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In this edition:
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Food Co-op Impact
For this International Year of Co-operatives, the Neighboring Food Co-op Association worked with interns from the Department of Economics at UMass Amherst to take a look at the wider impact of food co-ops across the Northeast.
The United Nations declaration of 2025 as the International Year of Co-operatives recognizes the contribution of co-ops to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as “Responsible Production and Consumption.” By mapping their impact across the Northeast, we can also communicate the wider impact of food co-ops and their role in strengthening food security, addressing climate change, building a more inclusive economy and society.
As part of the Certificate in Applied Economic Research on Cooperative Enterprises with the Department of Economics at UMass Amherst, Gabi Urbanowicz and Nuo Chen helped collect basic data from NFCA members and food co-ops across the Northeast. In addition to administering a survey, they reached out directly to food co-op leaders and conducted online research to fill in gaps in information.
Finding all the food co-ops in the region was not an easy task, much less compiling basic economic data, but the results were very exciting. Our research found that there are about 60 Food Co-ops across New England and New York State, locally owned by more than 290,000 members. Further, these community-based businesses generated estimated revenue of $628 million last year and employed about 3,000 people.
Because they are owned by people like you who shop and work there, food co-ops are rooted in their communities, and by working together, the NFCA is increasing food security, providing purpose-led jobs, and strengthening the local economy. In addition to focusing healthy food, sustainable agriculture, and fair trade, our member co-ops reported that on average 30% of their sales were from local suppliers.
“This data helps improve the visibility of NFCA members, communicating not only the scale of food co-op impact, but also highlighting the quantifiable aspects of co-ops’ dedication to the community,” said Gabi, who is studying economics and business. “Throughout my internship experience, I was able to see firsthand the major impacts NFCA member co-ops have on our local community.”
To learn more about the collective impact of food co-ops across the Northeast, including state by state statistics, please visit https://nfca.coop/members.
Supporting Small Co-ops
Small food co-ops make a big difference in our communities, and together the Neighboring Food Co-op Association is working to ensure that they not only survive but thrive.
Across the Northeast, small food co-ops have an impact far beyond their size, strengthening their communities, supporting local producers, and providing good local jobs. They also face unique challenges to their success, including larger competitors, limited rural infrastructure, and access to support.
Over the years, the NFCA has partnered with organizations such the Cooperative Development Foundation to better understand the needs of smaller food co-ops and provide appropriate assistance. We’ve also worked to leverage the skills and experience of semi-retired leaders to support opportunities for ongoing peer networking, learning, and collaboration.
For example, Sue Miller, former General Manager at Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction, VT, has been working with the NFCA to support online peer networking, as well technical assistance for our smaller member co-ops including Leverett Village Co-op (MA) and Plainfield Food Co-op (VT). Recently, she also provided facilitation for a board retreat for Quabbin Harvest Co-op in Orange, MA (see photo).
“Over the years we’ve found it very difficult to find facilitators and consultants who ‘get’ our market area and our small size,” said Cathy Stanton, a longtime leader at the co-op. “It was such a relief not to have to explain everything from the ground up, while still being pushed to clarify some basic things. This meeting leaves us in a much stronger collective position as we move into the rest of the year and beyond.”
Having the opportunity to continue to work with food co-ops is also rewarding for Sue. “I’m so grateful to be able to continue to share my years of experience as a general manager,” she says. “The challenges that many of our smaller co-ops face sometimes feel monumental. I enjoy the opportunity to mentor, brainstorm, listen, hold a hand, suggest, encourage… It is tremendously gratifying work!”
Please see our online calendar for upcoming peer dialogs and other events, and for more information on the NFCA’s work with small food co-ops, please visit our website.
International Year of Co-ops Spotlight
As we celebrate the second International Year of Co-ops in 2025, we’re highlighting stories of how communities have used the co-operative business model to meet their needs and build a better world, together. This month, we’re featuring our friends at Deep Root Organic Co-op.
Deep Root Organic Co-op
Based in Johnson, VT, Deep Root Organic Co-op has been a leader in organic vegetable production, growing and marketing their fresh, organic produce long before buying local became a national trend.
Now, with demand for fresh, healthy produce on the rise, this co-operative is connecting more consumers with family farmers in the Northeast region.
