We’re proud to be participating in Share the Harvest, NOFA Vermont’s annual fundraiser for the Vermont Farm Share Program. Farm Share provides subsidized CSA shares for limited-income Vermont families, helping to make fresh, local food available to all.
Buy your produce on October 6, 2016 and we’ll donate 30% of proceeds from that day’s Produce Sales to this great program.
Find out more, here!
Did you know that Marbleworks Pharmacy in Middlebury is part of the Co-op Connection? They’re our featured Business of the Month for October and we’re reminding member-owners that you can enjoy 10% off your non-prescription purchases when shopping at Marbleworks Pharmacy! They offer a wide variety of health and beauty products, vitamins, home health care supplies, cards, candies, jewelry and gifts (including lots of Vermont products!) with free delivery to select areas.
If you need prescriptions filled, Marbleworks Pharmacy provides quick, reliable prescription services, one-on-one patient counseling, and hassle-free prescription transfers. New patients can even get a $25 Marble Works Pharmacy Gift Card by transferring a prescription to their pharmacy, and prescriptions can be refilled through their very handy 24/7 automated refill system. The website also offers helpful health resources and MedWatch safety alerts.
Need a flu shot? Marbleworks Pharmacy offers flu shots in the fall and there’s no appointment necessary! Just drop by the pharmacy during regular business hours.
Marble Works Pharmacy prioritizes community preventative health and is proud to introduce Take Charge™ to Addison County! Take Charge™ is a low-cost, professional weight loss program that focuses on healthy lifestyle strategies for you through intense behavioral therapy and medical nutrition education. The 13-week program consists of weekly one-on-one meetings with one of our pharmacists who will guide you and help you achieve your goals of weight loss and improved health.
Ask Our Pharmacists How To…
For more information and to Take Charge™ simply complete this form or call 388-3784.
October is Fair Trade Month! Throughout this month-long celebration, we’ll feature many fun store promotions on Fair Trade Certified items. Look for them in our weekly sales, weekly Member Deals, and a coupon in the Addison Independent. We also want to spread the word about the meaning behind the Fair Trade Certified label. Read on to learn about this important certification and the impact that fair trade is having around the globe:
We all want to feel good about our food choices, and buying produce from a local farmer makes it easy. But what about food that comes from afar? In some communities around the world, impoverished workers are paid low wages while their land is depleted by industrial agriculture. Luckily, the Fair Trade Certified label can help us steer clear of foods grown under such conditions.
When a product sports a Fair Trade Certified label, it means producers were paid wages that allow them to support their families and contribute to the betterment of their communities. Fair Trade farmers deal one-on-one with importers (rather than middlemen), and Fair Trade encourages democratic decision-making, transparency, gender equity, and independence.
By choosing Fair Trade, we can support the environment, too. Since Fair Trade supports small-scale farmers, it encourages biodiversity (think shade-grown coffee and cocoa, which protect wildlife habitats) and sustainable practices like organic farming. There’s no need to sacrifice quality with Fair Trade either; one emphasis of Fair Trade is supporting farmers in improving the quality of their crops.
Click here to check out the 2014-2015 Global Fair Trade Impact Report
Fair Trade Certification is not yet available for every kind of food, but it’s a growing trend; you’ll spot the label on coffees, teas, spices, chocolates, sugar, vanilla, fruits, wines and other foods. Fair Trade Certified non-food items like clothing and accessories, body care items and home and garden products are also available. There are more than 1,100 different Fair Trade products available in the United States. Fair Trade goods benefit over 1.5 million farmers and workers in 74 countries!
On your next trip to the co-op, try looking for the Fair Trade Certified versions of your favorite products—and feel great about helping to improve the lives of farmers and conserve the environment. Here’s a list of some of the brands & products to look for in our Co-op offering Fair Trade Certified products:
October is Interational Co-op Month! We’re celebrating all month long with special store promotions on products made by cooperatives like Organic Valley, Equal Exchange, Alaffia, Frontier, Blue Diamond, Cabot, La Riojana, and Real Pickles, to name a few. We’re also celebrating this special month by spreading the word about the cooperative business model and what makes it so unique.
There are over 2.5 million cooperatives around the globe, including food co-ops, agricultural co-ops, housing cooperatives, artists’ co-ops, credit unions, and even cooperative sports teams! Despite our diversity, we are all unified by the Seven Cooperative Principles, which are a set of ideals that form the basis for how cooperatives around the world operate. They were first created in 1844 by the founders of the very first co-op, the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in Rochdale, England, and we are still guided by this same set of principles today.
