Cultivate Winter 2020

CULTIVATE A SE A SONAL GUIDE TO YOUR CO - OP COMMUNIT Y

WINTER 2020

TWIN CITIES C O - O P PA R T N E R S LEADERSHIP TEAM

JOSH RESNIK CEO DEB KERMEEN CFO MISSY SMITH Director of Culinary Operations TOM RODMYRE Director of Co-op Partners Warehouse DEAN SCHLADWEILER Store Director – Wedge Lyndale DOUG PETERSON Store Director – Linden Hills ADAM GOWER Director of Human Resources REBECCA LEE Director of Purchasing and Merchandising

artwork by Amit Michael, TCCP Commissary

P U B L I C AT I O N CONTRIBUTORS

LEIGH MCCARREN Ownership and Outreach Specialist AINSLEY JENSEN Project Management and Production Specialist LAURA GLASS Design BECCA DILLEY Photography CASEY COLODNY Recipes and Photography The Mindful Hapa JOSH RESNIK CEO

This fall, we asked our co-op owners what community means to them.

To us, community means supporting our local nonprofits, farmers and vendors to the best of our ability. It means rallying our owners and shoppers around supporting organizations that make big impacts in our neighborhoods through Change Matters. It means building inviting, inclusive, equitable spaces where staff, owners, and community can connect through food.

Read on to discover what community means to some of our co-op owners and friends; get inspired to cook healthy, guilt-free comfort foods for your loved ones; and take a behind-the-scenes look at the production of some of our favorite local foods.

DEB KERMEEN CFO

2020 Board of Directors ALEX SLICHTER EMILY PAUL TOM PIERSON

STEVE SHARE EMILY ANDERSON ME’LEA CONNELLY

LISA FITTIPALDI SARITA PARIKH JANE SCHOMMER

NEW & NOW MINNEAPOLIS 5¢ BAG ORDINANCE On Nov. 22, Minneapolis’ City Council approved a 5¢ bag fee for paper and plastic bags at retail stores. Starting Jan. 1, we’re required to

charge a nickel for handled bags given out at our checkout lines. Shoppers who use SNAP/EBT or WIC are exempt from the fee.

5¢

NEW PLANT-BASED SIGNS! It’s now easier to find plant-based products around our stores! Look for the green leaves to find our unique variety of plant-based meats, cheeses, desserts and more.

COMMUNITY CONNECT UPDATE THANK YOU for sharing your ideas for our Community Connect program! We received over 100 suggestions of amazing local businesses in our community! We’ll spend the early part of 2020 meeting with business owners and building a benefits and perks package for our co-op owners. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

UPCOMING BOARD MEETINGS Jan. 6 at CPW Feb. 24 at the Wedge Table Meetings are at 5:30 p.m.

Owners welcome. RSVP required, call 612-871-3993 (x1817).

TCCP BOARD SEEKS OWNERS FOR NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE! The TCCP Board of Directors is seeking member-owners to volunteer on the 2020 Nominations Committee. The committee meets monthly (February through August) and assists with the search, screening, and selection of board candidates. If you are interested in this opportunity to serve TCCP, please send a brief statement detailing your interest and qualifications to board@tccp.coop

by Friday, Jan. 31, 2020.

U P CO M I N G SA LE S + E V E N T S

SELF-CARE SUNDAY Sunday, Jan. 12 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

Wedge Lyndale & Linden Hills Take a moment for yourself with Self-Care Sunday. Enjoy nutrition and wellness tours; massage and accupressure from Wellness Minneapolis; and special sales, facials, demos, and skin consultations from Dr. Hauschka, Pranarom, Evan Healy and Intelligent Nutrients. Plus, the first 100 people at the event get a self-care bag with samples, coupons and more!

3 0 % O FF N O R D I C N ATU R AL S Sunday, Feb. 23 Wedge Lyndale & Linden Hills

WEDGE WINS GROWLER’S KOABD AWARD! The Wedge Community Co-op is the proud winner of The Growler magazine’s Kind-Of-A-Big-Deal Reader’s Choice Award in the “Best Grocer or Co-op” category.

Wahoo!

Save big and stock up on ALL Nordic Naturals products during this one-day sale!

YOUR CHANGE MATTERS

S

C

M

AT

NG

E

HA

TER

E

very small change donation you make at the register has a HUGE impact on your local community!

Thank you for choosing to round up your purchase and support your neighborhood nonprofits.

In 2019, your Change Matters donations built a food pantry in the Tubman Chrysalis Center, provided free and affordable music lessons for youth in North Minneapolis, donated 70 new beds to children transitioning out of homelessness, and so much more.

