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Solar Powered Real Pickles Wins Two Good Food Awards

Real Pickles, a Greenfield, MA worker co-operative, won two Good Food Awards on January 17th for their Organic Beet Kvass and Organic Nettle Kraut.  Real Pickles co-owners Annie Winkler and Greg Nichols received the awards at a San Francisco gala hosted by renowned farm labor activist Dolores Huerta, food author Michael Pollan, and chef Alice Waters.  The Good Food Awards recognizes American food and drink crafters who demonstrate both a mastery of their craft and a commitment to maintaining exceptionally high social and environmental standards in their work. 

Staff at Real Pickles

A timely example of Real Pickles’ commitment to responsible food is their recent 31-kW solar array which, installed beside their existing 17-kW array, makes Real Pickles’ facility 100% solar powered. “Environmental sustainability and strong regional food systems are at the core of our mission,” says Dan Rosenberg, founder, and general manager. “We are always seeking ways to reduce our carbon emissions, increase our use of renewable energy, and support policies that push for climate mitigation.”

In operation since 2001, Real Pickles makes fermented dill pickles, sauerkraut, beets, kimchi, hot sauce, and other traditional pickled foods. The co-operative buys over 300,000 pounds of certified organic produce each year from Northeast family farms.  The winning products feature beets from Harlow Farm in Westminster, VT; cabbage from Atlas Farm in South Deerfield, MA; and fresh nettles from Sawmill Farm in Florence, MA, and Zack Woods Herb Farm in Hyde Park, VT. 

“These awards highlight the reason we’re in business,” said Annie Winkler, production manager. “We are proud to contribute to a community that values a healthy and nourishing food system – for people, communities, and our planet.”

The Good Food Awards celebrated its tenth anniversary by announcing 219 winners in sixteen food categories who are fostering land stewardship, strengthening communities, and building soil health. 

The winners rose to the top in a blind tasting of 1,835 entries, then passed a rigorous vetting to confirm they meet Good Food Awards standards regarding ingredient sourcing and environmentally sound agricultural practices.

Real Pickles products are sold at over 500 retail outlets in the Northeast, including co-operative grocers, natural food stores, and regional farm stands. 

Spotlight on SunRidge Farms

We’re casting our Co-op Spotlight on SunRidge Farms this week! All of their products are 20% off for member-owners from April 18th – 24th. Read on to learn more about their commitment to offering nutritious, ecologically respectful, and sustainable foods for more than 30 years!

The Company

SunRidge Farms is a family-owned business that has been producing high-quality foods for more than 30 years. Their organic and natural food offerings can be found throughout our bulk department and are a reflection of the company’s commitment to a healthier lifestyle – a commitment that extends to the environment, the supply chain, and their community. They carefully source quality ingredients from suppliers who share their values and source organic, non-GMO, and Fair Trade ingredients whenever possible. They choose to offer their products in bulk as a way to demonstrate the value of purchasing foods in a manner that reduces cost and waste. Their facility, located in Royal Oaks, California, is completely solar-powered and their fleet of trucks run on bio-diesel. They also pay an extra $5 per day to their team members who choose to bike to work. These measures add up to a greatly reduced carbon footprint for their company and a lineup of products that you can feel good about.

The Mission

  • SunRidge Farms is committed to providing the healthiest products to their customers by producing foods without highly processed or refined ingredients. We are dedicated to sourcing Non-GMO (genetically modified) ingredients.
  • SunRidge Farms is committed to the planet and supports organic farming and sustainable practices.
  • SunRidge Farms sincerely believes that it is essential to aid in the conservation of ecological diversity, wildlife, and natural terrain in order to preserve our world. Their contributions include substantial donations toward the successful resolution of environmental, social, food-related issues on both local and global levels.

The Vision

SunRidge Farms is committed to offering nutritious, ecologically respectful, and sustainable foods to their communities. Their complete line of certified organic and naturally grown products aids and supports an authentic lifestyle and display a commitment to food safety, ecological integrity, and excellence.
Their Green Commitment is centric to all of their business decisions. The manufacturing facility is solar-powered, and they support sustainable farming practices, energy usage, recycling, and freshness. Their goal is to enhance connections between consumers, retail stores, farmers, and suppliers.
They also embrace the many opportunities to contribute toward ecological diversity, wildlife, and the preservation of natural terrain. Reducing the impacts of global climate change and respecting the earth and its beings are vital to all that they do. Their support includes substantial donations toward environmental, social, food-related, educational and world hunger issues.

 

Spotlight on Sunridge Farms

We’re casting our Co-op Spotlight on SunRidge Farms this week! All of their products are 20% off for member-owners from March 29th – April 4th. Read on to learn more about their commitment to offering nutritious, ecologically respectful, and sustainable foods for more than 30 years!

