Supporting Stream Smart: Our June Change for Good Partner
We are delighted to announce our June Change for Good partner, Stream Smart, a remarkable local organization dedicated to improving the health of our streams and rivers.
What is Stream Smart?
Stream Smart is an educational campaign that empowers individuals to make environmentally conscious choices to protect and enhance our local waterways. Their mission is to increase awareness of how our daily habits impact our streams and rivers. By making simple changes at home—like picking up after pets, using porous materials in landscaping, and planting trees to restore riparian areas—we can all contribute to turning our streams from brown to blue.
Rogue Basin Salmon Watch Program: A Highlight of Success
One of Stream Smart's shining achievements is the Rogue Basin Salmon Watch program. This program has reached nearly 2,000 students and hosted 34 field days during the 2023-2024 season. It provides students with hands-on learning experiences about watershed health, water quality, and the importance of riparian areas. Students gain insights from local experts, including fish biologists, hydrologists, and botanists, who generously share their knowledge during these field trips. Best of all, this program is offered at no cost to schools, thanks to the generous support of numerous funders, partners, and volunteers.
Community Involvement: Making a Difference Together
Stream Smart also thrives on community involvement. Every spring and fall, hundreds of volunteers join forces to clean up local waterways, remove invasive species, and plant native trees and shrubs. These efforts not only enhance the beauty and health of our creeks and rivers but also provide essential habitats for a variety of aquatic plants and animals. The program supplies everything needed for these events, from tools and gloves to snacks and educational materials, ensuring that volunteers can focus on making a positive impact.
Recent Events: Celebrating Community Efforts
On April 20th, 2024, Stream Smart collaborated with the Bear Creek Stewards for the Bear Creek Stewardship Day, a biannual event in honor of Earth Day and National Public Lands Day. Over 100 volunteers gathered along the Bear Creek Greenway to remove several tons of trash, plant native species, weed pollinator gardens, and install bird nesting boxes. This massive effort spanned from Central Point to Ashland and significantly benefited both Bear Creek and its surrounding areas.
Similarly, on May 18th, the 32nd Annual Rogue River Cleanup and Let’s Pull Together Weed Pull saw over 150 participants come together to pick up trash, pull invasive weeds, and inventory aquatic invasive species along the Rogue River. This event not only cleaned up the river but also fostered a stronger sense of community and stewardship among participants.
Long-term Commitment: Adopt-A-River and Beyond
Stream Smart’s commitment to our waterways is unwavering. As part of SOLVE’s Adopt-A-River program, they have adopted a section of the Rogue River near Hog Creek County Park. This initiative has expanded their educational outreach and volunteer opportunities. From trail building to installing pollinator gardens, controlling invasive weeds, and setting up educational signs, Stream Smart continues to make a lasting impact.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, Stream Smart adopted a section of the Bear Creek Greenway and Riparian Corridor. Collaborating with various partners, they have restored the area affected by the 2018 Peninger fire, installed educational signs, hosted events, and planted native species to revive the ecosystem.
Join Us in Supporting Stream Smart
We at the Ashland Food Co-op are incredibly proud to support Stream Smart through our Change for Good program. Your contributions, simply by rounding up your purchase, directly support the amazing work Stream Smart does in our community. To learn more about Stream Smart or to get involved, visit their website at www.stream-smart.com or email them at [email protected].
Together, let's continue to make positive changes for our streams, rivers, and the entire Rogue Basin. Thank you for your generosity and support!
More Co-op News
Beans from Scratch
Michelle isn't serving up samples right now, so she's serving up kitchen tips instead! Here's her tried and true approach to cooking dry beans, plus some extra tips for upping your flavor, saving time, and cook other legumes. (Ingredients and modifications are below the video.)
Ingredients
Tips to Stay Safe and Limit Waste
By Mahlea Rasmussen, Education Coordinator
Inspired by Bea Johnson's Zero Waste Home
We are in uncertain times and some of you may be second-guessing some of your zero waste practices and replacing them with safety measures for you and your family. I was proud not to have chemical cleaners in my home and never used plastic gloves - but now those products are being suggested for staying clean and safe. Here are some tips to keep your home safe while working towards more sustainability.
Ashland Food Co-op employees are heroes, worthy of respect and gratitude
Until a crisis like this occurs, few think of Grocers as essential service providers. However, our employees have been here day in and day out, risking their health and the safety of their loved ones, to provide food for our community. This is not a job that can be done from home or from what is now considered a safe social distance. Our employees have worked with the utmost professionalism, care, and concern for shopper well-being.
