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When Our Co-op Grows Up...
The Putney Food Co-op in Vermont is one of the oldest in the country. Our board has visited Putney to learn about co-ops and continues to enjoy their support whenever we ask for help. The similarities with the Creamery are striking. Let me list a few:
1. The co-op is in a small, rural village and surrounded by other small towns.
2. This is an economically diverse area with many farms and small producers.
3. They have a supportive community that practices local interdependence.
4. There is a strong health and food consciousness in the community.
5. It's a long drive by car to another full-service grocery.
The Putney Food Co-op is celebrating seventy years as a co-op. Every time I view this short video I picture the Old Creamery Co-op as we grow into our future in our great community. Click here to see what that future might be like.
by Michael Kalagher Old Creamery Co-op Board of Directors |
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Cheese of the Week!
This week's sampling cheese is Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar. This is a fantastic cheese from a fantastic company, and at $8.29 a pound it comes to you at a  fantastic price! Cabot Creamery is a 1,200-farm dairy cooperative with members in New England and upstate New York. Owned and operated by the members, the farmers, and their families, Cabot honors the Rochdale Cooperative Principles in every aspect of its operations. Valuing community, quality, democracy, and local ownership, Cabot supports the communities where its members live and do business.
Cabot Extra Sharp is made from cow's milk with vegetarian rennet and is aged twelve to fourteen months. It's boldly sharp and full-bodied with a dry, crumbly texture. Its richness of flavor and dense texture make it perfect for your cheese board as well as fondue or grilled cheese, and it stands up to the heartiest ale or sturdiest wine.
Come in this Saturday and taste this incredible cheese. Remember we'll take 10% off the price during the sampling. Hope to see you!
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What's in Your Cleaning Products?
Those hard-working, underfunded, and mostly likely underpaid folks over at Environmental Working Group (EWG) have released their 2012 guide to cleaning products-you know, your dish soap, bathroom cleaner, and so on. What's in some very common products and the health and environmental risks they pose may surprise you. To learn about the guide, to check out the products you use, and to get a handy pocket guide for your next shopping trip for cleaning products, click here.
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Alice's Recipe: Mediterranean White Bean Soup
There's a great variety of fabulous ingredients growing in our gardens right now. Beginning in September here in our hilltowns, the abundant garden harvest feels like it happens on "found time." We know our first frost can happen at any time, wiping out huge swaths of our precious vegetables and flowers overnight. So we like to prepare and enjoy a banquet, using as many of the vegetables in our garden as possible, every opportunity we get. Mediterranean White Bean Soup uses eleven ingredients that we harvest fresh from the garden. When we add in the five vegetable side dishes that accompanied our supper tonight (green beans, potatoes, pattypan squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers), our meal earns the title of fresh harvest banquet. So the next chilly night, after a glorious day in the crisp and cool September air, prepare a big pot of this soup and enjoy the richness and abundance of our local food blessings.
(Click here for a link to the recipe.)
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Following is one of a series of weekly articles in recognition of the United Nations' International Year of Cooperatives.
The Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society
In 1843 workers in the textile mills of Rochdale, England, went on strike. When the strike failed, the millworkers began to look for other ways to improve their lives. Instead of calling for another strike or asking charitable groups for help, workers decided to take control of one of the most immediate and pressing areas of their lives. They believed they needed their own food store as an alternative to the company store. Twenty-eight people founded the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society.
After saving money for more than a year, these pioneers opened their co-op store at 31 Toad Lane on a cold December evening in 1844. Although the founders agreed to sell just butter, sugar, flour, and oatmeal, they also offered tallow candles for sale that night. They were forced to buy candles because the gas company refused to supply gas for the new group's lights. The founders bought candles in bulk and sold what they didn't use to their members.
The Rochdale Pioneers weren't the first group to try forming a co-op, but they were the first to make their co-op succeed and endure. To avoid the mistakes made by earlier co-op societies and to help others, they developed a list of operating principles governing their organization. This list formed the basis for what are now known as the cooperative principles. Rochdale is considered the birthplace of the modern cooperative movement. (To read more, click here.)
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Help Wanted!
The Old Creamery is looking for Part-time Deli Staff: must be able to work hard and have fun; and must be good with people and food. Talk with Alice or Toni for more information, at the store or by calling 413-634-5560.
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Time to Check the Calendar
The Old Creamery's Community Calendar is your place to post, and check for, happenings in the Hilltowns. The Community Calendar can be found on the Old Creamery's website under "News & Events." You can click on any event in the calendar to pop up an expanded information box. For instance, click here to see the expanded listing for this Saturday's Hilltown Hoot in the town of Washington or here to see the listing for the next in a series of historical walks and talks in Plainfield this Sunday.
We'd also love to hear from you with any suggestions, compliments, gripes, or other comments about the Old Creamery Co-op's weekly email and website. You can email them to info@oldcreamery.coop. Thank you for your help!
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Help us spread the word! Consider encouraging your friends to sign on to receive the Creamery's weekly email newsletter. Better yet, encourage them to become member owners of the co-op. You can forward this email to your friends and relatives, and rest assured, we won't clog their inboxes and we will respect their privacy. We will not disclose your or their email addresses to anyone else. You can unsubscribe at any time. Thank you for your interest, commitment, and support.
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Many items are on sale every week at the Creamery. Look for the brightly colored shelf tags. These items are 15%-45% off regular prices. Click here for a list of all the items that have recently gone on sale. In addition to the items on the list, there are always dozens of additional items on sale. Enjoy the savings!
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Your continued patronage supports the Creamery's transition to a community-owned, values-based cooperative. Thank you for supporting the Old Creamery Co-op as a member-owner, as a shopper, as a friend. We value every contribution to the success of the Old Creamery Co-op.
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Kimberly, Hattie, Michael, Susi, Sylvia, Patty, & Deborah, your Old Creamery Co-op Board of Directors; and Alice & Amy, proprietors |
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445 Berkshire Trail
Cummington, Massachusetts 01026
413.634.5560
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