Did you miss our 2023 Annual Meeting? We had a great time at Iron Furnace Brewing in Franconia, who generously offered to host our gathering this year. Everyone loved the pizza and beer!

Highlights on this year’s agenda included special guest speaker Derrick Samuels of Genuine Jamaican, who regaled us with hilarious and heartfelt anecdotes from his experiences building his locally-renowned brand of hot sauces and seasonings. We also presented the second annual Cooperator of the Year award to Tim Wennrich for all of his efforts to reduce food waste and promote local agriculture in our region. And last but not least, we presented a “Big Check” to Veterans 2 Veterans Group, who were selected to be this year’s recipient of the proceeds earned from our ever-growing Community Fund. We also heard facts, figures, and reports from our Operations Manager Chris Whiton, and a review of all the ways we cooperate from our Community Outreach Coordinator, Becky Colpitts. We then wrapped up the meeting with a Q&A session and a door prize.

Big thanks to our Board of Directors for organizing this event, and to all the Members, employees, and candidates who attended. We had a great time!

By Catherine Cushing, Specialty Cheese Manager

If you happen to be in downtown Lancaster and feel like taking a lovely drive out into the countryside, you might go up Middle St, take a left onto Grange Rd., follow Grange Rd thru to Pleasant Valley Rd, take another left onto Rowell Rd and at about 1⁄2 mile in on the left, you will come upon the homestead and enterprise of Morgan Hill, owner of Mount Cabot
Maple.

Mount Cabot, the tallest mountain in the Pilot Range of the White Mountains, is the site of the organic sugarbush where Morgan and her team collect sap in the early spring and reduce the
sap in a traditional wood-fired boiler to produce a single source, unadulterated and exceptional maple syrup, maple cream and dry maple sugar.

In 2020, Morgan purchased MountCabot Maple from Biff Wyman, a longtime and famed sugarmaker, who reached the decision to sell the business after the 2016 and 2017 devastating Forest Tent Caterpillar infestation defoliated thousands of trees, resulting in a 62% decline in syrup production. Morgan was raised on this property and is a passionate steward of the land. She knows that in their lifetime she will not witness a full forest recovery, but is still committed to employing best practices and lots of hard work (much of it done on snowshoes) to achieve the best outcome.

We at the Littleton Food Co-op are happy to support Mount Cabot Maple and to offer these fine products to our customers. The Mount Cabot sugarbush has been in operation under one sugar maker or another since the 1860’s and we suggest that you visit the informative and engaging Mount Cabot Maple website to learn more about the history and geography of this special place in our world and the people behind this outstanding product.

more info: www.MtCabotMaple.com

From March 19-25 2023 we’re offering a Member Appreciation raffle! This one’s for all our Partial Members out there: come by the Co-op and upgrade to a Full Membership – that’s 4 shares total – or purchase a brand new Full Membership. As a thank you, we’ll give you a raffle ticket for a chance to win a fun gift basket of local goodies!

If you’re a partial Member with fewer than 4 shares, you’re probably aware that you’re missing out on the benefits of a Full Co-op Membership, like the ability to vote in our Board Elections. We encourage you to check how many shares you currently own, upgrade to a Full Membership, and claim a raffle ticket! We want to make sure everyone can vote in our upcoming Election, and this is a fun way to remind everyone to become Full voting Members and help our cooperative democracy happen.

Our grand prize is worth about $130, and includes all kinds of great local products. Here are some highlights:

Genuine Jamaican BBQ sauce, made right across the river in Barnet, Vermont. Check out John Heartson’s video, featuring Derrick, the Genuine Jamaican: “In Vermont”

Bee’s Wrap is made in Middlebury, Vermont. Infusing organic cotton with a blend of beeswax, plant oil and tree resin, she created a durable yet pliable beeswax food wrap that could be used again and again – helping people be like bees and do their part for the greater good of the planet.

Maple Medicine was created from a desire to establish a natural medicine chest to support holistic family wellness. Made in Montgomery, Vermont.

Badger is inspired to make healing products and run a healthy business where money is the fuel and not the goal, where fun is encouraged, and where they cultivate good through their actions and advocacy. Their facilities are in Gilsum, NH.

Janice Mercieri is a member here at the Co-op, helps run the Seed Library in our foyer, was NH’s 2021 Beekeeper of the year, fierce advocate for the environment and owns White Mountain Apiary in Whitefield, NH.

Bhoomi Devi Seeds are grown in Bethlehem NH at Shambho Farm, using homegrown fertilizer and a strict no-till bed management. This beautiful plant sanctuary is operated by Olivia O’Dwyer, Noah Dest, and Mother Nature (Bhoomi Devi). Noah works in the grocery department here at the  Co-op.