In short, cooperatives exist to meet the needs of their member-owners and their communities. They are democratically controlled by their member-owners through an elected Board of Directors, and the profits generated by a cooperative are equitably distributed back to the member-owners and the community through patronage dividends and community philanthropic activities. When you choose to shop at our Co-op, you’re supporting local and sustainable food systems, fair compensation for employees, environmental stewardship, and a vibrant local economy.
We recently came across the following article about The Power of the Cooperative Movement by Robert Miller. Miller is a resident of Shelburne and is CEO of VSECU. He is a former commissioner of the Vermont Department of Economic Development and currently serves on the boards of the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies, Capstone Community Action and the Energy Action Network. We enjoyed Robert’s article so much that we reached out to him and asked for his permission to share it:
Imagine a strategy that could transform a country’s poorest regional economy into one of great wealth and prosperity. An approach that could build a community that produces more than 9 percent of that country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 12 percent of its exports, and 30 percent of its patents, while only comprising 7 percent of its population. This scenario is no fantasy. It’s the reality in Emilia Romagna, Italy. What’s their secret? A thriving cooperative economy. Their success is largely attributed to the region’s commitment to building co-ops and employee-owned firms since 1950. In fact, co-ops now account for 30 percent of Emilia Romagna’s GDP.
The region is just one of many examples, from Spain to Cleveland, that demonstrate how a thriving cooperative economy can spur economic and community development. Co-ops are certainly not a new phenomenon – the first was established in 1844. Nor do they offer a “magic bullet” to fix all economic woes. But as Vermont continues to work to strengthen its economy, stabilize our population, and create more opportunity for Vermonters, it is important to recognize the value of cooperatives as an essential element of economic and community development. With greater emphasis on the cooperative economy, we can work together to support a sustainable, locally owned, and locally controlled business sector, contributing to vibrant local communities that support all Vermonters.
The good news is that cooperatives and employee-owned firms already play an important role in our communities, with more than 130 cooperative organizations currently operating in the state, according to a new census from the Cooperative Development Institute. The Association of Vermont Credit Unions reports that 54 percent of Vermonters belong to at least one cooperative credit union. Many Vermonters may support cooperatives without even realizing it, including companies such as Ace Hardware, Ocean Spray and REI; and locally, Cabot Creamery, Mad River Glen Ski Area, and PT-360.
Our existing cooperative economy offers a great foundation. Yet when you consider the value co-ops add to local economies, the potential impact of growing this sector is significant. As local businesses, co-ops provide an attractive economic multiplier effect. Approximately 48 percent of money spent at local businesses is recirculated within the local community, compared to only 14 percent from national businesses. Cooperatives also bring stability by offering stronger success rates than traditional businesses. Data from the World Council of Credit Unions found that within five years of opening, 90 percent of cooperatives were still in operation versus 3-5 percent of non-cooperative businesses.
Co-op profits are more equitably distributed across a broader ownership base than traditional businesses. And with democratic, local control, cooperatives are also more likely to stay in the region for the long term. Beyond economic value, community development and support are part of the cooperative DNA – a set of inherent characteristics that speak to our Vermont values and further benefit our communities.
But we are all in this together. Local economies thrive when local businesses see strong local support – whether owned privately, by employees, or by cooperative members. We all play a role in building a diverse and dynamic local economy.
So go local! Support your local businesses. Discover and join a co-op. More broadly, let’s work together to strengthen our economy for all Vermonters.
We casting our Co-op Spotlight this week on Four Pillars farm of Whiting, Vermont. This beautiful organic farm provides our Co-op with an abundant array of local produce including baby spinach, baby arugula, baby kale, mesclun, Brussels sprouts, juicing greens, red & yellow onions, sweet onions, sweet peppers, daikon & watermelon radishes, butternut & spaghetti squash, and purple potatoes. Wow! And they’re all 20% off for member-owners this week! Read on to learn more about this gem nestled in the fertile valley of Addison County.
Four Pillars Farm is a certified organic vegetable farm set in the beautiful, fertile rolling hills of southern Addison county. Their mission is to provide healthy , top quality produce, to grow better not bigger, to protect and build the fertility and biological diversity on their land and build relationships with their community partners by encouraging them to come and see how their food is being grown.
