hauschka Bodycare- a decadent and super clean line of facial care, deodorants, and body care • And more goodness is on the way! The holidays can be a time of stress as well. I know that I always have these Martha Stewart aspirations that I try to pull off, when in reality, Martha has hundreds of support staff and boundless funds. I always include herbal nervines
and adaptogens in my “wellness” kit so that I can manage stress and hopefully avoid getting sick due to lowered immunity. We have several available such as Herb Pharm’s Anxiety soother (with Kava) and a new local product from Your Mother’s Medicine...Higher Self Tincture with holy basil and eleuthro. My trinity for immune support is: immune enhancers (such as echinacea, mushrooms, and elder), Probiotics (include foods such as kefir, kimchi, and other ferments), and nervine/adaptogen blends. If you are a do it yourselfer, here is a great tincture blend: • 10 Treasures Vitality Tonic (from Jeanine Pollak’s Healing Tonics) • 2 parts Panax ginseng • 2 parts Eleuthro (siberian ginseng) • 2 parts astragalus root • 2 parts codonopsis • 1 part dong quai root • 1 part prepared rehmannia root • 1 part red jujube dates • 1 part lycii berries (goji) • 1 part fresh grated ginger root • 1/2 part cinnamon chips Prepare as tincture in brandy. Pour brandy over herbs, covering completely with a 1 inch or so margin of brandy. Let sit for 4 weeks, shaking occasionally. Strain and bottle. Use 1-2 tsp. daily during the autumn and winter season. I am going to leave you with several recipes to try for your holiday traditions and gift giving. May your holidays be filled with love, joy, and warmth! Traditional Wassail (from The Nourished Kitchen...a great cookbook and website!) Ingredients needed: • 4 small apples • 1 cup unrefined cane sugar • 1 medium orange • 13 whole cloves • 2 quarts hard apple cider • 1/2 cup brandy • 1 Tbsp. powdered ginger • 1 tsp. grated nutmeg
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6 allspice berries 2 cinnamon sticks 6 large eggs, separated toast or pound cake slice, optional
To prepare: Preheat oven to 350* Scoop out the core of apples, without penetrating all the way through (try using a melon baller). Fill each apple cavern with about 1 Tbsp. cane sugar. Place on baking sheet with the orange, studded with cloves. Bake for about 40 minutes. While that is baking, pour apple cider and brandy in heavy bottom stock pot over low heat. Whisk in powdered nutmeg and ginger. Do not boil. Place a sachet of the cinnamon sticks and allspice berries in alcohol to infuse. Next, beat egg yolks until light. Whip the egg whites (separately) until stiff peaks form. Fold the yolks into the whites and blend well. Temper by slowly adding 1/4 cup of the spiced alcohol to the egg mixture. Remove the herb sachet from the tea and transfer to a punch bowl. Pour in the tempered eggs and mix well. Float the apples and orange in the tea to further spice the Wassail. Serve by the mug full, floating a slice of toast or cake on top, if desired. For the men in your life...or simply for the one’s who love Bay Rum: • 2 cups of Rum • 1/2 cup bay leaves • 1/4 cup cloves • 1/4 cup allspice berries • 1/4 cup fresh ginger root, sliced Pour the rum over the spices and let sit 2-4 weeks. The longer, the more rich. Strain and bottle for gift giving. This is great as an aftershave or body splash. Feel free to play with the spices: I love sandalwood chips and cedar tips as an addition! Inner Bliss Bath Tea: • 3 parts chamomile flowers • 2 parts Lavender flowers • 2 parts blue malva flowers • 1 part california poppy • 1 part skullcap Mix all herbs together and add lavender essential oil to enhance soothing effect. Place in muslin bag or seal into teapot size heat seal bags. A wonderful bath for gift giving and tired Santas!
FRENCH BROAD FOOD CO-OP CALENDAR OF EVENTS
www.frenchbroadfood.coop • 90 Biltmore Ave. • Downtown Asheville • 828.255.7650