A note for members of Newark Natural Foods Co-op:

Strategic Planning Session

The Board of Stewards would like your participation in an upcoming Strategic Planning Session!

 Saturday, February 2nd

8:30am - 12:00pm

Ashland Nature Center

3511 Barley Mill Road

Hockessin, DE

The goal of the session is to discuss, determine and redefine, in the very broadest sense, the primary purposes and priorities of the Co-op. 

• What do we do?
• For whom?
• Why?
• Where do we want to be as an organization in the future?

Remember, the Cooperative is more than just a store...it's a democratic mechanism designed for a purpose.  We operate a retail establishment, but that's not our sole reason to exist.  We will be using this session to clarify our organizational intentions.

Members are invited to participate in the morning, while the afternoon is reserved for a working meeting of the Board of Stewards and General Manager.

PLEASE RSVP TO FLO or ANITA via the Co-op at 302-368-5894.

Breakthrough news for honey bees!

A new European study labels the bee-killing pesticide clothianidin unacceptable.

Photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos

But the EPA wants to wait until 2018 to determine its safety.

Contact the EPA and tell them we must act now to save our rapidly disappearing bee populations!  

A great link from Transition US - promoting sustainability and community resilience.

Lots of great ideas and motivators!
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=16a9bff55e0e10287af37f7e0&id=63736c8083&e=81fa87b930


From the Transition US website:

Let's mobilize of thousands of new residents, create innumerable sustainability actions provide the community networks and cross-sector collaborations needed to Transition our towns and cities across the US.

Getting started

• Find out what it's all about: Transition 101
• Organize a Transition Salon (what is a Transition Salon?)
• Form a group and start a Transition Initiative
• Get in touch at info@transitionus.org
• Support Transition Initiatives and invest in Transition today
• Browse our volunteer opportunities

A petition to ask the European Union to ban pesticides that have been known to harm bee populations worldwide:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/hours_to_save_the_bees/?bdMbocb&v=21422

Quietly, globally, billions of bees are dying, threatening our crops and food. But in just a few hours the European Union could move to ban the most poisonous pesticides, and pave the way to a global ban that would save bees from extinction.

Four EU countries have begun banning these poisons, and some bee populations are already recovering. Days ago the official European food safety watchdog stated for the first time that certain pesticides are fatally harming bees. Now legal experts and European politicians are calling for an immediate ban. But, Bayer and other giant pesticide producers are lobbying hard to keep them on the market. If we build a huge swarm of public outrage now, we can push the European Commission to put our health and our environment before the profit of a few.

A request from the Delaware Riverkeepers:

Please take a minute to call New York Governor Cuomo this week – Jan. 28 through Feb. 1 -- to tell him

• Do not allow fracking
• Do not issue DEC’s unfinished environmental study (SGEIS)
• Do not finalize DEC’s proposed gas rules 
• Fracking is a dangerous method of drilling for natural gas that threatens our health, communities and environment
• New York needs protection from the dangers of fracking

In the next few weeks, New York could finalize its study of fracking without conducting a comprehensive and publicly accessible health analysis of the threats to human health, without full review of all the environmental impacts and economic implications, and without addressing longstanding and potentially catastrophic deficiencies in how the New York regulates gas drilling.

But an unprecedented 200,000 comments and in-depth criticism by experts exposed the fatal flaws and lack of science behind the proposed fracking regulations.

Tell Governor Cuomo Fracking cannot be done safely. Step back and consider the immediate and long range indelible harm that will result if the floodgates of fracking are opened in New York!

Please recruit your friends, family, and neighbors to call Governor Cuomo!

We need thousands upon thousands of calls to make turn the Governor back from the edge of disaster here in New York.

For more information: http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/about/event.aspx?Id=322

Next TimeBank planning meeting:

copied from our outstanding meeting organizer Hope Hawkins:

A resounding thank you to Marie Goodwin who answered all our current questions and gave us motivation to begin!

