September 2016

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Education, Featured

During the month of  September, Valley Natural Foods, in conjunction with the FMI Foundation, is proud to celebrate National Family Meals Month by inspiring and encouraging families to spend time around the dinner table enjoying home-cooked, healthy meals. According to the FMI Foundation… Did you know that numerous studies underscore the long-term health, academic and societal benefits of consistently eating together as a family? Home-cooked meals nourish the spirit, brain and health of all family members. Not to mention, people who frequently cook at home eat fewer, healthier calories.’ Additionally, regular family meals are linked to the kinds of outcomes that we all want for our children: higher grades and self-esteem, healthier eating habits and less risky behavior. However, according to a 2013 Harris poll, only 30 percent of American families share dinner every night. Why is this? Yes, juggling jobs, kids and the

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Featured, Produce

Special Arrival on September 1st We're excited for Thursday's arrival of some very special peaches! Picked just this week and en route to our co-op right now is a one-time-only shipment of organically grown O'Henry Peaches from Barrett Orchards in Yakima, WA. Our meat and seafood manager, Jason Harstad and his wife Jenifer have been life-long friends with Tim and Sarah Johnson from the Barrett Family.  For seven years, they have enjoyed having direct access to purchase Barrett Orchard peaches annually. This year, Jason initiated a connection for our co-op to bring in these special peaches. If you're a peach lover, you don't want to miss visiting our demo kiosk, anytime between 11 am-1 pm on Thursday, September 1st, where you can taste O'Henry Peaches. While tasting, please let us know what you think! Your input matters to us - do we bring them back next season, or not? O'Henry Peaches will be offered for

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Grocery

With summer drawing to a close its time to start thinking about back to school shopping! What better way to celebrate a new school year than a Lunch Box Giveaway! On Thursday, September 1st, the first 12 customers to spend $100 will receive a lunchbox filled with samples of some of our favorite products! Take a walk around our store and look for tags on our favorite lunchbox fillers.  We have a great variety of products for different personal preferences and diets. Then stop by our housewares section for a great selection of containers and drink-ware that are durable, colorful and eco-friendly! Packing lunches for your kids and for yourself shouldn’t be stressful, it should be fun! Want to make packing lunch just a little bit easier? Here are some tips to help make packing lunches less stressful and time consuming: Purchase

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Featured, Produce

Stroll through our produce department and you will find some new fresh faves – some returning for the season, some brand new to Valley Natural Foods – and all might not be quite what you expect!  Amaranth Greens Those into the ancient grains may recognize Amaranth seeds, but the leaves of the plant are also edible and are enjoyed around the world in countries like India, Indonesia and Malaysia. While Amaranth leaves have a slight bitterness to them when eaten raw in salads, they are most often used in cooked dishes such as stir fry and stews.  The red-colored greens are high in protein, iron and dietary fiber, among other amino acids such as Lysine.  Mini Red and Yellow watermelons Back in living color – red and yellow mini watermelons make their return to Valley! A perfect one-person size, the standard red and slightly-sweeter

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Produce

The latest superstars to arrive on our produce shelves are these colorful and somewhat odd-shaped, exciting fruit varieties. Dragon Fruit This pointy, odd-looking, edible fruit of a cactus species is also known as Pitaya. The inside flesh will either be bright white or deep red, and both types have a similar texture to kiwi fruit, with very mild, subtle flavors. The thin leathery "dragon-like" skin is very easy to slice or peel off the soft, inner flesh. For a refreshing and exciting fruit salad idea, cube up some mango, pineapple and jicama; toss together in a bowl. Top the fruit mixture with slices of peeled dragon fruit to give your tasty tropical fruit salad a very subtle white or vivid red color pop. Star Fruit The mildly tart-tasting, multi-ridged greenish-yellow star fruit is popular throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, South America, Hawaii and Florida. Star fruit is completely ripe when the skin appears mostly yellow, with some brown spots

