We’re hosting a screening of Food, Inc on April 8. A panel of local food leaders will be present to discuss their work and will be available for a question/answer period. Here is a glimpse of three of the six panelists. Check back next week for Pat Schoenecker, John Peterson and Larry Schultz. Read more about the event.

Atina Diffley (Gardens of Eagan)

Eagan, MN www.gardensofeagan.com

Atina Diffley is an experienced organic vegetable farmer, educating consumers, farmers and policy makers about organic farming and related issues. She provides consulting services to organic vegetable farmers through her business, Organic Farming Works LLC. She presently serves on the board of Minnesota Institute of Sustainable Agriculture, as Secretary of the Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Services Board, and as Board President for the Organic Field School at Gardens of Eagan.

Jeff Jirik (Faribault Dairy Company, Inc.)

Faribault, MN www.faribaultdairy.com

Jeff grew up on a third generation dairy farm near Lonsdale, MN. He began working at the plant that is now Faribault Dairy on December 26, 1979 as a “Cheese Scraper.” He moved up in the cheese business holding multiple positions, and then in 1996 he accepted a position as VP National Operations for a transportation specialist.

In 2001, Jeff purchased the cheese caves with wife Brenda and then began Faribault Dairy Company, Inc. with two other friends who were former employees as well.  Today Faribault Dairy employs 26 full-time and several part-time employees. Their hand-made artisan cheeses have won national and international awards. Jeff is also a Certified Organic Farmer, producing corn, milling oats and food grade soybeans on the family farm. He is a member of the Sustainable Farming Association of MN and Slow Foods. He is active in the American Cheese Society and a Director of the North Central Cheese Industry Association. Still a licensed Wisconsin cheesemaker, he also belongs to the WI Specialty Cheesemakers Association and the WI Cheesemakers Association.

Byron Korus (Chef / Owner of Special Events Catering and ChuckWagon Catering)

Plymouth, MN www.mncatering.com

Byron is an entrepreneur and owner of Special Events Catering Company and Chuck Wagon Catering. A Certified Executive Chef, Certified Culinary Educator and Certified Sommelier, Byron is a member of the American Academy of Chefs. Byron shares his professional culinary credentials and real-world experience as a chef and educator in The Culinary Education Center’s Certification Program to be based in Burnsville.

Prior to joining The Culinary Education Center, Chef Korus was an instructor at the Art Institutes International School of Culinary Arts in Minneapolis for the past 20 years. Byron is active in teaching students about aspects of sustainability and the green movement.

Gardening Matters Presents: 

6th Annual Community Garden Spring Resource Fair

Saturday March 27th 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Sabathani Commmunity Center 310 E 38th Street, Minneapolis
 
$5 suggested donation 

A day filled with workshops and information about great local resources with a focus on community gardening, local food and community building. Valley Natural Foods is proud to be a sponsor of this fantastic event. Read the PDF flyer for more information or visit www.gardeningmatters.org

For more information, contact Gardening Matters at 612-492-8964
www.gardeningmatters.org
 

Tuesday April 6, 2010
7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Cost: Introductory Class on April 6 is FREE
Full course: $300 per person/$400 for team of two

New Directions is a course to health. Come in for a free introductory class. Are you ready to begin making some changes to achieve a healthier lifestyle?

This is not a step by step answer to your health questions, but an all-inclusive look at your total health such as diet, exercise and stress relief. You’ll receive three personalized private consultations with the course instructor (scheduled outside of class time).

Eileen Johnson, RN, leads the course through a close look at food options, stress relief techniques and exercise habits. In a group setting you’ll have an opportunity to learn healthy lifestyle techniques through demonstrations and discussions.

Come in for a free sneak peak at this 12-week course on April 6. See what it’s like and decide if you’re up for it. (Ask about how partners can save $200.)

