Monadnock Food Co-op Growers Meeting Recap

Thank you to all who joined Monadnock Food Co-ops Growers Meeting in early February. Here’s a recap from the Produce Department in case you missed it:

We celebrated and shared gratitude for the Co-op’s continued growth in local sales — thanking all for making this possible. We shared our Co-op’s End Statement, highlighting how “local” is built right into our core purpose, and reviewed our definition of local, signage for local items, and logistics of ordering and deliveries.

Lightbulbs went off when our Kitchen Supervisor expressed interest in adding even more local produce to our menus, including sweet potatoes. One grower present mentioned that they specialized in sweet potatoes — an excellent direct connection!

We reviewed our Healthy Food For All and Double Up Bucks programs, emphasizing the importance of fresh, local produce — especially for people participating in these programs. We also highlighted how our Co-op is proud to support local farms directly through the Monadnock Food Co-op Farm Fund Grants.

During an open discussion period, we recognized that brief, clear, updated guidelines on selling and delivering to the Produce Department would be helpful for some, and we made a goal to generate these and communicate them to our suppliers. There was also discussion around the possibilities of more items available earlier and later in the year, depending on farm infrastructure and climate variables. The Co-op would like to support local food year-round whenever possible.

Finally, the group noted that there is no ‘magic bullet’ for what a farmer can grow or produce that will always be in demand or that the Co-op will always buy large quantities of. There was agreement that every season there are multiple factors like what the growers enjoy producing, the timing of plantings, how the weather affects harvests, and how saturated the market is for any particular item. We reminded growers that as part of our buying guidelines, we strive to be fair in our support and purchases across the region, in addition to looking for great quality, flavor, and value.

Meat Department One-One-One Meetings Recap

This year, our Meat Department is committed to increasing the amount of local meat we sell at our Co-op. We look to source meat as locally as possible, bringing attention to the great farms in our area.

We continue our relationship with Mark at Archway Farm, bringing in sides of heritage breed pigs raised here, in Keene, weekly.

Milton, at Five Sigma Farm in Sullivan, pasture-raises grass-fed lambs which we bring in monthly. As a result, we have a gap in local lamb supply that we look forward to filling. We have a new relationship coming in with Suzanne at Unity Farm in Charlestown. Her lambs, available weekly, will allow us to offer a consistent local option.

After a long relationship with Tensen Farm in Lyme, NH, they have decided to stop raising beef. Unity Meadows will start supplying our store with grass-fed beef — which will be a great replacement for Tensen.

We’re working to build relationships with other local beef farms and see a future where we bring in beef from different farms throughout the year to give more local choices at our Co-op.

Chickens are available year-round from Misty Knoll Farm in New Haven, VT.

We want our Co-op shoppers to be able to shop for their meats and choose a local option at all times. Also, we want to make local choices more visible.  We will continue to work with our local suppliers, inviting them into the store during events and on weekends to offer samples of their meats and connect with our shoppers directly.

If you are a local meat producer interested in selling to our Co-op, please reach out directly to [email protected].