We raised over $150,000 this year and increased our annual donations by

$10,000!

We launched Product Partners, a program built in partnership with our local vendors to donate a portion of their sales to Change Matters. Our Product Partners alone donated over

$3,000!

4

“THANK YOU!” FROM OUR 2019 CHANGE MATTERS ORGANIZATIONS “The Midwest Food Connection is extremely thankful for your Change Matters contributions.

Food connects us with each other, our planet and ourselves.

Only with our strong co-op partnerships can Midwest Food Connection inspire thousands of young people every year to deepen their relationship with food—benefiting their bodies, their communities and the earth.

On behalf of these students, we thank the marketing team, the staff, Gustola Granola, and, most of all, the shoppers at the Wedge, Linden Hills, and the Wedge Table. Your donations— totaling over $12,000—will go directly to neighborhood schools such as Kenwood, Barton and Lake Harriet. In addition, we are allocating your funds for teaching at City View School on Minneapolis’ Northside.”

– Uli Koester, Executive Director, Midwest Food Connection

“We are so grateful to have been chosen as a 2019 Change Matters recipient. What an amazing show of generosity from the entire co-op community. The $14,403 raised through register round-ups and Feral Kombucha’s donation make a substantial impact on a small organization like ours.

The donation represents 7% of our entire 2019 budget and is enough to provide a new bed and dream kit to over 70 children.

In addition, the stores collected many wonderful items for our dream kits.

With this help, we will exceed our 600-bed delivery goal this year. We know that these beds are having a real impact in the community, as 85% of the families report that their children’s sleep has improved, which in turn will help those children heal and allow them to lead healthy and productive lives. Thanks for being a part of helping kids in our community get healthy sleep.”

– Meg Hobday, Development Officer, My Very Own Bed

2020 CALENDAR —

JANUARY: The Lift Garage

Minneapolis nonprofit auto repair

JULY: Mission Animal Hospital Accessible, nonprofit veterinary care

FEBRUARY: Mobile Menders

AUGUST: Nawayee Center School

MARCH: House of Charity

SEPTEMBER: Centro De Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha

Clothing repair for those in need

Free meals and housing support for those in need

APRIL: Green Card Voices

Sharing firsthand immigrant narratives through digital storytelling

MAY: Walk-In Counseling Center

Free, accessible mental health counseling

JUNE: Community Emergency Service

Strengthening community through hunger relief, serving neighbors and sharing resources

Alternative high school for American Indian youth

Worker organization securing fair working conditions across the Twin Cities

OUR 2020 PRODUCT PARTNERS We’re in the process of recruiting local vendors to be a part of our 2020 Product Partner Program! So far, we’ve got these awesome vendors on board. Look for their products on our shelves to support the Change Matters groups during select months.

OCTOBER: Native American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems Promoting Indigenous foodways education and increasing access to indigenous foods

NOVEMBER: Pillsbury United Communities

Building a just society by co-creating change and empowering communities

DECEMBER: Juxtaposition Arts

Arts education for urban youth in North Minneapolis

5

8 Food Trends for 2020

By Josh Resnik CEO

The past decade has seen a huge shift in food. As gurus of great flavor, we’re excited for what’s to come.

Through conversations

milk without moo The days of sacrifice and boxes of rice milk are long gone. The options, not just for milk alternatives, but dairy-free cheeses, ice creams and pizza, have improved tremendously. We will continue to see both lactose-intolerant and dairyloving people choosing dairy-free options— because they have gotten that good.

with staff across the co-op, here’s a list of eight big trends in food and supplements that fill our shelves right now.

photos by the respective brands 6

healthy drinking The past decade saw a radical shift from sodas and sugary beverages to kombuchas, switchels, sparkling waters, matchas, canned teas and cold-brew coffees. Every time the market seems saturated, a new interesting beverage comes along. Also, look for a merging of trends with more functional beverages with non-dairy milks.

save the planet Thankfully, packaged goods are taking climate change seriously and we are seeing products with stronger sustainability stories.

From compostable packaging to regenerative agriculture to renewable energy to Fair Trade, sustainability is becoming a priority.

food as medicine protein power

eat your veggies

While the focus has shifted over the past decade and a half from Atkins to Paleo to Keto, the idea of more protein and less carbs is still going strong. I think protein (especially from non-meat sources) will continue to be huge. Look for more products made with chickpeas, beans, nuts, lentils, tempeh and more.

Fresh vegetables have always been celebrated at co-ops. But now they continue to show up in new places — from cauliflower pizza crusts to beet chips to zucchini noodles. They continue to be thought of as a center-of-the-plate star.

the world in our kitchen

With rising costs of health care, people are looking more to food as preventive medicine.