Meet Reagan Roach, AFC Executive Chef & Prepared Foods Manager
The Co-op's general manager, Emile Amorotico, sat down with the newest addition to the co-op's management team, Reagan Roach. Get to know Reagan in the interview below - and say hi when you see him in store!
5 Things You Didn't Know the Co-op Carries for Cold, Flu & Immune Protection
- Wishgarden Herbs - Kick Ass Immune: Your total frontline immune defense!
- Oshala Farm - Oshala Fire Cider: Locally made in the Applegate. It tastes so good you could craft a healthy dressing with this fire cider!
- Mickelberry Gardens - Elderberry: Great Immune support for kids and adults. Made in Oregon.
Choose To Reuse
by Rianna Koppel, Co-op Sustainability Coordinator
At the Ashland Food Co-op, we are committed to becoming Zero Waste by 2030. Along the way, we’ve learned a lot about packaging and single-use at our store. Our owners care deeply about reducing plastic waste, and we do too!
Reusable Bags
At the co-op, we have many different bag options… So what's the best choice?
Lisa Beam: Why I'm a Board Member
Why serve on the Board of Directors at the Ashland Food Coop? This was the question that I was faced with about a year ago.
I have lived, worked and shopped in Ashland for the last 20 years. Many of those years I have actively participated on non-profit boards, civic organizations and committees. However, in the last few years I stepped away from those responsibilities to focus on family and business life.
Henry in the Garden: The Pollinator Plan
By Henry Herting, Co-op garden volunteer
It's that fun time of the year when we get to plan our gardens. This year since our pollinators are taking such a hard hit, we are planning a pollinator garden.
Some plants that are considered good for pollinators are not so good fo the gardeners. They are invasive; they are weeds. Nobody likes weeds in their garden - who likes getting down on their knee pads and clawing at deep-rooted weeds growing in places where you don't want them?
Rogue To Go at the Co-op
We are excited to announce the official launch of Rogue To Go at the Ashland Food Co-op!
Rogue To Go is a reusable container pilot program. The pilot connects five participating restaurants by offering a reusable container that can be used for meals to-go and help eliminate single-use boxes. These O2GO containers are made locally in Bend, Oregon by OZZI. The bright green containers are 100% recyclable through a specialty recycler - truly zero waste!
How can you start using Rogue To Go? Check out the steps below and follow along with a walk-through video.
Apply for an AFC Gives community grant
For over 25 years, the Ashland Food Co-op has been re-investing in the local community by awarding grants to non-profit organizations doing important work in the Rogue Valley. Putting the seventh cooperative principle, "concern for community," into action, over $30,000 was donated in 2019 - and in 2020, there are even more opportunities for non-profits.
The Co-op is getting a refresh
We are giving our store a much-needed fresh coat of paint. We think you'll enjoy the changes!
When
The painting team will begin our project on February 5th, 2020 with a start time of 9pm.
Where
The entire retail store, deli serving area and interior seating area will receive a fresh new coat of paint.
Timeline
If all goes as planned, our painting project should be finished by February 20.
Will Store Hours Change?
No. We will be painting from 9pm to 5am.
Explore citrus!
Looking to explore some new citrus varieties? Know more before you go! Check out the many types of sweet, sour and somewhere in between that you can enjoy at the Co-op! (Availability may vary due to seasonality.)
Taste for Life winter wellness giveaway
It's a month of giveaways from Taste for Life!
Giveaway #1 has finished up - so it's time for #2! This giveaway runs 1/27-2/2, so sign up below.
This package includes: NOW's Sabucus Zinc-C lozenges, Mushroom Wisdom's SX-Fraction, Bluebonnet's Stress Release formula, ChildLife's First Defense immune formula, Vitafusion's Organic Women's Multi vitamin, Quantum Health's Eye Health supplement, Kyo-Green Sprouts Blend digestion supplement, Solgar's full spectrum Curcumin supplement, and Solgar's No. 7 joint comfort supplement.
Rogue Co-ops College Scholarship
As part of the Rogue Co-ops, a group of Rogue Valley cooperative businesses that includes Ashland Food Co-op, Grange Co-op, Medford Food Co-op, and Rogue Credit Union, we're excited to offer a scholarship opportunity to local high school students planning on attending college.
The Rogue Co-ops have collectively funded a $2,000 scholarship (and Grange Co-op offers an additional eight $1,500 scholarships) for students (in public, private or home school settings) who meet the following requirements: