Top 5 Interests indicated by our members from our Skookum Members’ Skills Survey held in late 2012/early 2013

5. (TIE!) Seed-Saving and Cider/Wine-Making
4. (TIE!) Bulk Food Buying and Public Outreach + Facilitation
3. Food Preparation (cooking/baking)
2. Food Preserving (canning, smoking, dehydrating, pickling, lacto-fermentation, cheese-making, salting/ packing in sugar)
1. Gardening!

32 members responded to our recent survey (feel free to respond anytime as well), and we already have some positive action from several members, including:

• A generous offer to fix and maintain our cider press, along with a backup option
• An offer to host a summertime Skookum picnic on a member’s seaside property (more on this soon!)
• And several members said they would keep an eye out for the materials we need to complete the Skookum Cider Press kit (see here for what we need; you can also donate money to the project via PayPal (accepting credit and debit card donations as well, and cheques too– click the PayPal link for more info).

Remember that a big ongoing Skookum project, The Abundant Pantry Bulk Food Buying Club (TAP), is taking orders until Sunday, May 12 at 11 pm. Make sure you get your orders in before this. The next order after this will be in July. For more information, contact the coordinator Wendy Pelton at bulkbuying@skokoumfood.ca.

Laura Berezan reviews her Treasurer’s Report with a focus on Powell River Dollars and the Cooperative.

It was Skookum’s fourth Annual General Meeting last night at The United Church’s Trinity Hall; thank you to those 30 members attending. The evening featured wonderful edibles by outgoing director Jacqueline Huddleston, sales of Cafe Justicia Coffee, Tattler canning lids, and William Dam cover crop sampler packs for members to purchase (many more lids and seeds are left over so contact Giovanni for info on how to get ‘em). This was followed by the formal meeting itself that began at 7:15 PM, with Chairperson Pete Tebbutt reviewing last year’s AGM minutes, which were then accepted, and passing the baton to Treasurer Laura Berezan who presented her Treasurer’s Report.

After that report, Laura explained how Powell River Dollars have contributed to Skookum’s coffers over the past year and how important it is for our members to exchange Canadian dollars for PR$ (at CMG Printing on Marine Ave and at Skookum gatherings) as it directly impacts local organizations of your choice and helps local businesses, too. Laura explained how it all works, and how Skookum is being creative in finding out how to spend PR$ that have been donated (e.g., offering scholarships via the local Permaculture Design course, paying workshop or bulk buying coordinators, etc.)

Then Pete gave the directors’ report describing the many activities we’re been engaged in this past year, including The Abundant Pantry (next order closes May 12, so get on that, click here), two orders of nuts and dried fruits from Rancho Vignola, Cafe Justicia-related presentation and sales of their coffee, four public gatherings, Tattler lid and cover crop bulk orders, and a successful dehydrator order, and more. Pete thanked our project coordinators and Melissa Leigh who has generously volunteered her bookkeeping skills.

The Abundant Pantry (TAP) coordinator Wendy Pelton and her husband Barry Bookout were also given a round of applause for their work on TAP since the beginning (almost 2 years ago now!). Wendy was in attendance and asked for feedback on how to make the project work better. You can send your ideas to her at bulkbuying@skookumfood.ca. Wendy even sang us a little ditty as a teaser for her planned ‘stocking-up road show’ she is planning for the Fall. She welcomes help on this as well (contact her at the same email address above).

Four directors’ terms were up (David Parkinson, Giovanni Spezzacatena, and Pete Tebbutt) and all decided to stand for re-election to a new two-year term, with Jacqueline Huddleston completing her term. All the standing directors were elected by acclamation with the addition of one new director Julia Downs who indicated via email that she would accept nomination to the board, and was therefore elected as well.

The Executive Board members remain largely the same, with Pete Tebbutt as President, Rosemary Bjorknas as Vice President, Laura Berezan as Treasurer, but with David Parkinson replacing Jan Burnikell as Secretary (Jan must stand down because of our term limits, which ensure that board members don’t get fixed in one role forever). Jan and Giovanni remain on along with Julia Downs, in portfolios that will be determined shortly.

Thank you to all who came out!

At this meeting, the board of directors will report on progress since the 2012 Annual General Meeting, including presentation of the year-end financial statement. Members will elect directors.

You can download the notice of meeting and agenda here. Our balance sheet as of our year-end (March 31, 2013) is here, and the statement of income and expenses is here. Members will be receiving these documents by regular mail along with the newly-issued redesigned share certificates.