From functional mushrooms to collagen, products aim to help with immunity, joint health, mental clarity, and much more. It’s no longer about what to avoid but what can give you a positive boost.

The last decade has seen the cuisines of Korea, Israel, Morocco, and other regions join the longtime popular ethnic cuisines of China, Italy, and Mexico as part of our American food culture. As I see kids noshing on seaweed snacks and harissa replacing ketchup on burgers, I think we will continue this global exploration.

CBD explosion The emergence of CBD supplements in our wellness department is the biggest new segment we have seen in the co-op in years—if not ever. From sparkling waters to chocolate bars, CBD in food products have done extremely well.

Assuming the FDA gives the green light, I would expect CBD to find its way to most categories across the store. CBD cereal? CBD pasta? It’s not so far-fetched.

7

When the Sap Starts to Flow

By Leigh McCarren Ownership and Outreach Specialist

Winter is a quiet time of year for most of our local farmers, but maple syrup farmers are busy getting ready for the sap to flow. Come early spring, maple syrup farmers work around the clock harvesting sap and turning it into the delicious syrups you find in our stores.

photos provided by B&E’s Trees 8

A Peek at the Maple Syrup Process MAPLE SEASON IS EARLY SPRING, when the weather is below freezing at night and above freezing during the day. This is typically a four to six week window in mid-March to early April in the Midwest. Sap flows when trees are waking up after a long winter and preparing to bud in the spring. One tree can be tapped in many different spots throughout its lifetime.

Some maple farmers collect sap with bags or buckets at each tree, while others set up a tubing system that funnels all sap into a centralized location with a vacuum.

ONCE RAW SAP IS COLLECTED, it needs to be cooked down to be turned into syrup. On average, 40 gallons of raw sap makes about 1 gallon of maple syrup. To make this process more efficient, many maple farmers have large evaporators with big trays for boiling sap as fast as possible. The evaporator works to decrease the water content in the sap. Maple farmers test the density of the liquid to determine when their syrup is ready to bottle.

Tree sap is perishable and needs to be processed in a timely manner. During maple season, maple farmers often work around the clock until all sap has been boiled into syrup and transferred to a shelf-stable container.

The quality of the sap changes as the season progresses, and therefore, the syrup changes. Early season syrup tends to be lighter in color and flavor, while late season syrup will be the darkest and richest.

Winter Citrus Salad with Maple Lavender Dressing Maple syrup isn’t just for pancakes! Try this fresh recipe featuring delicious in-season citrus.

Recipe courtesy of B & E’s Trees.

Maple Lavender Dressing: 1 cup water ¼ cup maple syrup ¼ cup dried lavender (in bulk) Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in syrup and lavender. Steep for 15 minutes, strain & cool. Dressing can be stored in the refrigerator up to one month.

Citrus Salad: 4 cups assorted seasonal citrus, peeled & cut into bite-size pieces. Good options include pomelo, blood oranges, clementines, satsumas, kumquats (whole or quartered, peel on) and grapefruit.

Toss citrus salad with Maple Lavender dressing, ensuring all bites are well coated.

9

We’re proud to carry a variety of maple syrups from local farms in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Learn more about a few of the maple farmers behind the local syrups you find on our shelves.

Helms Sugar Shack Mahlon Helms began tapping trees for a hobby. Mahlon says, ”The hobby just slowly got out of hand,” turning into a full-time business for the Helms family. He and his wife Amber established Helms Sugar Shack in 2009. Helms sources raw sap from sugar maple trees on several different properties in Wisconsin and makes their delicious syrup at a facility in Barron.

B & E’s Trees B & E’s Trees was founded by Bree and Eric in 2011, when they purchased a swath of land full of sugar maple trees in the Driftless region of Wisconsin. Since then, they’ve built a relationship with Central Waters Brewing Company that inspired them to age their syrup in bourbon barrels. A team of five taps the trees on their farm by hand, collects sap, makes the syrup, then ages it in bourbon barrels for a year before it’s bottled and sent out to our stores.

Maple Valley Cooperative Maple Valley Cooperative is a unique type of cooperative, owned by its farmers, employees, customers, vendors and investors, headquartered in Cashton, WI. Maple Valley partners with small maple farms across the Great Lakes and Appalachian regions of the U.S. to source their organic syrups. They are committed to respecting their farmers, customers, vendors, employees, communities and the environment, while producing the finest organic maple syrup.

to produce and market the finest organic products using fair & sustainable methods 10 ecting our farmers, customers, vendors,

Draw your favorite seasonal food

Draw your favorite holiday treat

Draw your favorite sign of the holidays

This December, we partnered with Draw to learn about our communities’ holiday traditions and food favorites. Draw is a local organization whose mission is to promote mental health using color therapy. Draw was inspired by Charles Moertel, who dreamed of making a children’s book but passed away before having had the opportunity. Draw partners with local nonprofits to host coloring days where people share stories, express creativity, and grow community by adding pages to the ever-growing children’s book.

