Spring 2009
Cleanin’ Up in the Body Care Department
by Buyer Micki Waddell
Over the past few years the Body Care
Department has done some minor shapeshifting. The challenge has been, and likely
will continue to be, offering a selection of
good, quality products that are affordable to
our customers. You may have noticed some
products disappearing here and there and
not necessarily because they weren’t selling
well. Often an item loses its spot on the shelf
because of its questionable virtues. Many of
our favorite products have dirty little secrets!
Some of these secrets are really quite
harmful. Two of the more controversial
ingredients we have eliminated from the
department are Propylene Glycol and Parabens. Here are descriptions of what is
behind these mysterious names.
Propylene Glycol:
(from Natural Organic Hair and Skin Care
by Aubrey Hampton) This is a petroleum
derivative. It’s a sweet, viscous liquid that
attracts water (also known as a humectant).
In cosmetics, propylene glycol is widely
used as an humectant, surfactant (wetting
agents that lower the surface tension of a
liquid, allowing easier spreading) and solvent
(used for dissolving to make a solution.) In
industry, propylene glycol is used as an antifreeze and also as hydraulic brake fluid.
Because it is a petroleum product, it can
cause allergic and toxic reactions. Although
it is a synthetic chemical, it is used in many
so-called “natural” products. Any product
that uses propylene glycol or one of it’s compounds cannot be truly considered natural.
It is a toxin regardless of the concentration,
and its use in products that are applied to
the skin or ingested is quite controversial.
Parabens:
The paraben “family” is derived from parahydroxybenzoic acid esters. (continued p.4)
Also in this issue
Investing in Board Effectiveness Pg. 2
Homemade Laundry Soap Pg. 4
Urban & Rural Reserves Update Pg. 5
Alberta Cooperative Grocery
1500 NE Alberta St.
Portland, Or 97211
Open Daily 9am-10pm
www.albertagrocery.coop
[email protected]
503.287.4333
503.809.9899 (fax)
Page 1
seminar included identifying strategies for
dealing with the risk scenarios that co-op
boards confront, exploring and developing
leadership skills, and enabling participants
to share information back with the rest of
their board members. The group was lively,
animated, and productive! Experienced
directors attended this seminar and brought
back many new ideas to enhance the work
of Alberta Co-op’s board.
Investing in Board
Effectiveness
by EmilyTretter, Board Member 2009
2011
Some ACG Board Members from left to right: Stephen, Beth, Elliot, Jim, John, Mark, and Amelia (seated.)
On Saturday, April 18, the Western Corridor
region of the National Cooperative Grocers
Association (NCGA) sponsored a full day
event called Effective Co-op Leadership:
Training for Co-op Directors and Managers.
This was the second year that Alberta Co-op
had participated in this training, although
last year we were not yet members of the
NCGA. Conveniently for us, the event occurs
right here in Portland and just over a month
after our board elections! This makes it
a perfect fit for both of our newly elected
directors to develop some basic skills and
an understanding of their role, and for our
continuing directors to get freshly inspired
and go more in depth on particular issues.
Consultants Mark Goehring from the CDS
Consulting Co-op and Holly O’Neil from
Crossroads Consulting teamed up with
experienced directors from local food
cooperatives to facilitate an educational
experience for individuals serving on board
of directors of community food co-ops. The
training is also attended by and useful to the
co-op managers that directors relate to. The
event took place in downtown Portland at
the Marriot and was catered by Food Front
Cooperative Grocery and Voodoo Donuts.
People attended from all across the Western
Corridor, representing grocery co-ops as far
flung as Community Food Co-op in Bozeman,
MT and Ocean Beach People’s Co-op near
San Diego, CA. There was an informal Friday
night gathering, and then Saturday we
gathered for breakfast and an introduction to
the day before dividing into two concurrent
Page 2
seminars. All three of Alberta Co-op’s new
directors including myself were able to
attend the “Cooperative Board Leadership
101” session. Six of our directors who had
attended last year’s 101 session moved on to
the “Board Effectiveness Seminar: Dealing
with Risk.”
The Cooperative Board Leadership 101
seminar was facilitated by Mark Goehring,
Todd Wallace, and Marc Brown. Todd and
Marc are from the board of People’s Food
Cooperative in SE Portland. This program
included discussions around cooperative
history, values and principles, board
roles and responsibilities, an overview
of the Policy Governance system that’s
used by many grocery co-ops including
ours, and basic financial understanding.
