NEWS ARCHIVE

Choice leftovers for chooks, rabbits and hamsters
While the co-op composts almost all its food waste onsite in our wormfarms, we do have plenty of leafy green offcuts that in the past have found their way onto the dinner plates of members' chooks and rabbits. It's a win-win: the co-op finds a good home for the leftovers and the critters get to nibble away on discarded organics. If you'd like to feed your animals some choice offcuts, just drop by and ask one of the staff. Oh, BYO bucket or bag. (November 2006)

NEW FROM THE NSW NORTH COAST
A naturally sweeter coffee
Treageagle coffee is grown in the rich, red volcanic soils in the hinterland behind Ballina and Byron Bay on the NSW north coast. The soil and the subtropical climate produce a naturally sweeter bean that's lower in caffeine but still rich in flavour. It's pesticide-free and harvested, processed and roasted on the family-run plantation. Treageagle coffee is also highly regarded by international judging panels and casual coffee drinkers alike. It's also different from other locally-available organic coffees, in that it's Australian. Check out their website treageaglecoffee (December 2006)

AH wins local government environment award
On November 30, Alfalfa House took out the Waste category in Marrickville Council's 2006 Environment Awards for our long-standing efforts to reduce packaging and minimise waste going to landfill. (December 2006)

Critters in the Soygurts
We've learned that the Wildberry and Strawberry soygurts contain the colouring agent cochineal (120), which is made from the cochineal insect, a scale insect. The manufacturer informs us that when they didn't add the colouring, the soygurts were brown in colour, which apparently wasn't very attractive. They said if there was enough demand to remove it, they would considering doing so. You can email them with your comments if you like by clicking here. in line with Alfalfa House's objects, we've discontinued these two varieties. The others – natural, vanilla, peach+mango and banana+passionfruit – are unaffected. (November 2006)

Dips dip out
We've reluctantly decided to discontinue the Delicious Dips hummus, babaghanouj, tsatsiki and pesto. The hummus and babaghanouj often went mouldy well before the use-by date. Efforts to remedy the problem so far haven't worked. (December 2006)

Side wall mural gets the nod
Our graffiti-strewn side wall is about to get a most welcome facelift. The building's owner has approved a mural for the wall along Philip Street; Marrickville Council will help fund the project; and we're running a competition to find a design. “We want to capture what the co-op is all about: wholesome organic food, care for ourselves and the planet and the inclusive nature of the place,” says Co-op Manager Sarah Cook. “We also want to include space for a blackboard in the design.” So, if you have some ideas or a sketch, we'd love to see them. Click here to email them. (November 2006)

Oakland bans the plastic bag
On July 17, Oakland's city council in California banned
petroleum-based plastic bags distributed at retail stores doing a million dollars of business or more annually. As well, paper bag standards were enacted: they must be made of 40% post-consumer waste, have no old growth content, and be 100% recyclable. Retailers must also offer compostable plastic bags. The City Council's Public Works Committee, in forging the ban, said, "Globally, 500 billion to one trillion single-use disposable plastic bags are used each year . . . Almost 10 percent of U.S. oil consumption is used to make plastic, including single-use plastic bags, so discouraging their use advances the mission of the Oil Independent Oakland by 2020 taskforce."
Culture Change July 19, 2007

The new gold
When Camille Malfroy came to these shores in search of gold back in the 1850s, he probably didn't think his descendants 150 years later would still be wandering all over NSW in search of gold, albeit a different kind of gold – honey that is. But that's exactly what the modern-day Malfroys are up to. The Malfroys are migratory beekeepers, moving their hives in search of the best honey flow for their bees. They only sell what their bees produce and what they produce is simply extracted, settled and then poured into a drum. The honey is not overheated. You can check out the honey in the co-op right now. There's two from which to choose: Red Stringybark and Yellowbox. (July 2007)

Facelift for the bins and jars
All the bins, jars and dispensers in the shop have been relabelled to include the product's status (organic, biodynamic or standard) and country of origin. (April 2007)

New advice service: Ask Rebecca
Want to know what a particular product might be good for? Well, co-op member and naturopath, Rebecca Goldhurst has kindly offerred to answer member enquiries of a general nature about the foods we stock. Members can contact her by email, by clicking here. If you want to know whether a product is in stock, you'll either need to check the WHAT WE SELL list on Products or email by clicking here or call the co-op (9519 3374). (September 2007)

Passing on the true cost of EFTPOS
Businesses that provide an EFTPOS facility are charged a fee for each transaction. While the co-op has always charged a fee on credit card transactions, we haven't applied it to shoppers using debit cards or EFTPOS transactions. However, transaction fees cost the co-op around $500 a month and we need to recoup that cost. So rather than include this cost in our product markups, as other businesses do, the co-op applies a surcharge on both credit card and debit card (e.g., VisaDebit) transactions and on EFTPOS (savings or cheque) transactions. Applying the charge is fairer than extending the cost to cash shoppers. The change was introduced on July 2, 2007.

