Your co-op, December 2010

2010 Fall Member Meeting

Tom Monahan and Karen Gaudette were hosts of a fun game show that talked about the tenets of fair trade.

More than 400 PCC members met at St. Demetrios Hall on October 27 to celebrate Fair Trade Month.
The team that prepared our seasonal, local meal was led by Blake Caldwell and Birgitte Antonsen. Banquet manager Jill Edwards supervised the meal service team. We featured Thundering Hooves grass-fed beef pot roast and a vegetarian lentil shepherd’s pie. For the menu and recipes, and comments on ingredient sourcing and nutrition from [former] Nutrition Educator Leika Suzumura, visit the fall meeting page on our website.

In keeping with the theme of the evening, PCC Board of Trustees Chair Julianne Lamsek spoke about the history of the fair trade movement and how the principles of fair trade are consistent with PCC member values. See our website for the entire text of her speech.

PCC Farmland Trust executive director Rebecca Sadinsky reported to the membership on a new farmland donation on Whidbey Island.

Rebecca Sadinsky, new executive director of PCC Farmland Trust, updated our members on trust activities, including news of a first-ever donation of an organic easement on a Whidbey Island farm to the trust. Anyone who farms that land from now on must use organic practices. The trust typically has to purchase such easements to preserve the farmland.

CEO Tracy Wolpert introduced two new video features on our website. “Quick Bites” videos offer tips on selecting and preparing produce favorites and “Meet Our Producers” videos give you a chance to visit some of the farms and manufacturers who supply our stores and hear their stories. Follow the video link from our home page for these and other videos, including “how-to” cooking segments.

Chief financial officer Randy Lee, who was honored for celebrating his 40th anniversary with PCC.

Wolpert also recognized the 40 years of service to PCC by Chief Financial Officer, Randy Lee. Lee started working for PCC in 1970 as an assistant store manager and since 1979 has managed and directed PCC’s financial affairs. Lee officially was named chief financial officer in 1998. Since 2000, Lee has worked closely with CEO Wolpert in PCC’s leadership and growth.

The evening ended with a game show called “That’s Fair Trade.” You’ve told us over the past several years that you’d like to learn more about fair trade and why we should choose fairly traded products. The game show theme was a fun way to give our members more information on this topic. It featured a panel of three local fair-trade vendors and three PCC merchandisers.

Vendors Darryl Miller of Fidalgo Bay Coffee, Nathan Palmer-Royston of Theo Chocolate, and Olowo-n’djo Tchala of Alaffia Sustainable Skin Care, told us about their operations and why they’re committed wholeheartedly to fair trade. Merchandisers P.J. Cawley, Roxanne Green and Stephanie Steiner explained how PCC makes some of its product decisions.

Thanks to the creative talents of staff members Diana Crane, Tom Monahan, Karen Gaudette, Rachel Welker, Rachel Cowgill and the good sportsmanship of our game show panelists, we laughed while we learned.

At the end of the evening, we sent our guests home with a little bag of fairly traded goodies thanks to Alaffia, Fidalgo Bay, Theo, Lärabar and Wholesome Sweeteners.

The board thanks everyone who contributed to the success of this wonderful evening!