It included interactive and engaging
activities paired with articles and visuals
for a comprehensive learning approach. A
favorite section is where we got to really
understand how to interpret balance
sheets by using a series of them to visually
demonstrate our co-op’s changing financial
picture with Legos! The 101 seminar was
a fantastic opportunity for your new board
members to gain broad based knowledge
and build a strong foundation for continued
growth and learning.
The Dealing with Risk seminar was
facilitated by Holly O’Neil, Phillip Buri,
and Martha Whitman. Phillip is from the
Community Food Co-op in Bellingham
and Martha is from La Montanita Co-op
in New Mexico. The objectives of this
From friendly new faces to froot loop covered
vegan donuts, it was a fun and engaging
day! We look forward to implementing
what we learned at the event over this
next year and beyond. We would also love
to share more information about what was
learned with our member-owners. Just ask
anyone on the board! You can reach all of
us by writing to board@albertagrocery.
coop, or find individual contacts at www.
albertagrocery.coop/boardstaff.html
Also remember that anyone is welcome
and encouraged to attend board meetings.
We meet on the first Tuesday of every
month from 6 to 8:30pm Check the Co-op’s
member services bulletin board for the
agenda and location. One new thing we will
be implementing this year is having “study”
portions of the agenda where we engage
with a particular big picture co-op issue,
potentially over a series of several meetings.
These will be of interest to our membership
at large, so stay tuned! Coming to a board
meeting or committee meeting is a great
way to learn more about what it takes to
make your community grocery store thrive.
Our Mission is to serve as a
community resource and gathering
place, while providing fresh,
high-quality, affordable food to
the diverse members of North and
Northeast Portland. We emphasize
products from local, organic, and
socially responsible sources, and
work to build connections between
our customers and their farmers.
EVENT CALENDAR - MAY 2009
3
4
5
11
12
2
7
8
9
14
15
16
6
Board of
Directors
6–8:30pm
10
1
Community
Engagement
Committee
7–8pm
13
Art Hop,
Gathering of
the Gardeners
11am–6pm
ACG
Orientation
7–8pm
17
18
19
20
21
22
Open Forum
Potluck
6–8:30pm
24
25
31
ACG ORIENTATIONS
26
27
Membership
& Outreach
Committee
6:15–7:15pm
OWNER APPPRECIATION DAY
28
23
ACG
Orientation
3–4pm
29
30
Owner
Appreciation
Day
ANOTHER SPECIAL DAY
Page 3
(Cleanin’ Up in the Body Care Department cont. from page 1)
Homemade
Laundry Soap
by Working Member Lisa Sagrati
So you’re gardening, making your
own sauerkraut, and fixing your
own bike – what’s your next moneysaving, DIY project going to be? How
about making your own laundry
soap? It’s easy to do and incredibly
inexpensive.
The recipe I use calls for Fels
Naptha soap – a strong, old-timey
laundry soap. It is said that before
Fels Naptha, city folk could always
identify country folk by smell. But
when Fels Naptha came along,
farmers were finally able to get
the smell of manure out of their
clothes. If you would prefer to
substitute a milder soap, go ahead
and experiment.
Ingredients:
• 3 pints water
• 1/3 bar Fels Naptha Soap, grated
(one substitute is Kirk’s Castille Soap)
• 1/2 cup washing soda
(not baking soda)
• 1/2 cup borax
• 2 gallon bucket
• 1 quart hot water
• more hot water
Method:
Mix the grated Fels Naptha soap in
a saucepan with 3 pints hot water
and heat on low until dissolved. Stir
in washing soda and borax. Stir until
completely dissolved and remove
from heat. Add 1 quart hot water to 2
gallon bucket. Add soap mixture and
mix well. Fill bucket with hot water,
and mix well. Set aside for 24 hours,
or until mixture thickens. Use 1/2
cup per load. Add to water before
putting clothes in the washer.
Page 4
The syllables alone should be warning enough! The rap sheet on parabens is long and dirty.
They are used as a preservative and cheaply so. There are alternatives, like grapefruit seed
extract, but apparently the short-term cost is too much for manufacturers. Parabens have
been found in cancer tumors and are highly contentious in the body care (and supplement)
industry. Let’s just say “buyer beware.”
