A Note From Our New Outreach Coordinator!

Hello, friends! My name is Ross and I am thrilled to be a part of the co-op team and a new member of the Plumas community. I’m originally from the Bay Area but have spent time living in Reno and Mendocino. I now live in Twain with my partner, Liam, and our sweet dog, Nellie Lou!

I have many ideas about how the co-op can better connect with our community, which I’m excited to demonstrate in upcoming newsletters. Plumas has a unique number of local artists, food growers, and chefs. My vision is to use the co-op as a hub that bonds these creators together, making a stronger, more cohesive network that the we all can benefit from.

Another commitment of mine is to understand what you want to see at our co-op. In my recent conversations with coworkers and other stakeholders, I’ve come to realize how many amazing ideas are waiting to be carried out. Do you have an event in mind that you think the co-op should be a part of? Do you have ideas about how we can better serve our community? Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any suggestions you might have.

Blue Skies,

Ross MacNeil

RMacNeil@featherriver.coop

Tasty Free Samples Now Available!

We are now offering free samples at our stores! Drop into the Quincy store any Tuesday or the Portola store any first or third Thursday from 12-1PM to get a little tasty treat!

Giving Tree Program

Our Giving Tree Program aims to combat food insecurity during the holidays. For the months of November and December, you can purchase a leaf from a basket at the register; this donation goes into a fund that provides food for locals who need it!

Donations to the Quincy location go to our local food bank. Donations to our Portola location will go to Tahoe Food Hub's Giving Box Program, an amazing effort that delivers fresh and nutritious food right to the doors of those who need it.

New Recipe Sharing Program

Email your recipes to RMacNeil@featherriver.coop for a chance to be featured in our newsletter, social media, and elsewhere!

In an effort to make our Round Up at the Register application process more accessible, we have revised it to be a simple Google Form submission. If you or anyone you know are affiliated with an organization that benefits the local community, we want to help! Recipients could earn $1000 or more.

Please get your application in by the end of December.

Questions? Contact RMacNeil@featherriver.coop

This Month's Round Up Recipients:

Support these amazing local organizations by rounding up your total to the nearest dollar at check-out.



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Run for the Board of Directors!

A Message From Your Board Treasurer

The importance of community has become increasingly evident in recent times. Co-ops throughout the world bring people together to thrive and live in sustainable communities. One of the best ways to deepen your commitment and involvement with our Co-op is to run for a seat on the Board of Directors. Democratic member control is one of the seven cooperative principles, and participation in the Board is one of the best ways to fulfill that principle. 

The Feather River Food Co-operative membership votes for the Board of Directors in annual elections. The Board or Directors determines the direction of the organization. If you have longed to deepen your commitment to the Co-op and work to make the Co-op stable, strong and successful, please consider running for the Board. 

For this election cycle, two of the seven board seats are available. All member-owners who've been members for at least six months prior to the start of the election on March 1, 2023 are eligible to consider running for, and serving on, the Board of Directors.

The Feather River Food Co-operative Election Handbook will be available on the FRFC website https://featherriver.coop/ and in both FRFC stores by January 1, 2024. Aside from outlining the election process and schedule, the handbook provides information about how the Board operates and what being a Board Director entails. The handbook also includes instructions on submitting a Declaration of Interest, which is due by the end of January 2024.

Member-owners interested in running for the Board are encouraged to contact Board members at board@featherriver.coop with any questions. Interested members-owners may also attend an information session, which will take place at 4pm on Monday, January 22nd, 2024, at the Co-op administration office in Quincy. Following the information session, at 5pm, the Board will have its January meeting. This will be another opportunity to learn how the Board works for our Co-op.

Our Co-op depends on community ownership and involvement. So, if you would like to deepen your commitment to the Co-op and help to determine how our Co-op moves forward in these challenging times, please consider becoming a candidate in the upcoming Board election.

In Cooperation, 

Wayne Cartwright, Board Treasurer and Board Development Committee Chair

Dissecting The Definition of "Healthy"

Our co-op has often taken pride in offering "healthy" food options that sustain our vision for what a "healthy" lifestyle is. Seeing words such as "organic" and "non-GMO" are important to many of us. But what if the idea of "healthy" is subjective? How does promoting our version of "healthy" affect people beyond ourselves and communities beyond our own?

These are the thoughts of Gabrielle Davis, NCG Racial Equity and Food Justice Manager, who has offered invaluable insight into why we must be wary of judging, even passively, the food choices of others: "I think that often times we (in the natural and organic industry) tell people that they should eat certain foods or buy foods from certain places because it is healthy, when healthy is subjective,” Davis said. “We create and embed exclusion with this narrative and must move away from it if we truly want to prove that everyone is welcome.”

One of the best examples of this complicated tacet of food equity happened at Erie Food Co-op (Erie, PA). They have historically only had one store, but recently opened a second location in the downtown area. “The big challenge we encountered was that what we did at the first location wasn’t working at the second location", said Erie's HR Manager Chris Wrobel. This was a different community they were trying to cater to. After much thought, staff worked with the board of directors to do a complete overhaul of product standards at the new location, leading to some conventional items being introduced to the shelves.

This was met with initial pushback from members and staff until the paramount importance of food equity was realized. An organization that commits itself to nourishing the community must have a diverse assortment of nutritious choices that everyone is comfortable with and everyone can afford.

“Every community has different ideas of what ‘healthy’ is”, said Wrobel. “Our challenge [is understanding] those different ideas [in order] to serve our shoppers.”

Co-op Deals! The Co-op has the ingredients for all the meals you love!

Browse Our Current Deals

www.featherriver.coop