As a cooperative, we encourage each member to commit to initiating or participating in projects, joining a committee, serving on the board of directors, and helping with events and tasks as they arise. Take the shortissimo survey now (2 minutes of your time) tap here.
Tap to visit their site
Our local Eternal Seed company has agreed to come to our event and sell packets of seeds to our members from their catalogue tax-free, plus they will donate 5% of sales to Skookum Food Provisioners’ Cooperative. So, there is some more incentive for you.
This will be our seed project for this year, folks. There may be a large cover crop order later on, but this is your chance to get in on a members-only sale of veggies/herbs/flowers. Additionally Ellen from Eternal Seed says: “If people want seed we don’t have with us (should not be many varieties) then we will offer to deliver in town one day and phone them to do so.” How cool is that? Please come to our laid-back feast this Wed. Jan 23 @ 7PM.
Let’s Eat!
On the foodie side of things, our main courses will include…Chef Jacqueline Huddleston’s Vegan/Gluten-free NutLoaf and Vegetarian Creamy Leek Bread Pudding and Cranberry Chutney!), and YOU bring a dessert or salad or appetizer/side. Bring what you like, the more local the better. And if you’re rushed, just bring yourselves.Seriously. The event will take place at the United Church’s Trinity Hall (Michigan at Duncan, kitty-corner to City Hall) in Powell River starting at 7:00 PM sharp.
Happy Holidays and thank you for helping to make local food happen.
It’s been a very busy Fall for Skookum so far this year; and as we head into 2013 it’s ‘whiplash time’ as we look back to see what we accomplished, and forward on how we can do more and better. 2012 was the UN-designated Year of the Cooperative and we are working on airing a 5-program series on cooperatives on CJMP 90.1 FM Community Radio before year end. Keep your ears (and eyes, as we will be promoting it) peeled.
You may remember seeing some pictures on our Facebook page from our last event of 2012, as several of us helped press apple cider for James Thomson Elementary School’s Farm to School program. We had another successful Abundant Pantry order (next order will be mid-January 2013, check the site in January to order), and we’re just about ready to distribute over 500 lbs of dried fruit/nuts/confectionery from our second Rancho Vignola order that just came in.
Skookum is more than bulk buying, though, and we’d like to increase our workshops and other hands-on projects in 2013. That said, one great reason to have a cooperative is to be able to generate some buying power as a group, and in doing so, also help the community and the cooperative grow and increase self-sufficiency.
Buying seed together.
Last year just after Christmas, I started thinking about and then planning a bulk seed order. A dozen or so members got together and I coordinated an order from our local Eternal Seeds company, who gave us a 20% discount overall if we collectively bought 10 packets of any of their seeds (about 5% was allocated to Skookum and the coordinator). This year, the feedback indicates that we need to order earlier than the February 14th deadline we had last year, by at least a month.
If anyone out there would like to manage the seed order (and the project can be as different as you like), please drop us a line or fill out a short proposal here. Deadline for a proposal or indication of interest in managing this project is EXTENDED to Dec. 30, 2012. The deadline to order should be by Jan 14, 2013.
Below we have a list of our completed projects for 2012, and in addition to these, we have an on-going Abundant Pantry bulk food order every two months. All our past projects are listed on our past projects webpage.
January 2012:
Skookum held a potluck members’ social event to celebrate 2012, the UN International Year of the Co-op. Read the story here.
March 2012:
Bulk seed order from Eternal Seeds
June/July 2012:
Skookum held 2 home tanning workshops
August 2012:
Bulk purchase of fruit/vegetables and dehydrating work party at the Community Resource Centre
September 2012
Skookum’s second Tattler lid bulk order
Bulk purchase of Sausagemaker dehydrators
Skookum was at the Fall Fair, pressing cider and raising funds
October 2012
Second Rancho Vignola Fruit and Nut Bulk Order
November 2012
Skookum helps the local Farm to School project press apples for James Thomson Elementary School for a second year.
‘Putting up’ is a colloquial term referring to the process of canning : preserving foods by packing them into glass jars and then heating the jars to kill the organisms that would create spoilage. But along with canning, other food preserving methods such as dehydrating, pickling in salt, vinegar, sugar or alcohol, smoking food to preserve it, lacto-/wild fermentation and (of course) freezing it are all ways to extend the ’50-mile eat local’ goal year-round.
Growing it yourself is one great way to ensure your own food security and the quality of the produce you eat. And as you learn about your own yard’s microclimate (see here for Powell River details) and develop your gardening skills, you will see what grows best for you, and adapt what you eat to what grows well, or at least to set up a bartering system where you can trade your zucchini for your neighbour’s carrots. Exercise, fresh air, sunshine and the joy and satisfaction from growing your own add to the value of turning ‘sod to salad’.
Aug 5-Sept 23, 2012: The 50-day Powell River 50 Mile Eat Local Challenge! It all starts with the Edible Garden Tour on Sun. Aug. 5 Click on the snail for more info…
Once again, this year, the 4th Annual Edible Garden Tour (Sunday, August 5; get the guide here) allows you to visit a dozen or so local food gardens to see how others are doing it. Don’t miss this opportunity!
But what about food you can’t easily grow or source locally? Well, that’s when Skookum Food Provisioners’ Cooperative’s The Abundant Pantry project (TAP) comes in. Every two months (the next deadline is September 9, 2012) our hard-working TAP coordinator Wendy Pelton collects Skookum members’ orders of bulk food and two or three days later, she (with some help from members) divides and provide us with our bundles of food we ordered.
