Happy New Year and Happy International Year of the Coop!

The United Nations has declared 2012 the International Year of the Coop (IYC)!

The U.N.'s goals for International Year of the Coop include:

• Increase public awareness about co-operatives and their contributions to socio-economic development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
• Promote the formation and growth of co-operatives.
• Encourage governments to establish policies, laws and regulations conducive to the formation, growth and stability of co-operatives.

I can't think of a better way to celebrate IYC than to open our store!

Free Webinar - Online Approaches to Food Cooperatives

Here's a free educational opportunity and a chance to learn more about the world of Co-ops! The Northwest Cooperative Development Center is offering a webinar highlighting how three co-ops created sucessful online marketplaces for their products. Monday September 12, 2011 2-3:15 pm EDT, Register to Attend
	The presenters include Laura Theis of Idaho's Bounty serving southern Idaho, Meadow Summers of Six Rivers Market serving the Idaho panhandle and areas of Washington and Montana, and Kirk Wright of Vancouver Food Co-op in Washington state.

A recording of the webinar and the powerpoint presentation will be available at www.NWCDC.coop.  Additional information is also available at the website, including the guide, "Starting an Online, Local Food Cooperative" and "Case Study: Idaho's Bounty, An Online, Local Food Co-op", both prepared by NWCDC.

Check Out the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15"

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has put out their 2011 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides where you can get the skinny on which conventional fruits and veggies contain the most pesticide residue and which contain the least. You can lower your pesticide intake substantially by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated produce or by choosing to purchase produce grown using Organic or Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques when buying items on the dirty dozen list.

This year's dirty dozen includes: apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, imported nectarines, imported grapes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, domestic blueberries, lettuce, and kale/collard greens.

The clean 15 include: onions, sweet corn, pineapples, avocado, asparagus, sweet peas, mangoes, eggplant, domestic cantaloupe, kiwi, cabbage, watermelon, sweet potatoes, grapefruit, and mushrooms.

Download your own pocket reminder from EWG and bring it along on your next shopping trip.

Join us for a Tour of Streamside Farm at Elkins Estate!

Join us for a special tour of Streamside Farm at Elkins Estate, Wednesday July 20th at 6:30pm. Streamside is Chemical-free environmentally sustainable produce and flower farm in Elkins Park and a regular vendor at the Creekside Farmers Market. Farmer Meei Ling Ng will lead the tour and answer our questions. To participate, please meet us at the greenhouse at Elkins Estate. This tour is open to all and no advance registration is required.

Help to Beautify High School Park

Do you enjoy ambling through High School Park each Sunday for our farmers market? Have you ever noticed the native plants and wanted to get involved? Here is your chance. Friends of High School park have planned a number of volunteer work days led by Restoration Manger, Diana K. Weiner. Check the Friends of High School Park site for the schedule or email volunteer@fhsp.org to sign up.