Tag: local food

IFC Pick-up is Thursday; Nagi’s Falafel to Sample at Franklin Site!

January 31, 2017
by Gary Huber

We had 222 members order 1,742 different items this cycle. Total purchases were just under $12,000. Those numbers are almost identical to our cycle two weeks ago, but it’s significantly lower lower than same cycles sales last year.

We’ve begun to do some diagnostic work to try to determine the cause of sales being lower than last year because it’s starting to draw down our cash reserves. The situation isn’t dire, but it’s obviously not one that can continue. We’ll keep working at trying to improve. Your placing orders helps. Thanks.

Anyway, if you are getting this as an email, you’ve placed an order. We’ll have it ready for you to come pick up this week during our distributions. Below are instructions.

NOTE: Nagi’s Falafel is a new IFC producer from Des Moines. They sample their products during pick-up at Franklin Avenue on Thursday. It’ll be a great way to try their Falafel products, which is a vegetarian dish made of ground garbanzo beans mixed with spices deep fried and served with a sauce made of Tahini paste.

And for our drop off sites, we’ll be sending samples from Swede’s Point Creamery goat cheese products.

Here’s your instructions:

1. If you are picking up at Franklin Plaza, be sure to check out products available for purchase in our Retail Center. There are lots of good stuff you can add to your online orders.

2. Specifics on times and locations for all our sites are available with this link and to the left.

NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT.

3. Our alternative pick up time will be from 10:30 to noon on Saturday, Feb. 4. If we don’t see you Thursday, we’ll assume you are coming Saturday.

4. We accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment

5. It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

IFC Pick-up is Thursday!

January 17, 2017
by Gary Huber

We had 221 members order 1,798 different items this cycle with total purchases at just under $12,000. That’s lower than we’d like, but not bad given the time of year.

If you are getting this as an email, you’ve placed an order. Thank you. We’ll have it ready for you to come pick up this week during our distributions. Here’s your instructions:

1. If you are picking up at Franklin Plaza, be sure to check out products available for purchase in our Retail Center. There are lots of good stuff you can add to your online orders.

2. Specifics on times and locations for all our sites are available with this link and to the left.

NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT.

3. Our alternative pick up time will be from 10:30 to noon on Saturday, Jan. 21. If we don’t see you Thursday, we’ll assume you are coming Saturday.

4. We accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment

5. It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

Online Shopping Cart is Open!

January 11, 2017
by Gary Huber

Time to Shop!

 

The online shopping cart is open. To shop go to https://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username or password, send an email to info@iowafood.coop.

It will close Monday, Jan. 16 at noon. Distribution is Thursday, Jan. 19 at all our sites except Ames, which is on Friday, Jan. 20. We also have an alternative pick-up time from 10:30 to noon at our Franklin Avenue site on Saturday, Jan. 21.

Below are some updates from our producers. You can click here to see new products added since last cycle. Enjoy!

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From Country View Dairy: “We’ve relisted our 12 packs and 4 packs of Raspberry Original Yogurt as we are now back in stock.”

From Lee’s Greens: “We have lowered our sweet potato prices and we have a good selection of salad greens. Get them before they’re gone.”

The Pet Bistro added free samples of their natural, whole-food dog food blends, a perfect chance to give them a try!

Clarion Sage Farm lowered the price on their garlic because of some green sprouting. Sprouted garlic is actually a living ‘super food’ with higher antioxidant levels than unsprouted garlic. Jenn writes: “Between the enhanced flavor and boosted nutritional value, maybe you’ll become a sprouted garlic convert!”

Country Roads Produce listed carrots from their high tunnel for a crisp sweet winter crop. They’ve also listed Swiss Chard, bunching onions, and two kinds of turnips.

Sunrise added pots of live herbs (Lime Basil, Red Opal Basil, Red Veined Sorrel) plus Pea Shoots and Radish Microgreens.

Yoke S Ranch has a sale ($6/lb) on their minute steaks from their Correinte beef herd.

Great River Maple lowered prices on their 8 oz Grade A Robust syrup (from $10.95 to $8.95) and their 32 oz Grade A Robust syrup (from $28.95 to $24.95). These darker syrups have richer full maple flavors because they come from later in the season.