We missed those of you who couldn't make it and encourage everyone who is able, to join us at our next meeting

Sunday, February 3rd

7-9 p.m.

Pacem in Terris

1304 N. Rodney

Wilmington, DE 19806

(302) 656-2721

Sunday will be our first get down to business meeting where we will match our personal gifts to the needs of Timebanking setup. We need to think about where we would like to concentrate our energies in areas like Computer, Marketing, Launch, Logo, Mission and identifying a point person coordinator. Lots to do but very exciting! Here we go...!!!

Hope

Home Solar Energy Seminar to be held in Newark; Sponsored by the Sierra Club

Monday, January 28, 2013 at 7:30 pm
Newark Free Library
750 Library Ave Newark DE 19711 (map)


Are you interested in learning more about whether installing solar panels on your home is right for you? How much renewable energy capacity you need? Can you even afford to install solar on your roof or in your yard? Join us for a Solar Homes Educational Workshop with Flexera, the Delaware-based company that submitted the winning proposal in our Solar Homes RFP for its innovative financing and solar lease programs.
Have all of your solar questions answered, and bring your electricity bills with you to have a customized solar proposal developed for your home during the workshop.


Here is the link:

http://delaware.sierraclub.org/content/solar-homes-workshop-newark-january-28-2013

An urgent message from the Delaware Riverkeepers - 

LNG Exports - Harms Being Ignored by DOE Report

Send Your Letter Today.

The Department of Energy has released a report it claims considers the economic ramifications of exporting natural gas, including shale gas, to other countries.   It is seeking public comment on the report.

Upon review one quickly sees that the DOE has commissioned a very limited analysis that fails to paint a true picture of the economic ramifications of increasing exports.  The report fails totally to consider the community and environmental harms, and resulting economic harms, that will result from the increase in shale gas development that LNG exports will incite. 

Please, send your comments to the Department of Energy today, and let them know that if they are going to consider increased exports then they need to look at the entire picture, including all of the harms that will be brought by increased shale gas development, and the lost opportunity of failing to invest in energy efficiency and truly sustainable energy sources.

For helping making the right points go to our urgent action page: 

http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/act-now/urgent-details.aspx?Id=134

Deadline is Thursday the 24th.

Timebanking

A note from Hope Hawkins - Hope, along with the DE Pacem in Terris organization, has been taking the lead to coordinate the beginings of our own Timebank here in Wilmington and Newark

Hello Timebankers,

We now have the information that we need for our upcoming meeting with Marie Goodwin of Timebank Media.

The Meeting will be held on Saturday, January 26th  from 7-9 p.m.at the Ronald MacDonald House near I-95 in Wilmington. Marie will be available to answer our questions as we determine how to begin the process. Very exciting!

Are you asking - What is a Timebank! Contact Jan or Joe for more information!

India Signs Mandatory Labelling of GMO's into Law

This is exciting news-- is anyone interested in taking on a project to do the same in this state - or regionally? Let Jan or Joe know!

Here is the link to the whole story -
http://naturalsociety.com/india-signs-mandatory-gmo-labeling-into-law/?utm_source=Natural+Society&utm_campaign=96ea282022-Email+78%3A+1%2F14%2F2013&utm_medium=email

New movie release for local theaters - Promise Land starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski.

Below is a summary of the movie from Food and Water Watch:

Have you heard about Matt Damon's new movie, "Promised Land"? It's coming out tonight and has the potential to really change the debate on fracking, bringing it to a wider audience than ever before. Grab your friends, check out the movie this weekend and help your local community take action by passing out flyers while you're there!

"Promised Land" is about a small town in rural America that gets a visit from two top oil and gas industry salesmen, hoping to drill (or "frack") for natural gas beneath the ground. Directed by Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk) and co-starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski, it has the potential to be huge — and to show people how fracking can tear apart local communities. Get your friends together to see the movie and show your support for a ban on fracking by passing out flyers outside the theater!


Follow the link to their site to download their flyer and take local action:
http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/MessageViewer?dlv_id=8941&em_id=4401.0