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Join Us for Earth Day Celebrations at the Old Creamery Co-op
Celebrate Earth Day with us and renew your commitment to sustainable living practices!
Earth Day is the perfect time to weigh your habits on the "green scale." On Earth Day, Monday,  April 22, come check out Old Creamery Co-op's Zero Waste Bulk buying club display and the new locally sewn cloth bulk bags! Buying in bulk is cheaper and better for the planet, especially when you put your bulk food purchases in a locally crafted, reusable cloth bag! The Bagshare Project (www.thebagshare.org) has sewn more than 300 bags in three sizes from scrap fabric for your bulk food purchases. Come check them out at the table next to the register and join the club!
Pledges for the Earth: Old Creamery Earth Day traditions continue! Alice and Amy will set up the pledges and blessings for the Earth Tree on April 22 in the Creamery. Come write your Earth pledge and put it on the tree.
Old Creamery Co-op Composting Station gets a facelift! Our Earth pledge for the Creamery is to help make soil! We take our compost to Holiday Brook Farm in Dalton. This includes food scraps and all of the packaging that is compostable. Most compostable packaging is made from plant fiber and breaks down only in a very hot compost, which is why we take ours to Holiday Brook Farm. We want to take them the "cleanest" compost ever, and that depends on YOU! To this end, there will be a handmade sign on the back of the ice cream cooler starting Monday, April 22, that will describe what should go in the compost container and what should be disposed of otherwise. Please join us and do your best to follow the sign's directions. We're making soil here!
Then, on Saturday, April 27, the Earth Day celebrations continue!
Worms visit Old Creamery Coop! Kathy Harrison will bring her worm bin to the Creamery from 10 a.m. to noon. Bring the kids and check out how it works. Learn how worms love food scraps and help make compost.
Plant a seed in a biodegradable pot! Did you know you can make your own seedling pots from newspaper? When left in the sun, plastic pots create more plastic pollution by breaking down into brittle pieces that contaminate our soil. We'll be introducing a new product: paper pot makers. Starting at noon, you can try one out on Saturday, April 27: plant a seed, take it home, watch it grow, and feed your newspaper pot to the worms after you plant it! This, too, is a great activity for the young ones. We hope to see you at the Co-op!
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Store Renovations: Can You Help This Sunday Afternoon?
This week, in the east-side bump-out, the under-floor plumbing was completed and the concrete floor was poured. Access openings were installed behind the current cashier's station as well as from the storage shed. Our new cashier's station is being built off-site, and the framing for the back of that station was built. Over the next several weeks, the changes will become larger and our need for volunteers will be greater. This Sunday at 1:00 p.m. we need a significant crew of volunteers to assist with emptying the storage shed. All of its contents will be temporarily relocated into the east-side bump-out or upstairs. With enough hands, we can form a human conveyor line and this work will go very rapidly. This coming week, the shed will be completely torn down and then rebuilt over the next couple weeks, including the location for the Florence Savings Bank ATM. If you can give us a hand please, send an email to volunteer@oldcreamery.coop and let us know you will be there. Thanks.
Oh, and the ice cream service window facing the future outside dining area was installed this week as well. Can't wait!
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Cheese of the Week!
On the block for this weekend's featured cheese is Butterwick Big Wheel from Twig Farm in West Cornwall, Vermont. This is a medium-strong cow's milk cheese. This version of the  Butterwick is a large wheel with a clean, lightly washed rind and a semi-firm interior. The flavors are milky and salty with a touch of creamy tanginess. It's a great beer cheese!
The twenty-acre Twig Farm is owned by Michael Lee and Emily Sunderman. Michael manages their herd of goats and makes and ages the cheese, and Emily manages the business and marketing. Michael makes their cheeses by hand using traditional techniques and equipment for farmstead cheese production. In the winter months, Michael creates cheeses with cow's milk from Butterwick Farm of Cornwall, Vermont, which is owned by John and Lisa Roberts. They milk a herd of 150 or so mostly Brown Swiss cows, the rest being Holsteins, fed primarily on grass-based forages grown on the farm. The milk is rich, sweet, clean, and consistent.
You will love this handcrafted cheese! So come in this Saturday and have taste. Remember, we'll take 10% off the regular price all day! Hope to see you this weekend!
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Did You Know? Plastic and the Bottom Line
We all love those frequent flyer miles, cash back incentives, and other credit card perks, don't we? Well, yes, I do. Sort of. But, actually, not so much -- especially after I researched how the costs of such perks are covered. And certainly not once I realized that the businesses accepting credit cards almost always pass on those costs to customers through their retail prices.
I got thinking about this credit card transaction fee issue recently because of my work as a volunteer board member of the Old Creamery Co-op and as a member of its finance committee, and also as the chief operating officer of a national nonprofit organization that accepts credit cards for donations to support its work. I use credit and debit cards for convenience and am someone who has played the game of credit card purchases to redeem "rewards."
It's probably no surprise that I have concluded that there is no "free lunch": the businesses that accept credit cards bear significant costs to do so. And as one of the member-owners of our Co-op, I want to let you know that debit and credit card transaction fees are very clearly hitting our bottom line.
The Creamery has always accepted debit and credit cards and will continue to do so. But it does so at a cost of about $15,000 per year! That's a lot of money flowing out of our business and out of our community and into the hands of (most likely) very large national mega banks. And in our first few years as a cooperatively owned and community-supported business, this figure is a deciding figure between profit and loss for any year.
