The Co-op Winter Kickoff Party

AND LOCAL MAKER MARKET

Sat., Dec. 13 from 10am-2pm.

Join us to celebrate the kick off the winter season with festive samples, live music, giveaways, kids activities, our Holiday Local Maker Market, FREE cookie decorating, and MORE! Support your local maker community by shopping local! Browse gifts and treats from independent Ames Area creators.

This November, get ready for gatherings with friends and family with big savings on all Field Day products at your co-op.

Save on more than 300 Field Day items — from maple syrup to wild-caught tuna to paper towels — from Nov. 5 through Dec. 2, 2025. Field Day is our value brand that offers high-quality, delicious food and household products at more affordable prices every day through Co+op Basics, making this savings event even more spectacular. Our lowest prices will be even lower!

Stock up on staples like rice, pasta, beans and olive oil. Save on tons of spices and herbs, as well as baking essentials including sugar, vanilla and chocolate chips. Find the foods you want for holiday meals, like gravy, pumpkin puree and stuffing mix.

Gathering with family and friends for a Thanksgiving meal is a familiar ritual for many people, and we strive to serve our entire community well during this busy time of year. In recognition that the story of the first Thanksgiving perpetuates an inaccurate and harmful version of history, food co-ops across the country are making a collective donation to North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) this November.

Food co-ops will donate $0.05 for every Field Day product sold during this promotion.

NATIFS is a nonprofit organization founded by Lakota Chef Sean Sherman (known as the Sioux Chef), dedicated to revitalizing Indigenous food systems and promoting cultural preservation within Native American communities. Through initiatives like the Indigenous Food Lab, NATIFS offers training programs, educational workshops and support for Indigenous entrepreneurs to empower individuals and foster economic development.

By addressing economic disparities, food insecurity and the loss of Indigenous food knowledge, NATIFS aims to restore health, wealth and cultural identity to Indigenous populations. The organization’s commitment to promoting Indigenous foodways education, facilitating food access and revitalizing ancestral knowledge underscores its mission to create positive social impact and support underserved communities.

To learn more about NATIFS, visit natifs.org. If you want to get involved, follow NATIFS on social media, sign up for the NATIFS newsletter or make your own donation. You can also lend a hand by sharing their mission and vision on social media with your friends and family.

Taking advantage of low prices on Field Day items not only saves you money, but it also supports the vital work that NATIFS is undertaking. If you are interested in doing more, consider learning about and supporting the initiatives of Indigenous people in your local community. Start by visiting https://native-land.ca/ to learn whose ancestral land you live on.

To see all the Co+op Deals available, visit deals.coop.

Make-and-Take Jewel Corn Craft

Stop by the Community Room, 11am-1pm, for a fun and festive event for you and the kids! Create and take home your very own jewel corn. It’s the perfect opportunity to enjoy the season’s bounty, share in the spirit of giving, and make something special together.

Co-op Statement on SNAP Benefits during Government Shutdown

At Wheatsfield Co-op, we are deeply concerned that SNAP and other government assistance programs may be temporarily inaccessible starting November 1, 2025. For hundreds of thousands of Iowan residents and 42 million Americans who rely on these programs to access groceries, even a short disruption can mean difficult choices about food, bills, and other essentials.

Food insecurity is a shared reality that affects not only our shoppers and staff, but many across our community. As a cooperative, we look to Cooperative Principle #7, Concern for Community, as we work together to address this issue. We will be donating cases of non-perishable items to local food pantries and will have a box in the front vestibule to collect donations if you would like to contribute. Our November Change for Community recipient will be local food pantries and we have updated handouts with local community resources.

We also ask everyone to be gentle with staff and volunteers at food pantries and community organizations distributing food for free or low cost. Many of these organizations are already working at capacity and will likely face even higher demand if benefits are delayed or reduced. A little patience and kindness can go a long way. We can show care through our actions toward each other by being understanding, patient, and connected.

Together, we can uphold our cooperative values by centering compassion, equity, and community when and where it’s needed most.

In Cooperation,

Wheatsfield Co-op Staff

Community Resources:

Local Food Pantry Resources – McFarland Clinic

Story County Food Pantries & Programs

HOPE Pantry – Ames Community School District

Making the Most Out of Your Produce Purchases

Adam Calder
Wheatsfield Produce Manager

A customer called me up recently to vent her frustrations with perished produce. She was confused, because she bought produce on a Sunday and by Wednesday it had already begun to deteriorate. She didn’t understand why this was so, when historically all produce was raised organically and people would store produce in pantries, cellars and larders for the entire winter.

I can certainly appreciate her concern, and I also understand why this might seem counter-intuitive to a person in this day and age. We try hard at the co-op to sell high quality produce with a good shelf life, and we have a lot of help. Our technology has come far, and humanity has learned much about food storage and safety, then surely it would make sense that food bought today should easily last for months.

Historically, yes, people did store fresh food for entire seasons. They also had to contend with mice, bugs, mold, mildew, blight and rot in their food. If any of those problems afflicted their food, the food was eaten anyway. There was little choice, you either ate the food you stored or you went hungry. They did the best they could, as root cellars were cool year-round and would certainly add weeks and months to the viability of fresh produce. They also did not work magic, and the food retrieved and eaten from those cellars would be bruised, blemished, over-ripe, bug-eaten, shriveled up or otherwise maligned after its lengthy storage. People back then could not afford to be too picky or squeamish.

As long as people have been growing crops for food, they have also figured out ways to preserve that food during times of plenty so it can be consumed when food is scarce. Modern grocery store shoppers have become accustomed to having any fresh food they want, at any time of year, regardless of what season it happens to be. Traditionally, mushrooms were only found by gathering them from forests during the wet months of the spring and summer. You picked everything you found, ate what you could fresh, and dried or smoked the remainder within a couple of days. Blueberries never used to be something you could farm, they could only be gathered in the wild during a brief window in the summer. You ate as many fresh as you could and then preserved the rest by canning them or drying them.

You can extend the life of produce with some of our ancestor’s wisdom and our modern food storage knowledge. Absolutely enjoy the bounty of each season as our ancestors did, but shop for a menu you already planned out so you only buy what you need and can use in a week. Making a menu for a Tuesday that includes leftovers from Monday’s meal is a great way to reduce food waste. Resist the urge to buy more produce than you need, even if it is on sale for a great price, because if you don’t have a plan for that excess it will likely end up in the garbage. Make a casserole or soup out of your sprouting onions, wrinkly-skinned potatoes, limp celery and dry-skinned carrots. You will have a tasty, hearty meal and no one will ever know that the produce that went into it wasn’t perfect. If you make too much soup or casserole, then can or freeze it to conveniently enjoy later.

In a time of rising inflation costs, every small effort that reduces waste can have a positive impact on your grocery budget. When you save money while still enjoying quality organic food and eliminating food waste, everyone in your cooperative community benefits.