april 2020...new schedules were deployed, not without some hiccups on tuesday the 24th, the day the...

Hello, fellow Owners and shoppers.

The last time you heard from me was the January edition of the Scoop. In that article I wrote: “What an interesting and exciting year ahead of us.” The current situation, a national public health emergency and pandemic, is not what I had in mind.

As you no doubt know by now, there have been a number of changes in the stores to reduce the risk of sharing or acquiring COVID-19. The changes are to protect both our staff and the customers. Our hard-working and dedicated staff are at the front lines in this war against this virus and the Board is extremely grateful to them.

The Board’s Executive Committee decided to cancel the March Board meeting to allow General Manager Cindee Lolik and her staff to focus on managing the impacts from this emergency.

The April Board and Committee meetings will be held remotely using video or teleconferencing. The April Board agenda will include a start of the discussion and, possibly, decision on the issuance of 2019 Patronage Dividends.

If you would like to address the Board or any of the committees on this or another item, please use email at [email protected], which you can find a link to in the Co-op Governance section under Our Co-op at firstalt.coop.

You can keep up-to-date on changes at the store by following @firstaltcoop on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or by visiting firstalt.coop/COVID-19.

Even with the strange situation we’re in, we are celebrating 50 years of providing organic, local and other wonderful products for our Owners and other customers. Some of the planned events have been canceled or postponed until we can once again gather to celebrate.

It is still our our 50th anniversary, and some local companies have made aamzing exclusive products for us. We also have our own 50th Anniversary merchandise

like shirts, mugs, and stickers. They might become collector’s items—but even if they don’t, they are great products I’m sure you will enjoy—so look for them.

Thank you for shopping at the stores and complying with the minimizing visits, social distancing, and all other safety guidelines. We appreciate your patience as we work together, dealing with the inconveniences resulting from this emergency, and are looking forward to when things return to something that resembles “normal.”

I closed my January article with the same sentiment I have for you today: “Best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy 2020. I look forward to seeing you while shopping and celebrating our 50th year.”

For your Co-op staff and undoubtedly for most of you, our Owners and

Shoppers, March came in like a lion, and that lion has continued its roar right into April.

The past month has been one fast change after another for all of us. Here at the Co-op we’ve been doing our best to try to stay apace with all the ways we can make shopping with the Co-op as safe as possible.

We’ve been updating you on all the changes through social media and with signage inside the stores and will continue to make sure that you have all the information you need to know how we are operating and how we are taking care of our staff and our customers.

What you don’t see is what is behind the scenes. An example, after deciding to

reduce our store hours we needed to move very quickly from the decision on Saturday, March 21 to roll out that decision as soon as possible.

Store Managers mobilized their teams to rewrite schedules and to check in with all staff to make sure everyone was notified of the decision and why it was being made. New schedules were deployed, not without some hiccups on Tuesday the 24th, the day the hours changed.

Some other changes I'd like to address:Special Orders: We know that special orders are frankly a reason the Co-op is a special place to shop. Our decision to suspend them for the duration of the disruptions to the supply chain was not an easy one. Our reasoning is sound. Our distributor has been unable to fulfill orders for the shelves for many of the products that our customers were special ordering and in reality we have no idea when those orders may actually be filled.

Our Front End staff have been overwhelmed by the dramatic increase in business and we are a bit short staffed since we are allowing staff to remain at home if they are not comfortable at work and the Front End takes and processes almost every special order.

Delivery and pickup: Boy, this is new territory for the Co-op! Usually programs like this take literally months to develop, test and then finally roll out. We have been filling orders for pickup and taking calls for delivery since the second week of March on a word-of-mouth basis and have now rolled out a program for pickup and delivery services for those who need it.

Learn more about these new services on the next page..

We are truly grateful for such a fabulous staff, Owners and customers during this time. We will do our best to keep you updated and are working diligently on keeping all of us safe, we are currently making or planning changes every day with this in mind.

Be well.

From the

Board of DirectorsJim MitchellPresident

April 2020

Both Co-op locations will be open9am-7pm daily until further notice

NEW STORE HOURS

9 AM - 7 PM

From the

GeneralManagerCindee Lolik

Other important info about changes at your Co-op inside!

Please practice social distancing while shopping

A guide to ongoing changes at the Co-op

For an up-to-date list of changes visit

firstalt.coop/COVID-19

• We want to express our sincere gratitude to our staff, who are truly the backbone of the Co-op’s ability to provide for our community. They are on the front line, bravely showing up each and every day to make a difference. Here’s what we’re doing to support our amazing staff: We are providing all staff working in the stores with an extra “Community Hero” bonus, equivalent to an extra $2/hour for all hours worked in the stores. This is retroactive back to March 1 and will continue until further notice.

• New store hours: 9 am -7 pm daily This temporary reduction in hours will help us maintain adequate staffing, keep up with increased cleaning and sanitizing, and ensure the well-being of our staff and customers.

