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Business of the Month: Natural Medicine of Vermont

Searching for healthful options for treating disease and pain that focus on restoring health rather than merely treating symptoms? We invite you to check out our featured Co-op Connection Business for September, Natural Medicine of Vermont! Card-carrying Co-op member-owners can enjoy 10% off their 1st visit and $5 off subsequent visits!

Natural Medicine of Vermont (NMV) is an integrative naturopathic medical facility whose goal is to provide comprehensive and expert health care services. Natural Medicine of Vermont, located in Middlebury, Vermont, is owned and operated by Dr. Karen Miller-Lane, a licensed naturopathic physician and acupuncturist. Dr. Miller-Lane’s office is located on Court St. (Rte. 7 in Middlebury) across the street from Mary Hogan Elementary School in a white building with blue shutters in the Somaworks Wellness Building.

Natural Medicine of Vermont is located in The Somaworks Building on Middlebury’s Court Street

According to their website, Dr. Miller-Lane shares that “many of us are exploring healthful options to treating disease and pain that restore health rather than merely treat symptoms and involve few side effects. Naturopathic medicine and Acupuncture stand at the forefront of providing informed, thorough, and gentle ways of achieving this approach to health. As a Naturopathic Physician licensed in Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture and trained in Craniosacral Therapy, I am able to unite many different complementary practices into one visit. This integrative approach provides the best possible treatment and outcomes natural medicine has to offer. I look forward to working with you.

Dr. Miller-Lane’s personal mission statement:  “As a physician may I always listen with compassion, see with an open heart, and work in the service of others. May I always be in awe of the vast potential of the human body, spirit, and mind. May I continually strive to learn new things, understand old things better, teach what I know And have the wisdom to appreciate my limitations. May I serve with grace, assist in partnership, and participate with integrity. May I always be present with others as I listen to their stories, unravel their pain and confusion, and support their truths and wisdom. May I always strive to cultivate the healer within myself and within others.”

Dr. Karen Miller-Lane

Background

Dr. Karen Miller-Lane is a Naturopathic Physician and Licensed Acupuncturist. She has a practice in Middlebury, VT. Her expertise lies in providing an integrative, compassionate and individualized approach to women’s health, endocrine, gut and immune support, and to the challenges of chronic disease. She received a Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine (2001) and a Masters of Acupuncture (2002) from Bastyr University. She received certification in Craniosacral therapies in 2000. In addition, she spent four years (2008-2010, 2012-2014) studying advanced Chinese medicine and pulse diagnosis with the acupuncturist and scholar Lonnie Jarrett. She also trained with Eileen McKusick, and was certified as a Biofield Tuning practitioner in 2016. These multi-cultural, multi-modal teachings provide a rich foundation for her practice of medicine. Prior to becoming a Naturopathic Physician, Dr. Karen worked in the field of international development and education with a focus on women’s healthcare issues. Currently, she is particularly interested in the developing field of epigenetics and nutrigenomics, as she continues to embody a commitment to being an innovator in the ever emergent field of healthcare in the 21st century. She finds joy in her family, friends, the patients she works with, and finding the humor and wonder in everyday situations.

Thanks to her diverse clinical background, Dr. Karen MIller-Lane is able to unite many different complementary practices into one visit. This integrative approach provides the best possible treatment and outcomes natural medicine has to offer. Her specialties include:

  • Chronic Disease
  • Immune and Cancer Support
  • Endocrine Health
  • Women’s Health
  • The dance between body, mind, and spirit

What Is Naturopathic Medicine?

Naturopathic Medicine is a distinct profession of physicians trained in primary health care who are oriented towards prevention, education, and promotion of optimal health rather than just treatment of disease. Naturopathic doctors (ND’s) integrate centuries-old knowledge of traditional, non-toxic therapies with the best of modern medical diagnostic science and standards of care. ND’s complete pre-med education followed by a 4-5 year residential curriculum with 4,500 – 5,000 hours of instruction and extensive, supervised clinical training. ND’s must also pass rigorous state and national board examinations.

Foundation and Guidance for Naturopathic physicians are based on the following principles:

  • First, Do No Harm
  • Prevention
  • The Healing Power of Nature
  • Treatment of the Whole Person
  • Treat the Cause
  • Doctor as Teacher

 

Services Offered

Dr. Karen Miller Lane utilizes naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, and oriental medicine to design individual preventative treatment plans that will assist in achieving your optimum wellness and provide effective complementary health care to meet your specific needs.

  • Standard and Specialty laboratory work
  • Nutritional Counseling & Diet therapy
  • Acupuncture
  • The Bengston Method
  • Biofield Tuning
  • Botanical medicine therapy, using both Chinese and Western herbs to treat various conditions. Trained in herb-drug interactions.
  • Stress and Lifestyle Counseling
  • Hydrotherapy
  • Homeopathy
  • Craniosacral Therapy

 

To schedule an appointment, please call 802-388-6250 or email karri@naturalmedicineofvermont.com 

Karri Ingerson

Climate Matters: Our Agriculture Must Be Transformed for Survival

By now, most people have seen headlines from the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): This is our “do-or-die” moment. Nations need to collectively reduce their planet-warming emissions by roughly 43% by 2030 and stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere altogether by the early 2050s to avoid escalating catastrophic weather events. The U.S., the world’s second-greatest emitter of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate chaos, isn’t even close to being on track to get emissions into a safe zone. The Inflation Reduction Act will help somewhat, but we still have a long way to go and we’re running out of time.  The way we produce and consume food, especially the industrialized food system, which is highly developed in the U.S., is responsible for up to 37% of greenhouse gases; and climate chaos will wreak havoc in Vermont as elsewhere.

