Something is Happening Here
added 02/23/09
General Manager’s Report
by Terry Appleby
Co-op General Manager
On December 12th, during the snow and ice storm that knocked out power to most of New Hampshire and dropped tons of snow on Vermont, several intrepid cooperators gathered in Hardwick, Vermont, to attend a strategy development session for the Neighboring Food Cooperative Association (NFCA). We chose to meet in Hardwick to get a flavor of some of the initiatives happening there aimed at building the local economy and, especially, the agricultural economy. Buffalo Mountain Food Co-op, a longstanding fixture of a downtown Hardwick community that is strongly local, agricultural, and organic, hosted our meeting.
Hardwick has a high density of organic farmers and a vibrant agricultural economy, and we were excited to go there to learn about the factors that enabled it to thrive. At the center of this mini-revolution of sustainable development is a small group of agricultural entrepreneurs and an organization called The Center for an Agricultural Economy. The Center and its members are passionate about their work and are working hard to create best practices that will continue to strengthen the sustainable agriculture infrastructure of the area. Our meeting time in Hardwick allowed members of our group to meet with local leaders to hear about their successes and challenges, and for us to begin to strategize around how our food co-ops could fit into a vision of a dynamic regional economy. One way is through the connections with like-minded organizations like The Center for an Agricultural Economy.
The press has devoted a significant amount of ink lately to Hardwick and its local economy. The New York Times ran a story quoting the town manager as saying new enterprises based on the agricultural production of the area had been responsible for creating 75 to 100 new jobs in the area (in a town of about 3,000). The article spotlighted collaborative efforts among farmers, food processors, socially conscious investors, and others to create a unique and cooperative local economy that is helping to build “a strong sense of community and connections to the working landscape,” according to one of the participants.
Food co-ops in the region have, over many years, developed relationships with local growers and producers and are in a good position to further enhance and grow them even further. The work of the Neighboring Food Cooperative Association is now focused on building stronger bonds with like-minded organizations to help create a wider regional economy that reproduces the kind of work going on in Hardwick. Right now we are at the beginning of our work, and at this early stage we’ve been most involved in creating scenarios for the future. With that work done, we have a clearer picture of decisions we will have to make as the future unfolds. One thing I think we all understand from that scenario work is that we have to make the right decisions along the way to be in a position to have the kind of future we’d like to see evolve.
Where does this lead us? Back to where we started, with co-ops like Buffalo Mountain representing the community hub of a local food system. The co-ops in our region are poised to play a leadership role in bringing people together in service of a sustainable community. Come learn more about this exciting new idea in cooperative collaboration at the Co-op’s Annual Meeting, where representatives of the Neighbor Food Co-op Association will tell how we are trying to write the story of our regional community moving together into the future.
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