Author: Evan Friedley

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Green Spotlight, Healthy Updates Newsletter

Green Spotlight:  Notes from Nancy Grant Ever get frustrated peeling away two or three layers of packaging around a simple purchase? Ever toss a plastic bottle into the trash instead of the recycling bin? Do you sometimes forget to bring along your reusable bags on a shopping trip?Making new greener ideas a steady part of life does take a bit of thinking ahead. At Valley Natural Foods sustainable habits are built-in to every department.In the meat department, trims go to an independent company that uses the leftover bits to make fertilizer. In the produce department, any veggies leftover after donations to local charities go to the co-op’s on-site compost heap. In the stock rooms, empty cardboard shipping boxes go to a paper and fiber recycler. In the employee break room, a co-op worker gathers aluminum cans and plastic bottles for recycling later.The

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Education, Healthy Updates Newsletter

 Everybody knows that recycling paper, aluminum, plastic and cardboard helps lessen  waste, creating a cleaner, healthier society.However, did you know that it is also important to recycle your cell phones?  Cell phones contain hazardous substances, similar to any other electronic device, and can damage our environment. In fact, there is more gold in a ton of cell phones than in 20 tons of ore from a gold mine!Also, everyday Americans retire 365,000 cell phones.  Therefore, if you get a new phone this holiday season, be sure to recycle your old one at Valley Natural Foods! Yes, at Valley Natural Foods you can not only drop of your phone for recycling but save the rainforest too.  No, we are not joking on this one!Our store now  has a  Minnesota Zoo cell phone recycling drop off box located by the entrance of the store. All working phones collected are refurbished for resale

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Green Spotlight, Healthy Updates Newsletter

Green Spotlight:  Notes from Nancy GrantCan a food co-op add sustainable ideas to its daily operations? Sure, the co-op encourages food producers to take the best care possible of their land and natural resources. But what about other opportunities for a “greener” approach?At Valley Natural Foods the hunt is on to find ways to take better care of the environment right here in the store.The first good idea: Replace the paper towel dispensers in the restrooms with electric hand dryers to cut down on paper waste. The second good idea: Encourage office staffers to use e-mail and other computer technology as often as possible, then print documents on paper only when absolutely necessary. Throughout the co-op, the idea is to use a little less paper, please.Simple steps like these are part of a much larger effort to put the sustainability

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Healthy Updates Newsletter

Harvests from backyard and community gardens must be in full swing because lately, we've been getting a lot of inquiries about canning salt! Since our co-op does not carry canning salt, below are a couple of tips and recommended substitutes. You can find 3 lb. boxes of Kosher salt in our meat department. pickling salt = canning salt = canning and pickling salt Canning or pickling salt is similar to table salt, but lacks the iodine and anti-caking additives that turn pickles dark and the pickling liquid cloudy. Pickles made with table salt would still be good to eat, but they wouldn't look as appetizing. Pickling salt is available in large bags or boxes in some supermarkets, but sometimes hard to find in cities. Substitutes: Kosher Salt (Since it's not as dense as pickling salt, you'll need to use more, but follow directions on package or use a recipe that has measurements for

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Eco-Friendly Food Choices, Healthy Updates Newsletter

Many people envision healthy nutritious eggs to be those raised organically or naturally with free-range pastured hens, but have you ever thought about what happens after the eggs are collected? Recently some alert members spotted an article on this very topic and were concerned by what they read. Eggs need to be porous, allowing air to pass through to the inside of the egg so that it can breathe, yet at the same time the egg is protected from bacterial invasion by a natural waxy coating called the bloom. Commercial industry practice is to wash eggs thoroughly. On the surface this appears to be a positive thing, but as they say, the devil is in the details. Unfortunately, this washing removes the bloom, opening the egg to infection. To compensate for this, commercial industry practice is to replace the bloom with a mineral

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Healthy Updates Newsletter

As you may know,  Paul Nutting, our beloved Meat and Seafood manager passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, April 22nd.  Paul was special. He followed his father’s footsteps, becoming a grocery store butcher. He knew the old-fashioned techniques that small-town and neighborhood grocers employed. He introduced our co-op to one of those techniques—hanging beef. That’s what got us started on the Bubba’s Natural beef. He was talking to our board director about it and that’s when Tom Koskovich said he had a place to raise a small herd. Paul had to call up his brother Steve because we couldn’t find the rails needed for hanging beef. Steve found us some in somebody’s basement and we also had to build a unique meat refrigeration unit for the process. Paul ended up teaching many new hires how to cut meat. As we grew, he found farm partners

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Healthy Updates Newsletter

Every day is Earth Day at Valley Natural Foods. 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 backup 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

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Education, Healthy Updates Newsletter

Nine Things We Can Do to Improve Our Health and Our Food System 1. Consider signing up for a CSA share. Community Supported Agriculture is a simple way to eat local, support a small farm. Generally, a CSA share can be picked up once a week during the growing season, giving you a box of fresh produce straight from the farm. Valley Natural Foods is a drop-off point for two. Contact the farm directly. Featherstone Farm, Rushford, MN: featherstonefarm.com 2. Eat more at home instead of eating out. People consume almost twice as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home. A shared meal at home can replace “eating on the run” with a healthier family and community. 3. Commit to at least one “meatless day” a week. Livestock production is responsible for 20 percent of the greenhouse gases that are part

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Healthy Updates Newsletter

Two of the benefits of membership at Valley Natural Foods, are a monthly 5% discount and a 10% case discount. Both discounts can help frugal shoppers plan and save money. Many members save the 5% discount for their largest shopping trip of the month or for replenishing monthly supplements. Other members plan ahead and buy by the case on products they use a lot. Still others share a case (and split the cost).  While both discounts are terrific ways to save money as a co-op member, you should know that not all products are discounted. So you are not surprised at the cash register, here is a list of those exceptions: • Eggs • Milk • Sushi • Fresh-cut flowers from produce • Books (already 15% off every day) • Items already discounted (member, CAP, general or red tag items) These items are exceptions because they are already discounted so low that if the

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FRESH Recipes for Healthy Food, Healthy Updates Newsletter

Colcannon, traditional fare in Ireland is a delicious dish; the cabbage, kale, leeks and potatoes provide a wallop of nutrients: Vitamin A, B1, B2, B6, minerals, protein and fiber. An old Irish Halloween tradition was to conceal charms in the colcannon that would reveal someone's future, such as remain a bachelor or a spinster or become rich. Serve colcannon paired with a corned beef brisket (this week's Fresh Meal Solutions) and you have the perfect celebratory meal for St. Patrick's Day, for the Irish in all of us, at least for a day! Colcannon 1/2 head of green cabbage, shredded 1 bunch dino kale, coarsely chopped 2 1/2 lb. baby potatoes 1 C. cream 1/2 C. salted butter 2 medium leeks, most green trimmed off 2 tsp. black pepper 2 tsp. salt Wash potatoes well. Fill a large pot half full of water, add 1 teaspoon

13750 Co Rd 11, Burnsville, MN 55337

Call us during store hours at: 952-891-1212

Valley Natural Foods Co-op works in partnership with the South Metro community to support health and well-being through education and expertise in local, sustainable food and wellness services.

Store Hours:

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. daily

Coffee & Juice Bar In-Store Hours 8:00 a.m. –7:00 p.m. daily

Coffee & Juice Bar Drive-Thru Window 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. daily

Holiday Hours

OPEN on Labor Day, Sept. 2 – 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

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