Well, that was a busy month...followed, of course with more great events and activities in May. Our First Friday Outdoor Extravaganza features events for young and old. A seedling demo for our young Sprouts starts off the evening, is followed by the kickoff off our Co-op Certified Outdoor Grill, and ends late night with our Quizzo & Wing Bar. Don’t forget the Swarthmore Charity Fun Fair on Sunday and May's Sunday Suppers being cooked Sunday and delivered on Monday morning. How’s that for starting the month off right.

We are excited to offer another installment in our International Cooking Classes, Cooking (South) Indian on May 12th @ 7pm at the Swarthmore Presbyterian Church. Then, in the middle of the month (May 15th @6pm) we create community and partner with Hobbs Coffee to help celebrate William's birthday and raise some money for his favorite charity, the Friends of Ryan Veterinary Hospital. "Sausagefest" will feature some great choices right off the grill.  For instance, the Co-op's selections:

1. Sleepin on the Couch Tonite
Chorizo on a Demi Baguette
Baked Roasted Garlic Black Beans
2. Not Too Greecy
Spinach and Feta Sausage and Pita
Herbed Cucumber Salad
3. The Other, Other White Meat
Classic Italian Chicken Sausage and Long Roll
Onions and Peppers
4. Surf, Zydeco and Turf
Andouille and Ciabatta
Shrimp Salad and Spiced Vinegar Pickle

Is there more??... we will be beginning a new program this month called Charity Rounding.  Our cashiers will be asking if you want to round your purchase to the next whole dollar (e.g. $11.39 to $12.00) and the money will be donated to Sunday Suppers.  This will be a way to help support our Sunday Suppers program everyday of the year and help us expand the program to more seniors in need.  If you want to help cook (this month caterer Alex Garfinkle has volunteered to lead the cooking) or deliver for Sunday Suppers, contact us at sundaysuppers@swarthmore.coop.  More details on Charity Rounding are upcoming.

As you may know by now, we officially went Plastic Bagless on Earth Day, April 22nd. But don't worry, we'll have you covered.  Some of the changes:

-There will no longer be a bag credit
-We will sell reusable bags AT COST to all shoppers
-We will still offer paper bags at 5 cents each

We have sold all of our Cow-op Grass-fed Beef shares for our May 1st delivery, but we will be receiving more shares soon along with Farmer's Chickens.  If you want to get on the waiting list for the next Cow-op, sign up now by using the Cow-op button on our website.

Last week we hosted our 4th Truckathon, presented by Applegate Meats.  While the rain washed us out by 9pm, we had over 6,000 folks in attendance and every truck expressed their love of our event. In fact, many have outright stated that the Swarthmore event is their favorite to attend and as our waiting list grows, we will be sure to add more trucks and more great food.  Thanks for making the Truckathon such a huge success!

We will stay in touch throughout the month on Social Media and with our new Weekly Produce Specials (opt in by emailing Anthony at graphics@swarthmore.coop).  Be sure to check out May's issue of the Insider magazine.  See you at the Co-op and...

Eat Well,

Marc