
Bee the Change: Supporting Pollinators, Art, and Education with Bee Girl
Here at Ashland Food Co-op, we’re buzzing with excitement about our July Change for Good partner: Bee Girl / Bee Regenerative! This local nonprofit is doing some bee-autiful work to protect pollinators, restore habitats, and teach the next generation how to care for the tiny creatures that keep our food systems thriving.
Bee Girl + Bee Regenerative: More Than Just a Name
Bee Regenerative is the co-branded evolution of Bee Girl - founded and led by the ever-inspiring Sarah Red-Laird (aka The Bee Girl herself). While Sarah is still the lead worker bee, this mission has officially grown beyond the hive. Bee Regenerative brings together a team of staff, contractors, and collaborators who work shoulder-to-shoulder with ranchers, winemakers, universities, government agencies, and fellow nonprofits to tackle the biggest issues bees face in agriculture. Together, they’re creating real, lasting solutions that benefit both pollinators and producers.
Why Bees Matter (and Why Bee Girl Is a Hero)
Bees may be small, but they play a huge role in our ecosystem - pollinating one in every three bites of food we eat. That’s why Bee Girl and her team work tirelessly to create more places for pollinators to thrive right here in Southern Oregon.
Their mission goes beyond just saving bees - it’s about cultivating healthy ecosystems, supporting sustainable agriculture, and inspiring stewardship through science, education, and art.
Local Projects Making a Big Impact
🐝 Bee Friendly Vineyards
Local winemakers and grape growers are getting a pollinator-friendly upgrade thanks to Bee Girl’s collaboration efforts. This program brings habitat (think: blooming flowers, nesting spots, and clean water) directly into the vineyard rows. Cheers to bees AND better wine!
🌼 Bee Hopeful
This youth program teaches kids how important bees are - and how they can be bee heroes in their own backyards. With a focus on positivity and hands-on learning, Bee Hopeful empowers the next generation to protect what they love.
🎨 Bee Habitat in Cyanotype
Founder Sarah uses flowers and bees from real habitat projects to create stunning cyanotype art pieces that educate and inspire. It’s part science, part soul - and it’ll make you see pollinators in a whole new light.
Events to Check Out
📍 Pints for a Purpose
Thursday, July 3rd, The Phoodery in Phoenix, OR
Grab a drink, win gear from Patagonia and Sunday Afternoons, and support pollinators - it doesn’t get much more Southern Oregon summer than that.
🎨 Ashland Open Studio Tour
October 18–19, Enclāve Studios, Ashland, OR
Sarah’s studio will be open during this event hosted by the Ashland Gallery Association. Come see the “Bee Habitat in Cyanotype” exhibit in person and meet the artist behind the mission.
Bee the Change with Us
Every time you round up at the register in July, you’re helping Bee Girl expand their local impact. Whether it's teaching a classroom full of curious kids or planting habitat among the grapevines, your spare change is helping Southern Oregon bloom - literally.
Learn more about their work at www.beegirl.org, and stop by the Co-op to support Bee Girl through Change for Good.
Let’s pollinate some positive change - together. 🌸🐝
More Co-op News

Meet class instructor, Joette Calabrese
This class instructor profile is connected to the February 27 free lecture, "You, Too, Can Beat the Flu!"
On an early Kolkata (Calcutta) morning, thick crowds gather outside the gates of the hospital while officials yell out "Brain tumor, kidney failure, cancer patients form a line here!” Hopeful patients, family members and caregivers arrange themselves by disease symptom.
What to do with all this citrus?!
So you grabbed a few too many extra oranges and grapefruits and lemons (and some finger limes, and some satsumas…), and rather than watch them go bad, we want to provide you with some ideas on how to reduce waste. You’ll also get to enjoy citrus in a lot of new ways!
There are many guides and recipes across the internet (like this one by our friends at Grow Forage Cook Ferment), so here are a few ideas to get your creative and citrus juices flowing.

Update from the General Manager: "Food for Paradise" campaign
Ashland Food Co-op's General Manager, Emile Amarotico, ends 2018 on a very uplifting note with a report back on the "Food for Paradise" donation campaign. Watch the video below, or read on for an extended written update.
Hello, this is Emile Amarotico, the general manager of Ashland Food Co-op with an update on the Co-op’s Food for Paradise initiative.

5 Fresh Ways to Save at the Co-op
We’ve all been there: your bank account is looking thin after a month of celebrations, but you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to save up for a big purchase later in the year
Now’s the time to make some changes to your spending - but that doesn’t mean you have to skimp on quality goods at the Ashland Food Co-op.
These are some lesser known ways to save at the Co-op. Think of them like ordering off the secret menu.
Savings Level: $

Board Report: How "Food For Paradise" Got Started
By Mira Wonderwheel, Board of Directors

4 Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste
It’s the New Year, our favorite time for goal-setting, making positive resolutions, and shifting our impact. One of the Co-op’s goals is to become a Zero Waste facility. Our staff works to divert as much food waste as we can - and we hope our member-owners will join us in this goal too.

2019 Community Grant Applications
The funding cycle for the 2019 Co-op Community Grants for nonprofit organizations begins in February.

Meet Cooking Class Instructor Charlie Douglass
Many talented local chefs share their expertise in the Co-op Kitchen. Charlie Douglass is no exception. As the former Master Chocolatier at Harry and David, Charlie knows a thing or two about chocolate and candy making.
Tell us how your love of cooking and food began.

Meet Cooking Class Instructor Tiazza Rose
Tell us how your love of cooking and food began.

Give the Gift of Wellness
Finding the perfect gift for a friend or loved one is an art. This winter, we carefully selected these assortments for those who love some good self-care, are working in partnership with their gut health, or for those making efforts to reduce their pain. Each of these gift ideas will help you make your loved ones feel extra special and extra healthful.

Give the Gift of Good Food
During the month of November, Co-op shoppers can nourish their own families and help fight hunger in the Rogue Valley. We’ve teamed up once again with Smart Chicken® for the Smart Giving Holiday Challenge.
Here’s how it works.
-
For every 10 pounds of Smart Chicken® you purchase from the Meat Department or the Deli, Smart Chicken® will donate one pound of chicken to a local non profit

We're All Turtles
By Dean Williamson, Board of Director
My grandmother loved to talk. Oh, could she talk! And she had one expression that I’ve always really liked. “If you come across a turtle on top of a fence post, you can be pretty sure it didn’t get there by itself.”

The Power of Principle Seven
By Emile Amarotico, General Manager
As we approach the holidays, I’d like to invoke the spirit of the Seventh Cooperative Principle: Concern for Community. The International Cooperative Alliance defines Principle Seven as when “cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.”
So how does that work? How does Ashland Food Co-op demonstrate concern for community?

The Co-op is Certified Organic! What does that mean?
By Barry Haynes, Store Manager
Did you know that the Ashland Food Co-op is the only Certified Organic Retailer in southern Oregon. Well, that’s great! But what does that actually mean?

Love Local with the Local Guy
Throughout September, we will be celebrating all things local. And no one loves local or is more local than our Temporary Demo Coordinator, Brighton Litjens. He was basically raised at the Co-op, has a strong passion for local farmers and producers and loves delighting shoppers with delicious samples and great deals. Who better to tell us about loving local than the "Local Guy" himself?
Tell us a bit about yourself.