Join members of Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op in pledging to reduce waste and “SLASH YOUR TRASH!”
Did you know that the 292 million tons of waste (nearly 1,800 pounds per person every year) generated in the US in 2018 was primarily made up of plastics, paper, paperboard, and food? As individuals and working together as a community, we can take steps big and small to reduce our waste. Participate with your Co-op community in April to SLASH YOUR TRASH!
To participate:
Pick up a pledge card at the Co-op (example below)
Fill it out with your pledge (one card per pledge, please!)
Drop it into our raffle box for a chance to win an earth-friendly prize!
Pledge participants will be entered into weekly raffles throughout April.
NOW, FOLLOW THROUGH WITH YOUR PLEDGE:
• Share Your Experience! Use #SlashYourTrash, #NeighborCoops and
#ActNowOnClimateChange in social media posts. When you share your experience,
you’ll be entered to win a prize again!
• Visit un.org/en/actnow and let the UN know what you are doing to #ActNow
on Climate Change!
Did you make a Slash Your Trash pledge in honor of Earth Month? Join Don Maglienti of the Addison County Solid Waste District as he covers the ins and outs of what can (and can’t) be recycled in our area. Participants will learn about how recycling is processed, common contaminants, and some special programs for hard-to-recycle materials. Bring your questions and have fun expanding your recycling knowledge! Leave with a free pack of Bee’s Wrap!
Advance registration is required. Please register at least one week in advance. Classes are capped at 12 participants. Enrollment is first-come, first-served. All classes are $30, or FREE for members of the Co-op’s Food For All Program. To register, email Denise at the Hannaford Career Center (dsenesac@pahcc.org) or call (802) 382-1004.
Too much garlic mustard? Is Sumac taking over your hedgerow? Herbalist Julie Mitchell of EOS Botanicals will address plants that are considered invasive in the light of possible utilitarian uses, both medicinal and culinary. This hands-on class will include some recipe-making and a thorough discussion of properly identifying plants, resources, and some ethical wild-crafting or herb-gathering tips.
Advance registration is required. Please register at least one week in advance. Classes are capped at 12 participants. Enrollment is first-come, first-served. All classes are $30, or FREE for members of the Co-op’s Food For All Program. To register, email Denise at the Hannaford Career Center (dsenesac@pahcc.org) or call (802) 382-1004.
Bring your stories, roll up your sleeves and join chef Matt Laux in the kitchen! Together the class will prepare a delicious Indian meal from Matt’s time spent in India. There is no better way to enjoy the magic of cooking than as a group – slicing, stirring, and reminiscing fondly about food memories as we cook our dinner. With this familiar spirit, we will learn from each other and hone our culinary skills. Participants will leave with plenty of leftovers!
Advance registration is required. Please register at least one week in advance. Classes are capped at 12 participants. Enrollment is first-come, first-served. All classes are $30, or FREE for members of the Co-op’s Food For All Program. To register, email Denise at the Hannaford Career Center (dsenesac@pahcc.org) or call (802) 382-1004.
Join Magdalena Deloya of the famed Viva el Sabor collective to learn how to make tamales! When Deloya isn’t cooking up meals with the Viva el Sabor collective, she serves her community at Middlebury’s Open Door Clinic (ODC), where she’s been a valued translator in the clinic’s outreach to migrant workers. She prepares meals for many members of the migrant farmworker community, serving them both through her work at ODC and also in partnership with Middlebury’s Giving Fridge. Deloya hails from the state of Guerrero in Southern Mexico and looks forward to sharing the cuisine of her region with the Co-op community.
In an effort to provide a safe experience, we ask that all class participants be vaccinated and wear a face covering. Advance registration is required. Please register at least one week in advance. Classes are capped at 12 participants. Enrollment is first-come, first-served. All classes are $30, or FREE for members of the Co-op’s Food For All Program. To register, email Denise at the Hannaford Career Center (dsenesac@pahcc.org) or call (802) 382-1004.
Round Up Your Totals at the Registers February 6-12 for The New Community Project…The Co-op Will Match Your Donation!
