MFC Logo
In This Update:
Membership Goals
Thank You
Community Corner
Stay Connected
1,000 Member-Owner Celebration
Why I Joined
Co-op Corner
Savor Our Seasons
Featured Events
Membership Goals

Current Members: 1,000
Next Goal: 1,200
Thank You!

Since the co-op is a community initiative, we want to take the time to thank community members for contributing their time, skills and passions to the Monadnock Food Co-op. 

Thank you to Lois Haskins for lending her financial expertise to the co-op, helping us get set up using our new accounting software for our financial organization and management. 

Community Corner

Otter Limits Triathlon

Stay Connected

Michael Faber
General Manager
603-355-8008

Jen Risley
Marketing &
Member Services

Board of Directors

Board Meetings are held the 2nd Monday of each month at 4pm in the Hannah Grimes Center Conference Room. 

If you are interested in attending please contact the board at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook  View our photos on flickr   Follow us on Twitter
August 2012 Update 
Building Update
The Co-op building site is now decorated with 235 bright orange flags - each one marking the site of a Geopier (described in last month's update).  This process is happening now!


1,000 Member-Owners

WE DID IT!  Thank you to our 1,000+ Member-Owners for making a commitment to the Monadnock Food Co-op by joining.  Now it's time to celebrate together! Bring a friend, family member or neighbor (or all three) to our Orchard Hill Pizza Night & Celebration on August 21.
1,000th Member-Owner: Alexis Putzel!
(Center with General Manager Michael Faber and Marketing & Member Services/C.C. the Co-op Carrot Jen Risley)

We also want to thank Badger Balm, Baudelaire Soaps, Elm City Bagels, Stonewall Farm & Linda Stavely for donating terrific items that were raffled off to our member-owners during 1,000 Member-Owner Week.

NH Eat Local Month
Finally, be sure to help New Hampshire celebrate Eat Local Month and Farmers' Market Week!  Visit a farmers' market today.  Get fresh local food straight from the farmer.

Yours Cooperatively,
Michael Faber
Monadnock Food Co-op General Manager
 
 
Celebration1,000 Member-Owner Celebration & Orchard Hill Pizza Night
Tuesday, August 21, 5:30 p.m. 
Orchard Hill Breadworks, Alstead

Everyone is invited! Far from a restaurant style pizza, this is a hands on, guest led affair. Orchard Hill provides the crusts, oven, baker, and some instruction, while you bring your favorite toppings, make your own pizza, and bring drinks and any other amenities you may want. The Monadnock Food Co-op will supply ice tea, ice cream & Co-opoly: The Game of Cooperatives. Live music will spice up the night.

Orchard Hill asks for a donation of at least $5 per pizza to cover costs. All profits are donated to the Monadnock Food Co-op.  Directions & more at orchardhillbreadworks.com. RSVP & spread the word via Facebook. Why not carpool?

Photo of the Co-op Groundbreaking by By Chad Cassin

Become a Monadnock Food Co-op Member-Owner

Join Today!

 

Member-Owners make a $200 investment 

(not an annual membership fee).  

Why I Joined the Co-op

I am a single working Grandmother living in Keene. I have my 89 year old Father living with me, so my life is busy. I have grown many vegetables each summer and now get fresh eggs from my daughter who along with her family raise chickens. There is such a difference in fresh food compared to processed foods.

 

I joined the Monadnock Food Co-op because it makes sense to support local organizations that promote natural, fresh, quality foods, & hopefully produced locally. I want my children and grandchildren to see what a community can do together to support healthy living.

 

~Suzanne Jahn                              Tell Us Why You Joined!

Co-op Corner:
The Skagit's Got the Stuff
Originally Posted at
My Co-op Rocks

An original poem, recited in COOP-eration with the staff of the Skagit Valley Food Co-op.
The Skagit's Got the Stuff
Watch Skagit's Got the Stuff.


Savor Our Seasons:
Peaches

By Liza Drew, RD

 

Flavorful Fact:   

The Chinese "tree of life" originally was a peach tree, as peaches symbolize unity and immortality.  Peach blossoms are still traditionally used in Chinese wedding ceremonies for that reason.

   

Try this Recipe:

- Peaches and Cream Pops  

Events:

 

Find out more about what's happening in  

New Hampshire during NH Eat Local Month

 

Farmers' Market Week

This Week Across the Nation!

