The following is an excerpt from a letter we recently received from Alaffia. We hope your read about the good work Alaffia is doing in Togo, made a reality by your purchases of their shea butter cooperative products in our body care section. The story of Alaffia is a great one to help celebrate the International Year of Cooperatives.

Dear Friends of Alaffia,

It is my hope that this recap of my recent visit to Togo finds you and your family in good health.  I also would like to wish you a happy new year. It has been a week now since Rose, our girls and I returned from a six-week visit with our cooperative in Togo, and I still find myself disoriented and having difficulties adjusting to speaking and writing in English.  This return has been one of the most emotionally difficult ones as well. I cannot stop seeing the faces of the disadvantaged people that I encountered and those that our efforts have touched. In the following paragraphs, I would like to share with you some highlights of the activities that Rose and I participated in during the past six weeks. read more

Our staff are stars! Our commercial will air on abc5 in January, February and March.

Heads up! We will be closing early on Sunday, January 29th for our annual all staff meeting. Store hours for that day will be 8am-6pm. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Bronwyn introduces us to a new wine, we welcomed a new local chicken producer and we uploaded Lea's Top 12 for 2012, which is currently published in the Field Journal.

By Lea Vogl, Wellness Manager

Spectrum Organic Flax oil is a great source of omega-3s and supports hormonal health and a healthy cholesterol.  Today I spoke to a representative from Spectrum and found out some exciting information. The organic oils are grown, pressed and filtered right here in Iowa! read more

Think that only corn and soybeans grow in Iowa?  As it turns out, we have a great climate for hops, too!  Check out the latest product, an IPA, from Madhouse Brewing Company, out of Newton, IA…it’s made with 100% Iowa grown Centennial and Cascade hops!  It is newly available at Wheatsfield in the upper right-hand corner of our beer cooler.  Crack one open and see what you think!

Holland knows it has a good thing going -- more than half of the cheese they produce is creamy, sweet, perfectly balanced Gouda. Use it to completely transform a grilled cheese or macaroni and cheese casserole. Top a burger or cracker with it, or add it to omelets and soups. It's even perfectly suitable for a dessert platter (delicious alongside pears, apples and cherries). However you serve it, a good ale makes a great accompaniment.

Our cheese buyer, Connie, is featuring Gouda during January. Read on for 10 interesting facts and reasons why you should grab a chunk of Gouda today! read more

January 2012 Produce Parable

By Adam Calder, Produce Manager
With 2011 behind us, it is time to look ahead on into 2012 and see what the year has in store for the Wheatsfield Cooperative Produce Department!
   

I just placed an order with Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, IA and by mid-January we should have our first shipment of gardening seeds for the 2012 growing season!
read more

The member discount is changing! Starting February 1, 2012, the discount on case preorders for members is moving from 15% to 10%. This decision was made in an effort to control member discounts which are a huge expense for the store (budgeted at $48,000 this year and already projected to be over-budget). We studied discount percentages offered by other National Cooperative Grocers Association Co-ops and find that most are offering a 10% or less discount on case orders. This change will help the co-op to remain competitive in our pricing as well as help us to be fiscally sound as we move forward. Please ask if you have any questions about this change.

Did you know you can preorder cases online?

Welcome to the new Wheatsfield website! You may notice a few changes! We hope that this new website is more user friendly and provides more valuable information on our products and producers. The new website features producer profiles on most of our local producers (we will continue to add and update these), newsfeeds from around the store (look for links in the articles below), recipes from classes and events, and tons more. 

Please let us know if you are having difficulty finding something, a link isn't working and what you think! We will be working through "the bugs" during the first week of January as well as adding more information and features. 

Happy New Year!