Spirit of Steep Hill
November 6, 2025
In 1978 a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens changed Saskatoon’s food scene when they decided to create Steep Hill Food Co-op. On November 9 that year we were officially incorporated, so this month marks 47 years in business! Steep Hill is one of the longest-standing local organic food co-ops in Canada. Thanks to everyone involved - shoppers, suppliers, members, board and staff - we’re still going strong.
Happy Birthday to Steep Hill!
Steep Hill was a finalist in the Spirit of Saskatoon category for Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 SABEX awards. While we didn’t win the prize (it went to Wanuskewin) it was great to be recognized by other Saskatoon businesses and be part of the celebrations.
Steep Hill also got into the Halloween spirit. Staff dressed up in costumes and had fun handing out treats to little kids who stopped in on Friday afternoon after school.
It’s Fall – Time for Squash!
Steep Hill Food Co-op is fortunate to have a number of local growers who supply the store with beautiful, local seasonal fruit and vegetables. One of these, Doug Carmen, has experienced a bountiful squash harvest this year – his bounty is also Steep Hill’s bounty, as the store has loads of squash available for sale!
Part of the large Cucurbitaceae family (which also includes gourds, melons, and cucumbers), most of the squash available commercially or as seed in Western Canada are members of three species of genus Cucurbita. This genus is of North American origin and is one of the many foods consumed worldwide today that was domesticated by Indigenous people. Archaeological evidence indicates that Cucurbita pepo (a species that now includes pumpkin, acorn squash, and zucchini, among others) was in the process of domestication at least 8000 years ago in what is now Mexico. Along with corn and beans, squash was part of the Three Sisters companion planting tradition of North and Central American Indigenous people, designed to provide both a complete nutritional package for the people and sustenance for the land.
Currently, Steep Hill has 3 varietals of local squash - Salmon River (pale orange), Kuri (vivid orange) and Buttercup (green) as well as good old pumpkins. These are all low-calorie sources of beta-carotene, vitamin C, and fibre, and are excellent for long-term storage in a cool location. The flavour of all three of them is described as sweet, nutty, and sweet potato-like when roasted. Kuri and Buttercup rinds soften enough during roasting to be eaten, while Salmon River’s rind is much tougher and needs to be removed. These varietals are excellent oven-roasted with oil and your favourite seasonings (try a maple glaze!), roasted and mashed, or blended into a soup (scroll down for recipes). Some sources suggest that Salmon River’s firmer flesh lends itself well to eating raw and brine or oil-based preservation techniques.
If you’ve never had any of these squash types, give them a try! They’re locally-grown, nutritious, reasonably priced, and something different from the ‘usual’ commercial squash offerings.
Store Updates
We do our best to bring in what customers are asking for, and we have a few new additions to the shelves based on customer requests! New items include: buttermilk, Level Ground black loose-leaf tea, unsalted rice cakes, tomato juice, and pastry puff.
Staff also recommends these products that you might like to try:
- Avalon Whole Milk Powder
- Blue Monkey Pineapple Sparkling Juice
- Chimes Mango Flavoured Ginger Chews
- G.T’s Trilogy Kombucha
- Lotus Foods Millet & Brown Rice Ramen
- Shady Maple Farms Maple Waffles
We’ve also had a BIG restocking on our organic nut butters! Smooth and crunchy peanut butter, as well as almond, cashew, pumpkin, and sunflower seed butters are all back on the shelf.
And Avalon organic milk is back!
Did you know - we do delivery! If you need to restock your fridge or pantry but can’t make it to the store in person, simply call the store or send an email and we’ll get your order put together and delivered to your home as soon as we can for a low $5.00 delivery fee.
Your Chance to be Heroic….
We are still looking for a few people to help with garbage pick-up and disposal! This is the only outstanding volunteer need that the store has at present. Garbage pick-up would mean collecting the 1-2 bags of garbage the store generates each week. If enough people volunteered, each person would only need to do one collection per month.
If you’re able to help or have questions, please email Amielle directly at hello@steephillfood.ca. Two hours of volunteer work gives you working member status for the following month, which provides you with the working member discount (6% off the shelf price). For in-store volunteer work, sign up for a shift in the store or by calling or emailing to request a shift.
