Field Day: Savings With a Cause

As we get ready for a season of gatherings with friends and family, the Co-op is again putting all Field Day items on sale in the month of November. Field Day is our value brand that offers high-quality, delicious food, and household products at more affordable prices, every single day. During this sale our lowest prices will be even lower, meaning you can save more while celebrating the traditions you care about this holiday season.

Best of all, shopping for these values also supports your values! We are joining co-ops across the country, and donating 5¢ for every Field Day product sold to North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS).

NĀTIFS is a nonprofit organization founded by Lakota Chef Sean Sherman (known as the Sioux Chef), dedicated to revitalizing Indigenous food systems and promoting cultural preservation within Native American communities. Through initiatives like the Indigenous Food Lab, NĀTIFS offers training programs, educational workshops and support for Indigenous entrepreneurs to empower individuals and foster economic development.

By addressing economic disparities, food insecurity and the loss of Indigenous food knowledge, NĀTIFS aims to restore health, wealth, and cultural identity to Indigenous populations. The organization's commitment to promoting Indigenous foodways education, facilitating food access, and revitalizing ancestral knowledge underscores its mission to create positive social impact and support underserved communities.

To create impact even closer to home, your Co-op will be matching our donation contribution to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community’s Community Environmental Health Program and its 13 Moons Garden. The garden is used as an accessible central location on the reservation for classes, workshops, and work experience in food sovereignty. SITC also uses the garden to feed their elders and community members, as well as to grow traditional native plants for medicines.

Indigenous Food Recipes

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Tribal Relations, Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative. Re-printed from natifs.org.

As a participant in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative, NĀTIFS works with its Indigenous Food Lab and partner Indigenous chefs across the country to develop recipes and accompanying cooking videos that demonstrate how to combine Indigenous and locally foragable foods. Through this project NĀTIFS aims to spread awareness of how to use Indigenous foods to make healthier meals.

In the first year of the project, NĀTIFS’ Indigenous Food Lab created recipes and partnered with Indigenous chef Crystal Wahpepah of Oakland, CA, owner of Wahpepah’s Kitchen restaurant, to provide recipes and videos featuring wild and foraged ingredients from the West and Southwest.

Here, a few for you to try with local ingredients this fall.

Baked Pear Blueberry Crisp

4 Servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 can pears (including juice from can)

  • 1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh, foraged*)

  • 1 cup quick cooking oats

  • 1 Tbsp butter

  • 1/2 cup water

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

  2. Spread butter at bottom of a baking dish.

  3. Add pears and blueberries to the baking dish and set aside.

  4. In a mixing bowl, mix quick cooking oats with water until fully combined.

  5. Spread oatmeal mixture on top of the pears and blueberries in the baking dish mixture.

  6. Bake for 20 minutes. Let sit to cool briefly before serving.

*You can also substitute foraged blackberries or frozen blueberries if fresh foraged blueberries are not available.

Bay Laurel Beef Stew Shepherd’s Pie

4 Servings

Ingredients:

  • 5 bay laurel leaves (fresh, foraged*)

  • 1 can beef stew

  • 4 cups instant mashed potatoes*

  • 3 1/2 cups water

  • 1 lb Co-op ground beef

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Add ground beef to saucepan, brown over medium heat.

  2. Once beef has fully browned, add 1 can stew meat and bay laurel leaves to saucepan

  3. Let the mixture simmer for 30 minutes.

  4. While the stew is simmering, in a mixing bowl add 3 ½ cups of water to instant mashed potatoes and stir until fully combined.

  5. Add additional water as necessary to reach desired thinness, season mashed potatoes as desired and set aside.

  6. After the stew has simmered for 30 minutes remove the bay leaves. Pour the stew mixture into a baking dish, and spread mashed potatoes evenly over top.

  7. Bake for 20 minutes, until the mashed potatoes start to brown on top. Let cool briefly before serving.

*You can sub with dried bay leaves, and feel free to use fresh mashed potatoes!

Nicole VanderMeulenComment