Kernza Grain N/A Beer
I write today to inform your beer purchasers of another carbon reducing effort I would like to support—and would like the coop to support. Deschutes Brewery and Patagonia Provisions partnered to develop N/A and regular lager beer from kernza grain. The product has won some awards. As I am sure the Coop’s buyers know, kernza is an ancient, perennial grain that grows very deep roots and sequesters significant amounts of carbon. You already carry kernza cereal from Cascadian Farms. You also carry products by Patagonia Provisions and Deschutes Brewery. Low carbon beer seems like a natural for a Wisconsin coop. I will buy the product if you stock it.
Thanks so much for your email regarding kernza grain beer! Willy North is already carrying Deschutes 6 packs of NA Kernza Golden Brew. I will look into Patagonia Provisions beers, as we haven’t carried any of their beers previously and am not sure which alcohol distributor works with this brand. I appreciate your feedback! -Nick Heitman, Meat, Seafood, Beer, Wine & Spirits Category Manager
Plastic in Produce
Something I like to do when shopping at the co-op is checking out the discount not-so-hot fruit and veg. While I like to buy these items often, something that often is discouraging is the amount of plastic I am accumulating from grabbing items in this section. I like shopping at the co-op for the reduced/no plastic ways of shopping. While I understand that the plastic bags make it easier to sell the items together, is there a way for these to be packaged without the plastic bags?
Thanks for the comment. Reducing plastic use in the Co-op is an important issue that we continue to work on as an organization. We’ve trialed some alternative products, found success with some of those for other applications throughout the stores, but they did not hold up well in the discount produce areas. We’ll keep looking. I think as a result of general growing consumer concern around plastics, we’ll see some better options soon! -Andy Johnston, Produce Category Manager
Double Dollars
Thank you for the Double Dollars! This, and that other food program you offer, are so very welcome right now especially! Excellent presentation on this Double Dollars program online, but I did want to ask, or just clarify, that there are no dairy or meat products included. If this is correct, I can understand why this is the case, and I understand the goal. Just wondering: if there have been a lot of questions about this, perhaps the online info can be expanded to include this info Thanks again for these programs, you guys. It means a lot. By the way, I am one of the many, many Elders, who co-founded this co-op grocery movement, and I want to tell you that I am proud of you.
First off, thank you for being a founding Owner with us! We would not be where we are today without you. Thank you for your kind positive feedback on how we have gone about supporting the Double Dollars program this month. It means a lot to us. You are correct, both meat and dairy products are not part of the Dollars Program due to us needing to follow USDA nutrition grant guidelines, in addition to having the same parameters as our Dane County Farmers’ Market partners. We sit on the City/County Double Dollars stakeholders core team, and we all have to follow the same guidelines due to funding parameters. Thanks for asking. -Kristina Kuhaupt, Customer Experience Manager
New Century Eggs
I usually buy my organic eggs from a lady who raises chickens. I eat them hard boiled daily. Yesterday I ran out of eggs. So I bought New Century Farm Pasture Raised Organic Eggs from you. Best eggs i’ve ever had. Thank you so much for having them.
So glad you liked the New Century Eggs! We are a pretty big fan of them around here also. -Jason Zabinski, Willy East Grocery Manager
Abe’s Cornbread
Why don’t you have Abe’s cornbread anymore? It’s the best we’ve ever had.
Thank you for asking about the Abe’s Cornbread. We have been wondering the same thing ourselves. It’s been out of stock from our vendor for a good while now. I assure you we have not discontinued the cornbread and that we continue to order it. Hopefully it will be available to us and back on the shelves again soon. -Bob Smith, Willy East Deli Manager
Kudos to Co-op Drivers
I live right by Willy East and frequently walk in the neighborhood around there, the production kitchen, and the main office. I see staff driving the Willy St Co-op vehicles, including the big trucks, all the time, and they do such a good job! They are always going slow and seem very conscious of all the pedestrians and bicyclists in the area. I really notice the difference when I am in crosswalks. The Co-op staff always make eye contact with me and give me a wave so I know it is safe to cross in front of them. I wish this were normal behavior for all drivers, but it isn’t. I’m glad that at least the Co-op staff are trying to keep the streets safe. Thanks!