The Company

SunRidge Farms is a family-owned business that has been producing high-quality foods for more than 30 years. Their organic and natural food offerings can be found throughout our bulk department and are a reflection of the company’s commitment to a healthier lifestyle – a commitment that extends to the environment, the supply chain, and their community. They carefully source quality ingredients from suppliers who share their values and source organic, non-GMO, and Fair Trade ingredients whenever possible. They choose to offer their products in bulk as a way to demonstrate the value of purchasing foods in a manner that reduces cost and waste. Their facility, located in Royal Oaks, California, is completely solar-powered and their fleet of trucks run on bio-diesel. They also pay an extra $5 per day to their team members who choose to bike to work. These measures add up to a greatly reduced carbon footprint for their company and a lineup of products that you can feel good about.

The Mission

  • SunRidge Farms is committed to providing the healthiest products to their customers by producing foods without highly processed or refined ingredients. We are dedicated to sourcing Non-GMO (genetically modified) ingredients.
  • SunRidge Farms is committed to the planet and supports organic farming and sustainable practices.
  • SunRidge Farms sincerely believes that it is essential to aid in the conservation of ecological diversity, wildlife, and natural terrain in order to preserve our world. Their contributions include substantial donations toward the successful resolution of environmental, social, food related issues on both local and global levels.

The Vision

SunRidge Farms is committed to offering nutritious, ecologically respectful, and sustainable foods to their communities. Their complete line of certified organic and naturally grown products aids and supports an authentic lifestyle and display a commitment to food safety, ecological integrity, and excellence.
Their Green Commitment is centric to all of their business decisions. The manufacturing facility is solar-powered, and they support sustainable farming practices, energy usage, recycling, and freshness. Their goal is to enhance connections between consumers, retail stores, farmers, and suppliers.
They also embrace the many opportunities to contribute toward ecological diversity, wildlife, and the preservation of natural terrain. Reducing the impacts of global climate change and respecting the earth and its beings are vital to all that they do. Their support includes substantial donations toward environmental, social, food related, educational and world hunger issues.

 

Spotlight on Tierra Farm

We’re casting our Co-op Spotlight on Tierra Farm this week to highlight the socially and environmentally responsible practices of this employee-owned business. They provide an array of healthy products to our bulk department that are certified organic, gluten free, kosher, and gmo-free, all of which are produced in small batches in their solar-powered facility in nearby Valatie, NY. They’re featured in our Member Deals program this week, so member-owners can enjoy 20% off their delicious fair-trade coffee, dried fruits, nuts, nut butters, and other healthy snacks! Read on to learn more about this fantastic small business and their commitment to responsible practices throughout the supply chain:

tei-logo

Tierra Farm is a Certified Organic manufacturer and distributor of nuts, dried fruits, and coffee located 20 miles south of Albany, New York. Our customers consist mainly of cooperatives and independently owned grocery stores that value working with an employee-owned, environmentally conscious company that manufactures its own products.

Tierra Farm started as a diversified organic vegetable farm in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The organic nuts & dried fruit portion of the business started in 1999, as a way to generate income in the slower winter months. That portion of the business continued to thrive into what it has become today and we still maintain our original farm.

One of our core values has been to cultivate strong relationships with the best organic farmers in the world. Every year we purchase an increasing amount of our nuts, seeds and dried fruit directly from the farms, some of which we have worked with for over a decade. Our level of knowledge and communication with our farmers allows us to preserve our organic integrity and ensure fair business practices throughout the supply chain.

We offer our customers exceptional value through unbeatable quality at prices that are fair both to the consumer and to the farmer. Our products are made without preservatives, added oils or refined sugars, in our peanut-free facility. We manufacture the products we sell: we dry roast and flavor nuts and seeds, blend trail mixes, grind butter, cover nuts and fruits in fair-trade chocolate, and roast fair trade coffee. Everything is made in small, hand-crafted batches for freshness.

Tierra Farm handles only Certified Organic products which are grown without synthetic pesticides, genetically modified organisms, or chemical fertilizers. This helps sustain biodiversity, conserves fresh water, and enhances the soil. We generate over 70% of our electricity from solar panels and recycle over 60% of our waste. Our boxes are made from recycled cardboard and our deli cup containers are made from over 50% recycled material – both are recyclable after use. We’re continuously looking for better ways to protect the planet.

We also value the importance of investing in our staff. We have an in-house gym, an in-house chef who cooks daily organic, gluten-free meals for our staff – often using fresh produce directly from our farm, a staff masseuse who visits weekly, and we offer many employee health initiatives such as a smoking cessation program that allows our staff to be 100% tobacco-free.

We recently opened a retail store at our headquarters in Valatie, NY, where local customers are able to purchase all of our (almost 200) products. Also, if you’re in the Albany area, please stop into one of our Tierra Coffee Roasters locations for a great cup of coffee and some homemade baked goods.

We also invite you to take a virtual tour of our farm!