New Pioneer Food Co-op's Summer Solstice Garden Party celebrates milk and more on Sat., June 21, 2014. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

New Pioneer Food Co-op’s Summer Solstice & Owner Appreciation Party will be Saturday, June 27, 2015. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

IOWA CITY – New Pioneer Food Co-op is throwing a party for its co-op members this Saturday, June 27, 2015.

The store has been in Iowa City since 1971 and has since expanded to Coralville and more recently, Cedar Rapids.

Here is more about Saturday’s celebration from New Pi:

New Pioneer Food Co-op is thanking their owners with music, dance, and food – throwing the ultimate Summer Solstice & Owner Appreciation Extravaganza this Saturday, June 27! Everyone’s welcome to join the party across the street from New Pi Iowa City, 1:30-3:30PM at Chauncey Swan Park (on the corner of Gilbert and Washington Streets).

“Back in 1970, there wasn’t much fresh, local, or organic food, and New Pioneer Food Co-op was founded to change that,” explains New Pi Education & Outreach Coordinator Theresa Carbrey, who was an original member-owner of the Co-op and has worked for the Co-op since the ‘80s. 44 years after the Co-op’s start in 1971, the co-op celebrates the 33,000 (and growing) member-owners who have led and supported a whole new way of thinking about food!

The community is invited to enjoy fresh, local, natural, and organic refreshments, live music, and family-friendly educational programming at the Co-op Solstice Party across the street from its flagship store in Iowa City. The official summer solstice, the longest day of the year, was Sunday, June 21, and the Co-op will continue the celebration. Enjoy a dance contest at 2:30 to live New Orleans jazz by the Dandelion Stompers with prizes for the best dancers! Taste free smoothies whizzed up by a bike-powered blender and other local and organic treats. They’ll be grilling $2 grass-fed beef burgers and brats made from scratch by New Pi with local, humanely raised pork (no added growth hormones or antibiotics in New Pi’s meat – ever!). Vegan options will also be available.

“We’re an Iowa Original: we were founded by our community and are still owned by our community, and we’re throwing a party to celebrate everything we’ve built together this Saturday,” says Marketing Manager Jenifer Angerer. “We’ve been dedicated to the community for 44 years and counting.”