• Reusable containers from home will not be permitted for the time being in order to minimize the risk of contamination entering the store. Please use a new container for all bulk and produce purchases until further notice.

• We have suspended the Fresh Flyer, our in-house sales flyer due to unusual supply challenges. We still have great sale pricing throughout the store! Just look for Co+op Deals and Co+op Basics tags and save. Please be aware that due to supply challenges some of these items may be out of stock.

• We have suspended the Beans For Bags program, Current recipient organizations will receive the full quarterly donation amount, divided up proportionally based on the tokens already placed in the bean jars. If we are unable to resume the program by next quarter, those recipient organizations will have the donation amount divided evenly between them.

• Hot food and salad bars are closed until further notice. Our kitchen is hard at work turning your hot bar and salad bar favorites into heat 'n' eat meals for our expanded Grab 'N' Go. Have a look at the menu to the right.

Co-op Kitchen Grab ‘N’ Go Dinner Menu

Delivery and Pick-Up Programs

Out of an abundance of caution our hot food and salad bars will be closed until further notice. The Co-op Kitchen remains committed to feeding the community and is now cooking up delicious Grab ‘N’ Go versions of some hot bar favorites. Every day you'll find freshly prepared food ready to take home to your family. Here's the current menu! In addition to these selections, look for popular prepared salads like our Beet and Walnut salad in convenient to-go containers.

We understand that shopping can be stressful right now. First Alternative Co-op is trying to help make it a little easier by offering pick-up and delivery services for high-risk shoppers who can’t currently venture out into public. We are still here for you.

Pick-up: Pick-up orders can be placed 9 am - 4 pm daily at both stores. To place a pick-up order, please call the store you would like to pick-up at directly. We will do our best to accommodate same day orders, but will coordinate specific details with you when you place your order depending on our capacity.

Delivery: Deliveries will be available Monday-Friday. Please visit firstalt.coop/order for more information about the process and to place a delivery order. Deliveries require 24 hours notice. Delivery is limited to a 10 mile radius.

There is a minimum order of $30 for pick-up and delivery. We encourage you to choose the pick-up option if you have the ability to safely do so, allowing us to ensure delivery services are available for seniors and those who are at high risk. There is no pick-up or delivery fee at this time, as we are offering these as a community service during the pandemic.

V: Vegan, DF: Dairy free, WF: Wheat free


MONDAY

Veggie Mac n Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 oz. $4.99 Veggie Mac n Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 oz. $8.99Ratatouille (V, WF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 oz. $7.99

TUESDAY

Coconut Curry Tofu (V, WF) . . . . . . . . . . . .16 oz. $6.99Pork Fried Rice (WF, DF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 oz. $4.99Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken, Coconut Rice, and Sesame Stir Fry (WF, DF) . . . . . . . . . .32 oz. $11.99Vegan Enchiladas (V, WF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 oz. $8.99

WEDNESDAY

Saucy Black Beans, Mexican Rice, and Fajita Veggie (V, WF) . . . . . . . . . . 32 oz. $8.99Meat Lasagna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 oz. $9.99

THURSDAY

Chicken Tikka Masala (WF). . . . . . . . . . . 16 oz. $8.99Chicken Tikka Masala (WF). . . . . . . . . . 32 oz. $16.99Saag Paneer (WF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 oz. $6.99Aloo Gobi (WF, V) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 oz. $4.99Chicken Tikka Masala, and Indian Rice (WF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 oz. $11.99

FRIDAY

Veggie Lo Mein (V) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 oz. $5.99Veggie Mac n Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 oz. $8.99Chicken Enchiladas (WF) . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 oz. $11.99

SATURDAY

Yellow Veggie Curry (V, WF) . . . . . . . . . . 16 oz. $5.99Thai Chicken, Veggie Fried Rice (WF, DF) . 32 oz. $11.99Thai Peanut Tofu, Veggie Fried Rice, and Yellow Veggie Curry (WF, DF) . . . 32 oz. $9.99Vegan Enchiladas (V, WF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 oz. $9.99

SUNDAY

Tuna Noodle Casserole . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 oz. $5.99Vegan Mashers (V, WF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 oz. $3.99Herb Chicken, Vegan Mashers, and Simply Delicious Corn . . . . . . . . 32 oz. $11.99

Weight is container sizeAll foods ready to heat and eat!



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Veggie Lo Mein

Saucy Black Beans with Mexican Rice and Fajita Veggies


Saturday, May 2, 11 am - 12:30 pmSouth Store Meeting RoomYogada Kriya Surat Shabda YogaCost: free • Consciousness is Life or “God.” Without consciousness is anything “Real”? What is first, consciousness or the “things” of Realities (Vibratory Worlds, Multi-verses, etc.) we perceive? It takes consciousness first! So: consciousness is required to experience anything including one's own thoughts, possessions, opinions; empowering “everyone” and “everything.” So it can be said that the “outside” exists only with permission of the “inside.” If you ask Earth-based scientists what is consciousness, they haven't a clue! ( Just external speculation.) Is consciousness the greatest gift? We take it for granted. Keith is teaching the Ancient Science of Consciousness as taught for 1,000's of years (which began) as taught in the Himalayas and then worldwide. Traveling Home on the Sound Current. All of life is vibrating...” Learn more at Keith's free talks [email protected]. Web: YogadaKriyaSuratShabdayoga.com.

