Your co-op, August 2009

This article was originally published in August 2009

Talk to the Board

Board members look forward to meeting you during monthly visits to our stores. Visit us at the Healthy Living Fair on Saturday and Sunday, August 22 and 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Edmonds PCC.

Election prizes awarded

PCC store manager

View Ridge store director Scott McCormick receives the movie and sports tickets that staff members will enjoy.

Each year, the PCC store tallying the most ballots in the election receives a congratulatory prize. This year the winner was View Ridge.

Nominating committee searches for new candidates

Over the next two months, the nominating committee will recruit and screen qualified candidates for the next board election in spring 2010. Three positions are open for election each year, and each trustee serves a three-year term. Trustees receive an annual stipend.

Should you have any questions about the trustee position or wish to receive an application packet, contact Janice Parker at 206-547-1222 or
nominatingcommittee@pccmarkets.com
Applications will be accepted until mid-October.

Board report

The 2008-2009 trustees met for their final session on June 30. The committee and task force chairs presented year-end reports. Don DeSantis and Julie Tempest ended their board terms. DeSantis completed nine years on the board. Tempest served two terms. Each received a gift on behalf of the membership to thank them for their service.

Kelly Horton submitted her resignation to the board (see “Dear Members” below) and also received a gift of appreciation. As required by PCC bylaws, the nominating committee met to consider a replacement recommendation. In its report, the committee said “Given that there are two new trustees and two with only one year of experience, we’re recommending previous trustee Bob Cross to fill the one-year term left by Kelly Horton.”

In its last official act, the 2008-2009 board voted unanimously to select Cross to fill Horton’s seat. Cross has served nine years on the board, ending his last term in 2008.

The 2009-2010 board officially was seated with newly elected trustees Stacey Donahue and Maggie Lucas. Stephen Tan was re-elected to serve as chair.

Board members elected fellow trustee, Buzz Hofford, to serve on the 2009-2010 nominating committee. Hofford joins the committee that was elected by the membership this spring — Diana Crane, Janet Hietter, Don Nordness, Rick Riehle and Mary Simon.

Dear Members,

Kelly Horton, resigning board member

I’ve resigned my position on the board effective June 30. It has been a pleasure to serve with our dedicated board members, CEO and management team, and all of PCC’s wonderful staff members/leaders.

It is bittersweet to depart the PCC board one year earlier than expected. However, with President Obama’s appointment of Kathleen Merrigan as deputy undersecretary of agriculture and a new focus on developing local food system policies at the federal level, I feel compelled to be part of this movement when I believe we are gaining traction on so many of the issues near and dear to our community. I am relocating to D.C. to work on food policy and sustainable agriculture issues.

Thankfully this early departure will not negate the possibility of running for the board again when I return to Seattle! In the meantime, you may look forward to occasional reports from me on food policy developments in the nation’s capitol.

In solidarity,
Kelly Horton

Next board meeting

The next scheduled board meeting is Tuesday, September 29 at 5 p.m. at the co-op office. Member comments will be heard at 7 p.m.

Also in this issue

Food safety at home

Here’s a fact that may surprise you: 60 percent of the cases of foodborne illness originate in home kitchens! Fast food hamburgers contaminated with e-coli and peanut butter tainted with salmonella get the most press, but some of the most harmful bacteria fester at home.

Choosing farms to save: the basics of good soil and water

Quite often, the PCC Farmland Trust is asked about the criteria for projects. Are we interested in saving large or small farms? Do we have regions of priority? Are we interested in working on the east side or the west side of the mountains? To all of these, we answer yes.