17th December, 2012

17 December - last day of co-op operation for 2012.

We're back on Monday, 7th January, 2013.

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Thank you very much to our FIG members, FIG farmers and suppliers, for another good year.

It's been a big one, with Incorporation earlier on, moving premises, rabbiting on to farmers about growing organically and encouraging our members to grow their own food as well. FIG would not happen at all without the support of local farmers but, most importantly, without the amazing support and dedication of a lot of volunteers. 

We thank you all, very much. 

2013 will see us talking to more farmers about the importance of chemical free food, and to develop the FIG Friend plan, as well as other things! So, if you are out there reading this and wishing you lived closer to FIG or had a closer pick up point, you may like to consider becoming a FIG Friend yourself or advising us that you'd use this service in your region.

We wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas and holiday season. Catch up in the new year...

Peacock Grove Biodynamic oils and olives

Just in time for Christmas and for summer entertaining: Peacock Grove Biodynamic Oils and Olives, from here.

We recently had a question by one of our members as to whether the olives were raw or had been cooked. This member was embarking on a raw food regime and was happy to hear the response that they were not cooked or heated at all.

This is what the Peacocks had to say: "Our olives have been processed in 20% brine, for several months: some describe this process as "fermenting", others as "debittering", but I think of it more as a "pickling" process.  Basically, after they have been picked, we sort them out (discarding the tiny, bird-pecked, blemished, soft ones), we wash them and then put them in brine.  They are then stored at a uniform temperature, and we check the salinity and Ph of the solution at regular intervals. 

At no stage of the process do we cook the fruit.  ... reminded me of an elderly Spanish gentleman who bought some of our raw table olives a couple of years ago.  He said that he boiled his fruit prior to putting them in brine, and was able to eat them a lot sooner than using our method!  So, it is evidently done in other parts of the world."

So the olives we keep in stock at FIG are not only extremely scrumptious but entirely suitable for a raw food diet. That's important information for many of our members.


In stock now, along with some beautiful honey, which is also raw and cold extracted...