Agriculture and food-related businesses (from restaurants to supermarkets to composting) make a big contribution to Vermont’s livelihoods. Before COVID, about 65,000 Vermonters made their living from farms and food businesses. In New England, 219,000 jobs are indirectly a result of food system activity, at a total value of $71 billion. Food production in Vermont is concentrated on dairy, which accounts for approximately 70% of the state’s agricultural sales, uses over 80% of its working land, and helps to maintain our open landscapes. Beef and dairy cattle, however, along with pigs and other farm animals, contribute roughly 27% of methane emissions in the U.S., according to the EPA. Methane is relatively short-lived in the atmosphere, but it is over 25 times more potent at warming the planet than carbon dioxide. In addition to methane, manure applied to fields releases nitrous oxide, an even more powerful planet-warming gas; and additional emissions result from the production of fertilizer and running farm equipment.

The World Wildlife Fund claims that farmers must reduce their production of meat and dairy by a third in the next 10 years if scientific advice on limiting greenhouse gas emissions is to be met. Northern Ireland is already calling for a reduction of 1 million cattle and sheep to meet net-zero climate goals. But in the short term, if conventional Vermont dairy farmers reduce their herds, they move even closer to the bankruptcy cliff; and some argue that dairy production in other states will simply increase to compensate. On the consumer side, increasing numbers of people advocate for “plant-forward” diets, in which meat rarely if ever appears, or vegan diets that eschew meat altogether; and we now know that the production of beans, vegetables, and nuts emit less than half the greenhouse gases of animal products (with beef the biggest emitter). How can we make sense of this? What is a responsible path forward for producers AND consumers?

Producers face very difficult choices because their profit margins are so slim. Report after report tells us that agroecology or “ecological agriculture” that mimics nature, integrates cropping and livestock, incorporates agroforestry, and builds soil fertility is the best path forward. Agroecology is superior to the “climate-smart agriculture” touted by the U.S. government because it is also concerned with farmers’ livelihoods, good nutrition, restoring crop diversity and biodiversity, and building community well-being through investing in local and regional food systems. Yet agroecology is almost unknown in the U.S., although many of the practices that it encourages, such as organic agriculture, agroforestry, and rotational grazing on pasture, are growing in popularity and have strong environmental benefits. Scaled-up, agroecology would bring even more environmental and social advantages.

We would all benefit from more diversified agriculture in Vermont — diversification that will allow us to meet our fruit, nut, and vegetable consumption almost completely from Vermont products — as well as continuing to produce the meat and milk we consume. We ought to reduce red meat consumption substantially for health reasons and switch to pasture-raised meat. Dairy cows bred to beef bulls are a promising way to get better quality beef and diversify dairy farmers’ income. But the surest way to diversify is to make land, technical support, and financial support available to farmers who commit to using agroecology. Most young farmers are excited about its potential, while they are turned off by the prospects of conventional dairy farming. How about making farmland available to dairy farmworkers or other migrants who are fleeing regions made uninhabitable by climate disasters, lack of jobs, or conflict? Many migrants have farming backgrounds and are eager to contribute to their new homes. Food can help to knit together cultures as disparate as Somali Bantu and Yankee, as the Little Jubba Agrarian Common in Maine has discovered.

Climate chaos is a systemic problem that won’t be solved by individual actions. Shifting the responsibility to people who continue eating meat or don’t drive electric vehicles (yet) or haven’t replaced incandescent light bulbs with LEDs is an industry cop-out. These actions are all good, of course, but they aren’t nearly enough. The first thing that needs to happen is to stop drilling for oil and gas, stop pipelines and stop investing in extraction. This requires a big policy shift, based on the recognition that immediate change is essential for survival. It also requires major investments in reducing our need for energy (such as weatherizing and green roofs); subsidizing renewable energy (wind, solar and small-scale hydro in Vermont); and the infrastructure needed to live with renewables (free electric public transportation, standardized charging stations).

The food system also must re-orient to producing healthy food as locally as possible and paying its true cost, making sure everyone can access it by guaranteeing a livable wage to workers and an adequate safety net for children and others who can’t work, and protecting environmental quality so that future generations will have good food and a healthy environment. To accomplish this, we must wrest control from food industries so that farmers and communities can once again have real choices, decent prices for what is produced, and sound nutritional advice.

—————

Molly Anderson is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Food Studies at Middlebury College, where she teaches and directs the Food Studies Program. She lives in Middlebury and serves on the Middlebury Natural Foods Coop Board and the Middlebury Conservation Commission. She is interested in food system transformation toward healthier, more just, and environmentally sustainable options.

Spotlight on Bee’s Wrap

We’re shining this week’s Member Deals Spotlight on a mission-driven local business creating innovative, award-winning products to help us curb our dependence on plastic — Bee’s Wrap! From August 25th – 31st, all Bee’s Wrap products are 20% off for member-owners, so it’s a great time to stock up on these reusable, rugged, eco-friendly, locally-made, fully compostable wraps. Read on to learn more about this local company, its mission, and its fierce advocacy:

 

Bee’s Wrap was born in 2012 as its founder, Sarah Kaeck, was growing ever more deeply concerned about the persistent effect of plastics on our planet. She began by asking a simple question: How could we eliminate plastics in our kitchen in favor of a healthier, more sustainable way to store our food?

