Actions being taken at Food Co-op to prevent spread of coronavirus

— from Learner Limbach for Orcas Food Co-op —

In light of the growing crisis, Orcas Food Co-op management and staff have been hard at work putting together plans for preventing the spread of Covid-19/Coronavirus as well as addressing some of the social impacts that are arising as a result.

As a grocery store and a community hub, our Co-op is in the unique position of offering essential services for our community while also minimizing risk to our staff, members, and shoppers. Our co-op prides itself on its cleanliness and food safety standards, as well as our ability for creative and collaborative problem-solving. We want you to know that we are taking the situation very seriously and are taking multiple steps to continue providing the services that you need in a safe and clean environment, while caring for our staff, and being a responsible member of our community.

We will continue to keep our members and community updated and informed as the situation evolves and additional steps are taken. Below are several steps that we are taking right now, some of which are still in development. If you have any questions, concerns or ideas, please email info@orcasfood.coop.

Staff Health Policies

Staying home when sick . . .

Employees are required to stay home and take paid sick time as soon as they notice any symptoms of being sick, even if the symptoms do not appear to indicate Covid-19.

We are asking employees to be very diligent about this. As a result, there may come a time when we are short staffed and have to think creatively to fully operate the store. We will also be trying to hire additional staff and do additional cross-training of staff in multiple departments in order to make the team as resilient as possible.

Paid Sick Leave . . .

In order to support staff in taking every precaution possible to not spread sick germs, as long as the Covid-19 concerns persist, we will be providing emergency paid sick leave above and beyond the standard sick leave. All of the hours that an employee is unable to work will be covered. This will ensure that no Co-op employees have to choose between staying home when they should and being able to pay their bills.

Cleanliness and Sanitation . . .

• Ensuring employees are vigilant about hand washing;
• Stepping up cleaning and disinfecting of all surfaces;
• More frequent cleanings of high-impact/high-touch areas (i.e. registers, shopping carts, doors);
• Reinforcing existing precautionary sanitary measures.

Sanitation Station . . .

• Set up at the end of the Produce end cap, near the registers, the Sanitation Station includes 1) Spray hand sanitizer, both scented and unscented; 2) Disposable gloves; 3) Sanitizing wipes.
• We will provide sanitizer with and without essential oils for our customers who are sensitive to fragrances or essential oils.
• We are asking that customers please utilize the sanitation station before shopping and handling product.
• With the spray, please spray front and back of hands with several pumps, and rub hands briskly together for several seconds until hands are dry. This ensures best sanitizing effects. (Please remember that when possible, washing hands frequently with plain old soap and water is best!)
• Handwashing Station (in development). We will be setting up a customer hand-washing station at the Co-op that will have warm water, soap and paper towels. We will keep you posted once we have an exact ETA for this.

Produce . . .

• Out of an abundance of caution, we have discontinued bulk salad mix, bulk spinach, and bulk arugula. These items will now be sold pre-bagged.
• All produce staff are now required to wear gloves while handling produce, and are asked to change gloves often.

Bulk . . .

• Bulk scoops and tongs are removed from bins and sanitized after close every night.
• Bin lids and handles will be wiped down with sanitizer daily.
• Gloves will be provided for customers wishing to wear them while shopping bulk.

What you can do

• Plan your purchase so you can get everything you need in fewer trips. Less trips to town and to the store = less risk
• Use your elbow to push the disability access door button to enter the co-op rather than using the door handle.
• Use the sanitation station!
• Make sure you wash or sanitize your hands AFTER shopping as well as before.
• Let us know when you see flaws or areas for improvement in our cleanliness and sanitation systems.

Delivery Service

We are quickly working on developing a coordinated volunteer driven grocery delivery plan in order to be able to safely get groceries (and potentially other supplies) to community members who are quarantined at home.

We are in conversation with other local service orgs exploring ways to collaborate. If we combine efforts it will surely be more efficient than having several efforts going on at once. The idea currently is to have a large list of volunteer drivers and to sign people up for different days of deliveries to various parts of the island. Someone could do several deliveries at once to one end of the island at a consistent time of day. Drivers can be provided with a volunteer discount at the Co-op as a token of appreciation for their efforts.

Co-op staff and/or Member volunteers can likely do the actual shopping for folks, putting groceries into boxes and preparing them for pickup (for no extra charge), and then the drivers would pick up and sign off for them. If the customer has a charge account then the purchase can be charged to the account and a receipt emailed to them. Otherwise payments could be taken over the phone. While there are a lot of details to sort out, we feel confident that we will be able to roll out some version of this in the very near future.

There are a lot of other needs in terms of getting things to people who need them on the island, from meals for seniors and kids, to medical supplies. For the most part, various organizations are already working on these other needs, but we will be looking for ways to coordinate and collaborate in order to not re-invent the wheel and to enhance and build on each other’s efforts. If you would like to sign up as a volunteer, or if you are part of an organization that would like to collaborate please e-mail learner@orcasfood.coop. Stay tuned for more info to come!

Prep Your Pantry

Order by March 20 for Delivery March 24
With the increased need for social distancing, it is important for everyone to limit trips to town, and, as much as we love seeing you, that means limiting trips to the grocery store as well. In addition to buying more groceries at once and taking fewer trips to the store, utilizing our special order program to stock up on staple foods and other supplies can save you money and set you up for success should you have to stay home for 2-3 weeks or longer.

During Prep Your Pantry, Co-op Members receive an additional discount, paying the published catalog price on non-perishable items ordered from United Natural Foods (UNFI), our main supplier. While special orders can be placed any week, we are offering an additional 10% discount for orders placed for the March 24th delivery to help you Prep Your Pantry. Now is a great time to make sure that you are stocked up with emergency food supplies. For complete details on Special Orders and Prep Your Pantry please email specialorders@orcasfood.coop