The Weston A. Price Foundation recently posted the following report on efforts by the FDA to crack down on the production, sale, and consumption of raw milk.  The Complete Patient, meanwhile, reports on the probable role of the industrial dairy industry in shaping FDA activity, and it reproduces the FDA's position on the topic, as articulated in its response to the suit filed by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund:

     --There’s no absolute right to any raw unprocessed food, unless the FDA says it’s okay;
     --There’s no right to good health, except as approved by the FDA.
     --There’s no right for citizens to contract privately for their food.

Well, that certainly puts the consumer in his place, doesn't it? This is a fascinating development, at the very core of the food freedom debate. To what extent can and should the FDA control our personal food choices? And is the FDA truly attempting to protect us from ourselves, or is it merely struggling to shield the industrial agricultural sector from incursion by the growing demand for an alternative, raw milk, deemed perfectly healthy by many?  

Celebrate Earth Day 2010 at the Co-op

Look for Earth Day specials in all of our stores that will help you be more sustainable.

Here are a few of the great specials that will be available for just one day:
10% off all 7th Generation products.
Bring your own travel mug and get a free coffee refill.
10%off Stranger's Hill Organics Bedding Plants.
10% off all our bulk foods.
Get a free reusable bag when you spend $50.
20% off Fox Farm fertilizers for you garden.
Save $1.00 on Frey Organic Wine, Red or White just $6.99.

Get the Earth Day sale flier!

Sign up to receive sale fliers and special promotions by email.

Congratulations! Bloomingfoods members are now the proud owners of a rooftop photovoltaic system that collects electricity while you shop.  As of Wednesday, April 21, our new rooftop photovoltaic system at the West Store will be collecting the sun’s energy and converting it to power we can use. You can take pride in knowing that each year the system will:

• Convert 5,850 kilowatt hours of the sun’s energy into electricity
• Save at least $450 on energy bills
• Slow global warming by keeping 6.37 tons of CO2 out of the air
• Reduce local mercury emissions
• Set a local standard for environmental stewardship
• Help educate the community on the benefits of renewable energy

The rooftop equipment can produce enough energy to power two energy efficient households and is set up so that any surplus energy is fed back into the grid. We are able to collect information about how the system is performing and look forward to learning more about how the system works.

 We'll document the process, below, as it unfolds over the next few days.

Buyers at the East Store continue to seek out the best in gluten-free products. Here are some fo the latest and best.

Ian's Gluten Free/Wheat Free Cookie Buttons
You’ve never had cookies like Ian’s Wheat-Free/Gluten-Free Cookie Buttons before! These bitty buttons are the perfect addition to your lunch box or soccer bag and come in individual bags that are all your own—and it’s a good thing because you won’t want to share! Plus, they are made without wheat or gluten. So even kids with food allergies can enjoy them! You’ll love the taste, and your mom will love the all-natural ingredients!

You are invited to two special screenings of Food, Inc., on Sunday, October 18th, at 5pm and again at 7pm, at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in downtown Bloomington. Co-sponsored by Bloomingfoods and the Ryder Film Series, the film is free to Bloomingfoods member-owners; $5 to the general public.

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults. 

Here's a thoughtful piece from Carol Bridges, Secretary of the Bloomington Cooperative Services Board of Directors. It offers a wide array of things we can all do to help strengthen our local economy.

Steve Stroup 

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It is part of the board’s job to stay informed about “the big picture.” With this in mind, we are currently all reading The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition, by Michael Shuman. It asks, “How do we support our local economy?”

 We tend to think that just buying goods from a small mom-and-pop store is the answer, but, in fact, depending on that merchant’s own spending practices, that could be the wrong choice.