Farmer-owner Peter Cousineau is committed to the use of growing practices that go beyond sustainable to regenerative. He incorporates permaculture principles into his farming methods to help recycle nutrients in the soil, promote water retention, and prevent soil degradation. He has also worked to increase beneficial insect populations on the farm and has remineralized the soil to bring back the 70+ trace minerals that most veggies are missing these days due to soil-degrading farming practices.
Another permaculture principle evident in Cousineau’s practices is the concept of people care. One example includes an annual event where he invites employees from our Co-op and other neighboring Co-ops that sell his produce to visit the farm, take a tour, and enjoy a farm-to-table meal that he prepared. This annual gathering is not only an opportunity to see the gorgeous farm where the produce is grown and learn more about what it takes to get the produce from seed to co-op shelf, but also provides an important opportunity to build relationships, mutual respect, and truly engage in a community partnership between producers and consumers. Below are some photos from last year’s gathering.
Ah, the first official day of autumn! The crisp chill in the morning air and the first few dappled leaves high in the mountains signal that the season is here, along with the abundance of local apples. In our final week of celebrating Eat Local Month, we’re casting our Co-op Spotlight on one of the oldest continuously operating orchards in Vermont – Champlain Orchards in Shoreham! They’re featured in our Member Deals program this week, so member-owners can enjoy 20% off their stunning array of fresh apples and apple products including sweet apple cider, apple pies, and apple cider donuts, along with their heirloom plums and Asian pears! Read on to learn more about this family-owned, solar powered, ecologically managed orchard overlooking Lake Champlain.
The story of Champlain Orchards as we know it today began in 1998, when twenty-seven-year-old Bill Suhr purchased 60 acres of orchard in Shoreham, Vermont. At the time, the property was in the process of being conserved as agricultural land by the Vermont Land Trust as part of their Farmland Access Program. This feature of the land ultimately made it possible for such a young person to consider the purchase because the trust obtained the development rights, which in turn made the property much more affordable. Bill’s motivation and initiative to live off the land overshadowed the fact that apple growing and fruit farming were not in his realm of knowledge, but thanks to the seasoned expertise of long established neighboring orchardists Sandy Witherell, Scott and Bob Douglas, and Judy Pomainville – who all shared equipment, land, and information, it wasn’t long before the orchard was thriving.
Today, Champlain Orchards manages over 220 acres of fruit trees that include over 100 varieties of apples, 20 varieties of pears, 12 varieties of plums, and 15 varieties of nectarines/peaches. Their fruit is ecologically grown and third-party certified by the IPM institute. Eight acres are certified Organic by Vermont Organic Farmers (VOF) and our farm is 100% electrically solar powered, with Solar Orchard #3 in the planning stages.
Additionally, Champlain Orchards runs a cidery. Every single apple in their Vermont Hard Cider is pressed, fermented, and crafted at their orchard. This makes for a quality, local product that is fresh, crisp and deliciously drinkable. Their cidery offers original Vermont hard cider, Mac & Maple, Heirloom, Honeycrisp, Cranberry, Pruner’s pride, Ginger & Spice, Asian Pear, Honey plum, Pruner’s Promise, Sparkling Ice, Peach, Hopped Native, and Ice cider.
Needless to say, Bill is as ambitious as they come. His passion for working on the land and the fruit mixed with his forward thinking and goals of success and sustainability have created a thriving Vermont agricultural business that provides to communities all over the state. But he was and is far from alone in his efforts. The knowledgeable Shoreham orchard community, an equally motivated wife and business partner, Andrea Scott, and a hard working Champlain Orchards Crew of over 30 local employees all continually contribute to cultivating and shaping the Orchard into the business we know and trust today.
Bill and Andrea now have a son, Rupert (named after Rupert, Vermont, where they met at a contra dance), and a daughter named Rosa. Rupert is an expert on tractors and can tell you more about orchard operations and apple varieties than most of our crew. The four share a beautiful home on the orchard as well as a love of the outdoors, dancing, food, and music. “Although there are huge stresses and we are constantly working to find more balance, we have a huge appreciation for the lifestyle that farming allows for- the time outdoors, the time with plants and trees, and using our hands. We love watching young trees and grafted trees bearing new fruit, it always amazes us!”
Bill and Andrea have taken their dream of providing nourishing food to the community farther than they imagined and are excited to enter these new frontiers of fruit growing. Their passion for the trees and the well-being of the orchard and the environment only grows with the yearly increasing harvest and varietal plantings. Bill often remarks “I was just trying to grow some apples!” when reflecting on the evolution of Champlain Orchards and where he finds himself today. As the orchard crew, we look at Bill and Andrea’s efforts and are inspired by their initiative and are proud to take part in the orchard and all that it offers to the community. And most of all, we are excited for the future of Champlain Orchards and we hope you will stay posted to follow and take part in our growth and change!
