From the editor
by Rosemary Fifield

Welcome to the first issue of our redesigned Co-op News!

We’ve made several changes in format and content that we hope you will like, and we’ve changed from bimonthly to monthly publication in an effort to keep the News dynamic, informative, and up-to-date.

Inside, you’ll continue to find articles from your favorite contributors:

Mary Choate, Paula Gray, and Elizabeth Ferry writing on nutrition, food preparation, agricultural issues, and environmental topics. General Manager Terry Appleby and Board President Steve Maker will keep you abreast of the Co-op at work. We’ve added employee and producer spotlights to bring you the human side of the Co-op, and a community calendar for quick reference to local health-oriented lectures, classes, support groups, and human services. "New Product News" and the "Forum" page highlight consumer information.

The new News will be available at all four Co-op locations on the first of every month, so keep an eye out for each new issue at the registers and in the food store entrances. Our plan is to mail the News only to those of you who request it. So, if you prefer to receive the new Co-op News in the mail, be sure to fill out an address verification and request form available at our Service Desks in either food store.

Member Communication a Priority
Communicating regularly with its members has been a priority for the Co-op since its inception in 1936. From the beginning, volunteers edited, mimeographed, and delivered — by bicycle — two informational bulletins per week to all members. One dealt with the history and principles of cooperative societies, the other gave information about good buys from various sources of supply.

For the next thirty years, the single-sided mimeographed sheet was a weekly publication. A copy of "This Week at the Co-op" dated July 26, 1955 includes information on Co-op tires and batteries; a special on Co-op Brand Wheat Shreds, Dry Skim Milk, and Molasses; a recipe for Wheat Shreds Bread; an article on "Constructive Citizenship," and the names of three new members.

By 1965, the bulletin had become an eight-page printed monthly known as the "Co-op News." It sported the international cooperative symbol – the twin pines – and came complete with the occasional photograph. Much of its content centered on the cooperative movement and philosophy, credit unions, board minutes, committee activities, and consumer advocacy. As our current cover suggests, the Co-op News underwent several more permutations over the years.

The October, 1971 issue introduced the familiar open-armed Co-op symbol (often referred to affectionately as the "hockey sticks"), replacing the twin pines as the Hanover Co-op’s logo. "From the Suggestion Box" — the forerunner to today’s "Forum" page — first appeared in 1971.

In October, 1980, the first Co-op News was published on tabloid-size newsprint, a format that was to continue for the next 21 years. With its expanded space, all manner of consumer and co-op-oriented topics could be covered, including recipes, nutrition information, current events, safety issues, food-related legislation, vendor profiles, environmental concerns, and more. Spot color was introduced in 1985, and the eight-page publication averaged seven issues per year. Over the next fifteen years, it expanded to twenty tabloid pages, published five or six times a year, with articles written primarily by Education Department staff, including our registered dietitian, food programs coordinator, and member and community outreach coordinator.

Today’s magazine-style format is an effort to make the News more visually appealing, easy to pick up, and convenient to read. We hope you’ll take the time to browse through it and then let us know what you think.

Updated weekly: