Fall is here, and our Annual Meeting is right around the corner! The theme for our meeting this year is “ensuring a thriving future for our Co-op,” and we have an engaging panel discussion planned, so if you are a shareholder remember to save the date for November 9th. Staying financially healthy is foundational to our longevity, of course, but we have many other things to consider as well. We exist to meet the collective needs of our shareholders. Ensuring a thriving future means that we understand how these collective needs may be evolving and that we develop plans to support them. The Brattleboro Food Co-op has an opportunity to meaningfully increase the value that we bring to shareholders and the impact we have on the community.
Food For Thought
News
Cabot Creamery Co-operative
It’s always been a tough road for dairy farmers. Back in the days before the invention of things like cream separators and pasteurization, everything had to be done by hand, and a lot could go wrong. Milk would often spoil before it even reached customers, whether during the difficult process of separating the milk from the cream or the long drive to the railroad depot with horse and cart. And doing all of this alone made it even harder.
BOD Meeting Agenda: October 2022
Brattleboro Food Co-op Board of Directors Meeting Agenda
October is Co-op Month
It is easy to think of the Co-op as just another choice when you’re shopping for groceries. I know I sometimes do. It is easy to forget that co-ops are a radically different alternative to meeting our needs: for food, for housing, for financial services, for insurance, for agriculture.
Well, as a way to remind us of that, it turns out that October is Co-op Month! We have our own month!!! Co-op Month, it turns out, has been a nationally recognized celebration since 1964.
What Would You Tell a Shareholder? September 2022
From the Board’s September 12, 2022 meeting:
Meet The Board!
Meet and chat with Board members Wednesday, September 28, 2022, in the Co-op Café from 4-5 pm.
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes: August 2022
Brattleboro Food Co-op Board of Directors August Meeting Minutes
Save the Date! BFC Annual Meeting November 9
Meet the Board – John H.
John Hatton is probably a familiar face to Co-op members; he’s been on the Board of Directors twice before, was the Board President when we decided to build our new building. Before his current profession as a Realtor at Berkley & Veller, John was at Northeast Cooperatives until its demise, working with the member Co-ops who owned the cooperative natural foods’ warehouse. He’s happy to say that when he and his family moved to Brattleboro from Connecticut, he realized that this is his place, and he doesn’t need to consider living anywhere else.
What is Forest Bathing Like?
My family ate a quick meal before heading out the door. We were on our way to a Full Moon Mindfulness and Nature event led by Amanda of Landkind Guide. As we drove further into rural Brattleboro, the sights and smells became more peaceful. I could already feel myself relaxing as I anticipated the evening. My wife asked me to drive faster, and I joked that it was probably the first time in 17 years that I’d received that request.
September Update
We have a few weeks of summer left but fall is fast approaching. Kids and teachers are back to school and many trees are starting to give us their first hint of color. By the time you read this we will have celebrated Labor Day. It can be easy to forget that Labor Day is much more than an extra day off in the fall. Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions of workers everywhere and was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century. The Brattleboro Food Co-op is proud to be closed on Labor Day as we celebrate and recognize the contribution of our staff and our partnership with the UFCW Local 1459 who represent them.
Meadowscape Botanicals
The exuberant and resourceful Wendy Mackenzie grew up in the green hills of Vermont, surrounded by her mother’s gardens. Yet, it wasn’t until the mid-’90s that she developed a fascination with herbalism and plants. At the time, she was a high school health teacher in Wilmington, VT, and invited a local herbalist, Isabelle Hadley, to do a presentation for her students. When Wendy got her hands on the dried flowers and essential oils, she was hooked. “This was back when I didn’t know a daisy from a daffodil,” she said, but the seed was planted, and eventually, it blossomed into Meadowscape Botanicals.