We hope that you will be able to attend our 2013 Annual General Meeting. We allow proxy voting for any member who cannot attend and would otherwise have to travel by air or water to attend this meeting. If you need to fill out a proxy form, please download one from here or pick up a hard copy at our registered address (see above).

Only members may vote at this meeting, but we welcome newcomers and people interested in becoming members.

Save the Date! Our Annual General  Meeting (AGM) will be held on Thursday, May 2 at 7:00 PM at the United Church’s Trinity Hall 

Feel free to bring along some snacks and desserts, but we will lay on a nice spread of snacks and beverages, so no worries.

You will be all be getting a notice in the mail (along with your newly revamped share certificates) soon, but here is a rough look at what our AGM will look like:

• A progress report for the past year, including a report on how we did financially.
• Elections for four directors (interested in joining the seven-member volunteer board? We’re looking for a few ‘passionate-about-food’ members with talents and time to put toward this amazing project we call Skookum). Contact us if you are interested or want more info.
• Fabulous Door Prizes! (Do you also want to donate a local food or related item? Let us know.)
• An update on how Powell River Dollars can benefit the co-op, and an opportunity to buy some PR$.
• After the formalities, we’ll enjoy our delicious refreshments and a fun ‘Meet-and-Greet’ event to get to know your wonderful fellow members. Please also bring some treats too if you can– finger food and desserts, especially vegan and gluten free options welcome); we know we have some of the best bakers in Powell River amongst our membership and we want to help you showcase your skills!
• A chance to buy some newly-ordered Tattler reusable BPA-free Canning Lids (see below for more info).
• Remember the blog post we put out on cover crops? Well, they arrived a bit too late for Seedy Saturday, but we will have cover-crop seed samplers (1/2-pound packets of an Organic Pea & Oat mix for $3.00 each). These are crops that add nutrients, loosen  your soil, and suppress weeds in your garden beds.
• It looks as though we will have some Cafe Justicia Fair Trade “Plus” Coffee on sale too!
• Find out more about our Bulk Buying Club, The Abundant Pantry, too in time for the May 12 springtime shopping deadline! What amazing products for the lowest possible prices. Find out more here: http://skookumfood.ca/bulk-buying/members/faq.php).

Well, there will surely be even more going on at the Skookum AGM, too.

See you there on Thursday, May 2!

More about Tattler lids

This time we’re selling Tattler lids at even lower prices! They’re about half the price you’d pay via Amazon.ca (and 15% of the cost goes to support Skookum). We ask members to limit purchases to 100 lids ea. at this point, to allow more members to take advantage. After the AGM, we will offer the lids on a per-order basis.

We will have:

• 24-packs of regular lids + rubber rings .60 ea ($14.50); 50-packs ($30);
• 24-pack wide mouth lids + rubber rings  .70 ea ($17.00); 50-packs ($35);
• Individual extra rubber rings (wide and regular) .22 each in packs of 5  ($1.10 per pack).
  

A 20-minute video made recently at Simon Fraser University on Cooperatives and the idea of a sustainable city.
We think it’s worth your time.

Skookum’s cider press

Hey there members, it’s time to freshen up the Skookum cider press with some maintenance and repairs (anyone willing and able to help with this, please contact skookum@skookumfood.ca) AND we really need to set up a proper kit of materials that can accompany the cider press as it is loaned out to members, or used for public demonstrations/ pressings such as at the Fall Fair. So far, we have borrowed materials each time we need to do a group pressing, which is great. Problem is, it takes an immense amount of time and coordination to reconstruct the kit from scratch every time. So, if you have any of this equipment to donate to Skookum, then please consider it sooner rather than later. Used is fine, if functional.

Email us at skookum@skookumfood.ca or call 604.485.7940 to find out where and when you can drop off the materials. We will post what we have received (and what is left on the shopping list below), and send out reminders periodically.

If you cannot donate the materials or equipment, then please consider a monetary donation to the “Creating a Skookum Cider Press Kit” via PayPal, Debit or Credit card or by cheque (c/o SFPC and mail or drop off at Kingfisher Books 4486 Marine Ave. Powell River, BC  V8A 2K2 CANADA). We’ll go on a shopping spree in late summer and try to complete the list.

We accept PR$

Of course, we accept Powell River Dollars (PR$) too; just drop off your donation at Kingfisher Books. And thanks! Please remember that your membership dollars ($20 for a lifetime membership and redeemable at any time) represent individual shares in Skookum; you own the cooperative as much as any other member. The funds raised through memberships are kept for the most part in reserve, and are not used to cover expenses.

Equipment needed (prices approx.)