We donated $1 to our December Change Matters group, Nawayee Center School, for each drawing submitted, totaling $50. Above are a few of the drawings we received.

11

what does

community mean to you?

AS WE CONTINUE OUR YEAR-LONG CELEBRATION OF OUR DIVERSE COMMUNITY THROUGH FACES & VOICES, WE ASKED THREE LOCAL WRITERS TO REFLECT ON WHAT COMMUNITY MEANS TO THEM IN THEIR OWN PERSONAL ESSAYS.

a ground to stand on

By Anna Befort To me, community is the good stuff of life. It’s the unifying thread in my work and life, woven into almost everything I do—from living in a cooperative house that runs a community garden, to teaching at a yoga studio, to working in urban farming for a community nonprofit, to facilitating the 3,000-member-community of Dance Church Minneapolis.

I believe community is an invitation into deeper communion with life. It is a call to care for a person, a place, a purpose in this world. It is at once a call to something greater and a call to something deeply personal, as community challenges us to become better versions of ourselves: to get over our own egotism and find a way to understand the other, even when the other is pushing all our buttons. It is a way of communing not only with ourselves, but also with others who long to live full and fulfilling lives, in the belief that we can be more than our separate small selves. Community is an opportunity to balance our inner and outer impulses—that inner need for autonomy with the outer desire to care for others and commit to something bigger than ourselves.

In my own life, community has offered ground to stand on when everything shakes around me. It’s the beloved friend who reminds me who I am when I have forgotten, and for whom I can do the same. It’s having a place where I feel welcomed, seen, and valued—and helping to create that space for others. When done well, I believe community helps us call forth the best in one another and extends a loving hand when we’re at our worst. It asks us to step out of hiding and be seen. In the process, it’s a way to stake a claim for what’s truly important to us—through the projects we cultivate, the buying choices we make, and the values we choose to elevate together. Community reminds us that we are not alone. It is a way of saying: I see you.

You matter. And I’m so happy you’re here.

Anna Befort is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer, yoga teacher, and fifth-generation farmer.

12

a voice & purpose

By Steve Share Over the years, I’ve worked as a community organizer and community newspaper editor and I’ve shopped at community food co-ops.

It’s a big, big world out there—whatever we can do to make our immediate world one where we can develop relationships and work with one another to pursue common goals reduces that big, big world to a sphere that’s on more of a human scale. We can together, in that space we’ve defined, create change.

As a community organizer, I’ve knocked on doors and spent countless hours sitting across kitchen tables listening to folks speak about what mattered to them.

We discussed how we might get together with other neighbors to make an impact as a group. And then we did.

As a community newspaper editor, I covered innumerable neighborhood meetings and helped to tell the small-scale stories that mattered to people in the community, stories that weren’t going to win coverage in the metro area’s daily newspaper or on TV. In print, in the pages of the community newspaper, those stories helped drive a community agenda and helped readers to identify themselves as members of that smaller community within the metro area.

And sometimes those stories, from those monthly community newspaper pages, moved next to the larger weekly newspapers and then on to the daily newspaper.

I’ve shopped primarily at community food co-ops for pretty much my entire adult life. I like the small scale of the co-op compared to a larger supermarket. I like running into my friends and neighbors at the co-op. I like buying produce in season from Minnesota, instead of from halfway across the country or halfway across the globe. Here, in our community food co-op, we can define, create, and support a food system that will nurture our bodies and the planet. Plus, it’s a member-owned co-op, so it’s our shared values—not the pursuit of profit—that give us purpose and drive us forward, together, in community.

Steve Share is a local editor and writer and a newly elected TCCP board member.

a new kind of happy hour

By Rachel Nevergall “Want to join us for happy hour? I’ll introduce you to the neighbors!”

The text comes from an acquaintance I met recently at the park. We are new to this community, so making friends is part of our transition. But with a newborn in my arms and two older children running wild, I hesitate at the invitation. This current state of exhaustion— where capacity for thoughts equates to hours slept— couldn’t be great for first impressions. Surely we don’t fit in at a happy hour.

Exhaustion, however, can lead to hopeful desperation.

