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Fundraiser: Share The Harvest On Thursday, October 7th

Fundraiser: Buy Your Produce on Thursday, 10/7 – The Co-op Will Donate 30% of Produce Sales to Share the Harvest!

On Thursday, October 7th, 2021 your Co-op will donate 30% of all Produce Sales to the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont‘s Farm Share Program.  What’s this all about?  Read on to learn what NOFA VT has planned for this year’s Share the Harvest event!

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.

CHECK OUT THIS YEAR’S PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES

Share the Harvest - May all be Fed

Share the Harvest is a win-win scenario! Here’s how it works:

  1. Eat out or shop at generous participating businesses during the month of October
  2. Participating businesses donate $ to NOFA-VT’s Farm Share Program
  3. The $ goes to farmers to help subsidize limited-income Vermonters’ participation in their local CSA
  4. Folks (who might not otherwise be able to afford it) can join their local CSA at half the cost and recieve delicious, healthy food all season long!

DONATIONS

Donations to the Farm Share Program are always welcomed and are accepted year round. If you would like to contribute to the Farm Share Program, you can do so online or download this form (pdf) to make a donation by mail.  

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.

 

DIY Herbal Preparations

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.

Cultivating Culinary Mushrooms

Join Mushroom Shed founder Amanda Heidel for a hands-on workshop that introduces participants to the wonderful world of fungi. Each participant will learn techniques to successfully grow mushrooms at home and engage in hands-on inoculation of coffee grounds and cardboard to grow delicious oyster mushrooms. The class will include information on the mushroom lifecycle, how to care for the mushrooms, and different cooking techniques and recipes. Participants will take home their own mushroom bucket kit and how-to guide.

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.

Arepas and Empanadas

Join Nando Jaramillo of Moon and Stars Arepas for a hands-on lesson in preparing traditional arepas and empanadas! Nando is on a mission to grow organic, heirloom corn, provide high-quality nutritious foods, cultivate community, and demonstrate a new way forward connecting regenerative farming practices and cultural traditions. Join him to explore the cultural heritage of these foods, grind organic heirloom corn together by hand, then make versions that are both traditional and seasonal.

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.

The Wonders of Biochar

Join Debbie Cook and Emily Landenberger to learn more about the miraculous substance known as biochar!  Discover its potential for creating healthy soils, combating climate change, and explore different methods of producing biochar on your farm or homestead! Debbie discovered biochar while working at the North and South Rivers Watershed Association as communications director and state-wide coordinator of Greenscapes, a land care program. Since then, she has been on a journey to learn and share about this amazing substance, including a 6-week trip to the Amazon where she lived with the Kechwa people who are believed to have invented biochar 6000 years ago! Emily has been experimenting with small-scale biochar production and will share some of the ways that her family is utilizing this magical substance on her homestead in Weybridge – including as an integral part of their humanure composting system.

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.

Guided By Taste – A Studio Kitchen Hangout

Recognizing the different tastes and learning how to create flavor profiles are the foundations for all great cooking. Join Chef Matt Laux to explore putting flavors together and investigating your own palate. Matt will share examples of the five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Then, participants will have the opportunity to practice adding layers of flavor based on their own preferences in different dishes. Let’s cook together!

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.

Take the September Eat Local Challenge at the Co-op!

Co-op Member-Owners – check your receipts!  All September, you can track how much you spend on LOCAL each time you shop at the Co-op.  Choosing local products is always a winning choice for the Vermont Economy, and this September, choosing local could make YOU a winner, too!  Read on to find out how:

 

JOIN THE EAT LOCAL CHALLENGE!

  • All September, check the bottom of your receipts to find out how much LOCAL you’ve purchased.
  • Receipts from LOCAL purchases of $25 or more are eligible to be entered into a drawing for one of six $25 Co-op Gift Cards.
  • Receipts from LOCAL purchases of $50 or more are eligible to be entered into a drawing for one of six $50 Co-op Gift Cards.
  • You may enter as many receipts as you like.

The more LOCAL you purchase, the greater your chances of winning.  Raffle Boxes will be located at the Customer Service Desk near the Registers.  Not sure if you’re buying LOCAL products?  Just look for these signs:

Fall Member Appreciation Day – Join Us!

OK, so big food events are off the table this fall.  But, we just can’t miss the chance to appreciate our members for the loyalty, understanding, and appreciation you have extended to your Co-op over the past year.  Plus, it’s the Co-op’s 45th Anniversary in 2021 – let’s have some fun before the year ends!  With a little creativity, we can pull off a safe AND fun Member Appreciation Day – come join us!  