There is a lot of information and research available about these additives, and consumers
are starting to demand more accountability from the companies using them. That
doesn’t always change things, however. The Jason Natural brand of products, for
instance, took propylene glycol out of their deodorants a few years back, proudly
claimed that on their labels, and then sneaked it back in recently. Dirty! Another favorite
product was Clearly Natural’s Glycerin Soap. A customer told me that it had propylene
glycol in it so I looked it up. Clearly Natural’s website did not divulge the complete ingredient
list, but other on-line retailers did. Also dirty!
The list of debatable ingredients seems endless, a matter that all of us should take
seriously. Even if you are not someone who frequently buys and uses manufactured body
care products, the effects are not generally limited to the user. Keep in mind that these are
often products that get washed down the drain. For example, parabens have been found
in drinking water as well as the bodies of fish that we eat. The EPA is concerned about the
endocrine-disrupting effects that parabens may have on marine life. The bottom line is that
there is just no need for harmful chemical additives, animal testing and other offenses to our
community and environmental well-being.
What are we doing at the Co-op to provide the most awesome and affordable Body Care
goodies to you? Well, we offer a variety of local products and try to support only the larger
companies that show accountability and integrity. We also seek out the best deals we can
while considering quality and customer demand.
Here is a list of companies from the Northwest and our favorite SuperLocal businesses
that we really like:
• Alaffia (Olympia, WA)
• Merry Hempsters (Eugene)
• Ballard Organics (Seattle, WA)
• Misty Mt. Farm (Deer Island, OR)
• Camamu (Portland)
• Moon Pads (Portland)
• Earth Mama Angle Baby (Clackamas, OR)
• Muddy H2O Pit Powder (Vancouver, WA)
• Griffin Remedy (San Francisco, CA)
• Oregon Soap Co. (Portland)
• Glad Rags (Portland)
• Wild Carrot (Rickreall, OR)
• Healing Seed (New Port Beach, CA)
• Red Bud Remedies (Portland)
• Herb Pharm Oils (Williams, OR)
• Uncle Harry’s (Redmond, WA)
• Lili’s Honey Wax (Portland)
These are larger companies that are “keeping it real,” for the most part:
• Aubrey Organics
• Kiss My Face
• Weleda
These companies and brands are being phased off of the Co-op shelves or at least very
limited (Jason and Nature’s Gate share the parent company of Hain-Celestial)
• Alba Botanica
• Jason Natural
• Nature’s Gate
Tips:
1) Skin Deep is an on-line body care ingredients database that rates popular products:
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com
2) Use Google to unravel the mystery behind the ingredients with long, suspicious names.
3) Get in touch with your body care questions, requests, and tips on either good companies
and products that you are aware of, or those that are making less clean choices. Write
to me: [email protected].
Thanks for taking the time to peek behind the veil of body care product ingredients!
Urban and Rural Reserves Update
by 1000 Friends of Oregon
We all love our SuperLocal farmers (Alberta
Co-op’s designation for the amazing folks
providing food and products for us within
about 30 miles of our doorstep!) and know
how important they are to feeding ourselves
and our families now and in the future. Here
is some information from 1000 Friends of
Oregon about the current process for revising
the land boundaries that are designated as
either urban reserves for future development growth or as rural reserves for farms
and other uses. Read on and learn how to
take action to protect our food security!
Metro and the county governments involved
in the reserves process have just released
maps of the draft candidate areas for
urban and rural reserves. The upcoming
open houses for public input on these are
critical opportunities for you to make your
voice heard about the future of our region.
1000 Friends of Oregon supports rural
reserves to protect the working farms that
are vital to the region’s agriculture and
burgeoning local foods economy, and to
protect natural resources. Areas for future
urbanization should be small – to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, reinforce neighborhoods, and make efficient use of existing
infrastructure.
The maps intentionally cover a larger area
than is likely to be ultimately designated as
either urban or rural reserve. The county
maps now show too much land for possible
future urbanization – especially in Washington County – threatening the region’s farming and natural resources. The beautiful and
productive Tualatin Valley farm land that
you gaze at as you go out Highway 26 to the
Oregon Coast – the landscape that causes
you to relax your shoulders and smile,
knowing you have left the workaday world
behind for a little while – that land is threatened by urbanization.
The maps will be revised based on input
from you and further technical analysis –
that’s why your input is so important now.
