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New Hot Food & Salad Bar!
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We can't believe it either! We're so proud to finally be able to offer hot, fresh, organic, local food to our community. A few facts about our new food bars: Breakfast items are out from 8am-11am. In addition to our regularly scheduled hot organic oatmeal, we have hot breakfast burritos (available as vegan, vegetarian, and meat options), fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, and hot cereal toppings. Lunch/Dinner menu items are available from 11am-8pm. This consists of a full salad bar featuring certified organic and/or locally grown produce, dressings, and classic salad toppings. We also have a rotating menu of hot food items (meat, vegetarian, and vegan). And of course our beloved vegan soups, as well as new soup recipes. Just like all the rest of our Co-op Kitchen deli items, all hot bar and salad bar ingredients will be made with all organic and/or local ingredients. Items are Certified Organic with the exception of sustainably grown local produce, local dairy products, and sustainable meats (such as Diestel Farms Turkey). If you have questions about our products or ingredients, feel free to ask! Take out boxes are from World Centric and are Non-GMO and biodegradable. Unfortunately, due to health code regulations, customers will be unable to use their own containers at this time. We hope to implement a reusable container program in the future!
All of the hot and cold foods are priced the same at $8.99/lb, so you can mix and match all of the ingredients in one container! Note: If you are purchasing using Calfresh/EBT/FoodStamps you must separate cold items from hot items. Only cold items qualify to be purchased through the program
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Your Patronage Dividend Donations
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I am brimming with excitement and co-op pride to share fabulous news about our 2013 Patronage Dividend donation program. The Co-op designed the flagship program to channel all unredeemed or selectively donated patronage rebates to the North State Food Bank. North State Food Bank is a program of Community Action Agency of Butte County, Inc. that covers Butte, Glenn, Colusa, Plumas, and Sierra counties in conjunction with Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.
Through generous donations, our co-op owners have funded the NSFB with a whopping $8,079.74! Through our donation partnership, CNFC is taking a leadership role in supporting critically important infrastructure to help alleviate local hunger issues.
This celebration worthy outcome of our forward-thinking planning and owner participation truly embodies the cooperative spirit!
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Liza Tedesco
General Manager
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On February 4, over 30 local farmers came out to the 1078 Gallery. They had been invited to the Chico Natural Food Cooperative’s first annual Farmer’s Meeting. There was an inspiring mix of old friends and new faces in attendance. After enjoying a lovely assortment of finger foods prepared by the Co-op Kitchen, everyone settled in for the main event. Cameron Scott, the Co-op’s Produce manager, began the conversation by laying out the four main topics to be discussed:
- Preplanning: Working with farmers to prepare a schedule for the upcoming year. Preplanning allows the Co-op to offer a wider variety of locally grown produce by providing farmers with a “shopping list” of items that the Co-op wants to purchase.
- Growing Standards: Detailing to new growers what the Co-op considers to be “sustainably grown”. Explaining that the Co-op’s high standards are how we honor the trust that our shoppers place in us.
- Buying Process: Describing the nuts-and-bolts of how the Produce Department orders, invoices, and pays for product.
- Merchandising: Highlighting how the Co-op helps to promote local producers, and how we can help new or established farms grow their business.
Cameron and the Produce Buyers, Tyler and Kevin, took turns elaborating on these four main points. The overarching theme of the evening was that the Co-op succeeds when we sell local produce, and that the procedures discussed in the meeting will help us to do that.
The meeting was the result of several months of hard work by the Co-op Produce department. After consulting with other Northern California cooperatives, our team realized what needed to be done to improve our already excellent local produce program: we needed to bring together as many organic and sustainable area farmers as possible under one roof and plan the agricultural year together. What followed were months of analyzing sales data, reaching out to growers, and writing (and rewriting) policy. All that behind-the-scenes work paid off in the incredibly productive planning meeting.
The night wrapped up with an extensive question and answer session. Throughout the discussion, people expressed amazement and inspiration at the fact that so many local farmers were gathered together in one place. As one attendee beautifully put it, “Agriculture is the culture of growing things, and I appreciate you engendering that culture”.
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Blossoming, blooming & buzzing. These actions fill the airs of this region each year in the springtime. The pink-white hues of budding fruit & nut trees attract buzzing bee pollinators in this seasonal ritual of growing support. To be outside, amid Mother Nature's footprint of growth is to feel connected to a bigger web of life: to feel reborn.
Step inside Chico Natural Foods Cooperative and witness the flare of newness that has been created & reborn. Feel a part of a bigger plan that is evolving as the Co-op sets forth a store "reset". A "planogram", a design to allow a intuitive flow while shopping has been achieved! This floor print is not based on a corporate design, nor a cookie cutter replication of a bigger natural food store image. Chico Natural Foods is a local independent cooperative, a member owned store. It has blossomed & bloomed its own image that is attractive both visually & intellectually.
