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Co-op Newsletter PDF Print E-mail

Download Co-op Community Newsletter [pdf]
January 2009
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August 2010

Co-op News is 25 Years Old!
by Bill London, Co-op Newsletter Editor

Bill London

Twenty-five years ago, in December of 1984, we printed the first issue of the Moscow Food Co-op Newsletter.

Well, printing is overstating it. The early newsletters were copied at our then-downtown Kinko's, about 100 issues every two months. Those first newsletters were primitive. Three sheets of paper folded in half to make a thin booklet of six pages, each five and one-half inches wide by eight and one-half inches tall.

When we moved to Moscow in 1984, David Cook (then the Co-op general manager) urged me to start up a regular newsletter for the Co-op, to help link the members to the Co-op and the Co-op to the community. Melissa Rockwood designed that first issue and provided the cover art. Chan Davis, Stephen Lyons, and I wrote the four articles that formed the content. I was the editor, and in an obvious example of the Peter Principle in action, have remained the editor ever since.

Today's Community News is my dream come true. Twenty-five years ago, I had fantasized the creation of a large tabloid with a wide variety of bylined articles about both the Co-op and the community, enough ads to validate the publication and help underwrite its costs, and a regular following of readers.

Over the last 25 years, hundreds of volunteer writers, illustrators, editors, ad managers, and distributors have worked together to create today's 2,500-copy, 32-page monthly. Together we have produced a community newsletter that we all can be proud of, and I thank them all for making it possible.

Co-op Store Manager Steve Kobs has created a newsletter display that will be available all this month in the Co-op deli seating area. Framed copies of photos and articles from early newsletters will be on the walls. Original newsletters, now bound in book form, will be in the protective case. And the few old issues he could find will be there to read and enjoy.

By the way, all the newsletters from the last 25 years are available at the University of Idaho Library Special Collections Department.                                                                                                                                  

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CO-OP's COMMUNITY NEWS
Only $18 for 12 monthly issues mailed to any address in the US
To subscribe:
-send check for $18 (made to the Moscow Food Co-op) to editor Bill London, PO Box 8152, Moscow ID 83843
-be sure to include the full name and address where the issues are to be sent

NEWSLETTER SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
SUMMARY

All text submissions are due on the 15th of the month, for publication in the next month's issue.  There is a grace period until the 20th at noon, after which articles will not be accepted and may be re-submitted for the subsequent issue. For instance, articles for the July issue are due by June 15, and no later than noon on June 20th.  Those received after that may be re-submitted for the August issue. Text submissions should be emailed to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . Photos and illustrations should be emailed to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . Photos and illustrations are due by the 20th at noon for publication in the next month's issue.

Assigned articles and columns (with volunteer discounts arranged before submission) should be about 500 words long, up to a maximum of 700 words. Submissions from Co-op members announcing events or providing commentary on issues are encouraged, but do not receive volunteer discount and must be no longer than 300 words, with one photo acceptable.

If you have any questions about submissions, article topics, suitability, or discounts for newsletter work, please contact editor Bill London at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . Thank you for your interest in, and your support of, the Moscow Food Co-op.

GOAL

The Moscow Food Co-op Community News is a forum for discussion of food, health, and other relevant issues. It is also intended as a medium for informing Co-op members and shoppers about Co-op policies, activities, governance, and monthly specials.

We encourage Co-op members and other interested members of the community to share their ideas and concerns in this newsletter. We also urge representatives of community groups to announce their public events and programs to our readership by submitting that information to the newsletter. And we aim to provide a forum for Co-op members to discuss Co-op practices, products, and priorities.

The Co-op Community News is written and edited entirely by volunteers. In order to get this newsletter out on time and in a readable format, we need your help. Please submit your articles using the following guidelines.

SUBMISSIONS

Please submit articles by the 15th of the month. The final deadline for submissions is noon, on the 20th of each month, for publication in the next month's issue. For instance, articles for the June issue are due by May 15th, and no later than noon on May 20th. Artwork/illustrations and photos are also due by noon on the 20th of each month. Early submissions are encouraged and very much appreciated.

Articles of general community interest are encouraged, and are used on a space-available basis. Articles supporting particular political candidates are not accepted (but that kind of partisan political message can be put into a paid advertisement).

We do not reprint brochures. Articles which merely repeat brochures, political material, or advertisements are not accepted. However, articles which include some previously printed material as support for the author's position are acceptable. The point is that the author must be a Co-op shopper/member and primarily use his/her own words to explain the issue.

