Producer: Mount Cabot Maple
Location: Lancaster, NH
Found at the Littleton Co-op: maple syrup, maple sugar
Website: mountcabotmaple.com
Pride Month is an annual month-long celebration to recognize and uplift the cultural contributions made by those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and other marginalized gender and sexual identities (LGBTQ+). Pride is celebrated in June to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a 1969 anit-LGBTQ police raid of a New York bar recognized as a major turning point in the fight for gay rights. The phrase “gay pride” is said to come from activist Craig Schoonmaker, saying “I authored the word ‘pride’ for gay pride … [my] first thought was ‘Gay Power.’ I didn’t like that, so proposed gay pride. There’s very little chance for people in the world to have power. People did not have power then; even now, we only have some. But anyone can have pride in themselves, and that would make them happier as people, and produce the movement likely to produce change.” As a community-owned co-op championing an ethos of “Everyone Welcome,” the Littleton Food Co-op supports our local LGBTQ+ populations and is happy to recognize relevant producers from our store during Pride Month. Read more about Littleton Co-op’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work here.
Morgan Hill’s life thus far is a full circle, beginning and currently standing on Mount Cabot in Lancaster, NH. As the owner of Mount Cabot Maple, which sits upon its namesake, they have returned to the land once owned by their grandparents. Now, instead of simply observing, Morgan has owned Mount Cabot Maple since 2020 and ushered it into an era beyond just sugarmaking to include a diversified farm, agritourism, and event venue. What started as an apprenticeship under the previous owner turned into the discovery of a passion with many intricate pieces to manage, including production, sales, maintenance, employee well-being, and more. Their staff is predominantly female, with Morgan saying to the Union Leader “It’s a different internal culture. We make decisions as a team, and it just feels healthier to me. We’re more consensus-focused.” That said, they added, “That doesn’t make everything easy, and it’s still challenging to work with people.”
While Mount Cabot Maple’s syrup is single origin, Morgan is determined to make landstewardship, connections to nature, and joyful experiences open to all identities in the North Country and beyond. Their maple product has been recognized and celebrated up and down the East Coast, and the success story of their queer-owned and women-owned is not far behind.
Status of product availability at the Littleton Co-op, and labeling of producers (such as local, Black-Owned Business, NH-made, etc) and product status or ingredients (gluten-free, vegan, etc) is based on available information at time of publication. The food world is an ever-changing landscape and information presented here may not reflect the most up-to-date information available.