(Click on the big “Grow Our Co-op” button at right to make a donation toward any piece of equipment)

Basic set up:

•  2 awnings (aka event tents or canopies or gazebos) c. $450
• 2 tarps: 1 to put underneath the cider press and 1 to cover it up overnight (as for Fall fair) c. $50
• 3 smaller tables (hand washing station; prep table; pasteurization/double boiler set up table) c. $175
• 1 large table (usually supplied by the Fall Fair) for front service counter. c. $100
• 2 water hoses (to bring the water closer to you b/c pressing requires a lot of water) c. $65
• 2 hose splitters (so you won’t be accused of hogging the communal hose and you won’t have to keep running to the tap to turn the hose on) c. $50
• 2 garbage cans per day for apple crud (or more if you’ll be doing lots of apples) ; with wheels! c. $65
• Metal Ramp (to allow the press to be rolled or pushed up into a flatbed truck or vehicle) c. $250

Sanitation:

• Large hands-free water container with “tap” for hand washing station c. $23
• Plastic buckets for waste water (1or 2) c. $18
• Bleach, pump soap, paper towels (1 each) c. $12
• Stout spray bottle for bleach sanitizing solution c. $10
• Cloth rags $5

Processing apples:

• 2 Large food grade, clean plastic tubs (like primary fermenters) for washing apples pre-pressing. 10 gallons ea. c. $80
• Some large buckets or Rubbermaid to hold the washed apples (4) $40
• 2 buckets to catch the cider as it flows from the press $20
• 2 large cutting boards (wood or hard plastic) $20
• Various knives including a few paring knives (minimum 4) $60
• 3 or 4 large stainless bowls to put the prepared apples into $40
• Funnel and strainer $20

Keeping cider cold:

• Ice packs (several) c.$35
• (8-12 large bags of ice– one-time purchase on days of event)
• 2 very large coolers c.$70
• Biodegradable paper cups (about 250) available from Aaron Vending:  some small for “tasters” and large for selling cold cider. Napkins. c.$35

Keeping cider hot:

• Matches or lighter $2
• Propane gas burners (2) $150
• Hot plate $25
• Extension cords (3) $30
• Large canner for boiling water bath $35
• Large pot to fit inside canner to keep cider hot w/lid $30
• Ladles (2)
• Pot holders (6) $40
• Stem thermometer $25
• Cider spice sachets (6) $12
• Mugs for selling cups of hot cider (must be washed and reused, not possible at all locations) $20

Other:

• Some attractive one-colour tablecloths to enhance booth “eye appeal” 4X: $60
• Blackboard for noting wares and prices $30
• tracking sheet
• Tally sheets on clipboards to keep track of sales
• Pens
• Bug spray and sting relief (for bees/wasps; antihistamine) $20
• Paper bags and ties as wasp deterrents (in a bad wasp year, use lots!) $3

Optional (if for Fall Fair or other demo)

• Info sheets on upcoming or happening projects
• Waterproof Displays of whatever relevant kind to enhance booth eye appeal and advertise the coop and its mission, pens, sign up sheets for Skookum and press info.
• Compact chairs for weary workers to sit on!

Click for large poster

11AM is the starting time for those able to participate in the coffee-themed potluck luncheon or we’ll see you at 12 noon if you’re coming just to hear Leocadio and Francisco’s  talk. Feel free to bring a guest or two  as we can accommodate up to 60 at this location. Don’t forget to bring cash if you want to buy coffee (we are trying to get unroasted beans too, for you DIYers). Please let us know if you can attend. There will be a small fee of $2 to offset the cost of renting the CRC. 

Click here for some ideas on cooking/baking with coffee.

Leocadio is the driving force behind a Mayan indigenous NGO called the CCDA based out of Guatemala whose concerns are social justice and agrarian reform. The Comite Campesino Del Altiplano or CCDA now owns 3 beneficios and are exporting organic beyond fair trade coffee exclusively to Canada. Cafe Justicia is a high elevation, shade grown, organic coffee produced in the Highlands of Guatemala by indigenous campesinos. Individual local cooperatives operate through the CCDA to process and market their coffee, thus avoiding many of the middlemen keeping the people in poverty. The CCDA is also very active in restoring civil rights and educating communities, providing medical care facilities, some micro financing, schools and libraries, educational scholarships, and the redistribution of lands for agriculture and homes for the landless poor. For more on the CCDA and their work see: http://www.justuscoffee.com/producers/our-growers/ccda-guatemala

The coffee, Cafe Justicia is marketed from Vancouver by BC CASA (more about them at: http://cafejusticia.ca/ ) and we are getting very close to being able to distribute their outstanding product through The Abundant Pantry our own bulk buying club.

