food – Skookum Food Provisioners' Cooperative

Welcome to Splitsville, at the Abundant Pantry project

A tad squirrely — Winter’s Coming… Going a tad squirrely?

It really is worth remembering that one of Skookum’s recurring benefits to members comes through our The Abundant Pantry (TAP) Bulk Food Buying Club that runs every two months. The next deadline is Sunday, November 10 at 11:00 PM sharp. If you haven’t used it yet, you’re missing out on the benefits of gaining access to the best quality organic and conventional foods, at the lowest possible prices.

It’s easy.

If you are already signed up as a TAP member… move to step 2 (if not, click here)
You shop online anytime you want (up to 11:00 PM on Sunday November 10 for this next cycle)
Check out the existing splits offered or enter your own invitations to split an order
Show up on Delivery Day (Thursday November 14) at the set time and location in Wildwood and pay there. Want to help at the distribution location? Ask Wendy, the program coordinator at bulkbuying@skookumfood.ca

Buying in bulk has many advantages, especially with the colder weather on its way…

You save money when you buy in bulk (we have food and non-food items, plus pet food, with some local products too)
You store more and better quality staples for the best price (which means you can often buy Organic food via The Abundant Pantry (TAP), for the cost of non-Organic at the supermarket, or less!
You will tend to eat better, less-processed and Organic food if you have better food in storage!
You generally reduce the need to rush off to the store (saving money, gas, time, effort, annoyance, especially in the winter when it can be an extra chore)
You generally reduce the amount of packaging when you buy in bulk (it depends on what you’re buying, but generally the larger the quantity, the less packaging and the more recyclable the packaging is)
You get to contribute a little bit to Skookum (a very small fraction of your bill is to help pay for the coordination and rental of space)
More importantly, get to know your fellow members; it’s all part of building a resilient community that will benefit us all
…and if you’re worried about having too much of a good thing (i.e. overbuying some products) do we have splits for you! It’s our program’s Splits Page, and it doesn’t end there, you can also use our Skookum members email list (just email members(at)skookumfood(dot)ca) or our Facebook page and let them know you have food to share, either before you buy or afterwards. You can set up arrangements between yourselves.
It happens every two months, with the next order being November 10, so start browsing and check out the 1,500+ products available to you.

All the details are at The Abundant Pantry site. Any questions at all? Contact the development team at bulkbuying@skookumfood.ca.

Short Survey & New Addition to Wednesday Jan 23 Event

Members’ Skills Survey

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.

Eternal_Seed_140 — 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.

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.

Skookum Rolls Out Food Library at Kingfisher Books

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-only Skookum 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.

Mark your calendars! It’s a members’ social!

skooXmas — Skooky Greetings to all our members!

Skookum Food Provisioners’ Cooperative is in the beginning stages of planning a members’ social at the United Church in Powell River at 6:00 PM on Tuesday January 31, 2012.

The idea is to bring our members together to enjoy a meal, share ideas, and generate some plans for the new year. The Board will take care of the main course, while we ask members to bring a salad or dessert. Members will be asked to jot down the ingredients and if you’d like, the recipe for your dish.

So, this is a call out to you – our members – for a theme or activity for the evening. We could host a talk, a show–tell, a video, a digital slideshow, a discussion, music, puppet show, etc.; as long as it will increase access to or knowledge about food, cooperatives, or some other aspect of our vision and mission.

Once we get a clearer picture of what’s in store for the evening, sometime in early January, we will reach out to members to help with organizing and running the event.

Also, you may recall our Skookum Members’ Survey? (Click here to take it now if you haven’t done so already; it expires on December 21, 2011.) Well, this will be an opportunity to hear the results and to develop a better understanding of Skookum’s skills, assets, interests, goals,concerns. We have some exciting new and recurring projects in 2012*,we want you to take ownership of these.

2012 is the International United Nations Year of the Cooperative — let’s ring it in, in style.

* Hint: that little squirrel in the greeting will likely be involved!