The students from Apple Valley who went to Copenhagen this year for the International hearing on climate change this year were one of a select few U.S. high school delegates in attendance. 

They traveled to a new country. Lived with Swedish families. Learned about environmental issues and connected with countless leaders (young and old) from around the globe.

Now they’re home, and want to share their knowledge to begin a discussion about environmental issues right here in our hometown. With the School of Environmental Studies, they’re hosting a Sustainable Communities Banquet. With a meal and great discussion, these young leaders want you to contribute your voice to the discussion. Join them at the Sustainable Communities Banquet.

Bring your own mug to Valley Natural Foods on Thursday, April 22 and receive a free cup of coffee up to 16 oz. Yes, it is Fair Trade & eco-friendly!

We have a great demo in store for you at our demo kiosk on Saturday, April 17 between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m! Taste for yourself and bring home a recipe!

Give your tired, old coleslaw a resuscitation with this exciting, creative recipe that can be eaten as a meal or as a side dish. Taste a delectable, raw salad that includes chickpeas and caraway seeds for added oomph. Try the mildly spicy red plum sauce that you will can complement with grilled chicken or pork.

Edamame Chickpea Slaw and Red Plum Sauce

Edamame Chickpea Slaw
A wonderfully colored, fresh salad that not only makes a striking visual impression, but tastes great too and is packed with nutrition. This recipe yields 4 generous servings as a side salad.

13.5 oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 green cabbage, shredded
1/4 red cabbage, shredded
1/2 C. shelled edamame beans (thawed, frozen are good)
1/2 C. yellow pepper (or red pepper), julienned
3/4 C. carrots, shredded
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
1/4 C. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. whole caraway seeds
1/2 tsp. fresh-ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.

Red Plum Sauce
Imagine this sauce as summer’s answer to winter’s cranberry sauce: a tart, sweet and slightly spicy condiment that is delicious on white meat, such as pork chops. This recipe yields about two cups.

1 lb ripe red or black plums (about 4 total)
1/4 red onion, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp. garlic, minced
3/4 C. agave nectar
1/2 C. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Process the plums, onion and garlic together until smooth.  Transfer mixture to a sauce pan and add remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by 1/3.

Serve with grilled chicken or pork, or as a condiment with stir-fry.
 

Every day is Earth Day at Valley Natural Foods. That sounds trite, but it is true. As far back as 1977, the people who started our co-op had that goal in mind and over the decades we continue to strive for ways to reduce waste. In the beginning we built our business around a bulk department that offered food in the amounts a person would use with less packaging. Our bulk department thrives today and is a great way for households to reduce waste, especially if shoppers commit to bringing in their own containers.

From an operational standpoint, our co-op has made great strides as a business. In 2007, Valley Natural Foods participated in Dakota Electric’s Rate 70 program and installed a back-up generator. Not only does this reduce the co-op’s electric rate, it also reduces the store’s connection load during times of peak energy demand. When the co-op expanded in 2008, other energy reduction measures were upgraded to reduce the store’s energy usage. This included refrigeration, on-demand water heaters, lighting and the installation of a cardboard compactor.

The co-op’s fresh foods manager, Orlando Haripal, is also in charge of waste reduction at the co-op. When it looked like the amount of garbage was increasing, Haripal invested why. He found that the fresh departments were contributing to the waste. He worked with a local homeless shelter for women and children, Dakota Woodlands, and found an outlet for the consumable waste. He also partnered with Beth and Tom Kackman who organize a community garden at the International Outreach Church in Burnsville. The Kackman’s need compost, so Haripal and Tom Kackman came up with a system to turn non-consumable waste into garden fodder.

The search to find ways to reduce waste is as endless as creativity itself. Recently, a new hire in the meat department questioned the waste from cutting and grinding our own meat onsite. He suggested to Haripal that the co-op consider creating a new saleable product—smoked dog bones. Since we already work with a local business to smoke our own fresh brats, bacon and hot dogs, it was a natural fit to smoke the waste bones from beef. Just in time for Earth Day, Valley Natural Foods now produces and sells smoked dog bones. Made from the same local beef that carries our Down in the Valley label, you can be assured that these are quality dog bones, not just waste.

If you want to read a photo essay about how dogs react to the new smoked bones, click on:  Dogs Save the World.

  Food and optimism is the name of the game at the Sustainable Community Banquet, hosted by the School of Environmental Studies. Students who attended COP15 in Copenhagen this year as U.S. high school delegates will be featured. They’ll share their perspective on environmental sustainability at the local level. Join the School of Environmental Studies and the COP15 Delegation for an evening of food and an environmentally optimistic discussion.