What she discovered was a lost tradition made new again. By infusing organic cotton with beeswax, organic jojoba oil, and tree resin, Kaeck created a washable, reusable, and compostable alternative to plastic wrap. What she also understood from the very beginning was that there must be a consideration of the entire life of the products we make and consume, from their creation and manufacturing to their eventual end. This is where biodegradability comes in: A product that is biodegradable can be easily returned to the earth. As their website states, “It’s a technology as old as time, and everything made in nature returns to nature with time. There’s no complicated recycling process, and no need to send your Bee’s Wrap off to a special facility. Made from four simple ingredients, Bee’s Wrap comes from the earth and is designed to return to the earth.” As your wrap begins to wear out, the team at Bee’s Wrap hopes that you’ll look on those signs of wear as a welcome reminder of the natural cycles that surround us.

Just one pack of Bee’s Wrap can save 1,667 sq. feet of plastic wrap from entering our oceans and landfills each year. That’s enough plastic to cover a single-family home. If every American household swapped plastic wrap with Bee’s Wrap we’d save a staggering 212 million square feet (4.8 million acres) of plastic from the planet each year!

Looking beyond the impact of the products they create, Bee’s Wrap is committed to using their business as a vehicle for social change, bettering the lives of their customers, employees, community, and the planet. As a proud B Corp and certified Green America company, Bee’s Wrap is committed to social change to help better the lives of its customers, employees, community, and planet. In 2019 they were awarded Green America’s People and Planet Award, which recognizes outstanding small businesses with deep commitments to social justice and environmental sustainability. They were also the 2019 recipient of B-Corp’s 2019 Best For The World: Environment award for the business’s top-notch attention to environmental stewardship. Bee’s Wrap is actively working with partners such as 1% for the Planet, The Bee Cause, and The Rozalia Project, pledging their support to ocean conservancy, beach cleanups, and environmental stewardship. They’re also committed to donating at least 1% of sales of their Honeycomb Roll of Bee’s Wrap to organizations supporting these efforts.

 

The year 2021 brought big changes for Bee’s Wrap as the business was sold to an undisclosed private investor. Since founding the business in 2012, Kaeck stewarded the growth of her company through the addition of dozens of employees, an expansion into a 12,000-square-foot facility in Middlebury, and she oversaw the company’s B Corp Certification. Bee’s Wrap was growing, both nationally and internationally, and Kaeck was seeking an investor who could leverage the company’s successful track record into this new phase of growth. Kaeck stayed on as the CEO for the first few months of the transition, then handed over the reins to Tara Murphy in June of 2021. Murphy brings extensive experience to the role, having served for four years as CEO of the Hinesburg-based Vermont Smoke & Cure and three previous years at Keurig Green Mountain. 

In a press release, Kaeck says, “I could not be happier about the prospects for Bee’s Wrap’s future. I founded and led Bee’s Wrap for eight years with the goal to create a viable mainstream alternative to plastic, and we’re at that point now. Tara’s deep consumer product experience, outstanding leadership skills, and commitment to Vermont make her an excellent choice to continue to grow Bee’s Wrap in the years to come.”

Reducing the reliance on plastic takes time, and every effort you make counts. Whether you’re using Bee’s Wrap for on-the-go snacks or storing dinner leftovers, you’re one step closer to making it possible to ditch disposable food storage for good. Today, Bee’s Wrap is a leading alternative to plastic wrap. From their headquarters right here in Middlebury, Vermont, they’re creating wraps that provide a versatile and durable solution for sustainable food storage.

 

 

 

 

 

Spotlight on Nordic Naturals

Looking to reinvigorate your wellness routine? We invite you to check out Nordic Naturals, who is enjoying the glow of the Member Deals Spotlight this week! From August 18th – 24th, Co-op member-owners can enjoy a 20% discount on all Nordic Naturals products! Read on to learn more about this company’s origin and commitment to sustainability:

 

 

The Nordic Naturals story begins back in 1995 when Norwegian-born founder and CEO Joar Opheim moved to California to complete his MBA. Opheim noticed that the pure omega-rich cod liver oil that Norwegians rely on to stay healthy was nowhere to be found here in the U.S. Low-concentration fish oil with an awful taste was all the market had to offer, but Opheim knew he could make a difference. With each trip home, he would fill an extra suitcase with bottles of his favorite fish oil to share with friends in the U.S. This deep desire to share the power of pure, fresh omega-3 nutrients inspired Opheim to found Nordic Naturals and still drives the company today.

Nordic Natural’s mission states simply that “great things happen when values meet action.” They’re committed to delivering the world’s safest, most effective nutrients essential to health. It’s what motivates them to ensure that all of their products are research supported, expertly formulated, rigorously tested, proven effective, and best of all, great-tasting.

The team at Nordic Naturals believes that the future is about positive partnerships and sustainable best practices. They aspire to do right by the people and places that are part of their success, so giving back is a high priority. They do so by supporting local and global organizations that are making a positive impact now and for generations to come. Click here to view a list of the organizations they support.

All their fish oils are Friend of the Sea (FOS) Certified to guarantee that the fish used in their products comes from healthy fisheries. They’re sourced in line with strict standards for fishing methods, by-catch reduction, and social accountability.

Their LEED Gold-certified headquarters in California helps minimize the company’s impact on the earth and provides a comfortable, healthy workplace for their employees. Across the world, their plant in Arctic Norway is powered entirely by unused fats from the fish oil production process, a savings of resources in service to the planet.

 

To learn more about the importance of high-quality marine-sourced omega-3’s click here.

