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UN proclaims 2012 International Year of Co-operatives

The ICA is pleased to announce the adoption of the UN resolution, "Co-operatives and social development: which proclaims 2012 International Year of Co-operatives. The resolution (A/RES/64/136) passed on 18 December 2009 by consensus was proposed by 55 UN Member States. It recognises that the co-operative business model is a major factor in realising economic and social development and calls on governments, international institutions, co-operatives and other stakeholders to support the development and growth of co-operatives worldwide."

Source: www.ica.coop/al-ica

2010 Board and Committees Begin Their Work

The 2010 board committees have formed and begun meeting: membership, board development, physical plant, and finance.

Hampden Park Co-op Values Framework

Our Values Framework is used as a guide for assisting in policy and program decisions.

Membership News, February, 2010

—by Naomi Jackson, Membership Coordinator

2010 Member Cards

If you are a volunteer and have not yet picked up your 2010 wallet card or filled out a new Rolodex card, please do so soon. If you have questions, or there is something wrong with your cards, drop me a note in the Membership Coordinator envelope in the entryway.

If you are a shareholder or senior and your card is getting frayed around the edges, or you’ve lost your card, fill out a new card request form (available at register 1, or ask any staff person). Drop the form in the Membership Coordinator envelope, and new cards will be made for you.

Greetings From The Aisles of HPC -- February, 2010

—by Matt Hass, General Manager

Mayfest

Winter always seems to bring strong opinions out from folks; people either love it or hate it. If you are in the latter camp, it should be good news to you that we have already ordered our plants for the Mayfest sale. Surely spring can’t be that far away!

Quarterly Inventory

New Year’s Eve we had our second try at quarterly inventory. It was harder to line up volunteers, but we got a crew to come in, and finished everything aside from a few odds and ends. We are still fine tuning our process, but we are becoming more comfortable with this change in our operations. A big “THANK YOU” to everyone who came in to help out.

There’s a Vegetarian in the Family

—by Kathryn Tempas

Maybe your daughter or son came home from school informing you she wanted to be a vegetarian. Maybe you’ve decided to give it a try because you’ve heard it’s healthful. Perhaps your doctor suggested you improve your diet.

For whatever reason, now there are some vegetarians in the family and some carnivores. How to cook for both and keep them happy? It’s not as difficult as it sounds. We’ve got a culinarily divided family and it’s been working fine for several years now. Here are some suggestions from my experience.

Have you tried...? February, 2010

—by Katharine Holden

Hampden Park Co-op sells great stuff. Let me tell you about a few products you and your family might enjoy.

Neti pots, and more neti pots

HPC now carries four different neti pots, including an ugly but practical plastic pot for traveling. Neti pots are trendy right now, but they are old standbys at any co-op.

Warm up (and save money) with Malted Milk

—by Linda Morey

Malted milk! “Malted milk powder,” really. It’s on the top shelf above the soy milks, and it will make your taste buds tingle.

Instead of artery-clogging cream in your hot coffee, try a few spoonfuls of malted milk powder. The barley malt adds richness and depth.

You wanna mocha latte? Easy. To your hot coffee add malted milk powder and cocoa (or grated semisweet/ bittersweet chocolate).

Jazz up the kids’ hot chocolate with malted milk powder. Add the powder to hot drinks — it dissolves with a few stirs of a spoon.

For kids, especially, malted milk powder boosts nutrition. It’s a combination of ground malt, wheat, and dried milk.

Olives on Your Table

—by Emma Onawa

There’s a whole lot more to olives than those ubiquitous green pimento-stuffed spheres found in every grocery store. People have eaten olives and olive oil for thousands of years. The oldest living olive tree, located in Crete, Greece, believed to be over 2000 years old1, still produces a crop.

Olive trees are indigenous to Turkey and Syria and were first cultivated in Greece. The trees spread through the Mediterranean, to Spain and Italy, and then were brought to the Americas by the Spanish. The olive tree, Olea europaea L (Latin for oil and the Mediterranean region of Europe), is a small, subtropical evergreen. This tree differs botanically from the Russian Olive tree.

Seitan: From Monks to Mass Appeal

—by Caroline Daykin

With a name that means “ideal protein” in Japanese, seitan (SAY-tan) has much to live up to. Also known as mock duck, this wheat-derived victual has become a consistent, if not exactly prominent, fixture at natural foods and Asian grocery stores during the past quarter century. This more obscure cousin of tofu, utilized as a meat substitute in myriad vegetarian recipes, is made by separating proteinrich wheat gluten from the starch and bran in the grain.