Workshop Series for Farmers and Food Producers

Hanover Co-op launches 10-session series aimed at helping farms and food producers

As part of its broader effort to support food production in New England, the Hanover Co-op has launched a low-cost series of workshops aimed at farmers and food producers. Sessions are scheduled for each Friday in March and include presentations by experts in food safety, production and delivery, financing, direct sales, and more. Each workshop is priced at $5, with all proceeds going to local 4-H Clubs. Online registration is now open.

 

Hanover Co-op director of public relations Allan Reetz said this series has been in planning for more than a year. "Following a May 2017 Co-op panel discussion of local food we began looking for more ways to share knowledge."

For Reetz, who works on food advocacy issues, his connections with experts and farmers got the process moving quickly. "We have received enthusiastic support for this series from every instructor we asked. These experts are well respected in the New England food economy and ready to share their best tips with newcomers and experienced farmers and food producers alike."

Attendees can jump start their understanding of food safety regulations and learn where problems lurk. Hear about ways to improve your hiring practices and get control of "wage and hour" issues. Connect with agriculture field representatives from Vermont and New Hampshire departments of agriculture. Make a production kitchen safer and paperwork easier to tackle. Talk to distributors about what's involved with having them drive goods to market. Know what Hanover Co-op buyers are looking for when considering new products. Get the most out of vending at farmers markets this summer. There is all this and more.

The primary goals is to take daunting tasks and turn them into doable plans.

All morning sessions run 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Afternoon sessions run from 12:30 to 2:00 (afternoon session on 3/29 runs 12:30 – 3:30).

 

 

Allan Reetz

Hanover Co-op Food Stores

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About Hanover Co-op Food Stores

The Hanover Co-op Food Stores—also known as the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society—is owned by more than 24,000 members. The Co-op seeks to build a well-nourished community cultivated through cooperation. From its founding in 1936 by 17 Dartmouth College professors and their spouses, the Hanover Co-op is now one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the United States. In recent years, this business has served more than 5,000 customers a day. For more than 85 years, this cooperative has stood by its founding commitment to buying locally produced food and goods. From locations in New Hampshire and Vermont, this consumer-owned business generates sales of $85 million annually from three grocery stores, a community market, and two auto service centers.

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