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Grocery

For as long as I can remember I have been a picky eater. One of my fondest memories was the first time I tried pineapple. I was about 10 years old and I did not want that yellow, creepy-looking fruit anywhere near me. Until one night, just days before we were scheduled to go to Hawaii on a family vacation my parents informed me that I wouldn’t be let into Hawaii unless I tried pineapple. As a 10 year old I believed them and the fear of being stranded at the airport scared me. So I cried for about 15 minutes before finally trying it, and guess what? I loved it! Although, I was too proud to admit my parents were right. Now that I’m older I’m all about trying new things and now came my time to try Kombucha. One

By
Grocery

The first thought that comes to mind when I think of a coconut are memories of sitting between two palms while sipping on a sweet frozen beverage.  But there is more than meets the eye with this exotic treat. Coconuts have been utilized for centuries for their juice, meat, milk and oil. Until recently coconut fat has been deemed “unhealthy” because of the presence of saturated fat which we now know to be untrue in the case of the coconut. So what makes the fat from coconuts healthier than other fats? It all has to do with the composition of fat molecules within the coconut. All fat is made up of chains of fatty acids which are then classified based on their molecular length. The longer and more complex the fatty acid, the harder it is for the body to break down

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Featured, Produce

Grapes have always been the perfect summertime treat. Sweet and juicy with a pleasant pop, no party fruit tray would be complete without them, and their size makes for convenient eating on-the-go or straight out of the fridge. But let’s face it – while tasty, the basic options of Red vs. Green (and sometimes Black) haven’t made for much excitement over the years. Growers such as Divine Flavors have begun to change the grape landscape with new and exciting varieties that are unexpected in shape, color and flavor. And the best part is - they are certified organic!  Cotton Candy Grapes Cotton candy: an image that spins up memories of county fairs, parades, circuses and baseball games – not to mention sticky fingers. Let’s face it, as fondly as we remember the sweet taste of cotton candy, the confection consists of sugar and

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Produce

It's that time of year when those beautiful, beloved and tasty heirloom tomatoes start showing up on supermarket shelves. In our northern region, enjoying heirloom tomatoes in early summer may mean they might be trucked in from warmer southern states.  However, with access to local providers like Wisconsin Growers Cooperative, locally grown and fully ripe heirloom tomatoes are available right now! You may be wondering how that is even possible, coming from a neighbor state that shares the same northern climate as Minnesota with short-growing seasons? Wisconsin Growers Cooperative is a unique farming community involving 35-40 small-scale Amish farmers located in Western Wisconsin, where farming practices favor horse-drawn plows and hand tools over fossil-fueled machinery to grow their produce. They use labor-intensive methods which allow them to harvest both early and late season vegetables. It’s what sets this farming cooperative apart, making them truly unique in our northern region. According to Al Weinrich, sales manager for Wisconsin Growers Cooperative, two

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Featured

Join Our Award-Winning Team! At Valley Natural Foods, we pride ourselves on creating a workplace where our employees can feel appreciated and are happy to serve the needs of the local community.  We exist to make a difference in the lives of those we serve, so we partner with our staff to create the best employee and customer experience possible.  Staff have ample opportunity to learn, participate in training programs, and grow with the co-op.  33% of our open positions are filled each year by internal promotions!  These, and other metrics, demonstrate the level of commitment that Valley Natural Foods has to its staff. Want to be a part of our award-winning team?  Visit the employment page on our website to see our current openings.

13750 Co Rd 11, Burnsville, MN 55337

Call us during store hours at: 952-891-1212

Valley Natural Foods Co-op works in partnership with the South Metro community to support health and well-being through education and expertise in local, sustainable food and wellness services.

Store Hours:

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. daily

Coffee & Juice Bar In-Store Hours 8:00 a.m. –7:00 p.m. daily

Coffee & Juice Bar Drive-Thru Window 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. daily

Holiday Hours

OPEN on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27 – 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

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