We just wanted to check in and share what we’ve been up to! We’ve been busy continuing to improve our online store, keeping up with safety, making new partnerships, and supporting food security. Keep reading to learn more!

Last month, we launched a new version of our online store. If you haven’t checked it out yet, take a peak! And, since then, we’ve made even more improvements!

Now, you’ll notice little colored circle icons in the top left corner of item images. These denote attributes of items – look for things like organic, local, vegan, gluten-free, or fair trade. You can also filter by these to make finding what you’re looking for even faster!

Check out our FAQs page for tips on using the new online store.

We continue to monitor official guidance on appropriate safety protocols for the store. Here’s the latest:

• We continue to strictly limit the number of shoppers in the store, though we have slightly increased the number of shoppers permitted.
• We continue to require every shopper to use hand sanitizer or gloves upon entry.
• NEW: To comply with health regulations, we are requiring all shoppers to put on fresh, disposable gloves upon entering the bulk aisle. We know that many of our shoppers are concerned about the waste this creates, but we really want to be able to keep this important part of our store open to the public! Thanks for helping us with that.
• In order to ensure the maximum number of households are served, we continue to ask you to only send one person per household to shop.
• You might see that the big white tent is no longer in the small parking lot. That parking lot will remain closed for now. Please continue to use the large parking lot for parking and online order pick ups so we can keep folks spread out.

The Co-op is very excited to become Maryland’s first Fair Food Sponsor! We have partnered with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to support the Fair Food Program (FFP), a worker-driven human rights initiative ensuring basic protections for tens of thousands of farmworkers along the East Coast. We will contribute a portion of our sales of Fair Food Program certified produce (for now – Fair Food certified tomatoes!). This contribution will help fund both wage bonuses to farmworkers in the FFP and comprehensive monitoring and oversight via the independent Fair Food Standards Council.

Look for Fair Food signage in the produce department to make your Co-op spending go even further!

Read more here.

Our work supporting folks in the food security trenches continues! You might have seen the lines every other Friday morning and Tuesday afternoon during Small Things Matter’s food distributions. These distributions are helping to feed hundred of local families each week. We know it means our parking lot is super full during those times and thank you for your patience while we support Small Things Matter in their important work during this time.

Want to help? You can donate non-perishable food and personal hygiene items at the Co-op. Just leave them in the cart by the front door and Small Things Matter will add them to their distributions! Learn more.

Sanctuary DMV continues to pack food for delivery weekly on Thursday mornings in the large parking lot. Serving a few hundred households each week, they are providing much needed support to local immigrant families. We are so proud to be hosting them and supporting their work as we can!

When you round up at the register or contribute to the Feed a Neighbor Fund online, you’re supporting the crucial work of both these groups.