Steep Hill is growing fairness with Fairtrade products
“With the money that arrived, I have bought clothing for my children, made home improvements, and renovated my farm.”
Those are the words of Federico Rivera Morena, a Peruvian coffee farmer and member of CEPICAFE, the Central Co-operative of Coffee Farmers of Piura. Now one of three smaller co-operatives representing some 90 small-scale producer groups that form Norandino, the association has around 1800 members with farms averaging 1.5 hectares. Members also grow sugar cane and cocoa and have diversified to include brown sugar, preserves and “coffee tourism”.
Recent (and, one assumes, no longer active) support from USAID supported research that supported better co-operative decision-making. Other research led to more ecologically friendly production and, in turn, to greater marketing capacity, contributing to better diets, improved health and more educational opportunities for Federico’s family and their fellow community members.
But challenges remain: the lack of Fairtrade markets often means that as much as half of CEPICAFE’s Fairtrade certified coffee is sold at conventional prices, up to 40% lower than those paid by Fairtrade buyers, and the same is true of other commodities. And capricious and powerful world leaders can put an end to progress at the stroke of a pen. Or a sharpie.
Nevertheless, in the past decade some two million farmers and workers in more than 70 countries have earned $1.5 billion in Fairtrade Premiums (paid on top of the negotiated minimum price), with 37,000 Fairtrade-marked products sold in over 140 countries.
While that’s an improvement for producers, what’s in it for consumers? Well, some of the same benefits that membership in CEPICAFE provides – an opportunity to eat a more balanced diet, a better connection with the environment (even if we, ourselves, aren’t producers) and more fair relationships with our neighbours on the local and world stages.
For years, the Steep Hill has helped members eat simply and with enjoyment, while demonstrating that small-scale action helps create better communities. By buying certified Fairtrade products (with the Fairtrade Mark), or those that we believe, based on evidence, come from ethical suppliers, we can appreciate how our purchasing decisions can support modest but meaningful change in other communities, and help create the world we want to inhabit.
Fairly Frosty Friday - November 21
Steep Hill is co-sponsoring a special event with Fair Trade Saskatoon at Grace Westminster Church on Friday, November 21, starting at 7:30 PM. Come out and meet Kellie Storey, the Executive Director of La Siembra Worker Co-operative, enjoy music by Gopher Broke and enjoy treats made with Fairtrade ingredients by Rae.
JoAnn’s Squash Recipe
As a child, my only exposure to squash were those few times each Fall when my mum would cut in half and roast an acorn squash filled with butter and brown sugar. I still occasionally make that recipe (with or without cinnamon and/or applesauce, cut in half and placed on a tray, baked at 350° for 30 minutes cut side down, turned over and filled and cooked 25-30 minutes filled side up). That dish is delicious, but thinking it was the only way to eat squash kept me from the many fascinating and nutritious dishes that are now on regular rotation at our house.
Many squash recipes start with cutting the squash in half and deseeding it, slicing (or cubing) the squash and lightly coating the pieces with olive oil and sprinkling them with salt (and pepper), then you place the pieces on a roasting pan (which I like to have first lined with parchment paper) and roast them at 200 °C (400 °F) for about 30 minutes and flip the pieces after 15-20 minutes. (You can also put the pieces of squash on the roasting pan and then drizzle them with oil.) You can stop there and eat your yummy roasted squash—or move on to something a little more complicated, such as the recipes for Squash with Pumpkin Seed Pesto or Squash soup below. I usually eat the skin of roasted squash (although not in soup) if it’s not too thick and tough. It’s pretty tasty! Any of the squashes for sale at Steep Hill this Fall would be good for these recipes.
We Want to Hear From You!
For information about products and the store, email us at hello@steephillfood.ca or call 306-664-4455.
To contact the Board of Directors with ideas, feedback, concerns or questions, email board@steephillfood.ca or fill out a “How did we do today” card when you are in the store.
Thanks to Nancy Allan, Amielle Christopherson, Adam Douglas, Cathy Holtslander, JoAnn Jaffe and Maryann Scott for contributing to this Newsletter! If you would like to join the newsletter crew, send an email to board@steephillfood.ca.
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