French Green Lentils soaking
The benefits of buying in bulk are many, including:
Increasing your own (and your local community’s) food security in case of any disruption or lack of certain foods throughout the year. For example, the many drought-striken areas in the US will reduce availability and increase costs at the supermarket— like the ant at the top, think ahead!
Buying in bulk can dramatically reduce your costs: the more you buy, the more you save! This means that that you can often buy Organic and better quality food for the same price (or less than) you would pay in stores for conventionally-grown food. Plus, with our co-op structure, you can split orders, and get to meet other members, setting up a network of foodie friends to split orders in the future as well. As Pete Tebbutt recently put it:
“Some of the items I purchased I balked at, at first…..why do I need 12 bottles of Tamari?, for instance. Well, who knew one could turn Tamari into balsamic vinegar or maple syrup into chocolate, which I did by trading with other members.”
With the recent focus on reducing packaging and trash as promoted by our friends at Let’s Talk Trash, buying a larger amount of dry staple foods like salt, flour, sugar, grains and legumes at one time will reduce your use of unnecessary packaging like plastic bags and tubs, tin cans, glass and cardboard boxes. Remember that even if the packaging is recycled, there are serious environmental impacts in the production, transportation and recycling these materials. Find out more on reducing your plastic use here.
Having a store of bulk staples foods means your family will eat healthier by avoiding the temptation of buying pre-cooked frozen or processed foods from the supermarket because of sheer convenience. If you have a bucket of dried beans right there in your home, you will use them. We all know how bad that extra salt, sugar/corn syrup, extra fat and preservatives hidden away in processed foods are for us; it feels good to actually take action and get into the habit of eating better
Having a store of food also reduces your trips to the supermarkets, which is good for the environment and for your own fuel consumption (and the cost of this in various ways including time, gas, vehicle wear-and-tear, etc.)
Buying via our Abundant Pantry project is easy, there is a wide and ever-growing array of foods available (including some local providers of soap and rabbits, and more) and a very small portion of each order goes to help Skookum fund other projects. It’s a win-win-win situation, so try it out! Follow the image (and habits) of Skooky the Squirrel. click here.
It’s been in the works for a while, and it’s still a work in progress, but Skookum is very proud to announce that our members-onlySkookum Community Bookshelf (a lending library) is now open, and living in Kingfisher Books: 4486 Marine Ave. Tel. 604.414-4573
The lending library shelves are right across from the cash register. Memberships to Skookum can also be purchased at this location.
Bookstore co-owner Sharon Deane–a former director of Skookum Food Provisioners’ Cooperative–spearheaded the project a while ago and has been instrumental in compiling our burgeoning collection on:
“anything on Organic gardening, fruit raising, subsistence farming, livestock, foraging, preserving, or cooking with home-raised ingredients”
Sharon is being assisted by Skookum member Melissa Leigh, with the full support of Skookum’s board of directors. The goal is to have an automated system of lending out the books, but that needs some work.
Sharon is looking for donations of books and DVDs on the above topics, from Skookum members and the wider community. Cash donations that will go toward purchasing new materials are also accepted. So, dust off those excellent books you’ve been holding onto, and feel you are helping to spread the wealth of knowledge on all things ‘food’. Plus, as an empty-nester, you can borrow your own book again or visit with it whenever it’s in the store.
At the Skookum AGM in April, our crack team of Event Organizers came up with some great ideas to coax out some of our members own thoughts on worthy projects for the cooperative. Each person attending was given a card with the image of a vegetable on it. Then, when the time came, we split up according to the vegetable image. And, with the tables draped with ‘scraps’ of kraft paper and pens, we got to work. Below is a transcription of those ideas collected that evening.
We welcome even more ideas (and the energy to back it up) from those who attended and from the general membership. Just leave a comment below even if you support one or a few of the projects listed here; we’d like to know.
Annual General Meeting Members’ Table Notes (April 27, 2012)
Slug-killing by frogs/workshop by Colleen (donation by laughter )
Wood-chipper, chainsaw, gas-fired cement mixer
Making fruit vinegars (workshop)
Specific fruit and vegetable selection for PR region (workshop; prepared seed collection for this)
Develop a “Skookum Almanac” with variety of tips, anecdotes, etc. on growing exotic or unusual products
Elder stories about farming, food-saving, growing in the area; invite them and others to record—maybe a lunch event; maybe salmon lunch
Bulk-buying of plants/trees;
Meat-grinder
Organic pest-control workshop
Apple Cider and Vinegar-making workshop
Wild-crafting workshop
Active involvement in edible garden Tour
Skookum Marketing board: package food, prepare food, clean food and prep for market
Market stall for co-op members at the Open Air market(s), where people can drop off produce, a few people will clean and prep and one person will sell it
Small-scale member-driven produce sales (via Abundant Pantry or via short-term announcements via email or facebook; i.e. “I have a box of chard” + cost or barter possibilities.
Relationship building with PRREDS; project where they pay for soil analysis in the area to find out what would grow well where; make this info public.
Relationship with job creation entities (Career Link/ Community Futures, etc.) to develop Food Hub (including long-term cold storage facilities for year-round storage needs)
Community cold-freeze; people can buy meat in quantity and rent a small part of a large freezer to keep this
Community smoke-house
Couple with private company (Reliable Rentals) to ensure they get a certain number of requests for a certain garden-related machine, maybe a renters’ club; benefits include that they would buy and maintain the equipment
Tool share- Nola has rototiller for proposed tool library; share use for other equipment;
Repair/Repurpose classes
Carpentry workshop—how to build stuff (for gals)
Explore possibility to partner with VIU for their asset-based community development: contact Alison Taplay
Turn the cards (our business cards) into stickers or magnets
Silke’s or another retail outlet (? Not sure what this means—buy Silke’s?- Ed.)
