Rainbow Grocery is mighty proud of our own superstar Cheesemonger, Gordon Edgar!

Witty and irreverent, informative and provocative, Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge is the highly readable story of Gordon Edgar’s unlikely career as a cheesemonger at San Francisco’s worker-owned Rainbow Grocery Cooperative. A former punk-rock political activist, Edgar bluffed his way into his cheese job knowing almost nothing, but quickly discovered a whole world of amazing artisan cheeses. There he developed a deep understanding and respect for the styles, producers, animals, and techniques that go into making great cheese.

With a refreshingly unpretentious sensibility, Edgar intertwines his own life story with his ongoing love affair with cheese, and offers readers an unflinching, highly entertaining on-theground look at America’s growing cheese movement. From problem customers to animal rights, business ethics to taste epiphanies, this book offers something for everyone, including cheese profiles and recommendations for selecting the very best—not just the most expensive—cheeses from the United States and around the world and a look at the struggles dairy farmers face in their attempts to stay on and make their living from the land.

Edgar—a smart, progressive cheese man with an activist’s edge—enlightens and delights with his view of the world from behind the cheese counter and his appreciation for the skill and tradition that go into a good wedge of Morbier.

Cheesemonger is the first book of its kind—a cheese memoir with attitude and information that will appeal to everyone from serious foodies to urban food activists.

Cheesemonger is available for purchase at Rainbow Grocery! You can also visit the publisher,Chelsea Green's, site, or buy at Amazon.

A Letter from Rainbow PR

A letter to our Customers:
Beginning in 2003 Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, Inc. began offering 20% Coupons in the Smart Coupon section of the AT&T Yellow Pages. Our decision to offer these discounts were based on simple objectives: Make available more discounts to the community and encourage shopping on our slowest days of the week. The wide distribution of the phone book seemed a simple way to achieve this goal. As we have seen an incredible response to these coupons, we have experimented with which days the coupons would be available.
While we know our decision to offer these coupons has lead to many new opportunities it has also come with many changes. Our membership has expanded to incorporate new workers/co-owners and our store has become a larger beacon within the Bay Area. Along with these changes, we understand that the customers’ experience while shopping on a Coupon day can sometimes be a daunting one due to the long lines and crowded atmosphere.
We wish to continue offering discounts to the community in the easiest fashion while maintaining a profitable and sustainable business. Our membership has approved to offer 20% Coupons available in the AT&T phone book once again for the year of 2010. In addition to these, Rainbow Grocery has also issued coupons in the Oakland AT&T Yellow Pages and will honor them at 20% rather than the printed value of 10%. These coupons are only valid on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for the specific months of January, March, May, July, and September. Meanwhile, we plan to formulate new ways to offer discounts to our customers the following year to ensure everyone can make great savings and still enjoy their shopping experience with us. We hope you can utilize these discounts and look forward to you shopping with us this coming year.
Call (800) 848-8000 to order a free phone book directory.

Sincerely,

The Public Relations Committee

The High Price of Cheap Food

One of the best things to come from Time Magazine lately, everyone should read this fabulous article on Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food.

Seven Things You Didn't Know About Organic Agriculture

Or maybe you did! Still, a great read from the always exceptional Treehugger.com.

Uplifting News about Detroit's "Quiet Revolution"

Some good news for a change! This article, penned by a 94-year old, details how inner-city gardening is bringing communities & generations together in a city some have written off as a wasteland

Health Experts Renew Call to Ban Aspartame

Falsified data, political interference, & the squashing of a healthy alternative (stevia)-- it's enough to make anyone wonder! Rainbow carries diet sodas containing stevia, incidentally....

The Bay Vs. The Bag

This project of Save the Bay is designed to increase awareness about the huge plastic bag problem. There's a funny short film, information and ways to get involved. While you're there, sign the petition telling the Governor to eliminate plastic bags in California.

Vilsack Adviser Predicts Vegetable Garden On White House Lawn By Summer

The Obama Administration may be the first since WWII to plant a vegetable garden. This article reveals that Michelle Obama is

a big believer in community gardens, both because of their beauty and for their access to providing fresh fruits and vegetables to so many communities across this nation and the world.

Read more at cbsnews.com

Biodiesel Update!

People's Fuel is no longer offering Biodiesel at Rainbow Grocery. They are working hard to build a permanent filling station at Rainbow. Check this space for news on its completion.

In the meantime we urge you to visit our friends at Dogpatch Biofuels. They are "San Francisco's first and only public, retail biodiesel-only filling station, carrying B100 biodiesel from local and recycled sources." Check their website for current pricing and hours of operation.

Bringing the Culture Back in Agriculture

American's have been duped by the myth of mono cultures. This article gives the history and science that explain our mineral-deficient soil.

Optimism Helps Reduce Cancer Pain and Fatigue

Many of us have witnessed the strong empirical evidence that a postive outlook is a powerful weapon in the fight against cancer and other diseases. This article summarizes a study that explains how optimism can be medicine.

The Top 10 Health Breakthroughs of 2008

2008 may mark the year when we started the return to the "roots of wellness." As Byron Richards of NaturalNews.com points out:

The drug-based paradigm of Western medicine is crumbling under the weight of its own massive fraud. New technology is proving how nutrients interact at the fundamental gene level to promote health and prevent disease. The discoveries are occurring at a breakneck pace – these are exciting times.

Are The USDA's Organic Standards A Sham?

According Dr. Marion Nestle of NYU, corporate motives have corrupted the intent of the USDA's organic certification program:

As is usual for government agencies in the current political environment, business concerns take precedence. In setting the organic standards, the USDA tackled good and clean (although with some unfortunate compromises), but didn't bother at all with fair or sustainable.

This article by Kerry Trueman delves into issues of trust which are at the hearth of the organics industry.