CO-OP NEWS
The San Jerardo Cooperative is known for its struggle for clean drinking water, but a project to give urban Californians a window into rural life shares a different story about the farmworker community just south of Salinas.
Last year, Marin County-based photographer and writer Lisa Hamilton traveled nearly 10,000 miles, collecting stories, photographs and interviews for the Real Rural project. San Jerardo's story is one of 20 collected throughout the state. Hamilton also photographed the California Rodeo Salinas rodeo for the project.
View the rest of the article at The Californian.com
The Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op revealed Monday that the site where it hopes to move is just across the freeway from its current cramped location in the Alhambra Triangle.
The grocery store, which has the highest sales for a single-store co-op in California, seeks city approval to build a larger store on property bordered by 28th and 29th streets and by R and S streets, the co-op announced on its website. The site is next to Temple Coffee/Revolution Wine and the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance, along the light-rail line.
View the rest of the article at the Sacramento Business Journal.
CO-OP Financial Services said it processed more than 200 million electronic payment transactions in December, the most ever in a single month for the California-based CUSO.
The total for 2011 was more than 2.2 billion debit, credit, ATM and shared branch transactions for members of the more than 3,000 credit unions served by CO-OP, the CUSO said.
“Reaching 200 million transactions in just one month is a tribute to the growth of the movement, as more members continue to become debit and credit cardholders with their credit unions,” said Stan Hollen, president/CEO of CO-OP Financial Services in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
View the rest of the article at Credit Union Times
CO-OP Financial Services has completed its merger with Financial Service Centers Cooperative, creating one nationwide shared branching operation for credit unions, the Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., CUSO announced Tuesday.
The new network comprises more than 1,700 credit unions, 4,400 branch locations and 2,200 kiosks in 7-Eleven stores, the company said.
View the rest of the article at Credit Union Times.
Tracy Parrott loves to clean. She snags pesky pet hair off the bottom of chair legs and steams kitchen appliances until they look like new. With grapefruit-scented spray, she makes every switch plate sparkle.
A Sacramento mother with two children, she fits cleaning in around chauffeuring her kids to school and sports practice. But her clean-freak passion has a dividend. She's also found a way to make her housework pay.
Parrott is a member of Mothers Cleaning Co-op, a profit-sharing house-cleaning cooperative of "soccer moms."
"We clean like moms," she said. "We likely have a home a lot like yours. We won't ding the furniture or scratch the floor. We're very careful and very thorough."
View the rest of the article at The Sacramento Bee.
After renovating homes in New Orleans and making energy efficiency improvements to a school and a camp for sick children, this year’s Touchstone Energy® Community Service Project is taking a different turn.
The March 3 event in San Diego is a partnership with a group that has a very special meaning in that Southern California community. It is the Chelsea’s Light Foundation Sunflower Scholarship Fund.
View the rest of the article at Electric Co-op Today.
Organic Valley, the nation's largest cooperative of organic farmers and a leading organic brand, today announced their 2011 year-end results, which include bringing on 212 new farmers in regions such as Pennsylvania, Vermont, and California for 12 percent member growth across the country, increasing sales from $620 million to $715 million for 15.3 percent growth, and donating more than $2.2 million to nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing organic food and farming-from community food banks to farmer initiatives to advocacy for mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food.
"We measure our success against our mission," said George Siemon, C-E-I-E-I-O and founding farmer of Organic Valley. "For us, that means keeping farmers on the land, being responsible stewards of the environment, and supporting rural communities."
View the rest of the article at the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Farmers' Rice Cooperative recently announced Frank Bragg III will be taking over as president and chief executive officer.
The Sacramento-based, grower-owned rice marketing and processing cooperative includes 700 members and operates two rice mills at its milling center in West Sacramento.
It is one of the largest exporters of rice to customers around the world through the Port of West Sacramento.
View the rest of the article at the Orland Press-Register.
Most Sacramentans know the massive Blue Diamond almond plant only from the outside, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. With the right breeze at the right time, the aroma of fresh almonds near C Street in midtown can trigger mouthwatering cravings.
Walk or ride your bike along the side fence of the facility on any given day and you're likely to get a whiff of what's happening on the 90-acre Blue Diamond property. Some days, the bouquet is so true and intense that the flavors practically announce themselves. One day it might be the salt and vinegar almonds; another day it's a huge batch of honey-roasted almonds.
View the rest of the article at The Sacramento Bee.
A group dedicated to eating locally grown foods and keeping money in the community is working to open the Inland area’s first co-op grocery store.
The Riverside Food Co-op is in its infancy, working to secure funding and find about 2,000 members who would buy into the enterprise in exchange for lower prices on groceries, said William Cobb, a driving force behind the effort.
View the rest of the article at the Riverside Press-Enterprise.