New Community Project (NCP), is a nonprofit organization committed to the creation of sustainable systems that care for the earth, empower people most marginalized and impoverished, educate and inspire, and build the foundation for a nonviolent lifestyle. We work to create transformation at both the personal level and community level in three key areas that have the highest impact: food, transportation, and the built environment to promote justice, fairness, and increase resiliency for our community in the age of climate change.
Our Sustainable Living Center in Starksboro puts our mission into action by offering the following programs in our community:
Food Share: Our weekly Food Share program combines food rescued from area stores (including the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-Op) with food produced in NCP’s Food Justice Gardens to serve those struggling with food and nutritional insecurity in our community. Every Sunday afternoon, our Food Share Program provides up to 45 food boxes to individuals and families from fourteen area towns while diverting 144 cubic feet of potential food waste from the landfill.
Gina and Bella at Food Share
Food Justice Gardens: Located at NCP’s Sustainable Living Center and the Starksboro Community Garden, NCP’s Food Justice Gardens help supply fresh organic vegetables to our weekly Food Share Program. In 2020, the gardens supplied 1000lbs of produce to the Food Share program.
Little Free Pantries: Located in Starksboro Village and South Starksboro, two Little Free Pantries now provide an additional food resource to our community. These free-standing structures offer non-perishable foods and supplies 24/7 to anyone who needs them. The Little Free Pantries are operated in partnership with RISE VT and United Way of Addison County.
Little Free Pantry
Community Woodbank and Emergency Heating Assistance: In partnership with the Town of Starksboro and H.O.P.E. in Middlebury, NCP operates a Community Woodbank and Heating Assistance Program. This program provides short-term heating assistance to individuals and families short on fuel during the winter. Our program also assists renters and homeowners by connecting them to state weatherization assistance resources to help them reduce their energy use and costs. This program provided firewood assistance to 5 families during the past winter and helped enroll two households in the state weatherization program.
How will the Rally for Change Funds be used?
Funds received through the Rally for Change program will help support an expansion of NCP’s Starksboro Area Food Justice Initiatives. This funding will support the planning, design, and expansion of our Food Justice gardens to increase the supply of produce to our weekly Food Share Program and increase food resilience/security for our community. Specifically, these funds would assist us in purchasing seeds, building materials, tools, soil amendments, season extenders, and an irrigation system necessary to launch this next phase in our initiative. With the unprecedented challenge of the climate crisis and growing food insecurity in Vermont, we see a tremendous opportunity to help address these issues through the development of a resilient local food system.
Are you ready to learn more about YOUR co-op? And, well, maybe win a little something, too? Take a shot at entering January’s month’s Co-op Quiz question:
What is Our Co-op’s Food For All Program?
What IS our Co-op’s Food For All Program? Who benefits from this program? How do you become a Food For All member? What can Food For All do for YOU? So many questions, and only until the end of January to answer them! If you’re not sure how to answer, do some digging on our website and in our in-store materials near the entrance and the customer bathrooms to find out more. When you’re ready, write your answer on a raffle slip (located near the exit door) and drop it into our Co-op Quiz raffle box for a chance to win one of 10 Co-op Gift Cards, worth $25 each! Winners will be drawn at random, and then selected based on response accuracy.
For 29 years, the Co-op has had the pleasure of collaborating with Middlebury Studio School (formerly, Frog Hollow) to help us bring you our annual Empty Bowl dinner to benefit local food shelves, CVOEO, and HOPE, and our first-ever Empty Bowl Silent Auction last year. The Studio School has been instrumental in coordinating dozens of local potters to create 100 bowls for this event, each year. In 2021, the challenges of COVID 19 remain, and we feel that it would be irresponsible to host our traditional community dinner under these circumstances.
For the second year, the Co-op is hosting The Great Empty Bowl Silent Auction. From 11/15 to 12/15, stop by the Co-op’s “indoor seating area” to view beautiful hand-made bowls from Middlebury Studio School. When you find one that’s meant for you or someone you love, please write your bid, your name, and your phone number on our auction list, next to the bowl of your choice. A photograph of each bowl, with a corresponding number, will be included on the list. Bids start at $30 (the usual cost of an Empty Bowl Dinner ticket). The Co-op will match all final bids (maximum total match will be $5,000). Once the auction is over on 12/15, we’ll contact all participants with top bids to arrange for payment and pick-up.