“Happy hour?” I ask my husband. “Why not,” he responds. We speak in two-word phrases these days; I anticipate conversation with new friends to be a struggle. But with a half-full bag of pistachios and random collection of beers, we make the five-block walk to our neighbors’ home.

And as my new friend hands me a cocktail and her children pull ours off to play, I discover a new kind of “happy hour.” I learn “hour” is a misnomer, for as the hour stretches to two and then three, our friends pull out bowls to share soup cooking in the crock pot.

I notice “happy” is how you feel when the children entertain each other, allowing you to carry on a conversation of more than two words. And as I walk out the door nourished in ways I never knew possible, we make plans with our new friends again soon.

Happy hour isn’t about the cocktails poured or the food shared. It’s about creating happiness at a time when you thought it was lacking. It’s about finding community when you thought you were alone. It’s about saying yes to an invitation to gather when you think you don’t belong. And then discovering that you do.

Rachel Nevergall is a freelance writer living for her next cocktail in South Minneapolis.

13

A BEHIND -THE-SCENES LOOK AT

HOW OUR SAUSAGE IS MADE

By Leigh McCarren Ownership and Outreach Specialist

At the Wedge and Linden Hills Co-op, we’re proud to make our fresh sausages from scratch. We use only the best, highest quality ingredients in our sausages.

The talented butchers in our Meat Departments develop recipes, assemble ingredients and link each sausage by hand to create the delicious sausages you see in the meat case.

I visited the Linden Hills Meat Department when they were making their Highland Lamb Sausage, a unique seasonal recipe developed by the Assistant Meat Manager, Jeff Nielsen.

The recipe was inspired by Scottish haggis sausage, traditionally made with a variety of sheep organs, spices and oats. Jeff’s take on haggis contains boneless leg of lamb ground with pork fat, fresh onions, coriander, nutmeg, allspice and toasted oats.

14

1 “ AFTER TOASTING THE OATS in the kitchen, Jeff combines all the spices into a “spice batch.”

All spices are measured out by weight, so the recipe can be adjusted to how much sausage he’s planning to make that day.

Temperature is an important part of the sausage-making process.

Everything must be extremely cold in order to maintain the consistency of the sausage. The whole process takes place in the cooler, from mixing, to grinding, to filling the sausage casings.

2 “ THE PORK FAT FOR ALL sausages at Linden Hills comes from the hogs they butcher in house. Half hogs are delivered from Pastures A Plenty farm in Clara City, MN. Butchers break down the animal into the cuts you see in the case, grind them into bulk sausage, and save extra fat to be added to the sausage.

3 “

4 “

JEFF PREFERS TO USE CHICKEN stock instead of water in his sausage recipes for the extra flavor and nutrition. All sausage ingredients are high-quality products taken from the shelves at Linden Hills Co-op.

The pork fat and boneless lamb pieces are sent through the meat grinder once to be combined into a course grind before going through again with the added onions, spices and chicken stock.

5 “

AFTER ALL INGREDIENTS are added, Jeff lets the grinder machine do the work of mixing and grinding the sausage to the desired consistency. Jeff knows when it’s ready by the feel and look of it. When he started in the Meat Department 10 years ago, the co-op wasn’t making their own sausage in house. Jeff encouraged the department to purchase the equipment needed, developed recipes, and learned the skills of sausage making through trial and error.

6 “

THE NEXT STEP OF THE process is filling the natural hog casings with the sausage mixture.

Jeff swaps out the attachment on the grinder into a funnelshaped piece that allows him to fill the casings. Maintaining the speed and size of the sausage is a unique skill. If the butcher fills the casing too full, it will be harder to shape into links later in the process.

WHEN ALL SAUSAGE IS IN the casings, the linking begins.

Several butchers help with the process of twisting the long sausages into links. Linked sausages are left in the cooler for a day to cure before being frozen, packaged or put directly into the meat case.

TRY OUR HOUSEMADE BRATS & SAUSAGES LINDEN HILL S — Bratwursts: Fresh Pork Apricot & Orange

•

Beer & Onion

Sausages: Garlic & Black Pepper Hot Italian Pork • Mild Italian Turkey & Pork

W E D G E LY N DA LE — Bratwursts: Pork • Pork Apple Cider Sausages: Lamb • Pork Sweet Italian • Chicken Jamaican Jerk Peter’s Turkey Day • Turkey Andouille • Chicken Sweet Italian Pork Hot Italian • Chicken Spinach Feta • Pork Chorizo Pork Banh Mi • Chicken Hot Italian

TTTT

guilt-free comfort food These delicious recipes provide the nourishing, hearty flavors we crave in the winter time with fresh, clean ingredients. Try these satisfying recipes to cater to your cravings without walking away from your New Year’s resolution.

recipes & photography by Casey Colodny @TheMindfulHapa

Tomato Coconut Soup V EGA N & GLU T E N -F R E E ∙ serves 4

16

I N ST RUC T ION S

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan.

