by Rose Paul, Board President

As I write this, the village store is scheduled to close in five days. I love the fact that members have posted for folks to shop up a storm on the last day, and some musicians will be playing on the stone wall to honor and celebrate what was.

It is a passing and a beginning. We cherished our funky little out-of-the-way store with friendly staff where everyone knew everyone else. But we all shopped there less and less. Plenty of visitors remarked how quaint our store was, but quaint, funky, and out-of-the-way did not translate to a healthy business as the years went by.

I was surprised when I joined the board to learn that the Co-op is not a non-profit. Nope, we pay state and federal income taxes. And we are a business. We have a mission and global ends (see https://plainfieldcoop.com/mission/) to do good for our community, but we can’t do good unless we have the flexibility of enough cash flow to support programs like the Community Center and the FreeCycle that foster a sense of community—one of our global ends. 

Looking ahead, there is much to be optimistic about. Our new General Manager, Jeannine DeWald, is skilled and capable and is part of our community. Our Route 2 location will attract new shoppers who never stopped in at the village store—meeting another of our global ends: to foster awareness about the quality and source of our food. Selling hardware helps to diversify our customer base. Seasonal goods like Christmas trees and the spring greenhouse are income boosters. 

And the throughline is you, our Co-op membership. This is a great time to pay your member equity share and add some money to your gift card. Please stop in at the Route 2 store, and shop there as much as you can. The first year at a new location can be a precarious time with transition costs taking away from revenues. Check out the new, fully stocked produce coolers. Try something at the deli and ask if you don’t see it—there are vegetarian and gluten free options for breakfast and lunch and the supply will follow the demand, so speak up and ask for it!

The Co-op board will be scheduling information sessions to discuss the future of the village building. A membership vote is needed before the building can be sold. Please attend and participate. Your voice, your Co-op!

—————

To understand the roots of the co-op movement and how much the demand for healthy whole foods slowly changed the mainstream food industry, check out a fascinating book, Going Up the Country by Yvonne Daley (University Press of New England, 2018) available at all our local libraries. She traces the counterculture movement in Vermont through interviews, news articles and photos, and Plainfield is prominently featured. It helps to understand the pressures that a small food co-op like ours faces today versus the popular demand of 25 and more years ago.

Helping Hands Needed for our Building Committee

If you have builder’s skills, the Co-op could use your help. We have several maintenance and repair needs, some immediate and some of which will, of course, continue routinely into the future. We’re looking for interested people who are excited about having a more proactive committee focused on identifying issues and future planning.

If you can spare a bit of time to help along the move and the ongoing health of the new store, please get in touch with Jan Waterman, jmwinvt@hotmail.com or Jeannine at gm@plainfieldcoop.com

Thank you.
Onward.
And hats off to our marvelous Co-op community!

Board Members

• Rose Paul, President
• Anne Van Couvering, Vice President
• John Cleary, Treasurer
• Claire Dumas
• Jan Waterman
• Andy Robinson

Contact: board@plainfieldcoop.com

More information at: https://plainfieldcoop.com/board-of-directors/

---