Welcome to our July/August newsletter. We now have over 725 paid members! Thanks to everyone who has joined so far and helped us spread our co-op’s mission in our community.

We Need You!

If you’re not yet a co-op member, join over 700 members by investing in the Charles River Food Co-op. Lifetime memberships are $200, and cover the entire household, available at:

https://charlesriverfood.coop/join

Help us create a wonderful food store to benefit yourself and the community. You can also help us spread the word by forwarding this email, printing and posting a flier on a local community bulletin board, or sharing our posts on social media.

And remember that current members are welcome and encouraged to join our board meetings, every other Monday night from 8-9pm on Zoom. See how we work and learn about ways you can help. You can find our schedule and joining information for board and committee meetings on our Board Calendar.

Member Spotlight

This month our spotlight is on Waltham resident Martha Creedon (Member #142).

**How do you spend your time?**
I am a retired academic systems librarian. I currently volunteer at the Waltham Farmers’ Market, Watch City Bike Lab, Waltham Land Trust, and Waltham Fields Community Farm, plus I’m on the Waltham Public Library Board of Trustees.

**What do you do for fun?**
I have a home garden with flowers, garlic, asparagus, raspberries, apples, and herbs. I also love cooking and preserving my CSA harvest from Waltham Fields Community Farm, plus reading, watching the Red Sox, and taking a daily walk.

Why did you decide to become a member of the Charles River Food Co-op?
I’m in favor of local ownership and control over local food and would like to know more people in the area who are concerned about these issues.

What is your favorite fruit or vegetable and how do you prepare it?
How can I possibly decide between even a fruit or a vegetable? This is a tough one! I’ll go with asparagus, roasted with a little olive oil and garlic, or raw if fresh-picked from the garden. But if I can also slip a fruit in here: peaches so fresh you need to stand over the kitchen sink to eat them.

How do you think access to food can be improved?
There are many good things happening in the complex world of food access, though what used to be “emergency food access” has unfortunately evolved and expanded to try to meet the most basic needs of many more people on a daily basis. COVID, of course, only made it worse, at the same time exposing much of the inequality that people live with their entire lives. I believe that nothing really significant will change until we collectively face the obscene social and economic inequality that we live in today.

Message from the Board

We have recently launched (or relaunched) two of our committees: the finance committee and the marketing committee. If you are interested in joining either committee, or dropping in on our board meetings, you can find all of our meetings and joining information in our new calendar: https://charlesriverfood.coop/calendar.

Community News

July’s Floods Devastated Vermont and Western Massachusetts Farms

The heavy rains destroyed many crops at farms in Vermont and in the Connecticut River valley in western Massachusetts. Vermont’s agriculture department says about 200 Vermont farmers have reported more than 9,400 acres in crop damage.The state of Massachusetts estimates 1,000 acres of farmland in western Massachusetts have been impacted, according to Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Ashley Randle. She said it's possible the flooding caused more than $10 million in damage and crop loss. The effect of the weather could extend into next year. Croplands could be unfit for planting if flood waters have mixed with sewage, chemicals or other pollutants. Farmers may be required to wait for those contaminants to dissipate before replanting. To help with recovery, please consider donating to NOFA-VT’s Farmer Emergency Fund (Farmer Emergency Fund | NOFA Vermont (nofavt.org)

City Approves Lease for Waltham’s Community Farm

On June 26, the City of Waltham approved Waltham Fields Community Farm’s RFP application for 240 Beaver Street. The farm’s website says that the WFCF Site Committee has spent hours studying the proposed lease, and that their legal council is reviewing the terms. They encourage everyone to read the lease, and to familiarize themselves with all that is being required of WFCF. Once signed, it will bring significant challenges and changes to their operations. It will not, however, change their purpose or their determination. The farm, which has been operating since before the turn of the century, has grown tons of produce for food relief agencies, as well as for their CSA shareholders, and provides a number of educational programs.

Beer News: A possible new co-op forming!

Not local, but there was an outpouring of sadness after the news that Anchor Brewing is closing after 127 years in business, but since then there’s been a movement among potential investors to rescue San Francisco’s legendary steam beer makers.

As of Wednesday, July 19, another group of potential investors is making themselves known: the workers of Anchor Brewing. A letter sent to Anchor Brewing owner Sapporo USA indicates the company’s employees would like to “launch an effort to purchase the brewery and run it as a worker co-op,” Vinepair reports.

International Day of Co-operatives

On July 1, co-ops and their members around the world celebrated the International Day of Co-operatives, united by the slogan, “Cooperatives for Sustainable Development.” This international day of education was coordinated by the United Nations as part of their Sustainable Development Goals. You can read more about the event and its history on the UN website. There is also some interesting information about cooperative organizations, such as the earliest record of a co-op being in Scotland in 1761!

Co-op Principles: Members’ Economic Participation

We wanted to highlight why our co-op is different from other organizations, and we'll be doing a monthly segment on each co-op principle for the rest of the year!

Members have control over the finances of the co-op, including allocating funds to various uses such as hiring staff and setting aside reserves. In years where the co-op makes a profit, the excess money is distributed to members. Decisions about financial matters are voted on by the board, who represent the members, and/or co-op members directly.

For more information about the 7 co-op principles, check out the International Cooperative Alliance website.

As always - thank you so much to all of you for your support and please spread the word by forwarding this email to a few friends.

In co-operation,

Melissa, Tim, Nick, Jen, Lew, Thomas, Benny, Lissa, Christina (and thanks to new newsletter contributors, Scott and Kathy!)

P.S. If you missed any of our previous newsletters, you can find them on our website.

Join the co-op movement!