Cortes Natural Food Co-op Statement for Local Organic Produce

CNFC members consist of organic growers, processors, consumers, and store workers here on Cortes. The CNFC endorses and promotes agricultural practices that ensure healthful food and environment.
Organic agriculture builds a foundation that requires and maintains clean water, air, living soil and healthy animals, including us. It employs practices that are integrated with and often modeled on ecological systems.

PRODUCE SOLD AT THE CNFC MUST BE GROWN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FOLLOWING EXTRACTED FROM ORGANIC GROWING GUIDELINES

No GMO seeds
Natural untreated seeds, organic transplants and plant material only.
Seeds and transplants must not be treated with any synthetic fungicides, pesticides, or soil fumigants.

Clean Water
Use of irrigation water that is known to have contaminants or soluble fertilizers cannot be used

Mulching – only natural material to be used.
No glossy paper and colored inks
No use of synthetically compounded or petroleum distillate herbicides
No growth regulators
No use of non-organic micronutrients
No plastic, rubber or use of lumber materials treated with arsenate or other chemicals that could come into contact with the production site.

Fertilizer – only natural materials to be used
No commercial blood or bone meal
No chemical based products
No animal by products (wild fish meal is allowed)
No human waste (urine or feces)
No farmed fishmeal or compost
No industrial chicken manure

Weed Control – just pull the darn weeds out!
No fungicides
No fumigants

Packaging – non-contaminated boxes only
Some packaging from conventional produce is sprayed (banana boxes)

When possible the following prices are representative of the purchasing price the CNFC has paid to Local Growers this past year. Local Growers set the price their produce sells at. Some vegetables listed have not been locally grown – so the value listed is mass market wholesale (*). The value of produce varies throughout the season so a high and low value are listed. The CNFC adds an additional 16% to all of these prices to try to cover operational costs, such as handling and refrigeration. Normally stores add a 50% increase on everything. The Co-op charges a 36% increase on higher processed, non-local products. The following volume numbers represent the amount of produce ordered weekly and show a high and low volume.

The CNFC strongly requests that growers have their produce washed and bunched, bagged or otherwise prepped before bringing it to the Co-op or having it picked up by the Local Produce coordinator. An additional mark-up may be added if extra handling is required to cover staff costs. Local producers should come and look at the store cooler and create a basket-sign-label for your produce so we can better keep track of spoilage and make your produce more attractive and informative for consumers.

The pick up service will happen once a week and be scheduled in accordance with the cooler space available at the store – i.e. it will be timed for the day when the cooler is most empty from the weekly off-island food order. The pick up service will not be subsidized by the Co-op and growers will have to arrange it with the Local Produce coordinator who is independently starting this service.

The Local Produce coordinator will be contacting local producers weekly to consolidate produce numbers and give this information to the Produce Manager in time for the weekly off-island food ordering deadline. This communication can happen over the telephone or via email and your produce numbers are important to the Co-op every week so please stay in touch!

lee Reidl – Local Produce Coordinator
email stuffthepepper@hotmail.com