Sustainable Community Banquet

May 8, 2010

5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

Cost: $10 per ticket

Location: School of Environmental Studies | 12155 Johnny Cake Road, Apple Valley, MN 55124

RSVP by May 1, 2010 Beth Schulz: 952-237-1382 Ashley Burdge: 651-271-8727 email: banquetcrew@gmail.com

If you are looking for an all-purpose, all-natural, non-toxic and odor-free fertilizer for your spring planting needs, check out Wiggle Worm Soil-Builder Earthworm Castings in 15-pound bags sold here at Valley Natural Foods.

For directions on how to use earthworm castings for various plants, trees and lawns, and to see a casting tea "recipe," click here: earthworm castings directions.

Don’t miss this exciting new recipe at our demo kiosk on Saturday, April 10 between 3:00 and 5:00 pm.!

One of the many great recipes from the book "Clean Food" by Terry Walters is featured; you can sample, take home a recipe and make it yourself. Most ingredients are specially sale-priced this week! Buy the book for more tantalizing recipes! Sign up at the demo kiosk to order your copy.

The chopped salad is comprised of a creative, interesting  mix of asparagus, endives, watercress, cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives to name a few. Add the shallot poppy seed dressing to the ingredients, toss and voila! You can serve the salad with an easy, tasty, marinated grilled chicken for a full meal or any other meat or fish of your choosing, as this salad adapts well.

Chopped Salad with Shallot Poppy Seed Dressing (Clean Food) with Marinated Grilled Chicken

“This colorful and cooling salad features a variety of tastes, including fresh asparagus, bitter greens, creamy avocado and salty olives to yield a delightful dish that is always a crowd pleaser. It pairs nicely with grilled chicken or fish.”

Ingredients
8 stalks asparagus
1 avocado
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 heads endive, chopped
2 bunches watercress, chopped
1 head radicchio, chopped
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped

Dressing
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Garnish
1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Bend each piece of asparagus near the tough dried end until it snaps off at its natural breaking point. Discard ends, wash asparagus and cut into 1-inch pieces. Place in bowl. Bring 3 cups water to boil. Pour over asparagus, let sit 1 minute, then drain.
Cut avocado in half and remove pit. Scoop out flesh, cut into chunks and toss with lemon juice to prevent browning.
In a large bowl, combine asparagus, avocado and all remaining salad ingredients. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine all dressing ingredients except poppy seeds and whisk by hand or with handheld blender. Stir in poppy seeds.
Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine. Top with toasted pumpkin seeds and serve.

Serves 8 as a side salad

Recipe reprinted with permission from Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., copyright Clean Food 2010 by Terry Walters.

Marinated Grilled Chicken

Boneless skinless chicken breasts (one per serving)
1 bottle Annie’s Naturals Green Garlic Dressing

Place chicken in a gallon resealable bag and pour half of the dressing over the chicken and squeeze as much air out as you can and seal it. Let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Grill chicken by searing it on high for 1-2 minutes per side then on low heat cook for 10 -15 minutes per side. Pour some dressing in a small bowl and right before taking off the grill, brush each side with generous amounts of the dressing. Serve with side salad and enjoy!
 

A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated with us in the MN FoodShare March Campaign to help bag hunger! Your food contributions, your extra change and the donation amounts you added to your grocery tabs came to a grand total of 127 pounds of food, and $906.27 in cash! One of our cashiers, Elaine, was so excited telling customers about the campaign that she rang up an impressive 108 transactions which yielded $404 of those donated dollars –way to go Elaine!

All donations have been sent to the Community Action Council emergency food shelf, a local organization in this area. Here’s their reaction in a recent e-mail: "WOW! This is incredible! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Let me say how grateful I am for the partnership we share in this community. You are one who truly lives what we are about ‘changing lives and strengthening our communities to a new degree!’"

Community Action Council has recently renamed their organization 360 Communities. Valley Natural Foods will continue to collect food shelf items for 360 Communities year round. Just look for the big yellow food shelf bin near the store exit doors. To learn more about the evolution leading up to 360 Communities, visit: 360communities.org

Valley Natural Foods is ranked 5th in sales out of the 11 TCNFC stores, yet Valley Natural Foods is 2nd in the total contributions the co-op gives back to the south metro community. Since 2001 we have contributed over $169,000 in community donations. All that from a single store – a co-op. That’s the co-op difference!

Locally produced Total Skin Care from The Awesome Family TM is here! This pure and concentrated skin moisturizer/conditioner is good for all skin types and may be beneficial for:

• Cuts, burns, scrapes, first-aid
• Stretch-marks, wrinkles, rashes
• Sun, wind or razor-burned skin

Look for Total Skin Care in the Valley Natural Foods wellness department. To learn more about this Minnesota-based company and their product, visit www.theawesomefamily.org.

In honor of Earth Day, Valley Natural Foods will be hosting a table at EarthFest, a party for the planet at the Minnesota Zoo on April 17 and 18, 2010, from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Stop by and see us!

To learn more about EarthFest and view a schedule of events, please visit

http://www.mnzoo.com/events/Events_earthFest_2010.asp.