Anyone Can Get a FREE Co-op T-Shirt When They:

  • Become a Co-op Member-Owner
  • Renew their Membership (12 months will be added to any renewed membership, so nothing is lost by renewing early)
  • Donate a Member Share to our Food For All program

Membership is just $20 per share!

AND!  Member-Owners can take home treats from local producers and enter our raffles to win Co-op Gift Cards.   

See YOU there on Saturday, September 11, 12-3 at the Co-op (rain or shine!).

 

 

Rally for Change for FARMACY

Round up your totals at the registers August 12th – 18th.  The Co-op will match your donation for FARMACY.

Rally Every Time You Shop! When not featuring a specific non-profit, donations are given to Addison County Food Shelves

Part community-supported agriculture (CSA), part doctor’s orders, the Farmacy program is free for patients who have been recommended by their physicians. This “Prescription CSA” or “Food is Medicine” program addresses three major needs in Addison County: diet-related illness, food insecurity, and local farm viability.

It has been determined that three behaviors:

  • lack of physical activity
  • poor diet
  • tobacco use

contribute to four diseases:

  • cancer
  • heart disease
  • diabetes
  • lung disease

that cause 50% of all deaths in Vermont. This project addresses the nutritional and dietary needs of those patients. Even pre-pandemic, Vermont’s low-income families were challenged to afford fresh, locally grown foods. These families are recipients of Farmacy CSA shares.

The third year of the Addison County Farmacy program runs July 8 – September 23, 2021, and connects 65 families with 12 weeks of local fruit and vegetable shares and educational information.  

Donations from Rally for Change will go to funding the 2022 Farmacy Food is Medicine program. We would like to extend next year’s season through December for a total of 15 weeks (with one monthly pickup in October, November, December). The effort is being led by ACORN in partnership with Porter Medical Center, the Vermont Department of Health, Rise VT, the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op, and Village Health.

For more information, please visit https://www.acornvt.org/farmacy

 

Rally for Change Abenaki Helping Abenaki

Round up your totals at the registers July 8th – July 14th.  The Co-op will match your donation for Abenaki Helping Abenaki.

Rally Every Time You Shop! When not featuring a specific non-profit, donations are given to Addison County Food Shelves

Vermont has a checkered and complex history involving the indigenous people who lived here before European settlers arrived.  It is a history of exploitation, including separation of families, eugenic sterilization, and genocide.  Rather than run the risk of appropriating their culture by “telling” their story through another white voice, we have chosen to repeat the words of this tribe, verbatim, from their website:

Our Mission – The Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki

 The mission of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation is to strengthen our government; build our community, and ensure sustainability; protect our customs and traditions, and continue to promote our culture and celebrate our heritage while sharing it with those around us. The Nulhegan Abenaki tribe is nestled among the lakes, rivers, and forests of N’dakinna’s northern range and headquartered in the Northeast Kingdom at Barton, VT. We are one of the largest Abenaki Tribes still in existence today. As nomadic and place-based people, we live and travel throughout our greater Western Abenaki territories as our ancestors did. These traditional homelands we call N’dakinna include Vermont, New Hampshire, and parts of Canada, Maine, and Massachusetts. Our connection to this land cannot be described in any language. It is our birthright and obligation to advocate for our citizens and lands throughout our ancestral territories. We continue to respect and steward N’dakinna so that its uniqueness and beauty will be protected for generations to come. 

Abenaki Helping Abenaki – 501C3 Non-Profit

  •  The Seventh Harvest Relief Project is an evolution of the Longhouse Food Pantry. With unemployment at record-breaking highs and an ever-increasing cost of living, it is entirely necessary to share with those less fortunate. Food, hygiene, warm wear, and heat during winter are a necessity to survival and comfort in the Northeast Kingdom. Permaculture, organic community gardens, and a remembrance of the old ways brings us closer to sustainable and green living. 
  • The Abenaki Land Link Project is a partnership with Rooted in Vermont, a program of the Vermont Farm to Plate Network, and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) This project provides indigenous seeds to over a dozen gardeners, homesteaders, and farmers around Vermont who have dedicated land to grow and harvest food for Abenaki citizens this season. All of the seeds have been graciously provided by the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk – Abenaki Nation and cannot be used for any other purpose outside of the project. 
  • The Abenaki Bison Project is providing the first-ever tribally-owned bison herd in New England.  We have partnered with Wiley Side Farm in Shoreham. We have an agreement with them to manage and feed the herd. All Bison Meat that is culled from our animals is distributed to our citizens through 3 distribution points located throughout our territories.

For more information about the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki, and to find out how you can help support their food security initiatives, please visit:  https://abenakitribe.org/