ABOUT
The Somerville Granola Making Coop (SGMC) is one of three community-based food productions cooperatives where members of the community share the responsibility for creating low-cost healthy food using a sustainable economic model. SGMC offers granola made with ALL local ingredients including dry-rolled oats from Maine and cold press oil from New York. The other two cooperatives are The Somerville Yogurt Making Coop and The Somerville Fermenation Coop.
COST
Members can sign up to receive between one and eight pounds of granola each month. Membership terms are for six months and cost $24 for a one pound share. This works out to $4.00 per pound.
WORK
Each member is responsible for signing up to help make granola twice during their six-month term. Granola is made once a month on Tuesday evenings. Start times are flexible and the whole process takes about three hours.
LOCATION
The co-op uses a shared kitchen in First Church Somerville, just outside of Davis Sq. to make, store and distribute shares. Members are given direct access to the church. Pick up times are Wednesday through Sunday of the same week that the granola is made.
GRANOLA
Our granola is made with ingredients from local farms with transparent and sustainable farming practices. Most notably our oats are organically farmed and dry rolled in Maine. Chances are you have never tasted dry-rolled oats. Dry-rolled oats have a raw and natural texture in contrast to the uniform flake of conventional steamed rolled oats. Steam rolling is used as method for extending the shelf life of oats by removing their natural enzymes. It is an energy intensive process and almost all steam rolled oats are processed in a single plant in Saskatchewan, Canada. By contrast, the simple process of dry rolling raw oats is affordable for small batch processing and results in a product that is better for farms, the environment and you.
In addition, our oil is cold pressed. The standard process for refining oils is referred to as solvent extraction and a full description of this process is not for the faint of heart or stomach. The process includes extreme heat, hexane-based solvents, bleaching and deodorization. The process damages the fats in the oil to the extent that the oil is often rancid before it is even sold. Not only is our oil extracted from a simple cold press, but it is made from non-GMO seed sourced 30 percent from local farms.
Finally, our cranberries contain no artificial color or preservatives typical of commercially processed cranberries and retain the dark rich color, tart flavor and moist taste of the original cranberry.
Below is a complete list of our ingredients. Note that our recipe does not contain nuts and the kitchen we use is designated nut-free.
| Oats (Dry rolled) | Maine Grains, Skowhegan ME |
| Maple Syrup | Cranston Family Tree Farm, Ashfield MA |
| Honey | Apex Orchards, Shelburne Falls MA |
| Canola Oil | Full Sun, Middlebury VT |
| Dried Cranberries | Fairfield Farms, Rochester MA |
| Pepitas | Wholehearted Foods, Geneva NY |
JOIN
If you are interested in joining, please download and complete the application form. The form should be mailed along with a check to:
Somerville Granola Making Co-op
℅ First Church Somerville
89 College Ave
Somerville, MA 02144Alternatively, insert your package directly into the mailbox on the side entrance of the church!
CONTACT
For more information, please contact sgmcooperative(at)gmail(dot)com or join our mailing list.