 

 

Spotlight on Stonyfield

We’re shining our Co-op Spotlight on Stonyfield this week to highlight their commitment to organic dairy, the family farmers that make it possible, and the Earth that sustains us. Member-owners can enjoy 20% off their full line of organic dairy products from August 11th – 17th!  Read on to learn more about Stonyfield’s history and mission and their commitment to Vermont organic dairy farmers:

 

History:

While Stonyfield is best known for making yogurt, yogurt wasn’t the way the founders of Stonyfield thought they’d change the world. In 1983, Stonyfield co-founders Samuel Kaymen and Gary Hirshberg were simply trying to help family farms survive, protect the environment, and keep food and food production healthy through their nonprofit organic farming school.

Just to keep things running, the duo started putting their farm’s seven cows to work making yogurt. They knew they were making a healthy food grown with care; what they didn’t expect was how much people would love it.

People went crazy for the yogurt from Samuel and Gary’s little farm school, and the two knew they had found a way to make a real difference. With this yogurt business, the two organic farming teachers could show the whole world that a company could make healthy, delicious food without relying on toxic chemicals that harm the environment and public health.

So, the two went all-in on yogurt and, over 30 years later, the folks at Stonyfield continue to honor the example their founders set. They’re still located in New Hampshire, just 30 miles east of the old farm. And now, their organic ingredient purchases support a huge network of food producers made up of hundreds of organic family farms, thousands of organic cows, and over 200,000 organic acres!

They‘ve also pioneered planet-friendly business practices—from offsetting emissions at their production facility to making yogurt cups from plants instead of petroleum to making their own renewable energy, and much more.

The thought and passion that started Stonyfield Organic in the first place have only grown stronger, and they’ve never stopped working for healthy food, healthy people, and a healthy planet.

Commitment to Organic:

Stonyfield’s products are all 100% certified organic – made without the use of toxic persistent pesticides, artificial hormones, antibiotics, and GMOs.  Eating organic isn’t just good for you and your family, it’s straight up good for other people and the planet. One of the main goals of organic farming practices is to avoid contamination of our precious soil, rivers, drinking water, and air with toxic persistent chemicals. This also means that organic farmers, farmworkers, and their neighbors aren’t exposed to potentially carcinogenic herbicides. Organic agriculture not only means less dependence on fossil fuels, but it can also actually help reduce climate change. It’s estimated that converting all of America’s cropland to organic would have the same carbon-reducing effect as taking 217 million cars off the road!

There is also compelling evidence to support the notion that organic dairy is more nutritious than its conventional counterpart. Why? Because it comes from cows that are actively grazing on grass, as nature intended. Organically raised cows spend their days outside on pasture so the milk they produce is significantly higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), heart-healthy fats that can help lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol. There is a lot to be learned and said about organic farming, and Stonyfield hopes you will join them in the journey towards healthier, more resilient food systems.

Saving our Region’s Organic Dairy Farms:

Last summer, Danone, the parent company of Horizon Organic, announced it would stop buying milk from 28 farms in Vermont and a total of 61 in Maine, New Hampshire, and New York. The deadline was originally set for August of 2022, but it was later extended to February 2023. Shortly thereafter, 46 organic family farms in eastern New York received similar notices from their processor Maple Hill Creamery.  The 135 termination notices placed a large percentage of the region’s organic dairy farms in financial jeopardy and created an urgent wake-up call for our region. Unless we take swift action, our hard-working family farms – and the promise of a climate-positive, secure food system supported by their organic methods – will face dire consequences.

Stonyfield quickly sprang into action, launching an internal task force of senior company leaders to work alongside various state departments of agriculture, nonprofit organizations, retailers, and institutional food customers to find ways to keep more of these farms alive and in business. Stonyfield ultimately agreed to take on five of those contracts and was active in forming in the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership (NOFFP) to help increase commitments from both consumers and retailers to purchase locally-produced organic milk in an effort to maintain a viable market for these farmers. Organic Valley also stepped up in a big way, offering membership to 90 of the farms affected by the contract losses. Stonyfield accepts milk through Organic Valley and directly from farmers as part of its Direct Supply Program. The farmers dropped by Danone will be part of Stonyfield’s Direct Supply Program, and new farmers’ contracts will look the same as the company’s contracts with current farmers. 

We are grateful to Stonyfield and others who have stepped up in such a big way to support our region’s organic dairy farms! We’re also grateful to consumers who are committed to supporting our region’s organic dairy farms. Our friends at NOFA-VT said it best: “by purchasing certified organic milk and dairy products, you’re supporting farmers who feed Vermonters, steward our land, and provide a massive cultural and economic value to Vermont’s rural communities.”

Your Co-op is a proud Retail Partner of the NOFFP, of which Stonyfield is an active Brand Partner

Spotlight on New Leaf Organics

We’re shining our Member Deals Spotlight on New Leaf Organics! This local, organic farm not only keeps our produce shelves stocked with an array of fresh seasonal veggies but also supplies us with an abundant array of veggie and herb seedlings each Spring. Perhaps you have a few of them growing in your garden? All of New Leaf Organics products are 20% off for Co-op member-owners from August 4th – 10th, so it’s a great time to stock up on the flavors of summer in Vermont. Read on to learn more about this female-powered farm and all that they have to offer:

Nestled in the rolling hills near the Bristol-Monkton town line is a sweet little farm called New Leaf Organics. Now in her 22nd year in business, Farmer Jill Koppel leads her rockstar all-female crew to produce some of the most beautiful and delicious flowers, fruits, and veggies you’ll find anywhere in Vermont. Their farm has evolved quite a bit over the years, but their core mission remains the same; growing high-quality organic produce, flowers, and plants that improve soil health and strengthen the community.