Leocadio will be in Powell River on Sunday, March 24 and we’d like to invite you to come hear him speak, share a potluck themed around coffee and taste some of their fabulous brew (you’ll also be able to buy some if you can’t wait for the next TAP order. The event, spoken through Steve Stewart as interpreter is most interesting. Steve established BC CASA in the 1980s  to support positive social change in the Americas. From the outset they had a strong connection to the CCDA and helped introduce the coffee to Canada in early 2000. He has been a good friend to Leocadio for many years and the translation flows accordingly. This year Leocadio is bringing Francisco Coz as an added guest, an elder of the organization; Francisco was born in 1947 and he began organizing peons on the coffee plantations in the 1970s, like Leocadio he is a Kakchiquel Maya and lives in the village of Nueva Vida in Solola province.

Thanks,

Jacqueline Huddleston

We are a network of regular folks sharing the knowledge, skills and supports to grow, gather, raise, catch, preserve, prepare and access local, healthful food.

We chose the non-profit, cooperative model because we feel that a network of ‘members helping members’ under our collectively-owned, democratic umbrella is the best way to make local food happen for our members and the larger community. Our actions include raising public awareness of topics related to personal food sovereignty via member-run workshops, events and gatherings, projects, presentations, work parties, film screenings, group buying clubs (like our own The Abundant Pantry bulk food buying club, our Tattler reusable canning lids, Eternal Seed and Rancho Vignola fruit/nut bulk purchases), that all aim at strengthening our network of engaged citizens, while increasing our individual and collective self-reliance when it comes to good, healthful food, as locally-sourced as possible.

One great way anyone can learn how to grow at least some of their own food is through attending Seedy Saturday this coming Saturday! Drop by and see us at Seedy Saturday on March 9 at the Powell River Recreation Complex (10am-3pm) at 5001 Joyce Avenue, for a chat.

Click to find out more…

If you want to help out with public events like this above (the Newcomers’ Social is coming up April 23, for example), or come up with our own events like hosting a film screening or guest speaker… let us know, and we’ll help you make it happen.

Also, for you writers/bloggers out there, please feel free to send us your pithy prose on how Skookum works its way into your food-related solutions (how you learned to can, dehydrate, etc.) ; we’d all love to hear from you. Just send us your writing via email to skookum@skookumfood.ca, and we’ll handle the rest.

Have a more concrete project or workshop or event idea and want Skookum to help you run it? You can contact us to submit a short proposal via email to skookum@skookumfood.ca or call us at (604) 485-7940, and we’ll get back to you. For ideas on what a project can look like, visit our past projects page.

Let us know what your interests are and how you’d like to help make your cooperative even better, take our on-going Members’ Skills Survey.

A Few On-going Projects

We just completed a bulk order of more Tattler reusable BPA-free canning lids (on sale to members soon), as well as a Rancho Vignola clearance order for our members only, and as you can see below The Abundant Pantry is ready for the next order…

Keep the evening of Thursday May 2 free, as this is the date of our Annual General Meeting (more on this shortly).

Click above to get the acorn rolling…

For you lucky The Abundant Pantry (TAP) Members: Your March bulk food order cycle closes this Sunday, March 10th, at 11:00 pm, so now is the time to become a member of TAP and to shop for the best prices and food quality, while stocking up your pantry. Find out how to become a member here.

More Than Honey plays at the Patricia Theatre on Saturday, February 10:30am. $8/$6 students/seniors.

The winners of 2 pairs of tickets each to the Powell River Film Festival (Feb 19-24, 2013), including tickets to More Than Honey and to the opening gala reception/film A Royal Affair….

<insert drum roll>

Skookum members Eva Van Loon and Karen Munro!

Thanks for playing and happy viewing!

The results (with no names attached) of the survey will  be revealed shortly, so please take the survey as soon as you can  (click here)!

Click the picture to take the 2-minute survey and you can win tickets for 2 to the Powell River Film Festival (Feb 19-24, 2013)

As a cooperative, we want to know more about you: what your concerns are, what your skills and interests are, and what you feel you can do to help strengthen our cooperative and the larger community. We encourage each member to commit to initiating or participating in projects, joining a committee, serving on the board of directors, and helping with events and tasks as they arise. No pressure, though. Just take the short ‘n snappy survey now (2 minutes of your time) click here BY THURSDAY FEBRUARY 14 (yes, Valentine’s Day) and we will return the love via a random draw of two pairs of tickets for two, to the Powell River Film Festival (Feb 19-24, 2013)!

If you’ve already taken this survey, thank you! You are automatically entered in our random draw!