Our Health and Beauty Aids (HABA) department has a database for helping customers answer questions about vitamins, herbs, supplements, and other health care products.

Do you have a symptom and want to know what your condition might be? Have a medical condition and want to know alternative treatment options? Have a prescription and want to know if a supplement will react with your medication? Find all this and more in our new database.

When you are in one of our stores, ask a Health and Beauty Aids clerk to do a search for you or try it out for yourself!

Enter Reference Library

It is our mission to educate our employees and shoppers about their world of food. Both stores have handouts and leaflets on a variety of topics from non-toxic household cleaners to the facts about oils. Many of our handouts come and go by the season so be sure to ask if you are looking for something specific.

List of Gluten-free Products for the Arcata Co-op (PDF)
List of Gluten-free Products for the Eureka Co-op (PDF)
Pocket Guide to Gluten-free Ingredients on Labels (PDF)
Visit www.celiac.com for more information
"Karina's Kitchen" Gluten-free Recipes (link)
"Karina's Picks" Top Ten (or 13) Gluten-free Products (link)
(P.S. Your Co-op carries all of these products!)

Non-GMO Shopping Guide (PDF)
Visit the Center for Food Safety for more information (PDF)

Dioxane Shopper Safety Guide (PDF)

Please see Customer Service for printed copies or contact Melanie Bettenhausen at (707) 826-8670 ext. 132 for more information about education materials.

The Co-op has introduced a “Green Dot” program for all 95-100% certified organic food. Signs in the store instruct shoppers that the best way to avoid eating GMO food is to choose food that has been certified organic. There is a green dot on the shelf pricing for all of these certified organic products.

It is important to note that, all the certification agencies contacted have a “no GMO” policy but some do state that they cannot guarantee products are completely GMO free due to genetic drift. Your patience and input as we work through this new program is very much appreciated.

Targeting in season, local produce each class learns where the produce was originally grown, how it grows and serving ideas. Everyone gets a taste of local, perfectly ripe produce!

When children know about their food they are more likely to try it. When they try it they are more likely to continue eating it. Best of all, the children learn that the farmer down the street works everyday to feed out community.

Whether it is apples in September, butternut squash in December or strawberries in May; each month is a great opportunity to encourage children, and their families, to eat more produce. Eating more produce, coupled with regular activity may be their best defensive against obesity.

• Reduce or eliminate synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.
• Avoid the use of hormones, antibiotics, and genetic engineering.
• Conserve soil and water.
• Provide safe and fair working conditions for on-farm labor.
• Provide healthy and humane care for livestock.
• Protect and enhance wildlife habitat and biodiversity on working farm landscapes.
• Reduce food-related energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions through energy conservation, recycling, minimal packaging, and local sales.

The Klamath/North Coast Bioregion, as defined by the California Environmental Resources Evaluation System, includes all of Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity, Mendocino, and Lake counties; plus parts of Siskiyou, Shasta, Glenn, Tehama and Colusa Counties.

Going beyond organic certification or “buy local” campaigns, regional sustainability integrates economic, social, and environmental considerations, and rewards local farmers, both conventional and organic, who employ ecological practices.

Whether it’s organic lettuce from Orleans, Tofu Shop tofu from Arcata or the Co-op’s own table wines from Mendocino County, the Trust Your Source logo indicates that the product is not only locally produced but sustainably produced as well.   If you see a product on our shelves that should be labeled as Trust Your Source please let us know.

Download a brochure here (PDF).

If you would like your business to be profiled in our Trust Your Source program, fill out the Trust Your Source Application.

Protecting Food Locally
Food advocacy at the national level is extremely important. Most of what we consume comes from out of the area, so we rely on federal regulations to protect our food. Additionally, legislation at the county level affects our local food supply. As members of the community, it is our responsibility to make certain that development does not overtake viable farmland.

One way to protect the ability to feed ourselves locally is to get involved in the Humboldt County General Plan Update. Be informed. Read the current draft of the plan here. You can also read the Health Impact Assessment, co-authored by Human Impact Partners, Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Branch, and the Humboldt Partnership for Active Living which informs the General Plan Update. You can also get involved with the Healthy Humboldt Coalition and/or the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF).

*If you know of other organizations working on the General Plan Update in regards to food security, please let us know and we will post them here. Contact Melanie Bettenhausen at (707) 826-8670 ext. 132.