2. Once hot, add onion, cardamom, cumin and clove.

Sauté on medium heat until onion is clear and spices are fragrant.

3. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce to a simmer and cook 15–20 minutes.

5. Transfer to a blender, or use a hand blender, and blend until smooth.

6. Optional: garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and a swirl of extra coconut cream.

T T TT T T T

1 Tbsp. olive oil 1 cup chopped onion (1 small/med. onion) ½ tsp. cardamon, ground ½ tsp. cumin, ground ¼ tsp. clove, ground ½ tsp. salt 1 Tbsp. sugar 2, 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes 1, 13.5 oz. can full-fat coconut milk Fresh cilantro (optional garnish) Coconut cream (optional garnish)

TTTTTTTT

Tempeh Spaghetti Sauce with Zoodles V EGA N & GLU T E N -F R E E serves 3–4 T E M PE H SPAGH ET T I SAUC E

¼ cup olive oil 1 cup diced onions (~1 med. onion) 1, 8 oz. pack tempeh, crumbled 2 cups diced green pepper (~2 med. peppers) 8 oz. diced mushrooms (~2 cups) 2, 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes ½, 6 oz. can tomato paste ½ cup red wine 2 tsp. oregano leaves 1 tsp. salt Fresh basil Grated parmesan (non-vegan optional garnish) Crushed red pepper flakes (optional) ZOODL E S

4 zucchini ½ cup olive oil, divided salt & pepper, to taste I N ST RUC T IONS

1. To a medium sauté pan, add olive oil and heat over mediumlow heat.

2. Sauté onions in olive oil until onions are clear (2–3 minutes).

3. Add tempeh and sauté until all tempeh is browned (5–6 minutes).

4. Add mushrooms and green pepper and saute until mushrooms are no longer “pink” (3–5 minutes).

5. Add the two cans of diced tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine, oregano and salt.

6. Bring to a low boil then simmer uncovered on low for 20 minutes.

Stir occasionally to ensure nothing burns.

7. While sauce is cooking, start preparing your “zoodles” (zucchini noodles).

8. Using a spiralizer, spiralize the 4 zucchini into ribbons.

9. To a medium sauté pan, add 2 Tbsp. olive oil and about ¼–1/3 of the zucchini ribbons (depending on the size of your pan). Sauté for 3–5 minutes over medium heat, until al dente or desired consistency is reached.

Season with salt and pepper.

10. Set aside cooked zoodles and repeat the process in batches with remaining zucchini noodles.

11. To serve, split zucchini noodles among 4 bowls. Top with tempeh spaghetti sauce. Garnish with fresh chopped basil, grated parmesan (optional), and crushed red pepper flakes (optional).

Shortcut!

Use fresh zucchini noodles from our Produce Department!

17

TTTT

TTTT

Cauliflower Fried Rice with Seared Chicken Breast

GLUTEN-FREE, GRAIN-FREE & DAIRY-FREE ∙ serves 3–4 C AU L I F R I E D R IC E

2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided 7 scallions, chopped (divided) 4 cloves garlic, peeled & minced (divided) 3 large eggs, whisked ½ large onion, diced 1 large carrot, peeled & diced 1 red bell pepper, diced 1, 12 oz. package of riced cauliflower (fresh or frozen) ¼ tsp. salt (plus more to taste) SE A R E D C H IC K E N BR E A ST (OP T IONA L)

4 chicken breasts ¼ cup cassava or almond flour (Can substitute all-purpose flour if you’re not avoiding gluten) 1 tsp. garlic powder ½ tsp. salt Ground black pepper 3 Tbsp. olive oil

Riced Cauliflower is located in our Produce and Frozen departments!

TTTT T T T 18

I NST RUC T IONS

1. Start by making your eggs. Preheat a medium nonstick skillet to medium and add 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Once oil is hot, add 3 chopped scallions and 1 diced garlic clove. Cook in olive oil until garlic just starts to brown.

2. Add the whisked eggs and cook 1–2 minutes or until just barely cooked.

Set aside.

3. To pan, add additional 1 Tbsp. olive oil, diced onion and carrot.

Cook 2–3 minutes over medium heat, or until onions are translucent.

4. Add the red bell pepper and remaining 3 cloves of minced garlic. Cook for an additional 2–3 minutes, followed by the riced cauliflower. Cook for ~5 minutes, or until cauliflower is heated through and cooked to your liking.