Meadow Blazingstar Honey added a Pine Cone Fire Starter product, which are pine cones with beeswax-dipped cotton wicks dipped multiple times in their beeswax.

IFC Pick-up is Thursday!

January 3, 2017
by Gary Huber

We had 182 members order 1,517 different items this cycle with total purchases at just under $10,000. Given that ordering for this cycle was over the holidays, we aren’t surprised that the numbers are lower than normal.

If you are getting this as an email, you’ve placed an order. Thank you. We’ll have it ready for you to come pick up this week during our distributions. Here’s your instructions:

1. If you are picking up at Franklin Plaza, be sure to check out products available for purchase in our Retail Center. There are lots of good stuff you can add to your online orders.

2. Specifics on times and locations for all our sites are available with this link and to the left.

NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT.

3. Our alternative pick up time will be from 10:30 to noon on Saturday, Jan. 7. If we don’t see you Thursday, we’ll assume you are coming Saturday.

4. We accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment

5. It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

6 Reasons to Eat Local in 2017

January 2, 2017
by Gary Huber

2017 is finally here! At Iowa Food Cooperative, we feel strongly there’s one resolution we should all commit to keeping: Eating local. Luckily, eating local is a great resolution to keep because it supports so many of things we want in our lives. Things like being healthier, being part of a community, and trying new things. Here are six reasons why you should eat local in 2017.

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1. Healthier, fresher food. Most of us start the new year with a goal of being healthier. We start going to the gym more, eat more salad and fewer chips, and pull out that yoga mat that was collecting dust in the corner of our living room. One way to stay on track with your healthy eating goals is to buy more fresh, local produce. You’ll find the food is more flavorful and lasts longer, which makes eating healthier more joyful. It tastes fresher because it is fresher. The salad mix you ordered was picked the day before you picked it up and traveled fifty miles instead of 1,500 miles.

2. Try something new! Maybe you said you’d try something new every week or every day in 2016. Maybe you have a Pinterest board full of bucket list items. If you’re adventurous you’ll love eating local and you’ll really love shopping at IFC. Our producers are always adding unique items like aronia berry brats, cardoon, and lard. Challenge yourself by ordering something you’ve never tried during every cycle. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite food!

3. A greater connection with your environment. By eating local food you’ll automatically learn about when foods are in season. You’ll find meals that represent winter to you, like hearty soups with lots of root vegetables, and meals that represent summer to you, like sweet corn and BLT’s. You will know that goats produce milk after they give birth, that you can eat the beet greens as well as the roots, and if you pay attention to what your local farmers are sharing on Facebook you might learn about farming too. Maybe you’ll start growing a few things yourself… or maybe you’ll decide to leave that to the professionals.

4. Become part of something bigger than yourself. When you eat local you do so much more than “just” eat local. At IFC we’ve seen our members and producers become friends who exchange holiday cards and congratulate each other on weddings and babies. At our annual meeting each year our members and producers sit together to share food and talk about the challenges and triumphs of farming, the environment, health, and the meaning of life. Okay, maybe not the meaning of life, but we wouldn’t put it past our members. By eating local you’re supporting a different kind of community that cares for each other.

5. Support Iowa’s economy. You love shopping in the East Village, bought your bike from the Des Moines Bike Collective, and prefer local restaurants to chains. You’re proud to be from Iowa and have the Iowa Native or Transplant sticker on your bumper to prove it. According to the 3/50 Project, for every $100 you spend locally $68 of that comes back to your community in the way of taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. When you shop at a national chain, only $43 comes back. And shifting just 5% of your out-of-area spending to support local produces and businesses would have a $1 billion impact on Greater Des Moines.

6. Local food preserves Iowa farmland and makes Iowa a more beautiful place to live. If you’ve ever visited one of our producer’s farms, or any diversified farm, you know they are beautiful places. Imagine if the drive across Iowa had more diversified farms raising vegetables, meat, dairy, and flowers, for miles and miles. It would be magical, but those farms and barns won’t be there for future generations if we don’t support them today.

IFC Pick-up is Thursday; Alt Pick-up is Friday Morning!

December 19, 2016
by Gary Huber

We had 194 members order 1,931 different items this cycle with total purchases at just over $13,000. That’s under what we’d like to see for this time of year.

