How to Sign up for the Richmond Co-op

Have you become a member/owner of The Richmond Food Co-op? If the answer is yes, we thank you! If the answer is not yet, I'm going to try and show how easy it is to become a member/owner. We've been making great strides over the past year in making this grocery a reality. While at it, we have met some wonderful people and gained many amazing folks and if we haven't told you yet — this grocery begins with YOU!

Whether at one of our community forums, happy hours, or other events, a lot of people are attending and letting us know that, "yes I do intend to join, I just haven't gotten around to it." That's exciting news for us, so if you are reading this and still haven't joined — here are two easy options.

Option 1: Click the brochure below, fill out the form and simply mail in your check!

Option 2: Sign up online by clicking the button below — our online signup page has options for paying in full or installments if more convenient.

Why Join Now?

• Membership means ownership. When you become a member, you also become an owner of a member-owned and member-controlled local store, that operates for the mutual benefit of all members.
• Co-op ownership means putting your dollars where your values are — the cooperative system, healthy communities and supporting local farms and businesses.
• Co-ops, and their money, are owned and controlled by their member/owners, therefore members provide the basic capital to start the Co-op. The Co-op’s profit is returned to its member-owners in proportion to the amount of groceries each member has purchased.
• Co-op equals community. You have the opportunity to interact and connect with like-minded people who seek to support their community’s local living economy.
• You can begin saving money now through our buy local initiative.

By joining as a member, you can put us one step closer to opening a cooperative grocery right here in Richmond that will support local farmers, be a fun atmosphere to shop in, and allow you to be part of a fun, equally minded community of member/owners.

If you have further questions please leave a comment below or send us an email at info@richmondfoodcoop.com.  

I personally look forward to meeting you as one of our newest members!

Tim Vidra

Vice-Chair, Richmond Food Co-op

Join Us: 1st Annual Richmond Food Co-op Member Meeting

We are so excited to be holding our first member/owner annual meeting tonight and hope to see you there!

When: Tonight — Monday October 7th, 2013 from 6:00-7:30
Where: Feedmore 1415 Rhoadmiller Street Richmond, Virginia 23220 Directions — HERE

We are looking forward to recapping just how far we have come since starting our membership drive back in February. We've had some exciting happy hours, potlucks, community forums and our first annual picnic. Of course, we have some business to take care of too and will be electing some new board members!

To recap, the following 3 members are up for election are:

Board nominees: Julietta, Tom and Kelsey

• Tom Karnes, professor at VCU. Learn more about Tom here.
• Kelsey Miller, local Tax Associate and Scott's Addition resident. Learn more about Kelsey here.
• Julietta Singh, English professor at the University of Richmond. Learn more about Julietta here.

In other exciting news, we have just been awarded with and are eager to announce a $10,000 seed grant from the Co-op Initiative, a cooperative assistance nonprofit. What does this mean and how will it help your Co-op? Find out tonight!

We also have plenty of committee signup opportunities. Are you awesome at outreach, event planning, or have you just been itching to get involved in a community garden? These are some of the avenues where we can use your help (and awesomeness). This is a great chance for you to get involved with your Co-op!

Then there is the fellowship. Fellowship is one of the main drivers of a good Co-op. What is the definition of fellowship?

Fellowship: friendly association, especially with people who share one's interests.

"They valued fun and good fellowship as the cement of the community."

So come spend some time with us tonight and meet other member/owners and share in our joint interest of community, local healthy food, and our vision for a Co-op in Richmond, Virginia. It's long overdue, don't you agree?

-Tim Vidra, Board Vice-Chair

Raw Vegan Kohlrabi Fries

If you didn't get a chance to make it out to the Food Coop picnic last weekend you missed not only some wonderful fellowship and incredible music, but you also missed a couple of cooking demos by me. For those unfamiliar, my name is Tim Vidra — I live here in Richmond, am a local food writer, author the blog E.A.T. and am also very proud to be a part of the board of directors for the Richmond Food Co-op. Today, I'm excited to share one of those recipes here on the co-op blog for you to enjoy. I love cooking and teaching people about food and how to prepare it. 

So let's talk about kohlrabi! It's a lesser known vegetable I love to pull out and see the surprise when I turn it into something amazing, easy, and equally delicious! Today we're going to make raw kohlrabi fries, perfect for summer snacking.

Kohlrabi is really part cabbage and part turnip with long stems and leaves. There is a green variety and a purple variety and once peeled they both have a white fibrous flesh. The kohlrabi I picked up and used for the demo were purchased from Origins Farm in Hanover County! Let's see how easy this vegetable really is to prepare!

Ingredients:

• 2 kohlrabi cleaned and peeled (see above)
• 1/4 cup salt
• 2-3T chili garlic sauce
• 2-3T rice wine vinegar
• 2-3T soy sauce
• dashes of sesame oil to taste 

Once the kohlrabi is cleaned, cut into 1/4" chips and then slice each chip into fries.

Place fries in a bowl and sprinkle the salt on top, allowing to set for 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, let's make the sauce by add all of your wet ingredients to the bowl:

Adjust according to your taste and spiciness liking:

Drain the kohlrabi and you will be amazed at how much water the salt pulls out. Rinse the kohlrabi thoroughly of any salt.

Mix in your sauce, toss with the kohlrabi and you can serve immediately.

These are delicious served as an appetizer or as a side dish. So if you have been ducking and hiding from this vegetable in the past, or just never noticed them, take a moment to give them a try — I am sure you will be sold and a little sad when these are no longer in season and you have to wait until next year!

This vegetable can also be made into a delicious soup. Here is the recipe for my Kohlrabi Soup that I love making in the winter.

At the co-op we want to build a food community and also help educate those who may not be familiar with certain foods and cooking methods! 

Enjoy!