Champlain Orchards from Farmers To You on Vimeo.
Are you enjoying Eat Local Month as much as we are? The abundance of beautiful local produce this time of year makes us feel so lucky to live where we do. But, eating local isn’t just about fruits & veggies. Where would we be without our local meat producers? This week, we’re casting our Co-op Spotlight on Stonewood Farm of Orwell, VT. They provide big, beautiful turkeys for our Thanksgiving tables, and keep us stocked in ground turkey and turkey breasts year-round. Their products are featured on our Member Deals program this week and will be 20% off for member-owners. Read on to learn about this fantastic farm that is all about raising turkeys the natural way:
Established in 1976 by Paul & Francis Stone, Stonewood Farm has been a family owned and operated farm ever since and is now run by Peter Stone & Siegrid Mertens. Here are the rules of raising natural turkeys at their farm:
Be sure to visit us on the web for recipes!
Get a Jump on the October 1st Truck Load Sale at the Co-op. Order sheets are located at the little table as you exit the cash register stations. New to the Truck Load Sale? Everything you need to know is just below!
As we continue to celebrate Eat Local Month, we’re casting our Co-op Spotlight on a local, organic farm that has been part of our Co-op family for over 30 years – Golden Russet Farm! We acquire more produce from their farm than from any other farm in Vermont! Member-owners can enjoy 20% their abundant array of local, organic veggies and their glorious fresh-cut bouquets this week! Read on to learn more about this wonderful farm and the fine folks who work tirelessly to make it such a special place:
Farm owners Will and Judy Stevens have been growing organic vegetables commercially since 1981, having started on a small plot of rented land in Monkton, VT. After growing their business and refining their techniques, all the while learning from other pioneers in the Vermont organic farming community, they determined it was time to expand their operation. In 1984 they purchased a former dairy farm with good soils in the agriculturally-rich town of Shoreham, VT, in the southwestern corner of Addison County—home to Golden Russet Farm.
The Stevens have always used exclusively organic production practices on their vegetable and greenhouse operations and became certified organic by Vermont Organic Farmers in 1987. Among other things, this means they use crop rotation, cover crops, biological and naturally-derived pest controls, compost, animal manure, and naturally-derived fertilizers as standard management practices.
Golden Russet Farm starts off the season with vegetable and flower plant sales in the greenhouses and the Farm-to-Kitchen Connection CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. In addition to raising vegetables for market, Judy also grows flowers for cutting, which adds color to the fields and creates habitat for beneficial insects. You’ll find these beautiful bouquets for sale throughout the summer months at the Co-op.
Since 2003, the farm’s focus has been on “hyper-local,” meaning that approximately 90% of their produce has been consumed within 20 miles of the farm. Their produce is available at the farm stand, their CSA, at food markets in Middlebury and Burlington, and at Addison County restaurants.
In April of 2013 the Stevens put up five free-standing solar panels which provide them with all of their farm and personal electrical energy needs.
Judy is a fourth-generation Vermonter from southern Vermont. Her family ran a successful Christmas tree business in the Londonderry area for many years. This experience helped her and Will create a successful mail order wreath business that they ran from the farm until about 2000. Will moved to Vermont from the Ticonderoga, NY area in 1977 to finish his college education at the University of Vermont, which is where he and Judy met. He graduated in 1980 with a BA in studio art, with a specialty in blacksmithing.
After spending the summer of 1980 at Shelburne Museum (Judy as a weaver, and Will in the Blacksmith’s Shop), they were serendipitously presented with the opportunity to ramp up their homestead gardening interest to a commercial scale, and in the first several years everything they grew was sold exclusively at the Burlington Farmers’ Market. From the beginning, their mission has been to provide good quality food to people at reasonable prices.
Shortly after they moved to an old dairy farm in Shoreham, VT, in November 1984, they began to raise a family–Freeman was born in 1986, Pauline in 1989, and Anna came along in 1991. The kids had a sand pile in front of the shed, which, as the greenhouse plant business grew over the years, became a magnet for customers’ children. At some point, the pile was moved to its present location at the corner of the flower garden, which makes it much easier for shopping parents to keep an eye on their children!