We aren’t sure why sales haven’t grown. We are getting new people to sign up. So far this month we’ve had 26 new people, and for November it was 32. That’s 15 more than the same months last year.

We’ve got some things ready for after the first of the year that should help, like a targeted mailing to members who’ve stopped shopping. We’ll also look closer at some key places where we interact with members, like the cart-is-opening and cart-is-closing emails. Those seem to be crucial to sales; we need to see if they can be improved.

Anyway, thank you for your orders. Now it’s time to come pick up your food.

Instructions:

1. We usually have our alternative pick-up on Saturday following distribution, but this week it will be 10:30 to noon on Friday, Dec. 23.

2. We’ve lost Dwolla as a payment option. Sorry. We are investigating if it still might be an option because we hate those Paypal fees, but for now it’s not available.

3. If you are picking up at Franklin Plaza, be sure to check out products available for purchase in our Retail Center. There are lots of good stuff you can add to your online orders.

4. Specifics on times and locations for all our sites are available with this link and to the left.

NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT.

5. We accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment

6. It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

IFC Pick-up is Thursday!

December 6, 2016
by Gary Huber

We had 182 members order 1,517 different items this cycle with total purchases at just under $1o,000. Given that ordering for this cycle was over the holidays, we aren’t surprised that the numbers are lower than normal.

If you are getting this as an email, you’ve placed an order. Thank you. We’ll have it ready for you to come pick up this week during our distributions. Here’s your instructions:

1. If you are picking up at Franklin Plaza, be sure to check out products available for purchase in our Retail Center. There are lots of good stuff you can add to your online orders.

2. Specifics on times and locations for all our sites are available with this link and to the left.

NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT.

3. Our alternative pick up time will be from 10:30 to noon on Saturday, Jan. 7. If we don’t see you Thursday, we’ll assume you are coming Saturday.

4. We accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment

5. It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

IFC Pick-up is Thursday!

November 15, 2016
by Gary Huber

This cycle we had 228 members order 2,390 different items with total purchases at $17,336. Thank you for your orders. Now it’s time to come pick up your food.

Instructions:

1. If you are picking up at Franklin Plaza, be sure to check out products available for purchase in our Retail Center. There are lots of good stuff you can add to your online orders.

2. Specifics on times and locations for all our sites are available with this link and to the left.

NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT.

3. Our alternative pick up time will be from 10:30 to noon on Saturday, Nov. 19. If we don’t see you Thursday, we’ll assume you are coming Saturday.

4. We accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment

5. It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

IFC Pick-up is Thursday!

November 1, 2016
by Gary Huber

This cycle we had 203 members order 2,136 different items with total purchases at $13,157. Thank you very much for your orders. Now it’s time to come pick up your food.

Instructions:

1. If you are picking up at Franklin Plaza, be sure to check out products available for purchase in our Retail Center. There are lots of good stuff you can add to your online orders.

2. Specifics on times and locations for all our sites are available with this link and to the left.

NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT.

3. Our alternative pick up time will be from 10:30 to noon on Saturday, Nov. 5. If we don’t see you Thursday, we’ll assume you are coming Saturday.

4. We accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment

5. It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

IFC Pick-up is Thursday; Retail Center Products on Sale !

October 17, 2016
by Gary Huber

This cycle we had 200 members order 2,080 different items with total purchases at just over $14,000, which is about $1,100 more that two weeks ago. Thank you very much for your orders. Now it’s time to come pick up your food.

Instructions come next, but PLEASE NOTE that producer products in our Franklin Retail Center have been marked down 15%! As well, offerings have been increased, including a nice selection of winter squash from Lee’s Greens and carving pumpkins from Overhome Farm. Plus, our meat case is now fully stocked with a wide selection of beef, pork, chicken and more. If you are picking up our Franklin Plaza location, be sure to check out the offerings.

Instructions:

1. If you are picking up at Franklin Plaza, be sure to check out products available for purchase in our Retail Center. There are lots of good stuff you can add to your online orders.

2. Specifics on times and locations for all our sites are available with this link and to the left.

NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT.

3. Our alternative pick up time will be from 10:30 to noon on Saturday, Oct. 22. If we don’t see you Thursday, we’ll assume you are coming Saturday.

4. We accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment

5. It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.