GMO Statement
The North Coast Cooperative recognizes both the potential health and environmental hazards associated with Genetically Engineered (GE) foods and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) in our food chain. A Genetically Modified Organism is an organism whose genetic characteristics have been altered by the insertion of a modified gene or a gene from another organism using the techniques of genetic engineering (1). Working outside of the confines of natural possibilities, these alterations leave a risk of unknown consequences to the ecosystem and public health.

The North Coast Cooperative believes that at this time the best way to avoid GE and GMO products is to consume only certified organic food. We call upon regulatory agencies to support thorough testing and strict labeling standards for GMO products. Education and information regarding food safety is a responsibility the North Coast Cooperative accepts and embraces. There are resources available throughout the store, as well as on our web site www.northcoastco-op.com, to stay informed regarding controversial technologies and practices. 

(1) As defined by the American Heritage Medical Dictionary.

Protect Family-Scale Organic FarmsThe U.S. Senate is expected to vote soon on a sweeping overhaul of federal food safety law – S. 510. The House food safety bill passed last year (HR 2749) included several measures that threaten small-scale organic producers, including a registration fee of $500 and blanket application of complicated monitoring and traceability standards — regardless of one’s farm size. Read more...

Labeling and Safety Testing
If you want to know when a product has been genetically engineered, contact your representatives and ask them to co-sponsor and support labeling and safety testing of GE foods. Click here.

1,4-Dioxane
A study released by the Organic Consumer Association found traces of 1,4-dioxane in 47 of 100 natural cleaning and body care products tested. The Environmental Protection Agency has declared 1,4-dioxane a probable human carcinogen because it causes cancer in lab animals. The International Agency for Research on Cancer claims that there is "inadequate evidence" in humans for the carcinogenicity of 1,4-dioxane.

Scientists do not now know what, if any, cancer risk humans face from years-long use of products containing the chemical. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates cosmetics, has set no standards for 1,4-dioxane. The agency has periodically tested products for the compound since the late 1970s and says levels of it have substantially declined since then. The FDA says the current levels do not present a hazard to consumers, although they have advised the industry to reduce amounts in cosmetics as much as possible.

Currently there are no set standards or clear guidelines for what makes a non-food product “natural” or “organic”.

A list of products found to contain 1,4-dioxane is available at Customer Service. The Co-op will be researching the issue and will provide more information as it becomes available.

Click here for more OCA information on 1,4-Dioxane.
Click here for more FDA information on 1,4-Dioxane.
Click here for more EPA information on 1,4-Dioxane.

Click on the vendor names below to view their statements:

Aura Cacia
Dr. Bronner's
Earth Friendly Products
Environmentally Sensitive Solutions
The Hain Celestial Group
Nature's Gate
Seventh Generation

Irradiated Greens
Want to know more about the FDA's ruling on irradiated greens? Click here for a question and answer page from the FDA's website. You can also compare irradiation fact sheets from these organizations:

Food and Drug Administration
Food and Water Watch
Organic Consumers Association

Give us a call at (707) 826-8670 ext. 132 or send an email to let us know what you think about irradiated greens. You can also visit our Web Log and share your ideas with other Co-op members.

Bisphenol A and Your Health
"Increasing consumer demand for convenience products has brought attention to the impacts plastic, single use packages are having on human health. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical commonly used to make plastic food and beverage containers, plastic food wrap, baby bottles, large plastic water jugs and the linings of metal cans of foods and beverages like sodas, soups, fruits and vegetables. BPA is also in the coating on the insides of lids on Ball, Kerr, Golden Harvest and Bernardin mason jars.

Scientists and consumers are concerned about BPA because it can leach from these products into the food they contain as they age and are exposed to heat. Producers and consumers are also concerned that the presence of BPA compromises the integrity of certified organic products. The National Organic Program (NOP) issued a memo to certifying agencies in 2002 noting that BPA is among many food contact substances that are exempt from organic certification." Read more from the Co-op News or:

FDA To Revise BPA Review, Considers Independent Studies
Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group Fact Sheet
Center For The Evaluation of Risks To Human Reproduction

If you think BPA should not be allowed in organic products, let the USDA's National Organic Program know about it by filing a complaint here.