Choice leftovers for chooks, rabbits and hamsters While the co-op composts almost all its food waste onsite in our wormfarms, we do have plenty of leafy green offcuts that in the past have found their way onto the dinner plates of members' chooks and rabbits. It's a win-win: the co-op finds a good home for the leftovers and the critters get to nibble away on discarded organics. If you'd like to feed your animals some choice offcuts, just drop by and ask one of the staff. Oh, BYO bucket or bag. (November 2006) NEW FROM THE NSW NORTH COAST A naturally sweeter coffee Treageagle coffee is grown in the rich, red volcanic soils in the hinterland behind Ballina and Byron Bay on the NSW north coast. The soil and the subtropical climate produce a naturally sweeter bean that's lower in caffeine but still rich in flavour. It's pesticide-free and harvested, processed and roasted on the family-run plantation. Treageagle coffee is also highly regarded by international judging panels and casual coffee drinkers alike. It's also different from other locally-available organic coffees, in that it's Australian. Check out their website treageaglecoffee (December 2006) AH wins local government environment award On November 30, Alfalfa House took out the Waste category in Marrickville Council's 2006 Environment Awards for our long-standing efforts to reduce packaging and minimise waste going to landfill. (December 2006) Critters in the Soygurts We've learned that the Wildberry and Strawberry soygurts contain the colouring agent cochineal (120), which is made from the cochineal insect, a scale insect. The manufacturer informs us that when they didn't add the colouring, the soygurts were brown in colour, which apparently wasn't very attractive. They said if there was enough demand to remove it, they would considering doing so. You can email them with your comments if you like by clicking here. in line with Alfalfa House's objects, we've discontinued these two varieties. The others – natural, vanilla, peach+mango and banana+passionfruit – are unaffected. (November 2006) Dips dip out We've reluctantly decided to discontinue the Delicious Dips hummus, babaghanouj, tsatsiki and pesto. The hummus and babaghanouj often went mouldy well before the use-by date. Efforts to remedy the problem so far haven't worked. (December 2006) Side wall mural gets the nod Our graffiti-strewn side wall is about to get a most welcome facelift. The building's owner has approved a mural for the wall along Philip Street; Marrickville Council will help fund the project; and we're running a competition to find a design. “We want to capture what the co-op is all about: wholesome organic food, care for ourselves and the planet and the inclusive nature of the place,” says Co-op Manager Sarah Cook. “We also want to include space for a blackboard in the design.” So, if you have some ideas or a sketch, we'd love to see them. Click here to email them. (November 2006) Oakland bans the plastic bag On July 17, Oakland's city council in California banned petroleum-based plastic bags distributed at retail stores doing a million dollars of business or more annually. As well, paper bag standards were enacted: they must be made of 40% post-consumer waste, have no old growth content, and be 100% recyclable. Retailers must also offer compostable plastic bags. The City Council's Public Works Committee, in forging the ban, said, "Globally, 500 billion to one trillion single-use disposable plastic bags are used each year . . . Almost 10 percent of U.S. oil consumption is used to make plastic, including single-use plastic bags, so discouraging their use advances the mission of the Oil Independent Oakland by 2020 taskforce." Culture Change July 19, 2007 The new gold When Camille Malfroy came to these shores in search of gold back in the 1850s, he probably didn't think his descendants 150 years later would still be wandering all over NSW in search of gold, albeit a different kind of gold – honey that is. But that's exactly what the modern-day Malfroys are up to. The Malfroys are migratory beekeepers, moving their hives in search of the best honey flow for their bees. They only sell what their bees produce and what they produce is simply extracted, settled and then poured into a drum. The honey is not overheated. You can check out the honey in the co-op right now. There's two from which to choose: Red Stringybark and Yellowbox. (July 2007) Facelift for the bins and jars All the bins, jars and dispensers in the shop have been relabelled to include the product's status (organic, biodynamic or standard) and country of origin. (April 2007) New advice service: Ask Rebecca Want to know what a particular product might be good for? Well, co-op member and naturopath, Rebecca Goldhurst has kindly offerred to answer member enquiries of a general nature about the foods we stock. Members can contact her by email, by clicking here. If you want to know whether a product is in stock, you'll either need to check the WHAT WE SELL list on Products or email by clicking here or call the co-op (9519 3374). (September 2007) Passing on the true cost of EFTPOS Businesses that provide an EFTPOS facility are charged a fee for each transaction. While the co-op has always charged a fee on credit card transactions, we haven't applied it to shoppers using debit cards or EFTPOS transactions. However, transaction fees cost the co-op around $500 a month and we need to recoup that cost. So rather than include this cost in our product markups, as other businesses do, the co-op applies a surcharge on both credit card and debit card (e.g., VisaDebit) transactions and on EFTPOS (savings or cheque) transactions. Applying the charge is fairer than extending the cost to cash shoppers. The change was introduced on July 2, 2007.
	©1998-2008 ALFALFA HOUSE COMMUNITY FOOD COOPERATIVE LTD