Board of Directors Message

The Baker Food Co-op’s Annual Member Owners Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at 6:00 P.M. at the Baker City Library meeting room. There are some very important items to cover including our annual elections for Board of Directors and an additional ballot item concerning the future of the Co-op. We urge our members to attend, vote, and to participate.

There are three nominees for the three positions on the Board of Directors; George Wheaton, and incumbents Dennis Winkler and Marria Knight. Board officers will be determined by the newly elected board.

The additional ballot item concerns our property on 10th Street that Co-op members voted to buy in 2009. This property has become a financial liability that threatens the future viability of the Baker Food Co-op. The Board of Directors is asking our members to consider the option of voluntary foreclosure on the property. Please see the Position Paper in this newsletter.

This is a very important time for the Co-op and it is essential that our members are informed and engaged. Please join us at our Annual Meeting to get the most out of your membership by being an active participant. And lastly, VOTE in the upcoming elections in April.

If you are not able to attend our Annual Meeting you may vote at the Co-op. In-store ballots will be available starting April 3rd. Remember there is only one ballot or vote per membership number or household.

Annual Members Meeting & Elections
April 17th at 6:00 pm

Board of Directors Meetings:
May 15th at 6:00 pm

Contact the board at bfcboard@bakerfoodcoop.org  

Nominees for your Board of Directors… please vote!

Position Paper Regarding Baker Food Co-op’s Property on 10th Street

The Baker Food Co-op’s Board of Directors unanimously agreed to seek approval from the Baker Food Co-ops member-owners to pursue a Voluntary Foreclosure on our property on 10th Street, Baker City, Oregon. At our Annual Meeting on April 17th, we are asking members to vote for this decision. The outcome of this election will be decided by a majority vote.

The Co-op membership approved the purchase of the property in 2009, with the intent of building at the location. In 2010 the Co-op moved into our existing location and purchased the building in 2014. The property on 10th Street has been on the market for sale since 2013. To date, the Co-op has paid in excess of $50,000 in both principal and interest payments on the property. The remaining balance of our loan is $97,671.

Through the years there has been very limited interest and no formal offers to buy. Continuing to carry the responsibilities of this debt has become detrimental to the long-term economic health of the Baker Food Coop. Even if the property was to sell, which appears unlikely in the near future, we feel there is little hope of recouping our initial investment and would still incur a substantial loss. It has reached a point where we feel it is crucial to minimize further losses. This action, if approved and agreed upon by the lender, will free up cash to meet ongoing operating expenses and allow for future maintenance and/or upgrading of facilities.

We find ourselves in an undesirable position and this was not an easy decision to make. The Board of Directors feels it is unavoidable at this time and not to approve this request could impact the future viability of the Baker Food Co-op. To be clear, once a formal request for Voluntary Foreclosure is made, it is not a sure thing. The final decision rests with our creditor.

The Board of Directors recommends that our member-owners support this request during our annual elections on April 17th. This is a very important issue for the future of the Baker Food Co-op. Please vote.

Dennis Winkler, President of the Board of Directors
March 26, 2018

Announcements

Working Members of the Month

• Norris Tibbets

Department Head of the Month

• Deanna Bowman-Pennock

Members Who Worked 10 or More Hours

Your Help is Needed!

You can save up to 30% at the co-op. No experience necessary. Contact Carol, Phoebe, or Pat at the Co-op or call (541) 523-6281 to sign up.

• Cashiers
• Cleaning (earn triple time)
• Produce
• Dry Bulk
• Housekeeping and Maintenance
• Grant Researcher/writer
• Newsletter editor

Young Workers Wanted

Co-op members if you have a teenager who is looking for work experience, something to start to build a resume, or to list on their college applications; the Co-op has a great opportunity for them. If you know about our working member program then you may want to see if your teenager wants to spend some time here at the Co-op learning and getting experience. Call Gretchen or Carol at the Co-op (or stop in) to hear about what we can offer our youth.

What is a Seed Swap

Seed swaps are a rewarding way to build community and share information about gardening, plant varieties, and each others' projects. Seed savers in your community can bring what they've saved and the knowledge of how to save it. Most seed-savers save more seed than they want to plant and have extra to share. People who have bought seed for small gardens often have some left in their seed packets. Farmers may have leftovers from bulk packets of seed.

Gardeners willing to share cuttings are welcome, as are those with plants or seedlings they want to share. We ask that attendees know not to bring seed they've collected from hybrid plants, as it won't grow true to type, older seeds, and of course, no GMO seed.

It's good to bring blank labels and bags. We ask anyone bringing seeds to make sure they are labeled with the crop type, the variety name, and the date of harvest, packaging, or sale. More detailed varietal descriptions and growing instructions can be useful, especially for beginning gardeners and for very unusual seeds.