New Directions Class Schedule*:
Tuesday April 6 | 7-8:30 p.m. – Free introductory Class
Tuesdays April 20-May 18 | 6-7:30 p.m. – First Semester
Tuesdays June 1-June 22 | 6-7:30 p.m. – Second Semester
*Three private wellness consultations are included in this course. Consultations are scheduled in between semesters.

When you see your Dakota County neighbors outside in a T-shirt in 50 degree weather, you know winter is about to lift. Portable plant nurseries pop up in parking lots and the John Deere is rattling in the garage, preparing for the first trim.

Spring is almost here and more and more people aren’t just shopping for pretty plants and pots to plant them in. They’re scoping out edible plants and plots to plant them in.

The Dakota County community gardening scene is really taking off, said Kelsey Barale, Gardening Matters GreenCorps member in a recent e-mail.

“Gardening Matters has been meeting with garden groups who are interested in either starting or expanding Dakota County gardens to provide them with support and organizational assistance.”

They’ve done lots of work with community gardens in the Minneapolis and surrounding area, and are now in our backyard.

Pat Schoenecker of Growing Community is another advocate for gardening. She explains, “Growing Community is a citizen-based organization I’ve recently started to help reconnect us to food.” She says that through food, we connect to one another and her organization intends to raise awareness about the importance of healthy food and communities through hands on activities.

Schoenecker sums it up nicely when she says, “Community gardens are just as much about growing community as about growing food.”

For Dakota County residents, the possibilities for gardening are growing, and fast. There are approximately 10 community gardens already and if you’re interested in joining or creating one, Gardening Matters has an abundance of resources on their Web site: www.gardeningmatters.org. You can request a plot and find a garden or even volunteer in a donation-based garden.

Valley Natural Foods supports these efforts in the community through donations, educational opportunities, CSA subscriptions, donation options and other great activities.

To learn more about the gardening and food education scene in Dakota County please visit :
www.valleynaturalfoods.com
*www.gardeningmatters.org
www.midwestfoodconnection.org

*Gardening Matters suggests using the plot request form to find a community garden near you.

Our Alakef rep reported to us today that , “Polls are closed, and our crack election staff has completed canvassing for the ‘roasted votes’ election.”

Last week we held an election to see which mystery coffee was most preferred by our customers. Alakef was here and asked each person to put a bean in the jar for their favorite tasting coffee.

The top vote was for Blend E. 25.6% percent of the votes were for this blend made up of 80% Mexican, 10% Guatemalan, and 10% Peru French Roast.

A close second was blend B at 20.1% of the votes. Blend B was 50% Mexican, and 50% Peru French Roast. Now what? Watch for Blend E to be an exclusive blend available at Valley Natural Foods. We will let you know when it will be available on our shelves.

All flours are not created equal. If I don’t have wheat flour, but I do have rice flour, can’t I just substitute a cup for a cup? Not so.

Flour in baking is like a chemistry experiement, we’ve all just grown so accustomed to the chemistry of wheat flour, that we don’t even think about it! With gluten-free baking you need to use a combination of different types of flours to get a similar effect to wheat flour.

You can use a all-purpose gluten-free flour, which you’ll find is a combination of many different grains.

Pamela’s Products Baking and Pancake Mix has a healthy combination of rice flours while Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour has bean, tapioca and sorghum flours.

Gluten-Free Baking Class

If you’re interested in learning more about baking with gluten-free flours and want your questions answered, consider taking our Gluten-Free Baking Class on March 31. We have instructors who know their flour and have tricks up their sleeves. They’ll demonstrate four different recipes that you’ll be able to take home to try!

To read a bit more about gluten-free flour check out these blogs:

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: "A guide to working with gluten-free flours"

glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com

Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free: "Understanding & Choosing Gluten-Free Flours"

www.simplysugarandglutenfree.com

Caffeine, bold flavor and a warm kick gets me up and at ‘em. I buy a fresh steaming cup from Mary in the coffee bar each morning. She says to me, “What would you like today, Breakfast blend, Scandinavian or Italian?”

I say Scandinavian!

What would you say?

