Glorious summer tomatoes offer many possibilities to be enjoyed throughout the year.  Consider freezing and roasting in addition to canning as ways to bring these treasures to your table in all seasons.   Freezing is a quick and easy option for tomatoes that can be added to soups, stews and sauces.  Just wash, dry and chop tomatoes into the size that you will use most, put into freezer bags or other freezer hardy containers.  They will be juicy when rethawing, but surpris...

Fall is in the air with cooler nights and shorter days, and the bounty of summer is filling our produce area. Autumn is one of my favourite times to shop at Karma, and I invite you to come in and fill your basket with the season’s freshest apples, squash, and cooler-weather greens. September is also when Karma’s Board prepares to welcome newly elected Board members to join us following our October 19th AGM. This past year has been one of remarkable change, growth, and development for our food...

Bob Biderman, long-time member and Karma legacy donor, shares his story and connection to our community Karma is embarking on a fundraising campaign to raise much-needed reserves for repairs and renovations to the store. We are currently investigating the possibility of gaining charitable status, which would enable Karma to issue tax receipts. We also hope to have members designate Karma as a recipient of donations in their wills. With that in mind, here is a short interview with Bob Biderman...

In April, on the basis of Canadian and Ontario public health advice and instructions, Karma implemented practices to protect its staff, its members, and admitted guests from COVID-19. These included increased cleaning and sanitation, limiting the number of shoppers in the store at any one time, physical distancing, hand washing, and mask-wearing among others.   Since then, the City of Toronto introduced a mandatory mask-wearing policy in July that requires all establishments open to...

Dear Members, It’s hard to believe we’re already in August! 5 months ago we were scrambling to make shopping at Karma a safe place to shop and work. Since my last store update in May, things have settled somewhat into a new “normal”for us here at the store. We’ve settled into a routine with new cleaning protocols, increased sales and packing orders for people for curbside pick up and delivery. We’ve reworked member labour opportunities so they allow for proper distancing so members can once a...

Karma’s Board of Directors established a Donation Policy at our July 8th, 2020 meeting to support the development and implementation of a donations program. The goal of the new policy and program is to support the long-term sustainability of our co-operative and enable us to respond to the capital needs of our aging building, mechanical systems, and equipment. Special projects that further the mission of the co-op will also be eligible to access funding through this program; however, day-to-d...

Karma’s Board Welcomes Nominees to Join Us for 2020-21    Dear Karma Members, The Board of Directors is preparing for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday, October 19, 7-9pm, and we’re hoping for our best turn out yet!  We’ll be using Zoom for our first-ever virtual AGM. I am chairing the Board Nominations process for the upcoming election at the AGM, and the Board is seeking nominees to fill 4 or 5 vacancies for our 2020-21 Board. We are actively encouraging members...

Statement to membership  Some of you may have noticed Karma’s silence in the wake of the horrifying instances of police violence against Black and Indigenous people, which, since the murder of George Floyd on May 25th, have been the subject of popular uprisings around the world. Many of you have also expressed your desire for Karma to be more active on this front and to be more engaged in matters of social justice and equity. Social justice is part of the fabric of our organization and, ...

By special request, this month’s article is about nutritional yeast. If you’re experimenting with plant-based cooking, eating vegan meals one day a week, want to add flavour to your recipes, or are just trying to get more vitamin B12, this article is for you. Nutritional yeast is best known as a great source of B12, which is something everyone eating plant-based needs to supplement with since it’s mostly found in animal products. The bonus is that it’s also full of umami, which means it adds ...

Everyone at Karma has their “How did you find Karma?” story. As a new member and, now, head of the new Marketing & Communications Committee, I would like to share mine. I think my story provides some potentially useful insights into how we can create a bright future for the Co-op. But I look forward to hearing your thoughts! I grew up in Toronto but was a bit disillusioned working here, so I moved to Europe, where I lived for 15 years. When I came back home about 13 years ago,...