The Food Conspiracy’s First Friday Summer Sale is this Friday (June 1) and all shoppers will get 10% off (excluding Basic Buys, case discounts and gift cards). The sale goes on all day.

Stop by from  6 to 8 p.m., when The Dusty Buskers will play music on the sidewalk, while inside the Co-Op the Conspiracy Kitchen will serve up complimentary, tasty snacks:

•    Penne with Roasted Butternut Squash and Toasted Pine Nuts
•    Kale Salad with Quinoa and Tahini Lemon Vinaigrette
•    Conspiracy Fudge Brownie (made with dark roast Conspiracy Coffee)
•    Raw Vegan Cheesecake

If you’re not a Co-Op member, Friday is a great day to become one. Join the Co-Op on Friday and get a $10 gift card.

You do not need to be a member to shop there but you do get some cool benefits if you do.

The challenge is 4th Avenue. Customers are encouraged to park in the gravel lot at the rear of the store but you must enter through the front door. You can also park in the lot at the front of the Hoff Building, at the intersection of 7th Street and Hoff Ave. Click here for a more detailed list of parking suggestions.

The Food Conspiracy Co-op is located at 412 N. 4th Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705; 624-4821.

Open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day

Starting June 1, when you make a purchase in participating 4th Avenue stores (and with the streetcar construction what store would not want to participate?), your name goes into a drawing to win an iPad in July.

The National Cooperative Grocers Association and its member co-ops nationwide are challenging you the consumers to eat foods from local growers and suppliers as part of a campaign called, “Eat Local, America.”

The challenge is for seasoned locavores to commit to eating four out of every five meals using local food, while for beginners to serve five meals a week and add a different local product to each meal.

In Tucson, the Food Conspiracy Co-op is hosting its second annual Eat Local Tucson Challenge from July 5 through July 20, a time when local growers offer plentiful choices.

Last year when writing for another media, I adopted a desert locavore lifestyle for one week in June. I culled food from friends who had gardens and citrus trees; bought local produce from farmers markets; ate grass-fed beef from Dudleyville, local honey, olive oil from Queen Creek, and Native American tepary beans. It was indeed an enlightening and healthy experience.

Eating locally has many benefits including being good for the economy because money stays in the region. Eating locally is better for the environment because of less travel resources used. Eating local connects the people who grow the food with the people who buy the food. Plus locally grown food just tastes better because it’s picked at the peak of ripeness, not picked early to ripen during the truck ride and while sitting in a distribution center waiting for shelf space.

If you are taking part in the Tucson eat local challenge, post a comment and let us know how you’re doing.

Please send food and farmers market news along with comments and feedback to eat.tucson@yahoo.com

(photo: foodphotosite)