What's new for the Co-op for the 2008 Season

The Co-op is full for 2008:
Effective August 18th, the Co-op is no longer accepting new memberships for 2008. Current members can continue to order products through out the remainder of the year. However, the membership has grown as large as we can manage for this year, and we can not accept any new members. We will begin accepting memberships for 2009 in January.

Product Availability Changes Effective July 4th:
As a result of an increased early demand for many of the Co-op products, some food items are now effectively sold out for the duration of 2008. These products are Turkeys, Geese, Ducks and Chicken Eggs. All other products can still be ordered and delivered.

New Prices Effective June 1st:
Due to rising fuel costs and increased feed prices, some of the Co-op suppliers have raised the prices of their products. Consequently, prices for some of the food items listed on the shopping cart will have increases effective June 1st. Folks that have already placed deposits on, or purchased, food items that have not yet been delivered will be not be affected by the price increases. Only completely new orders, placed on or after June 1st will be charged the new prices. Not all products will be affected.

New products for 2008:

Heritage Chicken:
The heritage breed chickens first offered in 2007 were very successful so we have decided to expand our Heritage chicken products to include not only whole birds, but also packages of heritage chicken breasts, thighs and legs. The packages of chickens are processed in the same way as the whole heritage chickens and so are air-chilled and vacuum sealed. Please follow the product description links for more information about all the heritage chicken products.

Heritage Turkey:
We are now offering heritage turkey breast packages, both bone-in and boneless. The breast packages are from turkeys raised and processed for the 2007 season; Their numbers are limited and once they are gone, they are gone till after Thanksgiving 2008. So, if you are interested in any of the turkey breast packages, please order early.
We also have a new turkey meat product - Pulled Bar B Que Turkey. This is cooked turkey, pulled from the bone and flavored with BBQ sauce. Just open the package and pop it into the microwave for a minute or two and you have a ready to eat, delicious, heritage turkey sandwich. Please follow the product description links for more information about all the heritage turkey products.

Heritage Geese:
There are no USDA Inspected processing plants for waterfowl that we have access to in Colorado. So, this past fall we started using the processing plant in McPherson, KS. They do an excellent job with all types of poultry including waterfowl. The plant also uses the air-chilled processing technique utilized with the heritage chickens. The plant is expensive, though, plus there are additional transportation expenses. Please follow the product description links for more information about the heritage geese products.

Colorado Elk:
This year we are offering elk meat for the first time. These are elk raised on a ranch in Western Colorado, not wild, hunted elk. The elk meat is available in sampler packs only this year. Bulk elk meat is available upon request. Please follow the product description links for more information about the elk meat products.

Colorado Pork:
This year we are offering locally raised and processed, all natural pork. Please follow the product description links for more information about the pork products.

Colorado Lamb:
This year we are offering locally raised and processed, all natural and soy-free Lamb. Please follow the product description links for more information about the lamb products.

Sampler Packs:
We have made some changes to the selection of sampler packs this year. The beef and buffalo samplers are still available and remain pretty much unchanged. We have modified the Heritage Poultry sampler a bit. Plus we have added a Chicken sampler, a Ground Meat sampler and an Elk Meat sampler. Please visit the sampler description page for more information about the samplers.

New Soy-Free Food Items:
Our selection of soy-free products continues to expand. In addition to our already soy-free geese, duck eggs, beef and buffalo, the lamb we are offering this year has been raised on a soy-free diet. Also, we will have some soy-free heritage breed chickens this year. The chickens will not be available till later this summer.

Member Work-Barter Program:
The Member Work Barter Program is an opportunity for an individual to learn about free range poultry farming by helping out on the farm. In exchange for this person's labor and help, the Co-op membership fee is waived and the person is paid a salary in Co-op food products.

Food Item Changes:
Due to rising costs, we've had to raise the membership fee this year, (the first time in 3 years). To help offset this, we have increased the value of some of the membership and renewal items. Plus we've added a Bonus item. That is, for each $100 dollars of food items purchased beyond the membership and renewal options, we will give a free food item of our choice. It will be a value in the $5.00 range and so constitute an approximate 5% discount. Additionally, we have had to raise prices on a few items but at the same time lowered the price on some other items, including the popular whole Heritage chickens.