Archive for the ‘Board of Directors’ Category

To Sell or Not to Sell Meat?

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Hi All – as some of you may know based on Alice’s article in the last Newsletter we on the Board are considering the idea of creating a meat buyers club that would work in the same way that the sale of local Thanksgiving turkeys is already done.  It would mean that those members who do eat meat would be able to order ethically and locally raised meat that would come to the co-op frozen to be  pick up.  The reason we have decided to readdress this issue is that many members have written in the member book that they would like the option of buying meat in ways that does not support the inhumane, unethical and environmentally destructive the practices of factory farm system.  Alice has reported that she has already received quite a few responses, most of them positive, from members who are interested in the option.  We have over 5000 members and given the population trends most are no doubt meat eaters.  As a Board member I think we need to support all of our member’s food choices and to do so while up holding our co-operative principles- as in our commitment to local, sustainable and ethical food production.  I am including below a few links of interest.  One is for a list of all the chemicals in factory farm meat that shows all the problems with super market meat.  The other link is for a book that I have recently come across that I think raises some interesting issues in the on-going debate as to whether or not to eat (sell) meat or not in relation to all the complex issues involved..

We are interested in your views as members so please post here and let us know your thoughts or you can also call Alice directly.  We are hoping to post a few times a month on topics of interest to create a lively blog spot, so check back and social network with us!

Thanks for your thoughts…

Phoebe Godfrey (board president)

Links:

Downloadable PDF: FSIS  DIRECTIVE -SAFE AND SUITABLE INGREDIENTS USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS

Book: Vegetarian Myth Food Justice Sustainability

Posted in Board of Directors, Index, Meat Buying, News | 83 Comments »

April 22nd, Earth Day Events!

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

To honor this years Earth Day (which of course is everyday!), please share things you are doing, events you know of, ideas / thoughts you have etc.  I will be involved with the UConn Food film fest at which we will be showing Food, Inc @ 5pm at the student Union.  If you have not seen it it yet I strongly urge all to go see it as it affirms all of the worst aspects of the Food Industry and makes one even more happy to be able to shop at the co-op.  We have posted the info. for the fest on our calender but I will post it here as well.

Thanks,  phoebe

STORRS, CT — The University of Connecticut will celebrate Earth Day with a series of films on sustainable agriculture on Thursday, April 22 at its main campus in Storrs and at its regional Avery Point campus in Groton.  The films will be shown in the Student Union Theater, starting at 10 a.m. and run through 7 p.m.  The Avery Point campus will show the films in room 103 of the Marine Sciences building starting at 4 p.m. and ending at 7 p.m.  Both film series are free and open to the public.
The Earth Day Film Fest is sponsored by the University Libraries, with support from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), UConn’s Department of Dining Services, retired veteran CANR writer Alexander Gavitt, and the Storrs and Avery Point EcoHusky student organizations, and Real Slow Food.
Scheduled to speak is Rick Hermanot, who is the owner and operator of Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm in Sterling, CT, which is the largest producer of free-range turkeys in the state. 
If you’ve ever wondered if free range and organically grown are viable farming strategies, come see: “Fresh,” “Fridays on the Farm,” “Good Food,” or “The Real Dirt on Farmer John.”
UConn’s regional Avery Point campus in Groton will show three films examining sustainable marine practices, including “Farming the Seas,” “River of Renewal,” and the questions which can arise when you try to eat locally in “Eating Alaska.”
For a complete time schedule and detailed information about the films, please visit: http://www.lib.uconn.edu/about/news/film_festival.html.

Posted in Board of Directors, Community, Events, News | No Comments »

What is next for the Coop? What else should we be doing?

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

-Kevin Donohue

I have been on the Coop Board for going on three years and have served you badly.  As a Board member I’m supposed to be working on the goals and objectives of the members. But I have no real clue what members want other than the members who happen to be my friends.  The Willimantic Food Coop has between 5000 and 6000 members.  That is a lot of people who as far as I can see have three things in common.  By and large they are smart, they are committed and they are pretty much unknown to me (and most of the Board.) So for this reason we have started this blog in the hope of exposing the intelligence and commitment of members both to the Board but much more important to each other.

The Willimantic Food Coop is a little miracle.  It is by far the most successful and long-lived institution of its kind in the region.  Through the worst recession in years we have grown and have been profitable year of year for going on 30 years now.  The Coop is a wonderful store with products which you can’t find anywhere around here.  The staff knows a ton about food and nutrition and the management is dedicated and very competent.  But the Coop is more than the store.
The Coop is first and foremost the membership.  Most of us think of the Coop as a store owned by a membership.  But I think we are a really a membership that owns a store.  This membership is a community and constituency which reaches well beyond the walls of the store.  I know of a little of this reach.  For example, just in the past few months we have a Coop group which is starting a cooperative kitchen, we as a community have raised money and food for the Soup Kitchen, as a targeted economic force we as a group support a growing array of local farmers and food producers.  And maybe most important we are a community supporting each other in many personal ways.

So this blog and the other collaboration tools which we want to put here are in support of our membership’s interaction.  What are you thinking, what are you worried about, what is next for the Coop, what else should we be doing?  We would love to hear from you.
-Kevin Donohue

Posted in Board of Directors | No Comments »

See what our Board of Directors is working on

Monday, October 5th, 2009

Our Board meets monthly.  We will be posting minutes, initiatives and more.

Posted in Board of Directors | 3 Comments »