Between 1989 and 1992, Will served as President of Vermont Organic Farmers, which then was NOFA-VT’s certification committee. This was an exciting time in the world of organic agriculture. The sudden interest in the link between food safety and production practices was inspired by Meryl Streep’s CBS appearance on 60 Minutes in the fall of 1989 when she railed against a particular spray used on apples. “Mothers and Others for Pesticide Limits” was formed, bringing public awareness to the benefits of organic agriculture. Suddenly, a fringe movement that had been based on back-to-the-land ideals found itself moving toward the mainstream. Some would say that this was the beginning of the localvore movement.
Judy served for 3 years on the board of the Vermont Fresh Network. VFN strives to foster meaningful, mutually profitable relationships between Vermont food producers and chefs and was one of the earliest formal “Farm to Table” initiatives in the nation.
Judy and Will have been actively involved in Town affairs through various organizations and boards. Judy served on the Rescue Squad through much of the eighties and has played an important role in the expansion and promotion of Shoreham’s Platt Memorial Library over the last twenty years. Will was elected to the Town Planning Commission in the mid-nineties, and eventually chaired it for several years. He has since served on the Select and Zoning Boards, and has been elected Town Moderator every year since 2004.
In November 2006 Will was elected to the Vermont Legislature (as an Independent, representing the Towns of Benson, Orwell, Shoreham, and Whiting) for the first of four two-year terms. He was on the House Agriculture and Forest Products Committee all eight years and served the last four as ranking member. He is especially proud of two programs that came out of his committee during that time: the Farm to Plate and Working Lands Initiatives.
As we kick off our month-long Eat Local Challenge, we’re shining our Co-op Spotlight on Gringo Jack’s! Member-owners can enjoy 20% off Gringo Jack’s full line of delicious local tortilla chips, salsas, and sauces this week, so it’s a great time to plan a localvore fiesta! Read on to learn more about Gringo Jack’s, their commitment to sourcing quality local ingredients, and their recently launched Chip In campaign.
At Gringo Jack’s, we’re dedicated to producing handcrafted, flaky tortilla chips along with natural, vegetarian sauces and salsas – always successfully pre-tested in our own restaurant kitchen. We promise to always prepare each recipe in small batches, with only quality ingredients – no fillers or preservatives – giving the consumer the means to create a healthy, gourmet WOW without the extra work. We stand for taste, quality, and uniqueness, always.
We’re just a bunch of gringos that found ourselves in Vermont. But we’re doing our flaky chips, sauces, and salsas better than anyone. Our spices, textures, and flavors will knock your socks off. And we’re doing it the all-natural way, without preservatives or ingredients you can’t pronounce. Just fresh and authentic ingredients for a fresh and authentic taste. Our Co-Founders are Jack Gilbert and Michele Kropp. Jack is an artist and restauranteur and it’s his belief that real flavor comes only from authentic, quality ingredients. Michelle is daughter and wife to two wonderful chefs, and good food is her true passion. Her commitment to real, minimally processed food ensures that Gringo Jack’s products are the very best!
How are we unique from the other wonderful, healthy products out there? First, we use local ingredients whenever possible. Here’s a list of some of the local farmers and producers from which our ingredients are sourced:
In addition to sourcing the best local ingredients whenever possible, we also make our products from scratch. Our BBQ sauces do not contain ketchup – rather, we make our own ketchup. Our chips are so unique with a light, flaky crunch and a hand dusting of spices. We also make all products in small batches to ensure quality in every bag and jar. Bottom line – it doesn’t get better or tastier than Gringo Jack’s!
Calling all Vermonters! We know you already support local and buy local, now you can invest local! CHIP IN is an investment campaign by Gringo Jack’s to expand our line of locally produced and sourced specialty food products. It is an opportunity for Vermonters to help grow local business and invest in the economy here at home.
The CHIP IN Campaign will raise capital to expand our product lines and distribution networks. It will also allow us to build new partnerships with local farms, producers and retail establishments, in addition to building a regional food system and more jobs in Vermont.
CHIP IN provides not only the potential for a return on investment, it also allows Vermonters to make a social investment that will help support and grow the local economy.
CHIP IN is made possible by the Vermont Small Business Offering (VSBO). VSBO is a new program that allows Vermonters to make small investments in local businesses and help grow the Vermont economy.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
We need your help to make CHIP IN successful! Milk Money is the crowd-funding portal for CHIP IN and VSBO. Click here to learn more and INVEST LOCALLY.