This week stop by the demonstration kiosk to put your voting bean in the jar. There will be five different Alakef coffees to choose from. Put your bean in the jar and we’ll find out which coffee Valley Natural Food’s shoppers prefer!

Voting is held:

Monday, February 15 – 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

Tuesday, February 16 – 4 p.m-7 p.m.

Friday, February 19 – 8 a.m.-11 a.m.

(Co-op Calendar)

Learn more about our beans from Alakef Coffee.

Portable, enjoyable and sustaining is how Thuro Bread is described in this month’s newsletter. 
 

Always searching for a healthy option for a quick hardy snack or meal replacement in the busy-bustling ‘burbs? Thuro Bread has your answer.

Sarah Couenhoven, president of Thuro Bread, began baking these breads as an alternative way to feed her family without refined flours and sugars. She uses power-packed whole-grain ingredients that are great for kids, athletes or a commuter grabbing a cup of coffee on the way out the door.

Read more about Thuro Bread in This is Living Naturally online or pick up a copy in the store.

Sarah and Seth her son Seth are visiting the demo kiosk often this month. Stop by to have taste! Check out the Co-op Calendar to see when they’re here.

Does cooking food increase the caloric value? What are the benefits of natural sweeteners versus table sugar? How is fructose metabolized? And what are your thoughts on saturated fat and cardiovascular disease?

Marion Nestle takes on a some of those tough questions about sugars and fats in her blog Food Politics. She is an author and Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health as well as Professor of Sociology at New York University.

She shares her ideas in her blog on January 25:

I wish I could answer all of the questions that come into Feedback or Comments, but I cannot except occasionally.  It’s a rainy day in New York and today seems to be one of those occasions.

Q: Does the caloric value of a food change when it’s cooked?  In his latest book, “Catching Fire: How Cooking Made us Human,” Harvard Primatologist Richard Wrangham argues that cooking foods changes the available nutrient content and actually raises the available calories.

A:  The rules of physical chemistry tell us that matter cannot be destroyed or created so the number of calories available in a food does not change with temperature.  What can change is our ability to use (digest, absorb) the calories that are there as well as our desire to eat the foods.  Cooking makes the calories in potato starch more available, for example, but has hardly any effect on the calories in meat.  Both, in my opinion at least, taste better cooked.    But cooked or not, the calorie differences will be small and unlikely to account significantly for weight change.

The nutrient situation is also complicated.  Cooking destroys some nutrients (vitamin C is a good example) but makes others more available (beta-carotene).  This is another reason why nutritionists are always advising variety in food intake.  Variety applies to cooked and raw, as well.

Read more of Marion’s Q and A…

People enter our doors to find answers to their diet and health questions. Sometimes it’s as simple as, “Where’s the salad bar, I ‘m hungry,” or as serious as, “My child was just diagnosed with a nut allergy.”

When it comes to special diets and food allergies we understand that some people are more sensitive than others. We have all different types of customers and we’re thrilled about that, but every item in our store isn’t for everybody.

For example, we are very proud of our bulk department. It’s a great way to try new items, keep your cupboards full of fresh product and save money, however if you are shopping for a person with food allergy it’s important to be aware that the bulk bins may be cross contaminated.

We sell all types of flours and nuts in these bulk bins and although we do our best to keep all the scoops clean and avoid cross contaminating the bins or scoops, it is still likely that the bins are cross contaminated due to the allergens becoming airborn or an accidental misuse of a scoop.
 

Our deli department also uses extreme caution when baking and cooking the gluten-free foods. They clean the kitchen and the cooks understand how to avoid cross contamination, but the kitchen is not a certified gluten-free kitchen. If you are really sensitive to gluten, please keep this in mind. Maybe try the products from Bittersweet Bakery or other packaged goods on the shelves.

We cater to all types of diets and are happy to answer any questions you may have when you come in the store. Please ask if you are unsure about any item, or if you just need to be pointed in the direction of the cookies to satisfy that sweet tooth!