Their Mission

  • to grow high-quality, deliciously fresh organic produce and flowers.
  • to maintain and build the health of our soil and water.
  • to keep this land open and in agricultural production.
  • to bring community together in appreciation of good food and eating with the seasons.
  • to help couples create a memorable wedding day brightened with our beautiful flowers
  • to be a healthy and joyous place for kids to roam and discover and help them learn where our food really comes from.
  • to provide a positive and meaningful place to work for our employees and ourselves.

New Leaf Organics grows 5 acres of vegetables, berries, and flowers which are all sold in Vermont. You can shop their online store and/or visit their farmstand. Their online store offers farmstand pickup and delivery options. Farmstand hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 12 pm – 6 pm. While visiting the farmstand, you’ll find  New Leaf’s fresh-picked veggies, berries, and flowers. You’ll also find a great selection of locally sourced products from around the Champlain Valley including fresh breads and granola from Bicycle Mill Bakery; sweet and savory hand pies and small pies from Humble Pie Baking; and take-out meals from Chomp Cookhouse.

New Leaf Organics Farmstand

You can also sign up for their Farm Stand Card Program. What’s a Farm Stand Card? Here’s how their website describes it:

“It’s like a gift card, but tastier. Farm Stand Cards give you pre-purchased credit to use at our Farm Stand. It’s an affordable and flexible way to enjoy the freshest, local organic produce and flowers and support our vibrant local food system. They come in increments of $225, with an additional 10% spending bonus. For example, when you pay $225, you’ll get a spending credit of $250. You can use your card any time you shop to buy anything we sell at our farm stand — from produce and baked goods to bedding plants and groceries. Pick your own flowers are included for Farm Stand Card holders.

​How Does This Compare to Your Traditional CSA Model? Farm Stand Card shares are similar to a CSA in that you receive fresh organic produce and flowers each week and a discount on your purchase while committing to and supporting our local farm. They’re even better than a traditional CSA, though. The Farm Stand Card allows you greater flexibility to shop anytime the Farm Stand is open, and to purchase anything we sell in the stand. It gives you the vegetables, flowers, and local goods you want, when you want them, at the best price. Win-win-win!”

 

Looking to send a local, organic bouquet to someone special? New Leaf Organics offers Home Sweet Blooms floral deliveries to homes and businesses in Hinesburg, Vergennes, Middlebury, & Bristol! They also offer a pick-your-own flowers option throughout the growing season or you can purchase a flower bouquet subscription. The flower fields are located across the street from the farm stand. 

Need flowers for an upcoming wedding or event? New Leaf Organics raises over 100 varieties of organic, specialty cut flowers and creates exquisite floral arrangements for weddings and events, from casual to formal. Their services, from full-service arrangements and delivery, to “pick-your-own,” to “weddings-in-a-bucket” are a great fit for all your events. Buying direct from the grower ensures the freshest, highest quality flowers at the best price. Buying organic ensures that agricultural chemicals aren’t endangering our environment or the farmworkers who handle the flowers. Click here to read more about why this matters.

According to Farmer Jill, “I’ve been lucky enough to find a dedicated crew of farming “geeks” who get equally as excited about discovering a great new variety to try or the thrill of our first seeds germinating in the Spring. Having a great crew keeps the farm dynamic and is better every season because of them. My kids, Ruby and Ada, and husband Skimmer make sure we don’t work the whole Summer away… Thanks for your interest in our farm! Supporting local farms like ours ensures that high-quality agricultural soils will be kept in farming for generations to come and proof that together we really can keep Vermont agriculture alive and thriving!”

For the latest info and insight into how the season is sprouting, blooming, and unfurling, follow them on Instagram @organicsnewleaf and Facebook @newleaforganics

Featured Co-op Connection Business – Royal Oak and Lost Monarch

Great coffee shops offer more than a good cup of joe; they provide a pleasant sensory experience for their patrons. It’s hard to deny the allure of the aroma and energy emanating from a great cafe. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing space to pull a caffeine-fueled remote work session or you’re seeking an inviting atmosphere to meet up with friends over a great cup of locally-roasted coffee, we invite you to check out Royal Oak and Lost Monarch! These sister coffee shops are the newest members of our Co-op Connection lineup and they offer responsibly sourced, high-quality artisan coffee in a welcoming atmosphere along with a sweet 10% discount for card-carrying Co-op Member-Owners. Read on to learn more about these two vibrant local businesses named to the list of the nation’s best coffee shops by Food and Wine Magazine, and the family that brings them to life:

Armed with 20 years of combined experience in the coffee industry, Matthew and Alessandra Delia-Lobo opened the doors to Royal Oak Coffee on Middlebury’s Seymour Street in May of 2019. Six months later, they added a sister location, known as Lost Monarch in the Stone Mill Public Market in Middlebury’s Frog Hollow. The couple met in a Connecticut coffee shop back in 2011, so it only seems fitting that their lives together since then have revolved around a shared passion for coffee. 

Royal Oak Coffee at 30 Seymour Street in Middlebury
Royal Oak Coffee

Despite having traveled the world exploring coffee and cafe culture from Boston to Italy to Sweeden and the UK, the couple (thankfully) chose unlikely Middlebury as the home for their shops. Why Middlebury? The couple shares that over the course of six years visiting Matt’s mother, who lives here in Vermont’s shire town, they fell in love with the town, the pace, the gorgeous landscape, the kind people, and the sense of community. They decided it would be a great spot to settle, open up shop, and eventually start a family. 

