From The Ground Up
Greetings from Common Ground Food Co-op!
  
Owner Deals
Deli Specials

The Deli will have plenty of options for warming your heart and your belly this February. 

We will have a  Raspberry Hot Chocolate  featured at the deli counter, heart-shaped cookies in our bakery, and dessert two-packs to share with someone special. If you're looking for a more casual Valentine's Day dinner, whole pizzas will be $2 off (Feb 8th-14th). Stop on by, we would love to see you!

Call in a Sandwich or Pizza Order Today! (217) 239-4525
Produce Features: New to Co-op Basics!

Our Fresh Produce department is adding some great deals on to our Co-op Basics list for February!

5 lbs of Organic Carrots are $3.99 each!

Organic Green Cabbage is 99 ยข each!

4 lbs of Conventional Navel Oranges are $3.69/ bag!

3 lbs of Conventional Yellow Onions are $1.99/bag!

Our Co+op Basics program is a component of our Food For All Program, including over 150 affordable staple food items including baby food, dry grocery goods, dairy, meat items and many more. Look out for Co-op Basics lists found in each aisle!
In The Flatlander Classroom

Learn to Can and Win Free Canning Gear!

There's no better time to learn canning than now when you don't have the weight of the harvest upon you. This month's class takes advantage of the peak of citrus season with marmalade. You'll be able to take home a jar of jam, as well as have a chance to win cases of canning jars, a canning tool kit, or a pressure canner. 

Saturday, February 25th2 to 3:30 pm. Cost: $10 owners / $15 non-owners Register online here or with our staff at the registers in-store.


If you would like to receive our monthly class schedule by email, please contact:
New Hours: 8am-10pm!

Starting February 1st, we are switching our hours to start at 8 am instead of 7. We will still close at 10 pm every night!

Grab some warm breakfast pastries, steel-cut oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar and almonds, and made to order breakfast sandwiches paired with locally roasted coffee. We've got breakfast!

Call your Order Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner
Our Deli: 8am-7pm 217-239-4525
Tea Culture and how it's adapted with Joanne, from Wellness

Our bulk tea  and packaged tea sections will have some great sales for you to enjoy this February! Joanne, our Wellness Manager, has shared with us some interesting tidbits about how tea culture has been transformed over hundreds of years.

Interesting Tea Inventions and Adaptations
- The first fired clay teapots found were dated back in the Yixing 1500 AD in the region of China circa 1500 AD.

- Around 1620 in Ireland, the story goes, tea cozies were invented when an Irish farmer dropped his hat over his teapot and returns to find his tea still hot.

- In 1678, Madame de la Sabliere put cold milk in her cup before adding her scalding hot tea, thus protecting her delicate Chinese porcelain from cracking and starting a new fashion of milk in tea.

- Anna, the 7 th Duchess of Bedford, invents afternoon tea to ward off hunger pangs between lunch and dinner about 1800.

- On a hot day during the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Richard Bleychenden pours the hot tea he is sampling over chipped ice and invents iced tea, still America's favorite way to drink tea.
First Friday: Feb. 3, 4:30-7pm

Join us at the Co-op Friday, Feb. 3, from 4:30-7pm, we will be sampling local beers from Pollyanna and local produce and local dairy samples to give you a preview of next weekend's Love Local Event!

We are one of many sites that will be celebrating the "Love For All Poetry Crawl" where will have poems circulating our classroom where you can sit for a while and read poems from local poets. 
Love Local Event: Feb 12th 2-4pm

Coming from Owner Appreciation Days, we are continuing our deep appreciation for our local farmers and local producers who have dedicated their lives to making wholesome and high quality products here in Central Illinois! 

Join us for our Love Local Event: February 12 2-4!

What could be better than fully-ripened and freshly-cut produce, the uniquely creamy local milks and cheeses, the brightness of our local eggs, pasture raised local meats, handcrafted fragrances for homemade soaps, or baking with locally grown and milled flours? The answer is having them all together. Common Ground is grateful to the effort of all our of Local and Regional Producers. We will have a few in to sample items all throughout the weekend of February 10-12th.  Stop by that weekend and save with our Love Local coupons!

We will have a Kid's Farmer Valentine's Day Activity on Sunday, Feb 12th, from 2-4 pm. Kids can decorate Valentine's Card and we will send them to each farmer! Adults are invited to participate!

Here's a glimpse:
Brian Severson Farm, locally grown grains and baked goods samples, Friday Feb. 10 5-7pm.
Linda from Queen Anne's Lace, Saturday Feb. 11 from 11-1pm.
Ludwig Farmstead Creamery, Cheese samples Sunday Feb. 12 from 2-4pm!
Stan, from Triple S Farm, Local chorizo sausage and ground beef Chili, Sunday, Feb. 12 from 2-4pm! 

With samples from Piemonte Sausage, Ropp Jersey Cheese, Wright Family Products and many more!
From Margaret, Our Board Member

February is finally here and we are moving further into winter, with more cold and snowy days ahead. With the New Year here, my family made a resolution to eat healthier and fresher foods. One of the best ways to do this is to eat local. Thankfully, local products are a huge part of Common Ground.

Common Ground defines local as within 100 miles, so the local food at Common Ground is truly from around Central Illinois. This is one of the things that makes Common Ground distinctly unique from other grocery stores. Making our local food system more robust, equitable and environmentally sound is Common Ground's fourth End and a core part of our mission. We need your help to achieve this End.

We can all strengthen our community as a whole when we buy locally produced items. Local food travels only a short distance, not around the world, which ensures freshness, ripeness, and steers clear from harmful pesticides and herbicides. We help local farmers succeed,  keep money in our nearby communities and build relationships between farmer and consumer. Make a connection between your food and the work it took to get it on your plate by supporting a local producer today!

Next Owner Days!

We love you, Owners! A special thank you to everyone who stopped in to celebrate our Owner Appreciation Days, two weeks ago! Your support 

We have scheduled our next Owner Days, so mark your calendars for our next two this year!

May 4-7, 2017!

September 14-17, 2017!
Do you want to grow plants for 
Our Plant Sale?

Do you love gardening or growing seedlings in the Spring? If you're interested, we are seeking gardeners or plant lovers to grow seedlings for our Plant Sale that promotes our Food For All Program!

We would give seeds, instructions, seedling pots, and resources. Contact us, if your interested!
 Reach us at by Email!

Common Ground Food Cooperative | 217-352-3347 |  www.commonground.coop  | 
300 S. Broadway Avenue Suite #166, Urbana, IL 61801