On Dec. 15, 2011, Representative Chaka Fattah (D-Penn.) and three co-sponsors introduced the National Cooperative Development Act, which would establish a National Cooperative Development Center to provide capital, training and other resources to foster cooperative development in both urban and rural areas. Addressing economic development though cooperative development will advance the economic stability of local regions; increase the circulation of capital locally; and develop, attract and anchor new productive capital in urban and rural underserved communities.

Find more info from the National Cooperative Business Association: Support the National Cooperative Development Act.

Please ask your Representative to co-sponsor this bill. To donate to the campaign or join the email list for additional information, visit www.campaign.coop.

You may have seen the barrels full of vibrant plants outside of Bloomingfoods, or perhaps on a friend’s porch or patio. These are Garden Towers, a local invention designed to make gardening easy and accessible for gardeners of all kinds.

Ramsay Harik, who tends the public display towers and does much of the company’s marketing, never expected to end up as part of an entrepreneurial business team.

“It sort of fell into my lap all of a sudden when I met Colin Cudmore when we were both volunteering at the community orchard,” he said.

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The biotech industry is pushing hard for less USDA regulation and oversight of GE crops. The language the biotech industry has inserted into the House Farm Bill and the House Agriculture Appropriations Bill would effectively remove USDA's power to regulate or halt GE crops. Find a link to Center for Food Safety's action alert urging the public to contact their Representatives at the link here.

For more background on this issue, find an article by Barth Anderson at the Strongertogether.coop website called "Should We Label GE Foods?"

If you go looking for a supplement or vitamin at Bloomingfoods East, Melissa Hunsberger can help you find what you’re looking for. Hunsberger, who has been working at the store for a year and a half, is studying nutrition at Indiana University with plans to become a registered dietician one day. Laura Gleason caught up with her to ask a few questions.

Learn more about Melissa