By Emile Amarotico, General Manager

If we are lucky, we’ll only have another seven week smoke intrusion this summer. If we are not, we could be the next Paradise. In less than 13 hours, last November’s Camp Fire wiped out nearly 19,000 structures and more than 80 lives. With community help, we were able to raise over $14,000 to support Chico Natural Foods Co-op’s efforts to feed some of the nearly 20,000 displaced Paradise residents.

If we are really lucky, we’ll have a relatively smoke free summer with no loss of lives or structures. But at some point, a summer 2018 redux seems inevitable. Based on our experience last summer, with smoke-induced curtailments in local and visitor traffic alike, we need to be more responsive in promoting relevant services. Maybe you caught our sales flyer caption last August proclaiming “Summer Grillin’ Savings”? While this is a longstanding summer promotion, it was way out of sync with anyone’s interest at the time!

This March we were much more responsive to community needs during a days-long natural gas outage. We doubled down on our Deli food service despite Herculean efforts required to prepare food and maintain sanitary standards without gas appliances. We saw a sharp rise in Deli patronage while serving many of our community who were unable to prepare hot foods at home.

In the event of future smoke events we’ll strive to provide a clean-air environment for our owners, staff, and community, while continuing to provide access to relevant products and services. We’ll do all that we can to educate and share resources to support our community during a smoke event. We are committed to developing and providing alternative means of access to our products and services for those at risk during a smoke event. As an integral community member, Ashland Food Co-op will continue to refine and enhance our community support during a smoke incident or any other natural or man-made disaster.