Alberta Co-op Grocery

The Long-Coveted Cashews are Back!

Posted February 22nd, 2012

This week we welcome the return of the fabulously flavorful Just Cashews from Honduras. Check out their website to learn more about the origin of these delicious nuts.

In the interim, though, here’s a brief overview of their history:

In the 1970s cashew trees were introduced to Honduras, and they began to thrive. However, the local farmers, or campesinos, weren’t making money by selling raw, unhulled cashew nuts. This was mainly because of the middlemen who stepped in and took most of the profits they gleaned from reselling the raw goods to processors and exporters.

In 1981, the campesinos received assistance from a U.S. nonprofit organization to develop the local capacity to process and package the cashews, and a Honduran non-profit, APDP (Asociación Proyectos Del Pueblo) was established and organized the cashew cooperatives that are functioning today. Rural, democratically run campesino cooperatives of growers and producers perfected a safe, local processing technique that prepares cashews for export.

APDP has now dismantled but the co-op members are in the process of learning how to export their own product to ensure a higher level of self-sufficiency. The co-ops are currently obtaining Fair Trade certification through the Fair Trade Labeling Organization. In conjunction with Trocaire, an Irish development agency, Just Cashews is working to raise money to financially assist in building another processing facility for these cooperatives. This will allow the co-ops to process more of their own product, enabling them to retain more of the total income from the product within their own communities.

Just Cashews has developed a fair trade relationship with thecooperatives that grow the cashews, to ensure that the farmers receive a fair price for their product, and have also arranged for organic certification of the co-ops by Bio Latina.

And now we can proudly say that these delicious cashewes are back on our shelves, by popular demand.  It’s a product that not only tastes delicious, but that you can feel good about buying.

We currently have Whole Roasted Salted Cashews, selling for $14.29 per pound, and Whole Raw Cashews, available for only $12.19 per pound. Try some next time you come in!

Tags: cashew, co-op, community, fair trade, farmers, sustainablity, vegan, vegetarian
Posted in Announcements, Food and Drink, Spotlight

New Cheese From Tillamook!

Posted January 10th, 2012

by Theresa

I’m pretty excited about the extensive variety of new cheeses Amber, our perishables buyer, has elected to bring in fromTillamook Creamery.

Not only are they a local staple here in Oregon, but I’ve recently learned that Tillamook is a farmer-owned dairy cooperative, too.  Each farmer-owner, as they’re called, has a farm that produces milk for their co-op, which means that the proceeds from Tillamook Cheese go right back to the people that are contributing to its production.  Additionally, all the farmer-owners associated with Tillamook Creamery live on or near the land they’re farming, which means that their quality of life is intrinsically connected to the health of the land and their animals.  A  nice incentive to keep things on the farm sustainable and clean.  No artificial growth hormones in this dairy.

And now, let me briefly run through the breadth of new products we’ve gotten in this week from recommendedCreamery:

3 Year Vintage Aged White Cheddar

After 3 years time aging, this cheese comes out of hiding and is rich, sharp, and a delight texturally.  Highly recommended.

2 Year Vintage Aged White Cheddar

This white cheddar is like the kid brother to its 3 year aged counter part.  The texture is softer, the flavors are slightly less sharp.  Overall just a bit more mild, yet still delicious.

2 Year Aged Smoked Extra Sharp Cheddar

The smokey flavor on this aged cheddar is clear and strong.  If you like smoked cheese, this is going to be the winner for you.  I thoroughly enjoyed tasting it, but it’s the kind of cheese that I can’t eat too much of (believe it or not, such a cheese does exist).

Garlic White Cheddar

This was a hit amongst staff at our informal taste-test.  Roasted garlic flavors permeate the whole loaf of cheese, yet aren’t overpowering.  You can still taste that white cheddar!  I could see this being a great compliment on an otherwise plain sandwich.

Hot Habenero Jack

This was my personal favorite out of the ones we’ve gotten in.  I love  a good pepper jack cheese, but using habaneros instead of jalapenos was a genius move on the part of Tillamook Creamery.  There’s an element of heat that I always anticipate in a regular pepper jack, but it wasn’t so spicy as to be inedible.  A real crowd pleaser, for sure.

Pepper Jack

This pepper jack was nice.  Not as spicy as the habanero jack, but a good, classic pepper jack cheese.

Smoked Swiss Slices

I had previously never heard of smoked swiss, so I was really eager to taste this one.  Swiss is never one of my favorite cheeses, but I really enjoyed this one.  The smokey flavor is mild, and acts as a really nice compliment to the usually sharp taste of swiss cheese.  I could see this being delicious on a burger.  Is it summer yet?

Tags: cheese, co-op, gluten-free, local
Posted in Announcements, Food and Drink, General Information, Spotlight