So, I think each member-owner and every customer should be informed and should grapple with the reality of using plastic as a form of payment. As owners of our business, we can do a great service to our business (and ourselves) by being more conscious about how we pay for what we purchase at the Creamery. I personally have decided not to use a debit or credit card when shopping at my store. I'm looking forward to the day when the ATM from Florence Savings Bank will be available (expected in June) so I don't have to write so many paper checks. And I am thinking about opening a prepaid account at the Creamery so that purchases I make at the register can be charged to that account.
As I have conducted this research about costs/benefits/losses, I have come to realize more clearly the power of "I own it." I hope you will join me in choosing to exercise your economic muscle -- by becoming a more frequent customer of the Creamery, by becoming more mindful about how you pay for your purchases, or, even better, by establishing a prepaid account (see the next article to learn more).
Our Creamery has been in business for more than 125 years. Now its future is in our hands. We own it!
-- Kimberly Longey, president, Old Creamery Co-op Board of Directors
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The Scoop on Prepaid Accounts
The Old Creamery Co-op is pleased to offer prepaid charge accounts for our customers. The long name for these accounts is "Declining Balance Gift Card," or for short, "Gift Card." If you'd like to open a prepaid account, simply tell the cashier that you'd like to purchase a Gift Card and the amount you'd like to put on it. Once you've purchased this card, we will have a record in our system of that purchase and be able to tell you at any time how much you have left to spend. You may reload the card at any time. Questions? Call the store (634-5560) or send an email to info@oldcreamery.coop.
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Alice's Recipe: Pasta with Rich Mushroom Sauce
We heard spring peepers! The first butterflies are emerging! The bluebirds and song sparrows and yellow-bellied sapsuckers are here singing their beautiful songs, drilling for sap, finding bugs in our yard, and acting frisky looking for mates. With their presence, I can trust that spring is really here. The nights are still cold enough to build a fire, but the sunny days are so gloriously perfect that we don't mind being cold in the evening.
We work on cutting next winter's supply of firewood in the late afternoons, working up a great appetite as we go. Amy has been staying outside mulching trees and cleaning out gardens until the last bit of daylight disappears. She comes in cold and ravenous, so I've been preparing meals that more resemble our hearty winter fare than the lighter spring foods we typically eat this time of year. This is one of our old favorites, Pasta with Rich Mushroom Sauce, decadent and delicious. The crusty bread I baked earlier today and a salad of just-picked salad greens with some wild greens mixed in will give us a quick, hearty, nourishing, and delicious supper. We'll light a candle, put our first blooming daffodil in a vase on the table, and bask in the memory of the joyous time spent on our land.
(Click here for a link to the recipe.)
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New Farmers Market Coming to Pittsfield
The City of Pittsfield, in collaboration with Downtown Pittsfield Inc. and Alchemy Initiative, will host a large new farmers and artisans market on First Street, across from the Common, in a city-owned parking lot. The Downtown Pittsfield Farmers Market will begin on Saturday, May 11, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and be held every Saturday through October 26. The farmers market will offer fresh, locally produced food, the work of the region's artisans, entertainment, food trucks, and special events. Applications from potential vendors are being accepted through April 25, and afterward if there are available spaces; click here for more information. And watch this space for an upcoming round-up of this season's regional farmers markets.
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A Victory for Organic Consumers!
Recently in this space, we pointed you to a petition urging the National Organics Standards Board (NOSB) not to extend the allowed use of spraying the antibiotic tetracycline on apple and pear orchards. Good news: The NOSB last week voted not to extend the use of the antibiotic beyond the already set phase-out date of 2014. To learn more, click here.
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Earth Day GMO Awareness Rally, and More!
A reminder: Massachusetts Right to Know GMOs and concerned citizens will rally at Park Square in Pittsfield on Earth Day, Monday, April 22, between noon and 6 p.m. Learn how GMO foods entered the food supply without our knowledge or consent and why they are not regulated, human safety tested, or labeled. You'll be able to find out how you can reduce or eliminate GMOs from your family's diet.
For more information about this event as well as screenings of the documentary Genetic Roulette, click here for an article from Wednesday's Berkshire Eagle. The write-up features GMO expert and activist Ed Stockman of Plainfield.
Massachusetts Right to Know GMOs is a statewide network of safe-food advocates working together and with our state legislators to reach a critical mass of awareness and support for legislation mandating adequate labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods in Massachusetts.
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On the Edge
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 listing for a workshop this Sunday in Plainfield on how to sharpen your gardening tools.
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Stay in Touch! We Love to Hear from You!
For questions about Co-op membership, product requests, or suggestions or other feedback, please send a note to info@oldcreamery.coop. We'll make sure your note is sent to the appropriate person and that you get a prompt response.
If you'd like to contact the Co-op's Board of Directors, simply send your email to board@oldcreamery.coop. Emails sent to this address are received only by the board.
To reach Karen Doherty, the Co-op's general manager, send an email to gm@oldcreamery.coop. Emails sent to this address are received only by Karen.
If you're thinking of becoming a valued volunteer of the Co-op, you can reach Shirley Todd, volunteer coordinator, at volunteer@oldcreamery.coop. There are many opportunities for volunteers. Emails sent to this address go directly to Shirley.
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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 (for best results, use the "Forward email" link in the white space at the bottom of this page). 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. We work hard to find bargains on many different items, including staple groceries, treats like chocolate, juices, refrigerated items, personal care products, and supplements. The shelf tags indicate when the sale price expires. Some sale items are one-time opportunities that remain on sale until sold out. Many are purchasing opportunities that can be replenished over several weeks at great prices. Enjoy the savings!
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Your continued patronage supports the ongoing success of our 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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