Chico Natural Foods Co-op is part of a bigger web in our local community, supporting and interacting with local food purveyors, farmers, school garden educators & sustainability groups. These groups thrive from the continual support of the Co-op, and the Co-op is in like kind rekindled from interacting outside the walls of the store.
Renew, refer & revel in cooperative ownership.
And interact with us, the board; that is what a cooperative is all about, staying renewed.
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Laurie Niles
CNFC Board Member
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New Flavor!
Everyone's favorite Rice Chips from Lundberg now available in delicious Smoky Maple.
Certified Organic, Non-Gmo Project Verified, vegan, and gluten-free
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Ultra Thin Rice Cakes
Perfect for snacking. They come in Lundberg's traditional rice cake flavors, and covered in Chocolate! Look for them and all our rice cakes in the new bread section.
Thin Stackers are: Certified Organic, gluten-free, and vegan
Sweet Dreams are: Certified Organic, gluten-free, and made with Fair Trade chocolate.
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Non-GMO Popcorn
In Sea Salt, Sweet & Spicy, and Maple Sea Salt flavors.
Certified Organic (some varieties), Non-GMO Project Verified, gluten-free, & vegan.
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Bitsy's Brainfood
Cereal and cookies! Made with organic whole grains,fruits, and veggies.
Certified Organic, vegan, and made in a nut-free facility
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Macrobiotic Energy Bars
Available in four flavors:
sunflower butter & chocolate
peanut butter & chocolate
almond butter & carob
granola & coconut
Certified Organic, gluten-free, vegan, and macrobiotic
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Ballast Point IPAs
Available in Grapefruit Sculpin and Habenero Sculpin. From Bllast Point Brewery in San Diego.
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Organic Sprouted Flours
From One Degree Organic Foods. We are currently carrying the sprouted khorasan and sprouted spelt flours.
Certified Organic, vegan, and veganic
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Organic and Gluten-free Baking Mixes
From Wholesome Chow. Available in:
Brownie Mix
Chocolate Cake Mix
Lemon Poppy Muffin Mix
All-Purpose Baking Mix
Certified Organic, gluten-free, and vegan.
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Triple Berry Granola in Bulk
From International Harvest, the same people who brought you "Take A Hike" and "Take A Break" Trail Mixes. Low sugar, coconutty, and delicious. Made with cranberries, mulberries, bilberries, and cherries.
Certified Organic and vegan
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What's Local in Produce:
Comanche Creek in Chico, CA
Di Cicio Broccoli Bags
Arugula Bags
Baby Kale Bags
Red Russian Kale
Red Mustard Greens
Dandelion Greens
Tat Soi
French Breakfast Radish
Tokyo White Turnip
Scarlett Turnip
Farmelot
Redleaf Lettuce
Romaine Lettuce
Butterhead Lettuce
Pyramid Farm in Chico, CA
Green Cabbage
Nantes Carrots Heartseed Farm in Chico, CA
Collard Green Bunches
Lovely Spring Mix
Red Oak Leaf Lettuce
Grub Grown Nursey in Chico, CA
Marjoram
Thai Lime Leaf
Rosemary
Oregano
Sage
Thyme
Herb Bunches
Plant Starts Hand in Garden in Chico, CA
Melogold Grapefruit
Blood Oranges
Navel Oranges
Kumquats Harpo Organics in Ventura, CA
Valencia Oranges (bags) Ariza Farms in Capay, CA
Kiwi Fruit Good Faith Farm in Flournoy, CA
Kalamata Olives
Thyme & Vinegar Olives Mountain View Growers in Yuba City, CA
Hot House Tomatoes Turkey Tail Farms in Yankee Hill, CA
Flower Bouquets
Coming soon: Local asparagus, and local artichokes
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GROCERY
Cafix Instant Beverage Tins
Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
European Gourmet All Cake and Pudding Mixes
Lotus Foods Select Rice
Lundberg Farms Sweet Dream Organic Brown Rice Syrup
Mary's Gone Crackers Select Varieties
Sweet Leaf Tea Peach & Raspberry Iced Tea Beverages
Rice Dream All Rice and Almond Ice Cream Treats
PRODUCE
Organic Bags of Potatoes Russet, Yukon, & Red
Local Kiwis
Organic Young Thai Coconuts
CO-OP KITCHEN
Green Tea Scones
Elvis Cookies
Spinach Cilantro Hummus
Beet Pickled Eggs
WELLNESS/BODY CARE
Aura Cacia Roll On Aromatherapy Select Varieties
Seventh Generation All Feminine Care Products
Sustain Sustainable Condoms
Hylands Select Homeopathic Medicines
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