[Fareshares_newsletter] FareShares Newsletter Hallow’een 2014

Thu Oct 30 13:27:27 UTC 2014

Hi folks! 

Please comment/object asap so I can post this over the w/e. 

Rx 

PUMPKIN IT UP

Pumpkin season is in full swing and Fareshares will put all sorts of
squashes across our veg. rack over coming weeks, grown in East Anglia by
a consortium that includes Breckland Organics, from the Norfolk village
of Shropham, whose production of roots, brassicas - esp. broccoli - and
squash complements our principal supplier's, Hughes, salad and leaf
crops. Hughes Organic is as a family business, run by Lizzie & Grahame
Hughes with their son Josh, who usually delivers to London on Tuesday
nights/Wednesday mornings. 

Lizzie Hughes reports the 'squash are safely gathered and are in high
demand. Most varieties have done well except the Crown Prince from
Wakelyn's Farm in Suffolk, which for some reason has not. A great shame
as this beautiful variety, which is pale green with a gold interior,
serves well in late winter. Celebration [1], Harlequin [2] & Delicata
[3] lead the way; coming in later are Kabocha [4] & Kuri, like little
red pumpkins, with a nutty flavour preferred by Alice Waters for her
classic pumpkin soup. [5] Despite slight differences of flavour and
texture, however, most squash do same thing when cooked and so can be
substituted in any butternut squash recipe. [6] 

There are those who will tell you that the skin of most squash is
edible, but what they mean is that it's digestible, not desirable. So,
you first consideration is, are you going to peel it before or after
cooking? Serving pumpkin soup - or even, risotto! - in a hollowed out
gourd is, BTW, passé and to commit such a faux pass risks exposure to
social ridicule. Therefore, you won't be retaining the skin. Either
remove it with a peeler before cutting the squash, or lightly bake and
cool it before peeling. Baking intensifies the flavour and makes it
sweeter, which is a great tip for making soups & rissotti, such as this
one, [7] 

The second consideration when dealing with a squash is, can you be
bothered with the seeds? Pumpkin seeds can be delicious if properly
prepared [8], but it is a bit of a faff. If you choose to discard the
seeds, however, don't get rid of the pulp! One tip is to put pulp and
seeds in a pan with boiling water and scoop the seeds out with a spoon
as the mixture cooks down. You can add sugar, or molasses, to make the
sweet base of your pumpkin pie [9] filling
 or, perhaps, add chopped Scotch Bonnet chillies to make the fiery
flavour base of a Jamiacan-style pumpkin soup [10]. 

COST OF LIVING

FareShares is not a shop & it is nobody's business. Nobody gets paid and
we don't expect to make a profit. We exist to provide unadulterated
basic foodstuffs as cheaply as possible and so we charge as small a
mark-up as possible on the wholsale prices of the foodstuffs we sell.
Which, until now, has been 10%. We put 15% on the fresh veggies to cover
wastage and 0% on Zaytoun products, to show solidarity with the
Palestinian farmers, and on Moonscups, to encourage that holistic
approach to menstrual management. 

We turn over around two grand on a good week and so should expect about
£800 monthly excess. That should be more than enough to cover rent and
utility bills for the building, but it hasn't been. We've struggled with
our deficit and the situation has stabilised, but it is never going to
improve without putting up our prices. As it goes, we carefully manage
our financial relationships with our lovely suppliers, to whom we owe
hundreds. Without catching up the slack in its finances, FareShares
can't afford to hold a lot of stock on its shelves, never mind improve
the premises. 

>From November 1st, for six months, we've agreed to increase our profit
margin on all products sold in the FareShares store to 15%. Pre-paid
orders from the Suma & Infinity catalogues shall incur a surcharge of
10%. We expect this will generate about £1800, which will considerably
ease our deficit. We'll review the situation next Spring and if we're
rolling in cash, may revert to the lowest mark-up possible, as per
FareShares mission statement. 

FUTURE FARESHARES COLLABORATORS

Back in Spring, Fareshares decided to stock Hodmedod's British-grown
quinoa from the fields of Essex, even if it wasn't organic, but we need
to be more financially stable before taking on new suppliers. In the
meantime, Peter Fairs, the farmer who has grown quinoa since 1985 has
been acclaimed by an article in The Guardian's Food & Drink section [11]
as 'the seeder of the pack!' "I'm not an approved, registered organic
grower," he says, "but we don't use any chemicals." Look for Hodmedod
quinoa in Fareshares soon. 

Regular shoppers will have seen the posters advertising Sutton Community
Farm [12], with which FareShares hopes to collaborate as a designated
pick-up point for their weekly VegBox scheme, so that you can collect
your weekly veggies from us without joining the scrum on Thursdays. To
do this, we need at least a dozen people to commit to taking a box every
week in order for Sutton Farm to justify a seperate delivery to
FareShares on Fridays. In the meantime, Jamyang, in Renfrew Road, SE11,
already acts as a pick-up point and has a delightful courtyard café. 