Wednesday, May 6, 6 - 7:30 pm South Store Meeting Room (or Zoom online if meeting room remains closed)Self Care Class: Acupressure, Movement & LifestyleFree, donations to the South Corvallis Food Bank are appreciated • First Wednesdays of each month we will explore a different topic. May’s topic: Spring Cleaning for Body & Mind. Learn simple but potent points to hold on yourself or loved ones, as well as easy movements and lifestyle suggestions to support healthy living. Each month. Please R.S.V.P. [email protected], (541) 752-1997.

Wednesday, May 18 7 - 8:30 pm South Store Meeting RoomEliminating Pain & InflammationCost: $5 • Go beyond symptom management of your health problems by identifying where your body is compromised in its ability to remove inflammation, learning how to strengthen those weaknesses, and removing what is causing this inflammation at the root cause level naturally without necessarily having to go the route of medication or surgery. If you're looking for more energy, vitality, and a potentially longer life, you won't want to miss this seminar. Your $5.00 ticket for the class will come back to you at the class in the form of a coupon good for $5.00 off any item in the Co-op's Wellness department.

Jonathan Ley trained and worked with the former President of the American Medical Naturopathic Association and educates and works with people all across North America with a variety of health conditions from the relatively simple all the way up to late-stage cancer.

Please make sure your email address is up to date with your cashier or at Customer Service.

Attention Owners Is your email address

up-to-date?

With the introduction of electronic voting, you can now receive your ballot via email! Electronic voting is

quick, easy, and secure.

May Classes at the Co-opDue to current events all May classes are tentative.

Follow us on Facebook for up to the date info.

April Classes Cancelled

Dear Co-op Owners,

We would like to hear from you! Questions, comments, great notions... Send us letters and we'll publish what we can every month in The Scoop. Not all letters will be published, but we'll do our best! Letters over 250 words will be edited for length. All letters are subject to editing for spelling, grammar and clarity. Letters should include the author’s name, Owner number, and contact information. Contact info won't be published. Opinions are not necessarily supported by Co-op, Board, staff, or Owners.

Email your letters to: [email protected] or mail them to 1007 SE 3rd St., Attn: The Scoop. Deadline for submissions is the 15th of the month prior to the publication date.

@firstaltcoop

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Due to the circumstances, we will not be publishing community calendars this month. Thanks for understanding.

Instructions:The night before, rinse and sort beans (check for dirt or stones). Put beans in a bowl, cover with water and soak overnight (at least 8 hours.)

The next morning, sauté the diced onions in the olive oil until translucent, about five minutes. Add minced garlic, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, and pepper and sauté for another minute, until aromatic. Drain the water from the beans. Add the beans and sautéed mixture together into a slow cooker. Cover with water. Run the slow cooker on low for eight hours with the lid on. After the cook time is up, add the salt and stir it in well.

Serve over rice and garnish with scallions.

Makes about 4-6 servings.

This well-seasoned mix of black and pinto beans is simple, nourishing, and loaded with flavor. It makes an easy, vegan, gluten free meal served with a healthy scoop of rice. Enhance the bodaciousness even further with a tasty hunk of moist cornbread, a dollop of sour cream and/or some shredded cheese. Heat-seekers, pump up the spice with a few drops (or a heavy squirt) of your favorite hot sauce!

Dry beans are super easy to cook, but they do require soaking, which means a small amount of planning. If it’s 5 pm and you’re thinking of beans for dinner, why not plan them for tomorrow’s dinner and pick something else tonight? Put the beans to soak overnight and with a bit of morning prep and a slow cooker, all you need to do at dinnertime is make the rice.

Ingredients:1/2 cup dry black beans1 cup dry pinto beans1 tbsp. olive oil1/2 yellow onion, diced1 clove garlic, minced1 tsp. cumin1 tsp. chili powder1/4 tsp. black pepper1/4 tsp. cayenne1 tsp. sea salt

For more recipes, visit: firstalt.coop/recipes

There's nothing like home cooking...and, well, for the time being, there's little else. In kitchens across the county, country, and world, cooks are getting back to the basics to feed their families. We thought this was the perfect time to dive into our library of recipes and share some easy classic recipes made from staple ingredients with all you cooped up cooperators. On our new blog, Co-op Classics: Home Cooking we'll be sharing simple, delicious recipes in categories like Kiddos in the Kitchen, Crockpots & Casseroles, and Brunches & Lunches. But first, let's kick the cookery off with A Whole Lotta Legumes...

april 2020...new schedules were deployed, not without some hiccups on tuesday the 24th, the day the...

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