Matt behind the counter at the Lost Monarch Cafe in the Stone Mill Public Market in Middlebury’s Frog Hollow

So, why two shops? As Seven Days describes it, “The two shops embody different versions of how Aless and Matt do coffee. Royal Oak is an approachable, unpretentious introduction to coffee nerdery with strong living room vibes, while Lost Monarch is an exploration of tasting profiles and rotating micro-roasters amid the bustle of the market, which also offers food, wine, books and more.” At Royal Oak, Matt and Aless exclusively feature beans roasted in Winooski, VT, by Vivid Coffee Roasters. At Lost Monarch, they explore a different model, using a rotating roster of guest roasters, including Woodstock, VT’s single-origin-focused Abracadabra Coffee. Regardless of the roaster of choice, the couple prioritizes supply chain transparency and equity. They feel that the agricultural roots and vibrant local food scene in Addison County foster a community that understands the importance of supporting specific farmers and sustainable methods of production.

The smiling team at Royal Oak
The Lost Monarch Cafe conveniently shares a space with the Dedalus wine and cheese market

As for the names of their cafes, Aless shares that the Royal Oak moniker was a nod to her late father’s business — a reference to the tree where Charles II of England hid during a battle. Lost Monarch, a sequoia in California’s Grove of Titans, is another celebrated tree that inspired the name for their second location. Both locations are artfully curated to create the kind of welcoming, unpretentious vibe that they feel is more in keeping with the rural Vermont scene. When the locations initially launched, Matt and Aless were a team of two, handling all aspects of the business and serving each cup of coffee with a conversation and a smile. This gave them the opportunity to introduce themselves to the community and get to know their patrons. As the business and their own family grew, they recognized the need to hire a small team to support cafe operations. 

According to Aless, “our whole shtick is to do things intentionally, consider everything and be nice. That’s it. We want people to feel like they’re welcome, that their order isn’t wrong or bad because they want decaf or something with sugar in it.” And clearly, they’re onto something. Despite the challenges of opening not one but two new businesses in the midst of a pandemic, Matt and Aless have managed to keep both cafes afloat, keeping their community blissfully caffeinated and elevating the coffee conversation along the way. 

Featured Co-op Connection Business – Royal Oak and Lost Monarch

Great coffee shops offer more than a good cup of joe, they provide a pleasant sensory experience for their patrons. It’s hard to deny the allure of the aroma and energy emanating from a great cafe. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing space to pull a caffeine-fueled remote work session or you’re seeking an inviting atmosphere to meet up with friends over a great cup of locally-roasted coffee, we invite you to check out Royal Oak and Lost Monarch! These sister coffee shops are the newest members of our Co-op Connection lineup and they offer responsibly sourced, high-quality artisan coffee in a welcoming atmosphere along with a sweet 10% discount for card-carrying Co-op Member-Owners. Read on to learn more about these two vibrant local businesses named to the list of the nation’s best coffee shops by Food and Wine Magazine, and the family that brings them to life:

Armed with 20 years of combined experience in the coffee industry, Matthew and Alessandra Delia-Lobo opened the doors to Royal Oak Coffee on Middlebury’s Seymour Street in May of 2019. Six months later, they added a sister location, known as Lost Monarch in the Stone Mill Public Market in Middlebury’s Frog Hollow. The couple met in a Connecticut coffee shop back in 2011, so it only seems fitting that their lives together since then have revolved around a shared passion for coffee. 

Royal Oak Coffee at 30 Seymour Street in Middlebury
Royal Oak Coffee

Despite having traveled the world exploring coffee and cafe culture from Boston to Italy to Sweeden and the UK, the couple (thankfully) chose unlikely Middlebury as the home for their shops. Why Middlebury? The couple shares that over the course of six years visiting Matt’s mother, who lives here in Vermont’s shire town, they fell in love with the town, the pace, the gorgeous landscape, the kind people, and the sense of community. They decided it would be a great spot to settle, open up shop, and eventually start a family. 

Matt behind the counter at the Lost Monarch Cafe in the Stone Mill Public Market in Middlebury’s Frog Hollow

So, why two shops? As Seven Days describes it, “The two shops embody different versions of how Aless and Matt do coffee. Royal Oak is an approachable, unpretentious introduction to coffee nerdery with strong living room vibes, while Lost Monarch is an exploration of tasting profiles and rotating micro-roasters amid the bustle of the market, which also offers food, wine, books and more.” At Royal Oak, Matt and Aless exclusively feature beans roasted in Winooski, VT, by Vivid Coffee Roasters. At Lost Monarch, they explore a different model, using a rotating roster of guest roasters, including Woodstock, VT’s single-origin-focused Abracadabra Coffee. Regardless of the roaster of choice, the couple prioritizes supply chain transparency and equity. They feel that the agricultural roots and vibrant local food scene in Addison County foster a community that understands the importance of supporting specific farmers and sustainable methods of production.

The smiling team at Royal Oak
The Lost Monarch Cafe conveniently shares a space with the Dedalus wine and cheese market

As for the names of their cafes, Aless shares that the Royal Oak moniker was a nod to her late father’s business — a reference to the tree where Charles II of England hid during a battle. Lost Monarch, a sequoia in California’s Grove of Titans, is another celebrated tree that inspired the name for their second location. Both locations are artfully curated to create the kind of welcoming, unpretentious vibe that they feel is more in keeping with the rural Vermont scene. When the locations initially launched, Matt and Aless were a team of two, handling all aspects of the business and serving each cup of coffee with a conversation and a smile. This gave them the opportunity to introduce themselves to the community and get to know their patrons. As the business and their own family grew, they recognized the need to hire a small team to support cafe operations. 