United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack proclaimed August 5th through 11th, 2012 as National Farmers Market Week.  Since 2000, when the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) first proclaimed National Farmers Market Week, the number of recorded farmers markets has grown over 170%, from 2,863 in 2000 to more than 7,800 in 2012.  As these numbers increase, farmers markets are bolstering local economies, improving community health, and bringing diverse groups of people together through a shared social space.  

Visit a farmers' market near you.   

 

NOFA Summer Conference

Northeast Organic Farming Association  

Friday - Sunday, August 10-12 

UMass, Amherst, MA 

There are over 200 workshops this year, including some great workshops on co-ops. Neighboring Food Co-op Association and partner organizations will present: Co-ops Build a Better World, exploring the impact potential of all types of co-ops on our regional food system; Cooperatives in Farming and the Food System, looking at the basic forms of co-ops-producer, consumer, and worker-and the roles they play in the food system; and Food Co-ops and Healthy Food Access, exploring the capacity of food co-ops to increase access to healthy food for families with limited food budgets.

View a list of the 200+ workshops offered for 2012 on organic farming, co-operatives, gardening, land care, draft animals, homesteading, sustainability, nutrition, food politics, activism, and more.  To see more details, visit: www.nofasummerconference.org.

 

 

Movie Night
Walpole Valley Farms
Saturday, August 11, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Walpole Valley Farms, Walpole 
 Come to the 8th Annual Outdoor Movie Night! It is a fun night with a showing of a family movie and cartoons in our century-old barn. Cartoons start the evening and then after a full length feature film. Fun for the whole family. Fresh popped popcorn, homemade cookies, and drinks provided. Free to all, donations accepted. Rain or shine. Visit WalpoleValleyFarms.com or call 603-756-2805 for more information and directions.

Preserving Your Harvest Workshop
Tuesday, August 14, 2012; 6 to 8 pm
Keene Public Library, Keene
Covers the latest research-based methods and recipes, answer questions, and share experiences about these topics:  jams and jellies, pickling, canning fruits and vegetables, & freezing and drying food.  Pre-registration: Keene Public Library at 603- 352-0157 or toll free at 1-866-743-0446. Cost: Free. View flyer

 

 

Localvore Mushroom Foray 
Monadnock Localvore Project
Thursday, August 16, 10am - 12pm
Wichland Woods, Nelson 
Mushroom foray and garden walk, followed by a potluck lunch.  There will be mushrooms and mushroom tea provided.  Spawn will be available for purchase. This outdoor workshop will be held rain or shine. There will be a potluck lunch after the workshop.  Please bring a dish to pass. Registration for this workshop is limited.  The sliding scale fee is $5-15; but no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Workshop fees will be used to promote and support youth farm education. 


Summerfest
Stonewall Farm
Saturday, August 11, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Stonewall Farm, Keene
Join Stonewall Farm for an afternoon filled with games, food, tractors, music, and hayrides!  What better way to celebrate the summertime?  No entrance fee.  Featuring Stonewall Farm hamburgers and veggie skewers on the grill and ice cream and maple sundaes! Tie-dyeing (buy a Stonewall Farm shirt or bring your own!), creek walks, wet felting, live music, antique tractors & hayrides.  More at StonewallFarm.org.
 
Keene Music Festival
Saturday, September 1
Downtown Keene
The Keene Music Festival is a gem of the New England area.  Founded twelve years ago, the Keene Music Festival creates opportunities for local, regional, and national musicians to perform in our area.  We also work to connect musicians with musicians and with local venues; with the goal of generating more venues for homegrown music:
http://www.keenemusicfestival.org.

Attention Farmers, Food Producers &
Wholesale Buyers:
Monadnock Matchmaker Event
Save the Date - Wednesday October 10, 9:00 am - Noon
Stonewall Farm, Keene
Are you a business owner, chef or buyer looking to purchase more local food in order to satisfy growing consumer demand, support our local economy, or offer the best farm-fresh food around?

Are you a farmer, or food producer who uses ingredients from the Monadnock Region, who would like to expand your market and sell wholesale to restaurants, institutions, retail outlets, distributors or other local food producers?

This event makes time and space for producers and buyers to network and form potential business partnerships. Drawing over 40 buyers and producers each year, many have established productive relationships they rely upon today.  Cost: $25.  Email [email protected] or call 603-801-5167 to register.
Monadnock Community Market Co-op