By Becky Colpitts, Community Outreach

Do you know what’s fun about leaving the Co-op? Going through the exit! Our exit foyer has a community board with events, classes, information, and more. It’s a great place to find something new to do, learn about volunteer opportunities, meet new people, or discover a class that sparks your interest. The board is always changing and is the perfect spot to find out what’s happening in the area.

But that’s not all – we also host a Free Little Library. The Co-op provides a bookcase and space; everyone is welcome to add books or take books as needed. Please remember that a free little library isn’t a place to dump boxes full of books, however; the library belongs to the community, not just the co-op, so we ask for everyone’s cooperation in keeping things tidy.  If the shelves are full, please bring back your books another day. The good news is that the books get taken quickly so there’s always more room the next day!

Are you a gardener? Then you should check out the free seed library too! Want to try a new kind of veggie in your garden? Don’t want to plant 100 zucchinis? Here’s your solution – bring your extra seeds to the seed exchange and take a few new kinds home with you. Again, we provide the space, Barb Radmore and Janice Mercieri take care of the rest, and we’re so grateful for all they do. Check out North Country Seed Library on Facebook to learn more about the kinds of seeds you may find and how to share your own.

Before you leave, also be sure to check out the community shelves next to the little library. You’ll find free local publications, pamphlets from area organizations, and business cards here. It’s a great spot to pick up information about local businesses or read a little bit of local news.

If you want to post something on our community board, please come inside and check with our Service Desk. They do a great job keeping the bulletin board and all the shelves nice and tidy! We’re happy to help you find the right place to post your flyer.

Thanks for visiting the co-op! We hope you enjoy all the awesome community information on your way out!

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: bc*******@***********op.org.