According to Aless, “our whole shtick is to do things intentionally, consider everything and be nice. That’s it. We want people to feel like they’re welcome, that their order isn’t wrong or bad because they want decaf or something with sugar in it.” And clearly, they’re onto something. Despite the challenges of opening not one but two new businesses in the midst of a pandemic, Matt and Aless have managed to keep both cafes afloat, keeping their community blissfully caffeinated and elevating the coffee conversation along the way. 

The Scoop on Vermont’s Organic Label

You’ve likely seen the logo on some of your favorite local products, but have you ever given much thought to the values behind Vermont’s organic certification label? Who is VOF? And what exactly does that label entail? We’re happy to peek behind that curtain and share what we’ve learned about the Vermont organic certification body known as VOF (Vermont Organic Farmers) and the standards that set their products apart. 

Your choices make a difference! Nearly 800 Vermont farmers and processors that makeup Vermont Organic Farmers (VOF) know that local and organic always count. VOF believes that organic production enhances soil, plant, animal, and human health to protect the environment for current and future generations. Organic certification is needed to verify these production practices and to ensure that organic products are produced with integrity and transparency. VOF provides consumers with a process and a label they can trust. Seeing their label takes the guesswork out of your shopping experience, allowing you to feel confident that the products you’re purchasing are healthier for you and your family, supportive of your community, better for the land, and grown without GMOs or harmful agrochemicals.

ORGANIC FARMERS ARE CLIMATE FARMERS!

In the fight against climate change, efforts that strengthen natural resources, bolster the self-sufficiency of local communities, and improve resilience to the extreme and the unexpected are key. Long associated with environmental protection, the practices used on Vermont organic farms do just that. They lean on the right side of the scale, they contribute to the vitality and resilience of natural systems, anchor local economies, and can even mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events.

While organic practices may be known best for what they don’t do: namely, pollute airways, waterways, and soils with toxic fertilizers and pesticides, there’s just as much to be celebrated for what organic practices are actively doing to strengthen natural systems. In other words, while organic practices abstain from the bad, they also contribute to the good. It’s a double whammy in the fight against climate change, and a model for the kind of systems society will need in order to combat it.

While organic practices contribute to the reduction of climate change in many, many ways, we’ll focus on five of the heavy hitters here–you’ll notice some aren’t just focused on reducing climate change, but on building resilience to it as well:

  1. Organic practices protect natural resources. The stronger our natural resources are, the more capable they are of preventing, absorbing, and reconfiguring the effects of climate change, like a system of checks and balances, re-attuning to Earth’s happy homeostasis. Because organic practices steer clear of environmentally hazardous petrochemicals, our airways, waterways, and soils are that much less polluted. Our local flora and fauna are that much stronger, too. But organic practices like cover cropping, crop rotation, and integrated pest management go a step further to actively support air, water, and soil quality, as well as biodiversity. And of course, it’s all connected–the healthier the soil, the stronger the waterways; the stronger the biodiversity, the better the air quality; and so on. For Vermont organic farmers, the goal is to fuel this virtuous cycle: to strengthen our natural resources through our practices. And we know that, in the fight against climate change, those healthy natural resources are some of our best allies.
  2. Organically farmed soils release fewer greenhouse gasses. A healthy, vibrant soil ecosystem teems with life and decay. This rich food web produces nutrients that are readily bioavailable for farm crops, reducing their need for external fertilizers–some of which are major greenhouse gas contributors, both in their production and their application. Because organic farms abstain from using petrochemical fertilizers, they rely on biological soil processes more than their conventional counterparts. And as such, organic farmers really invest in our soils–from minimizing soil compaction to applying green manures, incorporating livestock, and maximizing soil cover, much of their work revolves around giving our soils their very best. Not to mention the fact that the healthier the soil is, the more capacity it has to actually sequester greenhouse gasses, but more on that later.
  3. Organic farms are more resilient to extreme weather events. One of climate change’s forecasts for Vermont is an increase in both the frequency and intensity of heavy rain events. For our local food system, that means on-farm flood mitigation measures are more crucial than ever because the more resilient a farm is to flooding, the more consistently it will be able to provide food for its community when transportation and communication are impacted. That farm’s mitigation measures will also result in fewer incidents of run-off and erosion, aiding our waterways when they’re stressed. Organic farmers’ soil-boosting, biodiversity-encouraging, water-conscious organic practices ensure we’re better equipped to stay afloat when waters are high.
  4. Organically farmed soils store carbon. The organic practices listed above all serve to improve our soil’s chemical composition and structure, facilitating the kind of vibrant soil ecosystem that draws carbon and other greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere. This process, called sequestration, transforms hazardous greenhouse gasses into soil nutrients that allow for even healthier soils, which can then sequester more greenhouse gasses. Soil sequestration is one of the most cost-effective ways we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and thus decelerate climate change. 
  5. Organic farms are good for communities. In our globalized, industrial age, Vermont organic farms represent something different: a core component of localized food systems, localized communities, and localized economies. These more self-sufficient traits are key to climate resilience. The organic farming community is invested in community resilience, and also invested in providing healthy, toxin-free food for their communities–that’s what Vermont organic farmers do! They also support the notion that all Vermonters deserve nutritious, local, climate-friendly food, and are big proponents of NOFA-VT’s Community Food Access Programs, which subsidize CSA costs, facilitate SNAP-EBT sales at farmers’ markets and farm stands, and get Vermont organic food into senior housing facilities.