Thank you so much for reaching out! This is such a nice comment to receive. My team is in charge of transporting the Deli and Bakery items from our Off-Site Kitchen to all sites with our large box truck, and delivering food to the Madison Children’s Museum using vans from our little fleet. They’ll be happy to hear that their safe and considerate driving has been noticed. -Lacey Smith, Logistics Manager
Wallaby Yogurt
Please return wallaby yogurt: https://wallabyyogurt.com/ . You used to stock it, and now only Whole Foods has it. It is very inconvenient for me to go there just for yogurt since I leave on the east side. Any time i go to get yogurt there, i buy all other groceries there too. I prefer shopping at my local coop vs Whole Foods, but there’s no comparable alternative to this yogurt. And when i say tried all of your yogurt – I tried it all.
Thank you for your email, and we too want Wallaby to return to the Co-op. Wallaby was recently bought out by another company, so their distribution changed. We are awaiting our distribution partners to have them back in their catalog. When that happens, we will have it back on the shelves. Sorry for the inconvenience, but this soon should be resolved. -Garet Bauer, Willy East Assistant Grocery Manager
Gift Cards for Classes
I have a quick question about the kids cooking classes you offer. Do I need to be a co-op member to reserve a spot, and also, I’d like to give this to my nephew as a birthday gift but want to allow them to choose which classes. Is there any sort of gift certificate option I could give them that they could put towards classes?
What a fun gift idea! You do not need to be an Owner to register for classes. Sprouts kids classes are $15 for Owners and $25 for non-owners. If you’re interested in becoming an Owner (for as little as $10 for the year), check out our Ownership information and pricing on our website: willystreet.coop/ownership. We don’t have a gift certificate specifically for classes, but you could purchase a gift card at any of our stores or over the phone. Alternatively, we can send you a link to pay for a certain number of classes, and then your nephew can register for the classes he wants via the registration form. Please let me know which is easier for you, and I can help you with that. -Liz Hawley, Education and Outreach Coordinator
Editor’s Note: We now have class-themed gift cards at Customer Service.
Chicken Vaccines
Thanks for your article on “Know your local egg farmer”. I have a question: Is M&M Organic Farms the only egg producer that vaccinates their chickens or did the other producers just not mention that because it wasn’t directly asked? I’m also interested in what you can tell me about the use of MRNA vaccines for livestock by any of the meat and dairy producers that sell their products at the Co-op.
Thank you for your questions. We did not ask our egg producers specifically about vaccinations. The question we asked was how animals were treated if they were sick. So that just came up as part of M & M Organic Farms’ answer. I checked in with my colleague about meat producers using mRNA vaccines. As far as we know, there are no mRNA vaccines currently licensed or approved for use for dairy or beef cattle. -Dean Kallas, Grocery Category Manager
Bucket-O-Butts
Bucket-o-Butts. Sell the butts of the sweet breads as a gag gift to send to friends – or enemies.
Thank you for taking the time to write to us with your idea about our ends of the loaves of our sweet breads! We will discuss this idea within our team here at the Willy Street Co-op Kitchen. Your friends and enemies alike would be able to make a delicious bread pudding with those! -Renee Strobel, Kitchen Director
Straus Ice Cream
Kudos to the purchasing department for buying Straus Ice Cream. Someone did their homework and discovered the cutting edge research Straus Creamery has done with UC Davis. The astonishing breakthrough in reducing methane emission from dairy cows is very important for dairy farmers and society combating climate change. Straus is helping all of us. We in turn should support it. If you buy Strauss milk or other products, I will buy them, too. Please let us know if other dairy suppliers in your store are following Staus’ example.
Thank you for your positive comments about Straus Family Creamery. They have done some interesting work with UC Davis that could have an impact on the methane emissions of cows. I have not heard or read much lately about other companies’ incorporation of red seaweed as a feed supplement in their dairy or cattle herds, but it sounds promising! -Dean Kallas, Grocery Category Manager