(And yes, Full Members can enter too! We won’t leave you out of the fun.)

The 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge is now in its 9th year, growing from humble numbers to over 7,000 organizations and individuals participating in 2022.

There are lots of challenges like this out there – just google it! So why is this one special, and why is your Co-op talking about it? The Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge comes from Food Solutions New England at UNH, so it’s a local thing. It focuses on food, food systems, agriculture, land access, and related topics, which are all near and dear to our cooperative hearts.

Plus the whole idea syncs up really well with Cooperative Principle #5, which encourages Co-ops to participate in Education, Training, & Information. This Challenge is just 21 days, making it a manageable way to educate yourself about what food goes into your body, and all the ways our food choices affect the world in which we live.

It also fits in with our DEI Statement, along with the four pillars of education, accountability, communications, and sustainability.

We all eat, right? The food cycle – including farms, processing, distribution, marketing, shopping, eating, and of course, waste – has a massive impact not just on ourselves and our health, but also on the environment and on our communities. It’s become clear, especially during the pandemic, that our food system requires an overhaul in order to be sustainable. This challenge is a wonderful way for each of us to learn the part we play in co-creating a thriving future, for ourselves and future generations.

So, what’s the challenge? It typically happens in April (but you can do the reading anytime!), so if you sign up with Food Solutions you’ll receive a daily email prompt with a short reading, video, or audio file. You can work at your own pace, and are encouraged to take about ten to fifteen minutes each day with the material in the prompt, plus extra resources will be provided in case you want to dig further into the day’s topic. You have the option to log into an online forum if you’d like to discuss the prompts in a supported and moderated environment. You’re also encouraged to share your experience on social media using the hashtag #FSNEEquityChallenge and have conversations with friends, co-workers, or other community members who may also be doing the Challenge.

Visit the Food Solutions website to learn more and register for this April:

www.foodsolutionsne.org/21-day-racial-equity-habit-building-challenge

 Join A Co-op Discussion Group

Becky, our Community Outreach Coordinator, will be doing the challenge along with some of our staff here at the Co-op! We’ve heard from a few people that they’d be interested in doing this together at some point in early summer, and we would love to have Members, employees, and even Board Directors get involved and get our own discussion group going this year.

If you’d like to join us in the cafe to chat about the Challenge once a week or so, feel free to drop your contact info below. Or just reach out to Becky: bcolpitts@littletoncoop.org.

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Count Me In!

Here are some fun photos from our most recent Community Meal, held in our cafe on December 5 2022 from 5-7pm.  It was so wonderful to see everyone’s smiling faces while we served up delicious baked ziti, garlic knots, salad, and cookies for dessert. We’re still working out the numbers, but we will post the total we raised for the Co-op Community Fund as soon as we know!

A big shout out to our Deli team for preparing such a marvelous dinner, our Board members who put their time into volunteering, and all the staff who put in extra hours to serve salad and cookies and help clean up. And of course our guests, for filling the cafe with community and good cheer!

We plan on hosting these meals every couple of months, so the next one will be in February. Make sure to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter so you are up to date on the next event.

📷 by Annie Stuart, Bob Goss, and Chris Whiton

On Sunday April 10 we learned that two employees from our store tested positive for Covid-19.  

Both employees last worked at the store on Thursday 4/7, during which time they were not symptomatic. One employee was masked continuously during their shifts. Both work primarily within the Grocery department, HBC, and Operations areas. They are currently both self-quarantining at home for the NH recommended 10 day period.

We are encouraging anyone with concerns to contact their healthcare professional and get tested when appropriate. We have identified all staff members who may have been in close contact with the affected employees, and we are supporting them as they self-monitor. 

As part of our daily Covid-19 screening practices we ask that any employee who exhibits symptoms to stay home, contact our HR department, and notify their healthcare provider. Our co-op has a generous sick leave and vacation policy, and we are working with staff members on a case-by-case basis to ensure they have the support they need. 

Our co-op prides itself on its cleanliness, social distancing, and safety standards, and we are taking multiple steps to best serve you, care for our staff, and be a responsible member of our community. 

• The Co-op is a mask-friendly store, and we encourage anyone with concerns to wear one!
• Our staff self-monitor for symptoms and do not come to work if they are sick.
• All employees are asked to maintain a 6 foot distance from customers and coworkers.
• We practice social distancing in our work areas and have installed reminders throughout the store.
• We have installed extra sanitizer stations for staff and customers throughout the store, and encourage good hygiene and frequent hand-washing. 
• We’ve installed plexiglas safety barriers at our registers, and marked off spaces on the floor to help everyone maintain a safe social distance.

If you have any further questions, please contact us at info@littletoncoop.org.