Letters to the Editor are accepted—provided they are signed—and will be printed verbatim, on a space-available basis. Those letters can cover any relevant topic, and are especially encouraged if written in response to articles printed in the newsletter.

All submissions must be sent by email. All submissions should include the author's name and phone number for editorial verification (so we can call you if we have any questions); your phone number will not be published, unless you specifically ask that it be included. Anonymous articles/letters will not be published.

Send articles via email to all three editors at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , and include the words "Co-op newsletter article" as well as the month of publication in the subject line. Since the editors alternate monthly editing duties, please send submissions to all three editors at that address to ensure the right person gets it as soon as possible. Send graphics and photos separately to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

ARTICLES ABOUT FOOD

Articles about cooking, nutrition, and recipes must include only ingredients sold at the Moscow Food Co-op.

The newsletter focuses on healthy eating, and all articles and recipes should reflect that ideal. Healthful alternatives or upgrades of traditional recipes are encouraged.

Recipes should NOT use abbreviations for measurements. Please write out words like “cup,” “teaspoon,” or “tablespoon.” Please do not capitalize those words.

Do not use recipes that are copyright-protected. Recipes taken directly from books or magazine articles generally are copyrighted and must be avoided. Co-op newsletter writers can use recipes that the writers themselves have altered and renamed, and in that case, do not need to cite the original source of the recipe. Many other non-copyrighted recipes are available at websites and on brochures published by governmental agencies, food companies, and organizations (like groups advocating healthful or vegetarian living). Those non-copyrighted recipes can be used and published without change.

FORMAT

For each article submitted, please supply your own article headline or title, and byline (author's name). All staff and volunteer writers should include a job title after a comma after their names. The job title for the staff writers is their title at the Co-op. Volunteer writers should use the job title “Newsletter Volunteer.” Capitalize the first letter of the words in the title, as well as the job title. The word “by” should be in lower case. Here is an example:

Eat More and Be Happy

by Sam DeShamm, Newsletter Volunteer

Please also include a short biographical sketch (25 words or less) to follow the article.

Assigned articles are to be 500 to 700 words long (not counting separate-but-related recipes or sidebar information). Articles may be shortened by an editor to fit available space.

Member submissions (not assigned by newsletter editor) are welcome. These submissions can announce events of interest or offer commentary on important issues, and must not exceed 300 words.

IMPORTANT DETAILS

Please use a common, standard font such as Times New Roman. Leave the main body of the article in plain text, without indents or centering. Do not put your title in ALL CAPS. The layout/design folks will make it look like an article--and it's much quicker and easier to do that when starting with the plainest text possible.

Do not use special formatting or symbols such as italics or underlining, fractions or foreign language letters, except when absolutely necessary, as they often do not translate well between software programs.

When submitting by email, paste the article as text in the message AND include the article as an attachment.

Do not leave an extra blank line between paragraphs-a hard return after a paragraph is usually enough.

Co-op is hyphenated (without that hyphen it's a place where chickens roost.)

PHOTO GUIDELINES
Photos & graphics for the newsletter should be 300 dpi (print resolution). Usually you can achieve this resolution by using a high quality setting on a digital camera or scanning it in at 300 - 600 dpi. Lower dpi photos as long as they are very big (like 8"x10" or larger).

Our goal is for all photos submitted to be about 4"x5" at 300dpi, so if the originals are at a lower resolution, they'd need to be even bigger.  Submit by email, attached in jpeg or tiff format.

Some photos come in blurry or dark and there's not much that can be done to fix a poor photo. Blurry photos can be caused by: the camera not being in focus, not enough light, the subject moving, or the photographer moving. To combat this, we can suggest that photographers hold the camera with two hands, use the flash if needed (usually indoor light isn't that great, but outdoors usually doesn't require a flash), make sure it's focused on the subject, and stand as still as possible. Also, it helps to take multiple photos at a time to ensure that we get a good one - then they can either pick the ones that came out clearest or send them all..

Do not just pull an image from the Internet unless it appears huge in a browser window. Most images online are optimized to be screen resolution, which is normally 72 dpi, so it's much too low for print resolution. 72 dpi images will often turn out very tiny when converted to print resolution.

If your photo needs a caption or you'd like it to have one, please send that in the e-mail with the photos.

Submit the photos by the 20th of the month for publication in the next month's newsletter. Submit photos and logos to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Last Updated ( Monday, 02 August 2010 )