Summer is here, and there’s no better way to enjoy the warm weather than to bring out the grill. Available in the Co-op, Breukelen Rub’s flavorful spice blends will elevate any dish and spice up your grilling season.

In the process of incorporating more vegetables into my diet, I found Fire Ox’s quick and easy frozen meals in our co-op. These vegan, low-gluten and nut free-meals are not just quick to prepare, they’re filled with vegetables and will give you the ease of a frozen meal without the guilt.

What if I told you that one of the best cheeses I’ve ever had from the Co-op is vegan?

As I browsed through the snack shelves this week, I discovered something new and interesting: Norwegian Baked Knekkebrød, a vegan, wheat & nut-free crispbread produced in a small facility in Brooklyn.

One thing that keeps me loyal to the Co-op is our extensive cheese section. We have a fridge dedicated solely to cheese and my adventurous taste buds are always down to explore its possibilities.

Are you bored of eating the same type of carb every day? Well, the Co-op has a new product that’s perfect for you.

If you’ve been to the Co-op recently, you might have noticed beautiful jars from the Trade Street Jam Co. on a shelf across from the vegetable display, near the cashier.

Located just a few blocks away from the Co-op (at the former Nassau Brewing Company site on Bergen and Franklin), Crown Finish Caves’ aging facility brings a local flair to cheese sourced from around the world. We offer three of their delicious cheeses in the Co-op: Smoke Signal, Tubby and Natural Bufarolo.

Whether you've been learning to make it yourself or simply enjoying more of it at home, bread is having a moment right now. We are very excited to partner with Anti-Conquest Bread Co. and to offer their pullman loaves of sourdough and shokupan at the Co-op starting this month — delivered fresh on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Did you know? The majority of the whole coffee beans coffee sold at the Co-op comes from Equal Exchange, a democratic worker cooperative.

Are you a tofu skeptic? Unlike so many commercially available tofu brands that don’t taste like much, The Bridge’s tofu speaks for itself. It’s sturdy enough to hold together when pan-fried in oil, yet has a tender, almost creamy quality that makes it ideal for cubing up and adding to a light miso soup.

The Co-op’s long-standing connections with meat and poultry producers mean anyone shopping at the store has access to suppliers that ensure better conditions not just for the animals that you consume but also for the people that work in the facilities that process meat and poultry.

A lot has changed since our last visit to the Co-op’s bulk section for this series of product spotlights. COVID-19 has upturned our routines and transformed our lives. During directives to shelter in place, we all have been stocking our pantries with nonperishables, including the humble bean.

We’re hearing lots of things about how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but one piece of guidance is consistent and extremely clear: wash your hands! To do that, you need soap, and just look at all the great soap products we have.

At this stop on our journey around the Co-op’s bulk section, we will get to know more about the staple food of more than half the world’s population: rice.

In this edition of Farmer Hot Takes, learn about the Collaborative Urban Resilience Banquet, founded by interdisciplinary media maker Candace Thompson. Thompson forages edible plants from her neighborhood of Bushwick, tests them for toxicity and then serves them to people at free community banquets.

The Co-op’s new refill station, located at the back of the store, is a welcome addition to our bulk section and a big step forward in the goal to minimize our plastic footprint. 

In this issue of Farmer Hot Takes, we speak to Farm School NYC Program Coordinator Connor Vaughn.e discusses the importance of plant wisdom, traditional ecological knowledge, how to build resiliency within urban food systems, and how members of the Co-op can be part of a broader food justice movement right here in our community.

Walking into the Co-op store to purchase ingredients for my favorite snack, Cacao-nut and Seed Bites, I am greeted in the bulk foods section by an array of fifteen varieties of nuts and six different kinds of seeds.

In this edition of Farmer Hot Takes, learn about some local cheeses available at the Co-op, as well as some of the environmental impacts and challenges of dairy production here in the US.