5. Lastly, stir in the cooked eggs and remaining 4 chopped scallions.

Season with ¼ tsp. salt and more to taste. Set aside and keep warm.

6. Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels.

7. In a large bowl, stir together your flour of choice, salt, garlic powder, and ground black pepper. Coat chicken breasts in flour mixture.

8. Heat a large pan/cast iron skillet to medium heat and add olive oil.

Once hot, add chicken breasts and cook for 4–5 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through, about 10 minutes total.

9. Remove and serve with warm Cauliflower Fried “Rice.”

TTTT

Peanut Butter Cup Banana ‘Nice’ Cream V EGA N & DA I RY-F R E E ∙ serves 3–4

4 medium bananas, cut into slices and frozen ¼ cup coconut cream ¼ cup almond milk ¼–1/3 cup peanut butter (to taste) 10 mini peanut butter cups, chopped (vegan cups available by Justin’s brand or non-vegan cups available in the bulk section) I N ST RUC T IONS

T T T TT T T T

1. In a food processor or high-speed blender, add your frozen banana slices, coconut cream, and almond milk.

2. Blend until no chunks of banana remain, scraping down sides of food processor/blender as needed.

3. Add in ¼–1/3 cup of peanut butter, blending until fully combined.

4. Remove and stir in chopped peanut butter cups.

5. Serve immediately for a soft-serve-like consistency.

6. Alternatively, for more of an ice cream consistency, line an 8"x4" loaf pan with parchment paper and fill with Peanut Butter Banana “Nice” Cream and spread in an even layer. Leave in freezer 1–1½ hours.

Remove from freezer and serve with an ice cream scoop.

19

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

RARE PRESS Lizzie Christian is a Twin Cities-based artist who runs a one-woman printmaking business called Rare Press. Rare Press came to life when Lizzie tried carving rubber about five years ago and she hasn’t stopped since!

Her work tends to feature faces, plants, encouraging words and jumbled shapes and lines. Lately, she’s also been experimenting with natural dyes (such as avocado seeds) and printing on dyed fabric. She loves to experiment with new processes but always finds herself returning to her roots in blockprinting.

You can find a selection of Lizzie’s handprinted creations at the Wedge Lyndale and follow her on Instagram @rarepress.

Self-Care Sunday!

We’re excited to partner with Lizzie on our selfcare bag giveaway at Self-Care Sunday on Jan. 12 at Linden Hills and Wedge Lyndale!

The first 100 customers at Self-Care Sunday, starting at 11 a.m., receive a free, handprinted toiletry bag, full of personal care items, samples and coupons! Find out more at tccp.coop/self-care.

20

2020 TCCP BOARD UPDATES With the last election, the TCCP board added a ninth seat to strengthen and diversify the voices involved in the co-op’s decision-making. This will allow us to spend more time on a broader set of initiatives and focus areas. We’re pleased to welcome two new directors onto the board as elected by our owners, Steve Share and Lisa Fittipaldi. Emily Anderson was elected to remain on the board for another term.

At November’s meeting, the board voted to select the seats for the new board of directors. They are as follows: President: Alex Slichter Vice President: Emily Paul Treasurer: Tom Pierson Secretary: Steve Share Directors: Emily Anderson, Me’Lea Connelly, Lisa Fittipaldi, Sarita Parikh, Jane Schommer Looking ahead to 2020, we are excited to continue our work on improving diversity, equity and inclusion in our board service and moving forward with our long-term strategic planning. Look forward to a summary of our decision-making process, key outcomes and proposed next steps in the coming months!

Board President Bio: Alex Slichter has been on the Twin Cities Co-op Partners Board since 2017 and is currently in the final year of his second term.

Prior to the consolidation, he served on the Linden Hills Board. Alex was an early proponent of consolidation among the Minneapolis-area co-ops and served as chair of the consolidation steering committee. He has also served on the finance and leadership committees.

Alex has spent his career in food after receiving a BS in chemistry from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the University of Memphis. He currently manages the sales and business aspects of a local engineering firm serving the food and agriculture industry. His work takes him to exotic and not-so-exotic locales such as trips to Thailand, Brazil, and Turkey balanced out by visits to Iowa, Ohio, and Kansas.

Alex currently lives in Edina with his wife, two children, and a high school exchange student from Spain.

– Alex Slichter, Board President

21

A Review of Our Fiscal Year 2020 Operating and Capital Budgets

By Deb Kermeen, TCCP CFO

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 (July 1, 2019–June 30, 2020) budget was prepared by TCCP management, reviewed by the board’s finance committee, and approved by the board at their June 2019 meeting.

