Mountain People's Co-op wants to be your partner in an affordable natural lifestyle. Our focus is on products that you simply can't find anywhere else:

1. Bulk Foods. Buying from our bulk bins is environmentally responsible (less waste & packaging) and economical, too. We have a huge selection of grains, flours, beans & legumes, nuts & seeds, dried fruits, granolas, herbs & spices, medicinal herbs, baking needs, sprouting seeds, fair trade coffees, herbal & regular teas, oils, honey & maple syrup & other liquid sweeteners, miso, castile soaps, shampoos, laundry & dish detergents, and more. Most of our products are organically grown, and many of our flours are milled nearby in Saxonburg, PA. You will find tremendous savings on our dried herbs & spices and baking needs like yeast!
2. Local Foods. Part of our commitment to our planet and our local economy is providing you with products that travel a shorter distance from their point of production. We have local eggs, chicken, turkey, bison, and beef - these animals are pasture-raised with no added hormones or antibiotics. We carry artisan goat's milk cheeses from nearby Garrett County, MD as well as less exotic cheeses that come from our local region. We have local tofu, honey, jams & jellies, breads, sauces & condiments, personal care products, tie dyes, and more. We are striving to become your source for local and regional foods.
3. Hard-To-Find But Easy To Enjoy. Florajen probiotics. GT's Kombucha tea. Barlean's omega-3 supplements. Essential oils. NOW supplements. Xylitol in bulk. Setvia. Gluten-free baking needs. Floradix liquid iron supplements. Ecodiscoveries natural cleaners, including MoldZyme. Fair Trade chocolate, coffee, tea. Detoxify Ready Clean, and more.

We invite you to come down to our store - our friendly staff is happy to help you!
Hours - M - F: 10 AM - 7 PM, Sat: 10 AM - 5 PM, closed on Sunday.

We just located a source of fresh, local, free-roaming Thanksgiving turkeys. These are not certified organic, but they are free-roaming and are fed natural grains without hormones or antibiotics. They are from White Oak Ridge Farm, a small family-run farm outside of Phillipi, WV. Their poultry is state inspected, certified disease-free, and processed in a state-inspected facility. Please see their web site at http://www.whiteoakridgefarm.com/ for information on how they raise their turkeys.

Whole turkeys are fresh, not frozen, and they range in size from 8 lb - 35 lb. The cost for these turkeys will be $3.00/lb.

Also available from White Oak Ridge Farm are fully-cooked, ready to heat-and-eat smoked turkeys, in apple-smoked and cherry-smoked varieties. The cost for these turkeys is 3.75/lb.

To order your turkey, please call the Co-op at 291-6131 by Thursday, Nov. 20, at 6 PM. Quantities are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

This week, we have new local jams and nut butters from Yoder's Country Kettle of Gap Mills, WV:

Jams: seedless blackberry, black raspberry, seedless black raspberry, peach, strawberry-rhubarb, and blueberry
No sugar added jams (all natural): strawberry, black raspberry, seedless black raspberry, damson plum

Nut butters: cashew butter, honey-roasted cashew butter, honey-roasted peanut butter, smoked almond butter (note from newsletter editor - I think these naturally flavored nut butters are incredible!)

Vidalia onion relish, medium salsa, mild chow-chow relish, and pickled beets

Ginger-peach muffins, mango-macadamia muffins, peanut butter cookies, chocolate cherry cookies, fruit & nut granola bars, and chocolate cupcakes with buttercream icing. Available through Saturday.

Are you interested in taking a 1 - 2 hour class or workshop on healthful living topics? As we plan for the future, we need to assess our shoppers' level of interest in attending. Potential topics include:

"The Joy of Soy" - soy cooking, recipe tasting, and nutrition information
"Cooking with Foods from the Bulk Bins" - easy, healthy recipes that taste good too
"Urban Homesteading" - ideas for self-sufficiency that don't require acres of land, from someone who's doing it
"Natural Personal Care" - learn to make your own natural personal care products
"Clean Your House Naturally" - make your own effective cleaning products from common inexpensive ingredients and try them out on real dirt

If you would be interested in attending any of these, or if you would like to volunteer to teach a class, please respond to this email to let us know.

Over the past several years, some people have been turned off from the Co-op for various reasons. We want to spread the word that the Co-op is returning to its roots, fostering a sense of community, and building a solid inventory of foods that people can count on getting every time they come in. Do you know someone who has stopped coming to the Co-op? The best way to let them know what we are doing is to bring them into the store and let them see for themselves. Or, you could buy them a gift card or a Co-op membership. Memberships and gift cards make great holiday gifts for your friends, family members, coworkers, hair stylist, massage therapist, child's teacher, etc.

We are striving to buy more local and regional goods, both staples like eggs, honey, and tofu, and artisan products like cheese, bread, and condiments. Buying local goods cuts fuel costs down and helps to support our local economy. People with special dietary needs (e.g., cardiovascular conditions, gluten intolerance, diabetes) can find many things to fit their needs at the Co-op, and our staff members are always willing to help.

The Co-op will soon be moving from non-recyclable, non-degradable plastic containers to biodegradable Trellis Earth containers made from corn, potato, sugarcane, and other annually renewable, vegetable based materials. These containers are reusable and microwavable, and they can be used to store hot or cold foods. We will be instituting a small charge to cover the cost of these new containers. Or, if you wish to save money and reduce waste further, bring your own container and have it weighed at the register (so its weight can be subtracted) before you fill it.

The primary mission of MPC is to provide healthful and nutritious food and supplies to its members and the general pubic at the lowest cost that is consistent with sound economy and good management of the Co-op. Many items are available at the Co-op at prices that are significantly lower than elsewhere. Here are just a few of our extra value items, available for purchase in bulk, compared with similar items sold in packages at a major local retailer:

Apple rings, organic dried, 4.5 oz: our price = $2.04, compare to $3.99
Flaxseed meal, 16 oz: our price = $2.28, compare to $4.39
Sesame seeds, 12 oz: our price = $2.74, compare to $3.29
Honey, natural, 16 oz: our price (local!) = $3.09, compare to $3.99
Laundry detergent, eco-friendly, 64 oz: our price = $9.69, compare to $12.19
Basil, dried, organic, 0.5 oz (spice jar): our price = $0.28, compare to $3.99
Cinnamon, ground, organic, 1.4 oz (spice jar): our price = $0.89, compare to $3.99
Peppercorns, organic, 1.64 oz (spice jar): our price = $1.02, compare to $3.99
ges at a couple of national retailers' Morgantown stores:

Precycling is the conscious effort to buy foods that require less packaging and have a lower environmental impact. Buying bulk foods is a big part of the precycling picture: they use less packaging, and you can buy as much or as little as your want. Bringing your own reusable bags is another important way you can help decrease waste.