Some areas will be designated as neither
urban nor rural reserves. Whether you live
in inner Portland, a small rural community, a
suburb, or on a farm, how much and which
areas around the region are designated as
rural and urban reserves will profoundly
impact this region for you, your children, and
grandchildren. At the hearings, we encourage you to comment on all the proposed
urban and rural reserves – regardless of
whether you live in that county. We live,
work, shop, and play in all parts of our region.
Here are some main talking points to consider, whether you speak at an open house,
write a letter, or reach out to your neighbors.
Protect Farm Land. Your livelihood may be
in farming, or you may buy fresh produce
at your local farmers market. In both cases,
that’s due to the region’s nearby rich farm
land and diversity of crops. Agriculture
is the state’s number two industry, and it
continues to increase in value, reaching
almost $5 billion in 2008. Few industries
are growing in this economy. Clackamas
and Washington counties are in the top 5
agriculture-producing counties in the state.
Food processing, in which Multnomah
County is among the top, was the only
manufacturing sector in Oregon to show
positive employment gain in 2008.
The region’s valuable farm land should be
protected from urbanization by designation as rural reserves. Of most concern
is that Washington County and the cities of
Hillsboro, Cornelius, North Plains and
Forest Grove are proposing 160,000 acres of
urban Reserves. These are so large, they will
severely damage the future of agriculture
in the western part of our region, as well as
Northwest Oregon. Urge your County Commissioners and Metro Councilors to shrink
the Washington County urban reserve.
Reduce Global Warming. Almost 40% of
Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions come
from vehicles – that’s all of us driving.
The single most important step the region
can take to permanently reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to reduce the need
to generate them in the first place – by
reducing our need to drive and providing
options of transit, walking, and bicycling.
And the way to do that is through a compact
urban form that integrates land use and
transportation planning to create compact,
walkable neighborhoods with a variety of
transit options. This calls for small urban
reserves, and putting the focus on the
communities already in the Urban Growth
Boundary (UGB.) Again, the size of the
potential urban reserves in Washington
County, and the vehicle traffic they would
generate, are completely contrary to the
goal of an urban form that reduces greenhouse gas pollution.
Use Infrastructure Efficiently. Metro and
other studies show that the cost of providing sewers, water, roads, and sidewalks to
accommodate a growing population on new
land at the urban edge is at least twice as
expensive as accommodating that same
growth in the existing urban area, through
infill and redevelopment and making more
efficient use of the existing infrastructure.
Support Vibrant Neighborhood Centers.
Many towns are seeking to enhance the
vibrancy of their downtowns and neighborhood centers by attracting more retail
businesses, increasing housing, and obtaining better transit service. This includes
areas as diverse as transit station areas
in Forest Grove, the Beaverton Round, the
Lents area, Tigard Triangle, and Milwaukie’s
downtown and future light rail stations.
There are limited public and private dollars to help these succeed, and new areas
added to the UGB will compete directly for
those investments. There may well be some
potential urban reserve areas that will compliment an existing community adjacent to
it in the UGB, and would be appropriate to
designate as an urban reserve. We urge you
to let your County Commissioners and Metro
Councilors know the importance of small,
well-located urban reserves.
1000 Friends of Oregon needs volunteers this
summer to spread the word about reserves
at Farmers Markets across the Metro area,
and also give presentations to groups and to
spread the word in other ways. Contact Tara
([email protected]) to get involved.
Page 5
S
pring
Owner
Appreciation
Day
Saturday
May 30th
GrowYour Co-op!
It’s our Spring Membership Drive
Help us meet our goal of 75 new + renewing member-owners.
We’re offering two membership promotions in the month of May:
1) Bring in a new member-owner to sign up, and you’ll both receive a
free reusable bulk/produce bag with the ACG logo. We’ll also make a
$5 donation in your name to Growing Gardens!
2) All new owners will be entered in a raffle to win either a backpack
filled with tons of great Boiron homeopathic remedies (a $60 value) or a
$50 ACG gift certificate!
15% off all day for
member-owners
Lots of food, fun, and festivities!
Check the web for updates:
www.albertagrocery.coop/events
Join the Gathering of the Gardeners
Saturday, May 16 th for a seed & plant swap, kids table, & more!
1500 NE Alberta St.
Portland, OR 97211
prsrt std
us Postage
PAID
portland, or
permit no. 1436