We are budgeting for positive net income of $462,411 in FY2020.

Net income was $111,873 in FY2019.

TOTAL SALES. The FY2020 sales projections for our three retail sites, the Catering and Commissary program, and Co-op Partners Warehouse are based on current sales trends; changes in the MinneapolisSaint Paul area grocery market; and opportunities to distribute produce, groceries, and prepared foods in our delivery region. We budgeted a 2.3% increase over FY2019.

GROSS MARGIN. Gross margin is the sales income that remains after paying for the cost of goods sold. It is commonly reflected as a percentage of sales remaining after subtracting the cost of goods sold. Gross margin dollars are the funds used to pay for our operations.

Our gross margin of 35.9% is an increase over last year’s gross margin of 34.7% 22

PERSONNEL. Personnel expenses include labor hours and benefits. These costs are budgeted at 23.3% of sales compared with 22.4% in FY2019.

Twin Cities Co-op Partners

Fiscal Year 2020 Operating Budget $

% of Sales

Sales

$71,907,965

Cost of Goods Sold

$46,105,799

64.1%

Gross Margin

$25,802,166

35.9%

Personnel Costs

$16,784,387

23.3%

Other Operating Expenses

$9,341,402

13.0%

OTHER OPERATING Other Operating $467,455 0.7% EXPENSES. Income Other operating Income from Operations $143,832 0.2% expenses include our building Other Income $318,579 0.4% expenses, (Expense) operating supplies Net Income $462,411 0.6% and delivery truck expenses for our CPW warehouse.

Other operating business facilities and expenses are consistent with infrastructure current and fresh.

FY2019 as we gain efficiencies in our operations and benefit from We look forward to continuing modest inflation. to provide each of you the best possible customer experience CAPITAL BUDGET. The FY2020 along with the high-quality capital budget is $611,500. products you have come to This year, we plan to replace expect from TCCP. equipment that can no longer be repaired, upgrade an old section of the roof at the Wedge and add a new Customer Service If you have questions or desk at Linden Hills. We continue would like a copy of last year’s to upgrade our technology financial report, Deb can be infrastructure. Over the past four years, we have made significant reached at deborah.kermeen@ investments to keep our tccp.coop or 612-465-8818.

INTRODUCING W E E K DAY SPECIAL S AT T H E W E D G E TA B L E! Stop in for a quick lunch,

just $7!

M O N D AY S THREE CHEESE LASAGNA

—

FRESH & NEW MENU FEATURES!

T U E S D AY S

Check out our new vegan & vegetarian items for the new year, available exclusively at the Wedge Table. Starting Monday, Jan. 13!

BLACK BEAN ENCHILADA

— FLORENTINE VEGGIE BURGER

JAL APEÑO POPPER GRILLED CHEESE

Vegetarian WedgeMade Florentine Burger, lettuce, onion and feta cheese, topped with a special green goddess sauce on a WedgeMade bun.

Vegetarian Cream cheese, apricot preserves, cheddar and pickled jalapeños on a WedgeMade focaccia roll. Can be made vegan by request.

POPCORN TOFU PO’BOY

ROASTED VEGETABLE BOWL

Vegan

A favorite from Linden Hills and the Wedge makes its way to the Table! WedgeMade popcorn tofu with lettuce, tomato, and spicy housemade sauce on a WedgeMade baguette.

Vegan

Harissa maple carrots, roasted cauliflower, massaged kale, seasoned pepitas and pickled onions over a bed of brown rice and topped with tahini dressing.

W E D N E S D AY S SAAG PANEER

—

T H U R S D AY S BEYOND BURGER (from Beyond Meat)

—

F R I D AY S SWEET POTATO COCONUT CURRY Starting at 11 a.m., Monday through Friday.

While supplies last.

23

2105 Lyndale Ave. S. Mpls., MN 55405 612 871 3993

LINDEN HILLS CO-OP 3815 Sunnyside Ave. Mpls., MN 55410 612 922 1159

WEDGE TABLE your community hub, market & cafĂŠ 2412 Nicollet Ave. Mpls., MN 55405 612 465 8844 tccp.coop

PLEASE RECYCLE All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the board, management, staff or member-owners of Wedge Community Co-op or Linden Hills Co-op. Nutrition and health information given is for educational purposes only and is not meant as a substitute for a consultation with a licensed health or dietary practitioner.

Wedge Community Co-op 2105 Lyndale Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55405

your friendly neighborhood store

P E RM IT # 2 7 7 3 4

PA ID

your bustling, vibrant urban market

TW IN CITIE S , M N

P RS RT S TD

U. S . P O S TAG E

WEDGE COMMUNITY CO-OP