Environmental stewardship has always been baked into our Mission and ENDs at the Co-op, but now, in this era of climate change and consequences, we feel doubled down on this commitment. Supporting organic farmers is a way of fortifying a team of our best allies against accelerating greenhouse gas emissions, extreme weather events, and the destruction of natural resources. While human activity spurred this vicious cycle through the exploitation and abuse of natural resources, human activity can, and must, be responsible for spurring the corresponding virtuous cycles that will restore equilibrium and preserve this place we call home. Organic farming is one such virtuous cycle, and we’re proud to be fueling it here in Vermont.

 

How to Find VOF Certified Producers

VOF maintains a database of over 800 local organic producers to help you find certified organic farms/processors and their lists of products. You can search by product or by location. They also produce a Vermont Organic Farm and Food Guide annually, which can be accessed in print and digital versions. And when you’re shopping at the Co-op, just look for the VOF seal!

A Lament for Vanilla

This article first appeared in the Addison County Independent on March 17, 2022, as part of the Climate Matters: Perspectives on Change weekly column.  There is no denying that food and the climate emergency are intertwined, a relationship made even more complicated by the geopolitical relationships between governments.  I find it daunting to consider how my daily choices are affected by things happening thousands of miles away and in turn, how my choices might ripple outwards.  I offer a reprint of this piece as a road map for considering how the foods we love and enjoy at the MNFC are situated within a deeper, global context.  For an excellent, in-depth exploration of food and climate, I also recommend this article from The Guardian.

Each time I make a dessert that calls for vanilla, I cringe a little.  A whole teaspoon, I find myself thinking, but that’s so much!  And then after I wince, I feel a twinge of sadness, because I think that in a few decades it is possible that vanilla, real non-synthetic vanilla, might be gone, or at least extremely rare.  We’ll only know it as something produced in a chemical factory, the taste becoming ever more like the smell of candles and body lotion.  I imagine how birthday cakes will seem slightly…off.  

As someone who cooks for a living, I think about food a lot, and I believed that I had considered how climate change would affect agriculture. I mean, I’m open to protein alternatives like insects, support local food systems, and try to make ethical consumer choices.  That’s good, right?  But I had never thought about what foods I would lose because of climate change until the fall of 2017. Around October that year, I placed a call to a vendor from work, looking to order a backup quart of vanilla, and I was warned that the price had gone up some. Now, price increases are normal in food service, an inevitability like taxes, but for vanilla to triple in price so quickly was unusual. Was this price gouging? An issue with shipping?  No, nothing so mundane as the logistics of commerce. It was the weather. Cyclone Enawo in Madagascar, and then Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico had decimated what some estimates placed at almost half of the world’s vanilla production.

We are going to lose some foods we currently find ubiquitous to the point of being boring —think about the last time you described someone as “vanilla.”  Or consider how every grocery store in America, whether it is in Miami or Minnesota, has bananas.  And coffee. And chocolate.  All of these foods are grown in a specific swath within 10º-20º latitude of the equator, an area that is going to look drastically different within the next few decades.  Vanilla extract is already an incredibly tricky thing to produce.  It comes from an orchid that takes years to grow in specific tropical climates and requires hand pollination for every single flower. There are lots of synthetic varieties, but none is as complex to our nose and palate as the real thing. The reality is that modern food systems often supply the majority shares of individual crops, like vanilla, from relatively small regions.  The production of many foods eaten worldwide is coming from just a handful of places. When those places are devastated by storms, rising sea levels, or drought, it means there is no other growing zone to pick up the slack.

And it won’t just be our diets that are affected. There are thousands and thousands of people working to grow, harvest, and process these foods so we can eat them year-round.  Imagine what their lives are going to be like when their jobs and homes are further impacted by climate change. We know that we are going to see devastating storms more frequently in tropical areas, and as temperatures rise, those areas closest to the equator will become the least habitable. The countries located in this area are among the poorest in the world, and they will be forced to bear the brunt of our pollution. It is a stark picture that can unspool from baking brownies in a warm kitchen and worrying about the cost of a flavoring.

It saddens me further to say that there is nothing we can do about this. Even if we as a species were to make climate the single biggest priority for every world government today, we are still going to see many of these foods become rare. That damage has already been done, and we can’t stop it from happening. Columns like this one often include a “call to action,” some step or policy that could make a difference. But in addition to pressuring world leaders and changing our lifestyles, we need to confront—often and publicly—that we have made irrevocable changes to our planet that cannot be fixed.

See, it’s not just about taking action now, though there is lots of room for that, too. We have to begin to make plans for the future that we are guaranteed to have, a future with large groups of climate refugees. The same people who now produce our vanilla and bananas and coffee have been placed in an untenable situation and we have to figure out how we are going to take care of them because we helped create that situation. Currently, it is a lengthy and expensive process to immigrate into the U.S., one plagued by bureaucracy and red tape. Climate refugees are an unavoidable part of our future, which means we need to work now to change immigration. In some ways, this idea does give me hope, because if we can finally be moved to take care of each other, then maybe we can take care of the planet.

A friend and I joke that if we were to transport our spice cabinets to the 15th century, we would be the picture of wealth and riches.  But I’ve started to change that daydream to imagine the riches my spice cabinet will represent to someone in just a few decades. Maybe it is silly to grieve for vanilla extract. But when I pour out each dark, fragrant spoonful, the flash of heartache I feel also comes with an awareness of what is to come, and what needs to happen.

Samantha Langevin is a Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op Board Member