“Deep Root was founded in 1985 by a handful of farmers in Vermont and Massachusetts,” says Kara Brown, Sales Manager. “Looking to access markets beyond their respective local areas, these growers united under one name with the common goal of providing fresh organic produce to customers throughout New England.”
What began as a small group of farmers has since evolved into a co-op over twenty members across Vermont and the eastern townships of Québec, supplying markets across the East Coast. Deep Root distributes between 100,000 – 120,000 cases of organic produce annually, ranging from spinach to green beans during the late spring and summer months to their well-known root crops such as carrots, parsnips, and beets in the winter months. The co-op’s commitment to providing fresh organic produce ensures consumers have access to high-quality, locally grown produce throughout the year.
“Our organizational resilience comes from our diversity of farms and their geographic locations,” says Brown. “Some members ship year-round, and others ship certain crops at certain times of the year.” This flexibility allows the co-op to adapt to market and producer needs while maintaining a stable and reliable supply of produce.
Deep Root’s decades of experience also make a strong case for co-operative enterprise as a successful and resilient business model for regional food systems. Being organized as a co-op means that members can focus on their farms, using their collective resources and infrastructure to market their products as a group. It also ensures that Deep Root remains farmer-owned and regionally focused, prioritizing the needs of its members. The co-operative structure fosters long-term sustainability and strengthens local economies by keeping control within the farming community.
The United Nations declaration of 2025: The International Year of Co-operatives recognizes the contribution of co-ops to strengthening food security, addressing climate change, and building a more inclusive economy and society. By working together, farmer co-ops and food co-ops are Building a Better World.
For more information, visit https://www.deeprootorganic.coop. Special thanks to Gabi Urbanowicz, the NFCA’s intern from the UMass Department of Economics, for her contributions to this article.
New Gm at North Country
North Country Food Co-op Welcomes Natalie Casey-Sanger as New General Manager.
The North Country Food Co-op’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the hiring of Natalie Casey-Sanger as the co-op’s next General Manager.
Born and raised in West Chazy, Natalie joined the Co-op as a cashier and quickly established herself as a hard worker and a team player. The Co-op has faced many changes in the past year, and Natalie has been working to bolster our strengths and develop greater capacity to serve the North Country.
“Having celebrated fifty years of serving the North Country in 2024, the question on all of our minds is ‘what do the next fifty years of the Co-op look like?” said Natelie at their Annual Meeting last month. “In my view, the Co-op is special because of its focus on doing what’s best for our community. We live in strange times, and many folks are feeling uncertain about the future. But I feel that as long as we can continue to prioritize understanding and accommodating each other and working better together, there is a bright future ahead.”
Located in downtown Plattsburg, the co-op was founded in 1974 and focuses on local and organic products, has an extensive bulk department, and has become a vital community gathering spot.
Please join us in welcoming Natalie Casey-Sanger to the Neighboring Food Co-ops community. For more information on North Country Food Co-op, visit their website.
Co-ops in the News
Hunger Mountain Co-op Neighbors Helping Neighbors Campaign raises almost $20K for Vermont Foodbank
The Bridge
Maine food co-ops wrestle with high prices, see increasing customer demand
News Center Maine
Preparing Students for a Brighter Future Through Music
The Co-op Spirit
Rep. McGovern rallies food co-ops around “moment for solidarity” during keynote at Neighboring Food Co-op Association
Co-op Weekly, NCBA
Food Co-op in Vermont Moves Forward with CO2Project Despite Freezing of Grant Money
Natural Refrigerants News & Market
Has your co-op been in the news recently? Send your item to info@nfca.coop.
May Cave-to-Co-op Special
This month’s special Cave to Co-op local cheese is Bleu de Champlain from Champlain Valley Creamery, Middlebury, VT.
With a graduate degree in Food Science and a background in wine making, Carleton Yoder moved to Vermont in the late 1990s to make hard apple cider. He took a year’s detour making farmstead Vermont cheddar at Shelburne Farms and then decided to venture into cheesemaking on his own.
After a number of years in an old mill in Vergennes, where he carried countless full milk cans up countless flights of stairs, he finds himself in Middlebury making cheese. He still uses his traditional recipe but now with the aid of technology to move the milk cans around the creamery.
