Food For Thought

News

Scott Farm Orchard

I used to dislike apples when I was a kid, but then I tried heirloom apples from Scott Farm Orchard, and I realized it wasn’t that I didn’t like apples, I just wasn’t eating the right ones! Have you ever tasted an Ashmead’s Kernel, a Pitmaston Pineapple, a Knobbed Russet? How about a Reine des Reinettes? With their strange names and crowd-pleasing flavors, these historic gems (heirloom means they’re over 100 years old) are a world away from the mass market fruits trucked in from Washington State.

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Wait… Are Things Looking Up?

| Food For Thought, GM Report

Fall is always a little bit of a restart in our industry—summer sales tail off a bit as people begin to get ready for fall routines, and the gathering of energy builds toward the crescendo of harvest festivals, foliage, Indigenous People’s Day weekend, and, of course, the holidays. But this year is different.

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BFC’s Purpose and Mission Statements

| Board of Directors

I have to be honest with you: there are several areas of Board focus and work that are not easy. These areas involve careful and thoughtful focus on detail – sometimes numbers, sometimes reports or information, and sometimes words. In the end, words are often the most challenging in part because words are so hard to come up with when we are trying to communicate a particular value, belief or principle clearly, and once chosen, getting agreement can be difficult: personal preferences and different interpretations affect coming to agreement.

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The Road Not Yet Traveled

| Food For Thought, GM Report

And how are you holding up? Now that we know we are running a marathon of indeterminate length, the stress of adjustment has a different feel. However, along with resignation, regret, and concern, we have discovered new ways to minister to ourselves, and also to harness some of that concern and anger into action.

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Burlington Beer Company

Beer brewing and its recipes were first noted on scrolls dating as far back as 5000 BC. The process and flavors progressed during the Middle Ages throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia up to the present day. From the ancient Egyptians to medieval monks and through U.S. Prohibition, beer has long been revered as a delicious and refreshing beverage.

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Aligning with Allies

| Board of Directors

As I don my COVID facemask and walk down Brattleboro’s Main Street, I hear Black Lives Matters supporters’ calls for justice and see MAGA (Make America Great Again) supporters seeking economic power and national pride. Though seeming to face off against each other, I see more similarities than differences in the messaging. Don’t we all want to live well in a place where we feel safe, proud, and a part of it? I like to think of the Brattleboro Food Co-op as a haven of safety and neutrality. To me, the Co-op has always been a place where we come together to meet friends, connect and share community – even during hard times. But is it?  Can we be doing more to be an even stronger community connector and a truly welcoming space for all?

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New Food Program Feeds Brattleboro and Area Towns

| BFC Newsflash, Community

[BRATTLEBORO, VT, July 2020—] Our community will be eating 2,400 restaurant meals each week in August, for free. Everyone Eats! is a new program using federal funds to purchase meals from independently-owned restaurants in Brattleboro, all of which are struggling because of the coronavirus physical distancing rules. The restaurants, who are experts in the field of feeding people, will be assured revenue and a role in our community. All people who need to eat will be fed. This is how Brattleboro does it!

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