Here’s How to Participate:
– Take a look at these beautiful bowls, handmade and donated by the generous artists at Middlebury Studio School.
– When you find one (or more!) that you like, match the number on the bowl to the number on the Auction List (center table). Fill in your name, phone number, and your bid (bidding starts at $30 and must increase by at least $5 for each additional bid).
– The auction ends on 12/15. After that date, if you have placed the highest bid on a bowl, we will contact you to let you know, so you can stop by to pay for and pick up your bowl.
The Co-op Will Match The Highest Bids for Every Bowl (maximum total match will be $5,000)
“Empty Bowls” is an international project to fight hunger, personalized by artists and arts organizations on a community level. It was founded by Lisa Blackburn and Art teacher John Hartom in 1990-91 when they joined a drive to raise charitable funds in his Michigan community. Hartom’s idea was to organize a charitable event to give artists and art students a way to make a personal difference. Hartom’s students made ceramic bowls in their high school art classes. The finished products were then used as individual serving pieces for a fund-raising meal of soup and bread. Contributing guests kept the empty bowl.
Today, hundreds of communities hold some version of an Empty Bowls event. Their efforts support food-related charities around the world and have raised millions of dollars to aid in the fight against hunger. Although the sponsors of the events may differ widely – from glass blowers to churches to Co-ops like ours, their goals remain the same:
Raise as much money as possible to feed the world’s hungry people.
Increase awareness of hunger and related issues. Through education, awareness, and action, concerned individuals can change human attitudes that allow hunger to exist.
Advocate for arts education. Nurturing the creative process through the arts enhances the possibility of finding new solutions to old problems.
According to the U.S. Census, Current Population Survey, 1 in 9 Vermonters are dealing with food insecurity. This is a number well below the national average, but for 12% of our State’s population, the number is still too high. Please place a bid at our Empty Bowl Auction and be a part of the effort to wipe out hunger in Addison County.
Share the Harvest is a great opportunity for you to support the Farm Share Program, which provides income-eligible Vermonters with the opportunity to support their local CSA farmer and receive reliable access to high-quality produce on weekly basis all season long.
With your support, the Farm Share Program assists hundreds of individuals and families in accessing a season’s worth of fresh farm products by providing half off the cost of shares. Throughout October, generous restaurants, coops, breweries, and food stores statewide participated in Share the Harvest. When the public eats out or shops at participating businesses in October, the businesses made a donation to the Farm Share Program.
If you were not able to join us for Share the Harvest this year, you can still make a gift to support the Farm Share Program today! See the DONATIONS section below and please consider making a donation today.
NOFA Vermont’s Farm Share Program is a great way that limited-income Vermonters can afford to purchase CSA (community supported agriculture) shares of fresh produce from their local farmers. Donations to the Farm Share Program go into a fund which helps subsidize CSA shares to needy Vermonters. NOFA Vermont believes that all Vermonters should be able to eat local organic food, regardless of their income level, while also making sure farmers get a good wage for their hard work.
Demand for Farm Share Program support is significant. The Farm Share Program is funded by individual donations and by the annual Share the Harvest fundraiser.
If you know of a restaurant, brewery, co-op, or food store who would like to participate in Share the Harvest 2021 or partner with the Farm Share Program, please contact Kayla Strom at kayla@nofavt.org or call (802) 434-4122.
Time to expand your herbal medicine shelf! Join local herbalist Julie Mitchell to explore the basics of preparing your own herbal medicines at home. Participants will explore some simple methods for making your own tinctures, salves, and steams using familiar plant medicines and ingredients. Come with a do-it-yourself mentality and curiosity about plant medicines and leave with recipes and a sampling of herbal preparations.
All Co-op classes at the Hannaford Career Center are $30 or free for members of the Co-op’s Food For All program. In an effort to provide a safe experience, we ask that all class participants are vaccinated and masks are required for the duration of the class. Classes are capped at 12 participants. Enrollment is first-come, first-served. Please register for classes at least one week in advance by contacting Denise Senesac at the Hannaford Career Center by phone at (802) 382-1004 or by email at dsenesac@pahcc.org.