Seed swaps are a way to share the wealth by allowing others to use what you don’t need, expanding a specialized seed or plant, and to meet like-minded folks who want the very best garden at the lowest cost.
 

Seed & Plant Exchange - Saturday, April 28th

Everyone Welcome! 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM at the Baker Food Co-op. Bring your labeled seeds to swap.

• Vegetables, flowers, and heirloom seeds
• Assorted plant starts available
• Information on seed resources & seed starting

How to Save Heirloom Tomato Seeds

1. Choose your seeds - The most important part is selecting the best fruit to begin with - good color, size, and shape. Ensure there is no disease or visable pest damage and, taste it.
2. Scoop out the Guts - Cut the tomato into sections and scoop out the seeds along with the gellike membrane. The whole glob goes into a mason jar or similar adding about ¼ to ½ cup of water to cover.
3. Cover and label - Using a piece of paper towel, write the variety and secure to the top of jar by screwing the ring over or rubber banding. This allows air to circulate while fermenting and keeps insects out.
4. Store in warm place - Set the jar in someplace warm but out of direct sunlight where it won’t get disturbed for a few days. Depending on temperature, the seeds will be ready for the next step in a few days days to a week, so keep an eye on them.
5. Check for mold - You want mold and in a few days the top of the liquid should have a grayish rim of scum and later a full cover of mold. At this point the viable seeds should have sunk to the bottom of the muck. This means that the fermentation process is complete.
6. Strain and rinse - Add another ½ cup or so of water to the jars to dilute the gunk and allow any remaining viable seeds to sink to the bottom. Gently pour off the top layer of fermentation, strain the seeds using a fine mesh sieve, and rinse gently but thoroughly.
7. Dry the seeds - Place the strained seeds on a paper plate and set back in a warm place for a few days to dry out.
8. Store the seeds - Once seeds are dry, you can put them into little envelopes, label them, and store in a cool dry place until next spring.

Celebrate Rhubarb!

So many recipes and ways to enjoy, so tasty, so good for you... the spring tonic!

• Rhubarb is technically a vegetable but is legally considered a fruit. In 1947 a New York court declared rhubarb a fruit because it’s most often cooked as one in the United States (and, it’s said because it was a way to save businesses who imported these stalks from spending additional money on taxes).
• Rhubarb is packed with minerals, vitamins, organic compounds, and other nutrients. It is high in dietary fiber, protein, vitamin C, vitamin K, B-complex vitamins, calcium, potassium, manganese, and magnesium. In terms of organic compounds, rhubarb is a rich source of polyphenic flavonoids like beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.
• Rhubarb aids in digestion is naturally low in calories and has been used as a cure for constipation.
• Only the stalks of rhubarb are edible - there are toxins in the leaves. Oxalic acid is the compound in the leaves that can cause poisoning to occur. Once rhubarb is harvested, trim the leaves off the stalks and discard them immediately.
• Rhubarb can be eaten raw, made into a delicious sauce, added to pies, cakes, bread, and more, frozen for later use, juiced, made into a tea, and even grilled!

Word of Caution... If used medicinally in larger quantities, rhubarb may cause or aggravate kidney stones in those prone to them and worsen certain liver conditions.

Rhubarb Sauce

6 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes or until slightly thickened and rhubarb is in threads. Let cool and refrigerate for up to 5 days or may be frozen. Serve over angel food cake, ice cream, or as a side to ham or pork.

Why we should be using reusable shopping bags…

We each use about 350 plastic bags a year according to some survey reports. A single plastic bag takes about 450 years to biodegrade. At this rate, along with all the other plastics, styrofoam and other packaging, we will soon be awash in our own waste. If you’ve seen the movie Wall-E you know it’s already something we as a society are concerned with. Using paper or cardboard saves about 70% pollution based on decomposition. Choosing reusable bags cuts that by another 20% and even more if the reusable bags themselves are made from a recycled biodegradable material such as cotton or linen. You are recycling if your reusable bag is reinforced with recycled plastic but you have to use them a minimum of 31 times to make up for the non-biodegradable materials.

Everyone who has access to media know what the global issues of waste and recycling are. Within the last few months, folks that do recycle have found that almost all recycling centers no longer take plastic, because of the cost and the chemical pollution from recycling. Do you know that almost all of our recyclables are sent to China? They break down the components then they sell the components or a finished product back to us. Think about the embargo and the tariff on steel and aluminum that is being implemented. We send China our metals to be recycled and they return them with an additional fee to cover the tariff.

This is a huge, global problem and we here at home are not going to solve it right now; but, what we CAN do is reduce the amount of waste. Be aware of the impact the product you are buying will have on the landfill. Buy in bulk, which can be stored in recyclables. And, begin the reusable bag drive in your community.