News & Blog

Groundbreaking Success!!

The Urban Greens Groundbreaking celebration on September 14 was a huge success because of YOU!

What better way to show our cooperative nature than to come together as a community to support the growth of Urban Greens Food Co-op. We would like to thank all the dignataries who came out to be a part of our celebration, including Mayor Elorza, Representative Williams, and Councilwoman Harris.

A special shoutout to local vendors: Little City Growers, who provided healthy local snacks produced on their farm; Sanctuary Herbs, who provided some of their signature refreshments; Food4Good was on site with their food truck to provide tasty bites, including vegan and gluten free options. Mr. John Prince was also in attendance to represent the Sankofa Drummers and share his voice through music.

We at Urban Greens would be nothing without the support of our 825 (and counting!) community member-owners, as well as our community consumer support.

THANK YOU!!

Want to be a member-owner? Click on the membership tab to learn how to buy a share and have a voice on how you would like to see Urban Greens evolve.

Urban Greens Groundbreaking image with everyone holding a shovel

Urban Greens Groundbreaking image with Mayor Elorza and GM Janiqua Jackson

Urban Greens Groundbreaking image of the crowd

Urban Greens Groundbreaking image of kids making crafts

Urban Greens Groundbreaking image of the crowd taking part in the digging with shovels

Mayor Elorza Joins Urban Greens!

As we all know, the groundbreaking for the up-coming Urban Greens Food co-op was held last week at the site where the store will be built. I would like to write about the event today for the member-owners, and soon to be members who couldn’t be there, to let you all know what’s happening at Urban Greens.

It was a well attended celebration. All kinds of people from different backgrounds and all ages were there. It was a representation of who our food co-op is and will be. Some of the member-owners had the pleasure of meeting Janiqua Jackson, our general manager of the up-coming market for the first time! We had the Mayor of Providence, Mr. Elorza as one of the speakers as well. In fact, our new general manager Janiqua successfully recruited Mayor Elorza to join Urban Greens! Great work Janiqua! :)

Many die-hard native Rhode Islanders might already know about this, but I learned at the event that the new store site (93 Cranston St) had long been a contaminated lot. It took a huge effort with hundreds of people involved to clean the site up. Now, it is all completed and it will be used as our new store where people can interact to create a community. It is a win-win situation, and indeed a groundbreaking event for both us and the city.

At Hope Farmers Market on 9/9/17

Urban Greens put a table at Hope Farmers Market on Saturday to spread the word about the groundbreaking next Thursday. My husband and I stopped there to cheer the volunteers Philip, Margot and her granddaughter, who were on hand, and talked to some of the people ourselves. Our impression of people’s responses were great! It was great meeting other members as well. They are all excited about the opening and glad to know that things are happening!

Thank you for supporting Urban Greens!

Toyoko Schieferdecker - volunteer blogger, member-owner

Is fat good for you?

Some might be wondering what the hype is about coconut oil. You see all kinds of coconut products in stores. Is this just another trend?

First, a little background. Until a few years ago, not so many people questioned the familiar low-fat diet. Americans have been eating much more poultry than red meat and avoiding all types of fats since the mid 1950’s, when a scientist called Dr. Ancel Keys “discovered” that fat causes heart disease. That was when the “fat is bad” idea got started. After several decades passed, the number of people with heart disease did not decrease and the obesity and diabetes rate skyrocketed. People started to question the theory.

One of the reasons for the hike in the obesity rate is that the food industry replaced the missing fat with sugar to provide missing flavor. As Julia Child said, “Fat gives things flavor.” People started to eat more carbs than ever to replace the fat they eliminated. Those carbohydrates like refined white flour and refined white sugar are made into fat in your body and spike your insulin level. They might eventually cause diabetes in some cases.

Simple Salad Dressing Recipe

Summer is almost over, but there is still plenty of warm weather and evening light to enjoy the simple pleasure of a bowl of salad made with fresh vegetables from farm stands or local farmers markets served outdoors. This simple salad dressing is not only a healthier option to the store-bought ones which often contain sugar or other preservative ingredients. This simple salad dressing can be made with the ingredients you might already have, so it will save you money too! :)

Ingredients (for 3-4 servings):

4 Tbs. Extra virgin olive oil (preferably organic)

1Tbs. Fresh squeezed lemon juice or vinegar of your choice (red/white wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar, etc)

Salt & Pepper to taste

How to make it:

Mix all the ingredients in a bottle and shake, or drizzle/sprinkle each of the ingredients over a salad bowl and toss together.