Tag Archives: Cortes Natural Food Co-op

No Sani-dump on Cortes this summer

Cortes Island will not have an RV sani-dump this summer. 

The matter was brought to Cortes Currents attention by former Cortes Museum President Lynne Jordan, who has been living in Duncan for the past four years.  

“The closest RV sani-dump is at the Shell station on the upper highway above Campbell River, two ferries away!  There is no public one on Quadra Island either.  I had planned to visit Cortes this summer for about three weeks to continue doing some more research for the history of Whaletown I am in the process of writing.  With my camper van which has small holding tanks, I will only be staying three or four days at the most,” she wrote.

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The Outdoor Season begins at Mansons Friday Market

Mansons Friday Market’s ‘Outdoor Season’ officially started on May 19.  

“I think it’s great. It’s a beautiful sunny day and long weekend and, but still mostly locals, which is really nice to have their support,” said Sara Stewart, of Reef Point Farms.

CC: Can I ask, where do you do most of your business? 

“I have a lot of different venues. There’s the farmer’s market. I also have the farm stand.  I sell to the co-op and to Hollyhock and the Gorge Store when it’s in the middle of the summer,” she replied.

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Cortes Natural Food Co-op offers island residents limited number of garden plots

By Greg Osoba, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

Once again, the Cortes Natural Food Co-op is opening garden plots to residents to grow plants and crops when garden space on the island can be limited.

Up to five garden plots are available in the Cortes Island Natural Food Co-op’s community garden, according to new volunteer garden coordinator Kate Maddigan. With 35 plots in total, she says the Co-op views the space as a great resource for helping with food security and sustainability on the island, where finding an area to garden and grow produce can be difficult.

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More Than Just A Store: Cortes Natural Food Co-op

“One of our mandates is to create good employment for Islanders who are here full-time year round. And for our youth returning in the summer as well. It’s a great place for people who move to the island to start out and get to know the culture of the island by working with us.” — Mary Lavelle

The Cortes Natural Food Co-op is one of the top five or six employers on the island, an attraction for tourists and visitors, and the go-to grocery store for many year-round residents. Active members enjoy several benefits, but membership is not required to shop there — so the store serves many times more people every year than its approximately 360 active members.

Employing 20 people even in the off-season, and with over $2 million in sales each year, the Co-op is a significant island business. But it also makes a conscious effort to be a good neighbour. As General Manager Mary Lavelle put it during our interview, “Staff, board, management — we’re always considering the community. That is one of the factors that we always consider in our decision making: our community. And I think that’s part of what makes us so special.”

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Small island community Darn Tough on sock warranties

Cortes Island is a noteworthy location for the number of annual warranties claimed through the Darn Tough brand of socks, which are guaranteed for life.

Although the 2022 claims total was only 21 pairs for the island, per capita this is 24.75 times higher than the Cities of Vancouver, North Vancouver and West Vancouver combined. Cortes and Quadra Islands together added up to 43 pairs claimed under warranty in 2022, which is the same number as all of Campbell River, said Carly Murdoch in the warranty department of the Canadian distributor, Interex Industries.

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