Holiday Hams!

The Co-op is proud to offer locally raised, naturally treated Llano Seco Holiday Hams for sale this month. Whether you're hosting your extended family, or bringing a dish to a late Friendsgiving, there's no better ham to bring than Llano Seco. A typical holiday ham is roughly 8.5 lbs. and will feed 12-13 people.  Get tips from the experts on how to cook it here.

You can save big on our already excellent ham prices (as well as on turkeys and Tofurkey Holiday Feasts) at the Co-op! When you buy $75 worth of other items from your community grocery store, you'll save an extra 25% off your ham (or Tofurkey or turkey). This fantastic sale has already started, and runs until Christmas.

Feed your people right with food from the Co-op!

Patronage Refund Donation

Every year, the Co-op offers its owners the option of donating their Patronage Refund to a selected non-profit. Just like last year, we are once again directing donated and unredeemed Patronage Refunds to our Cooperative Community Fund, managed by the Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation. We have an exciting new development this year: three fantastic national cooperatives will be matching your contribution to the Twin Pines Community Fund!

Up to $1,000 worth of donated Patronage Refunds will be matched by three of the finest cooperative businesses in the country. Frontier Co-op (source of many wonderful spices, herbs, and teas), Organic Valley (a dairy farmers' cooperative), and The National Cooperative Bank have all worked together to pledge up to $1,000 to our Co-op Community Fund. CNFC will also match up to $1,000 in donated Patronage Refunds. That means that $1,000 in owner donations will result in $2,000 of additional investment!

You can turn in your Patronage Refund voucher with the “Donate” box marked to contribute to our Community Fund. You can also not do anything! All unredeemed vouchers will be automatically donated at the end of the year. If you prefer to cash out your voucher or apply it to a purchase at the Co-op, you have until the end of the year to do so—on January 1st we will donate the untouched Patronage Refund amounts to the Cooperative Community Fund.

If you have any questions about Patronage Refunds, please contact our Ownership and Outreach Coordinator, Joey. He can be reached by phone or email: 530-891-1713 ext. 110 or jhaney@chiconaturalfoods.coop.

Kindergarten Field Trips!

The Co-op was pleased to host field trips from Chico Country Day School recently. Over three consecutive days, we led classes of curious kindergartners through our store, from where our fresh produce is delivered and stored, through the grocery backstock, and onto the store floor. The almond-butter machine's crushing and grinding was a source of delight, and the candy aisle, as you might imagine, made all the students very excited (while eliciting eye-rolls from the parent chaperones in attendance). 

Joey summing up the visit with the kids.

After the guided tour, the students broke off into small groups for a photographic scavenger hunt. Armed with tablets, they searched the shelves for all the food groups they had been learning about in class. 

A student snapping a watermelon shot for the scavenger hunt.

The trip ended with a healthy snack from the Co-op's bulk department. Freshly fed, the eager young students embarked on the four block walk back to school. We had a great time with our visitors, and look forward to next year's crop of kindergartners visiting!

If you would like to schedule an event or field trip with the Co-op, contact our Outreach Coordinator, Joey, at 530-891-1713 ext 110 or via email at jhaney@chiconaturalfoods.coop

OCTOBER ROUND UP

Last month, our shoppers donated more than $2,100 to CNFC's Cooperative Community Fund. This money will be used to provide a sustainable, long-term resource for local non-profit organizations.

We're also honored to be receiving additional contributions from some of our cherished cooperative partners. Frontier Co-op (source of many wonderful spices, herbs, and teas), Organic Valley (a dairy farmers' cooperative), and The National Cooperative Bank have all worked together to pledge an additional $1,000 to the Co-op Community Fund.

We want to thank these fantastic organizations for so wonderfully embodying the sixth cooperative principle: cooperation among cooperatives. Together, we can accomplish so much!