Alaffia formulates their premium shea butter skin care products using their own handcrafted, shea butter and other indigenous ingredients. The goal of their simple, effective formulations is to preserve the integrity and effectiveness of the shea butter and indigenous ingredients in the final product. They do not use petroleum derived products or parabens, and they do not test on animals.

Benrud, French, Minar and Stelling families
Goodhue, Minnesota

_When you make the best butter in America (awarded by the American Cheese Society, 3 years in a row), you must be doing something right! Linden Hills Co-op is proud to carry PastureLand’s butters and cheeses, from Minnesota family farms. Michelle and Roger Benrud, who are members of the PastureLand Co-op, will be our guest speakers at this year’s annual membership meeting October 28!

While many people eat organic food these days, not as many are able to buy garden plants that are grown sustainably and without toxic chemicals. The Circle of Life program puts Rush Creek Growers of Spring Valley, Wisconsin at the forefront of creating sustainable standards and practices, and eventually a certification process, for greenhouse plant production. Rush Creek’s head grower, Sue Baker, is proud to participate in this fledgling project.

Many people have learned the “inconvenient truth” about global warming thanks to Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary. What may also be inconvenient for many in today’s society is learning about all of the harmful and toxic substances used in everyday, mass-market household cleaners.

Take a look—what is underneath your sink? While the ingredients may or may not be listed on your household cleaners, if there is a toxic warning label or instructions on calling poison control if ingested, you know it can be harmful to you, your family and the environment.

Living the Sassy Life
By Kathy Gerhardt

The tag on the children’s clothes at Linden Hills Natural Home reads in part: “Superb comfort. Inspired design from organic and recycled fabrics…this is what fashion should be. This is Sassy Knitwear.”

Designed and hand-sewn by Molly O’Brien, these clothes are not only sassy, but smart, too: smart in design, smart in comfort and smart in that they are created and delivered with as little impact to the environment as possible.

In the past few years, the popularity of fish oil supplements has soared. Linden Hills Co-op is proud to offer Nordic Naturals fish oil products to our customers. Now that the school year is approaching, you may be interested in learning more about the latest research on how essential fatty acids can support healthy brain development in children and adolescents.

Click here to download an informative newsletter, “Making the Grade..A Look at Omega Fatty Acids in cognition and Learning.”

The Center for Environmental Health recently sent out a consumer advisory, alerting parents to the possible presence of lead in children’s vinyl lunch boxes or bags.

Because it is not possible to tell by appearance whether a vinyl lunch box may contain lead, CEH is advising parents to avoid buying vinyl lunch boxes altogether as we cannot guarantee they are lead free. You can test vinyl lunch boxes you already own using a hand-held lead testing kit, which is available for purchase at Linden Hills Natural Home.

These ergonomically designed baby carriers have been incredibly popular with new mommies and daddies. Named by Parenting Magazine “one of the best twenty products of the past twenty years,” Ergos are sturdy, stylish, and can be used to carry baby in front, back, or hip positions.

Now available in organically grown cotton!

Shoppers in Linden Hills Co-op’s produce aisle are used to seeing the occasional farmer around and sometimes having the chance to meet the fine folks who grow the food we eat.

Luis Loja and Leonardo Bravo of El Guabo Banana Cooperative in Ecuador visited North America and the stores that sell their Oké bananas, accompanied by Isaac Grody-Patinkin from Oké USA and Scott Patterson, Equal Exchange).

What’s different about these bananas? Check out the Oké USA site for the full story. Meanwhile, enjoy these delicious bananas!

Our newest local cheese offering is from Natural Valley Cheese, artisan quality goat cheeses from Hustler, Wisconsin (in the scenic Driftless area). Cheesemaker Tom Torkelson uses milk from area Amish dairy farmers, who graze their cows and goats during the milking season. This means the animals are consuming a greater variety of minerals than animals who only eat feed. Tom’s roots are in Wisconsin, since his father was a dairy farmer in New Glarus.