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Karma’s 45th Anniversary Celebration!
Saturday, June 24 2-6pm Free We are partnering with the Laneway Project to transform Karma’s parking lot and Karma Lane into a celebratory space filled with activities, food and drink for our 45th birthday! We will be serving up co-operatively brewed beer from TWB Co-operative Brewing, organic and biodynamic wine from Southbrook Vineyards, and tasty…
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From the GM – May 2017
Dear Karma Members, It has begun! The local spring produce is starting to roll in. Wild leeks have arrived and we are getting more phone calls from farmers with the first of the season’s harvest. A lot of fresh greens at this point, but we can expect more and more variety from here on out!…
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Sourdough banana muffins
Last fall, I attended one of Burns Wattie’s sourdough workshops at Karma, a terrific introduction to this ancient practice. Sadly, I waited too long to start baking and lost the starter (sorry, Burns!), but happily, someone on the Chronicle Committee shared her starter with me so I could try again (thanks, Morgan!). I’ll be honest, it’s been…
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Pfenning’s and the business of organic growing
Farming is a strange business these days. Steeped in tradition and rooted in love of the land, vegetable growing now involves layers of regulations, packaging and brand development, processing infrastructure, logistics, accounting, and supply chain relationships. We consumers demand vegetables year-round, while southern Ontario fields yield fresh produce for about half that time. And we…
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What do all the labels mean?
Karma carries food items with a variety of labels. But what do those certifications mean, and who sets the standards? The Food Issues Committee has done the research—so let’s set the record straight on some of these labels. Products that are grown in China and carry an organic logo must meet Canadian Organic Standards (COS).…
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Good Karma, good vibrations
My journey at Karma began with a search for miso paste. I was researching where to buy miso paste in Toronto, and came across several familiar store names. Karma Co-op was also on the list, but I had never heard of it. I dug into their (our!) website and I liked what I saw. One…
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The Shelf Elf returns, to sample Monforte cheese
Some long-time Chronicle readers may recall a regular visitor to the pages of this publication named the Shelf Elf, a creation of his faithful human scribe, Suzanne Molina. He was a popular little fellow, and garnered a loyal following over the years that he highlighted new products in the store. It has been years since the Shelf Elf’s…
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A warm winter community
Methods of interaction, and communities, change over time. I spoke to one Karma member who remembers when bags of food were bought in bulk by a collective, then divided among the members. I used to live in a farming community where we would buy in bulk what we didn’t grow ourselves, and then we would get together to…
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Not your traditional farmer: Tony Neale of Wheelbarrow Farm
Have you heard this one before? A boy grows up in Toronto, gets a political science degree, and considers a career in social work. But then he takes up farming instead. That’s not a punchline, but rather the story of Tony Neale, owner of Wheelbarrow Farm in Newmarket and one of Karma’s produce and pork…
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Cheapest organic groceries near the Annex
by Shawn Caza Eight stores, 20 items. The mission: finding the cheapest organic groceries and bulk food from the Annex to Kensington Market. After scouting the shelves, I can confidently report that Karma Co-op comes out on top, with prices often significantly lower than other grocery and natural food stores in the area. Method I…