AGAVE SYRUP CONTROVERSY

FareShares doesn't sell refined sugar because, any fool knows, sugar is
bad; in fact, it is as as dangerous as alcohol or tobacco [13]. Sugar
sure is sweet, though, and many of us are fatally addicted to that
sweetiness. Perhaps the hardest drug for any true Brit is kick is hot,
sweet tea in Tony Benn-sized mugs! Honey may be more acceptable asa
sweetner to some, but its not vegan. However, we need not reach for the
white granulated, as there are at least ten natural alternative
sweetners [14]. 

Conspicuous by its absence from this list, despite being the most
popular sweetner supplied by FareShares, is agave syrup. We usually
stock bottles of Suma's agave syrup [15]
 in two sizes. Agave is a Mexican succulent plant that contains a lot of
fructose, plant sugar, that may be fermented to make an alcoholic
beverage called pulque and then distilled to make tequila. Ay caramba!
In recent years, however, the 'agua miel,' which is up to 90% fructose
has been processed for use as a sweetner. But there is no evidence to
suggest that refined agave syrups are inherently healthier than refined
sugar, as they can still contain the same number of calories per
serving. 

In fact, some say that commercially-available agave syrup is no better
for one's health than that notorious high-fructose villain of the fast
food purveyors, corn syrup. This is not what we wanted! [16] 

While glucose is vital to life and can be metabolised by every cell in
the human body, the only organ that can metabolise fructose in
significant amounts is the liver, which might get overloaded and start
turning the fructose into fat! As Suma acknowledge [15], 'according to
some experts, if fructose is consumed after eating a large meal that
overly raises the blood sugar or with high glycemic foods, it no longer
has a low glycemic value. Strangely enough, it will take on the value of
the higher glycemic food. So exercise restraint.' 

In the context of a high-carb, high-calorie Western diet, eating a lot
of added fructose can wreak havoc on metabolic health. FareShres
shoppers, who usually eat more consciously, will not need to be told to
go easy, even with this wonderful sweetener. It is a good policy to eat
fructose-based desserts on an empty stomach, in between meals or with
other low-glycemic foods. Use it for an occasional sweet treat or to
lighten up your mighty mug o' Rosie Lea. 

WE NEED HELP

FareShares is a volunteer-run project and new volunteers are always
needed and welcomed. If you can't commit to regular shifts in the store,
perhaps you can help with specific problems,such as: 

1) THE FRIDGE (Graf, model no?) needs servicing, but we can't afford to
pay a commercial refrigeration engineer. Perhaps you are one, or you
know one, who can help? 

2) THE TILL is kaput! We experimented with a till, which did have its
benefits, but now it's beyond repair. If you have a working till to
donate, or a more imaginative solution to FareShares' POS conundrum,
please help! 

FB/FARESHARESCOOP

We need you not only to 'like' FaresharesCoOp on Facebook [17], but to
add your review of Fareshares' service, with a star rating. Scroll down
to the 'reviews' box on the right hand side, click the star rating and
add a few well-chosen words. 

Becky Buchanan said: 'A philosophical inspiration & a practical
blessing, you provide a focus for alternative living vital for a healthy
community & future.' 

Such testamonials show the world wide web and our land lord that
FareShares is nobody's business and certsinly not merely a shop, but it
is in fact & consensual actuality an experiment in community that has
run successfully for more than 25 years and is much appreciated. 

FareShares is operated by the people who use it. They volunteer for a
regular two-hour shift behind the counter, to unpack & display on
Wednesday afternoons, or to help manage the ordering and finances.
Volunteers are always welcome & needed. Pop into the shop! 

-- 
Fareshares Food Coop
56 Crampton Street
Thursdays: 2-8
Fridays: 4-7
Saturdays: 3-5

Links:
------
[1] http://fifediet.co.uk/2014/09/29/sweet-and-spicy-celebration-squash/
[2]
http://thesinglegourmetandtraveller.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/stuffed-harlequin-squash/
[3] http://www.lesauce.com/2009/10/i-love-you-delicata-squash.html
[4] http://www.lesauce.com/2009/01/i-love-you-kabocha-squash.html%20
[5] http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/red-kuri-squash-soup
[6] http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/recipes/squash
[7]
http://www.theflamingvegan.com/view-post/Risotto-With-Roasted-Butternut-Squash
[8]
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/roast-pumpkin-seeds-zmrz11zalt.aspx#axzz3HcfZ1Ju0
[9]
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/oct/28/make-perfect-pumpkin-pie
[10]
http://healthiersteps.com/VeganCooking/tabid/70/entryid/103/Jamaican-Pumpkin-Soup-Gluten-Free.aspx
[11]
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/sep/20/meet-the-quinoa-farmer-peter-fairs
[12] http://suttoncommunityfarm.org.uk/
[13]
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10559671/Sugar-is-as-dangerous-as-alcohol-and-tobacco-warn-health-experts.html
[14]
http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/food_and_drink/1336766/top_10alternatives_to_sugar.html
[15] http://www.suma.coop/resources/information-sheets/agave-syrup/
[16]
http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/13567-agave-nectar-worse-than-sugar.html?c=ngr
[17] https://www.facebook.com/FaresharesCoOp
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