Champlain Valley‘s Bleu de Champlain is crafted from the raw whole milk of Severy Farm, in neighboring Cornwall, VT and Charleton hand ladles the delicate curds into each mold. After draining they’re wrapped and sent to cheese counters and cases around New England and aged 75- 90 days before release for sale. During this time the cheese is pierced twice to enhance blue mold growth, while a natural rind develops on the surface. The rich Jersey milk makes for a creamy, spicy finished cheese!
Bleu de Champlain Scones
- 4 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 T sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
- 1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter butter, chilled, cut into pieces. Plus more, room temp for serving
- 1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, washed, skin on, sliced 1⁄4 inch thick
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 Cup grated Chin Clip cheese
- 1⁄2 medium onion, peeled, cut in half, then sliced thin
- 1 T fresh rosemary, minced
- Pinch of nutmeg
- salt & pepper
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- Whisk baking powder, sugar, salt, and 3 cups flour in a large bowl. Add 1⁄2 cup chilled butter and toss to coat.
- Using your fingers, work butter into flour until pieces are pea-size with a few larger pieces remaining. Add Bleu de Chamlain and pecans and toss to coat. Drizzle in 1 1⁄2 cups cream and mix with a wooden spoon until dough just begins to come together with a few bits of dry flour remaining.
- Transfer dough and any loose flour to a lightly floured work surface and briefly knead to bring everything together. Flatten dough to 3⁄4″ thick (the shape doesn’t matter). Using a bench scraper to help lift the dough, fold in half and rotate 90°. Flatten it again to 3⁄4″ thick, fold in half, and rotate again. Repeat this process 2 more times for a total of 4 folds, lightly dusting surface with more flour as needed; this will create lots of flaky layers when the scones are baked.
- Flatten dough to a 3⁄4″-thick rectangle, about 9×6″, and halve lengthwise. Cut into thirds crosswise to form six 3″ squares; halve each on a diagonal (you should have 12 triangles). Transfer scones to a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze 10 minutes.
- Brush scones with cream and sprinkle with pepper. Bake, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until tops are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 16–18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Serve with jam and room- temperature butter.
Each month our Cave to Co-op partnership between Provisions International and the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) offers a delicious regional cheese featured at a great price.
New England Farmers Union
The National Farmers Union Foundation’s Local Food Safety Collaborative (LFSC) is an FDA-funded initiative to provide training, education, and technical assistance to local food producers. Its core mission is to build fundamental knowledge of food safety and support compliance with Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations.
Agriculture organizations and academic institutions across the country work together to leverage their expertise and address the food safety needs of small-scale, diversified, sustainable, organic, and identity-preserved growers and processors, building food safety knowledge and supporting FSMA compliance.
Sourcing products from local farms is a priority for our food co-ops and last year an average of 30% of NFCA co-ops’ sales were from local suppliers. Supporting our regional economy builds resilience in our communities and in our food production infrastructure.
Food safety is a critical component of good farm management and food co-ops interested in encouraging their farmer suppliers to learn more can share these resources with them. One of the best ways to learn about the FSMA and Produce Safety Rule (PSR) is to attend a Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Training. The curriculum covers the PSR requirements as well as Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for on-farm food safety.
The PSA Grower Training Course is also one way to satisfy the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in § 112.22(c) that requires ‘At least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration.’
For a full listing of remote trainings and future in-person trainings, see Cornell CAL Produce Safety Alliance listings here. Other resources for food safety and grower information are available at the Food Safety Clearinghouse.
You can make a difference: Join the Farmers Union! Share this story in your food co-op’s social media and e-news. As an affiliate member of the New England Farmers Union, the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) invites our member food co-ops and your individual members to sign up at a special discount — and to encourage your producer partners to sign up as well. For more information, please visit www.newenglandfarmersunion.org.
The National Farmers Union envisions a world in which farm families and their communities are respected, valued, and enjoy economic prosperity and social justice. The Neighboring Food Co-op Association is an affiliate member of the New England Farmers Union chapter – and invites farmers, food co-ops, and consumers to join us! For more information, please visit www.newenglandfarmersunion.org
Rooted in the Principle of Co-operation among Co-operatives — that the best way to meet our needs and goals is by working together — our peer dialogs for Member Co-ops support shared success.
For more information on upcoming online peer dialogs — including sessions for Small Food Co-ops and Food Co-op Boards in May — please visit our calendar at https://nfca.coop/calendar or e-mail info@nfca.coop.
