[Dragondog]

Live in Connecticut here- abut 40 miles from Lyme CT- inland-

I have never had a problem with Lyme disease here- and I wear Teva's doing my gardening. Over the years I have heard one personal event of Lyme disease- a friend who lived in Groton CT-on the shore near Lyme- his dog contacted the disease. Common sense prevails in New England regarding LD.

Other denizens are skunks, coons, foxes, bears, coyote (at least in southern New England) Mosquitoes (that can carry diseases).

Snakes in CT are the shy timber rattler and copperhead- not common in Vermont.

[nhyrnut]

Jason you a writer your good lol I find Vt way to liberal to live there sence Dean and you make me want to move back LMAO

[chaz longue]

Originally Posted by nhyrnut

I don't really know how a food co-op works but it is pretty much a grocery store like Safe-way or QFC we just have diffrent chains here. same concept difrent name. food co-ops probobly work like a sams except not in bulk but again I DON'T KNOW its a vermont thing

Food cooperatives are not unique to VT. You'll find them throughout the country. They don't in any way whatsoever "work like sams". Sam's Club is owned by Walmart. Food co-ops are owned by the members of the food coop.

Imagine you like Cheddar cheese. Your neighbors do too. You get together and buy a lot of it to save money. When the cheese comes, you simply get together in somebodies living room and put in your money and take your cheese. That's how it worked when I was a kid, when we first joined a food coop.

But the concept took off and now our local food coop resembles a small supermarket. As always, dues paying members get the best price (there's overhead now that there's a light bill and a mortgage) but members of the public are very much welcome and also get good deals.

Members actually help run the co-op. If they want the co-op to carry less wonder bread and more local artisanal breads, the co-op carries less wonder bread and more artisanal bakery products...

As you can imagine, there's typically a focus on locally grown and produced products, and there's a completely different collection of products for that reason.

Unlike a Sam's club, or a supermarket, most of the goods carried by a co-op
are made by smaller domestic companies, many of them truly local, and there's somewhat less that's made in China.

Now here's a recent twist: The City of Burlington had a piece of commercial property right downtown to develop. There was a lengthy discussion here about whether a Shaws supermarket should be able to lease the space, or whether the Onion River Food Co-Op should get to have it. This being "The People's Republic Of Burlington" ;-) ...The co-op got the property and now the only large supermarket sized (although quite small by current standards) food store in Downtown Burlington is a food co-op.

I buy a lot of staple foods at the huge supermarkets half a mile South of town, a great deal of stuff at Costco, and I enjoy walking to The Co-op for produce, baked goods, coffee, etc. On Saturdays I go to the marvelous Farmers Market in City Hall Park.


Jason - Wonderful post!

tfn,
db

[Saphyre]

That's awesome! So, if you're a member, you get to help decide what is carried in the co-op, right? That is a wonderful concept

Ok - now I have to ask...are there a lot of co-ops in VT? Is it common in most towns? Is there one in the Montpelier area?

[chaz longue]

Right. Co-op members get to help decide what's carried. One way to say this is to say that Members are both owners and "customers", so they get twice as much say as mere consumers.

Yes there's a co-op in Montpelier, but I know less about other towns.

[Dragondog]

Lots of Californians interested in New England-so it seems.

All 6 states seem to be attracting former golden state people. Here in the eastern suburbs of Hartford I see CA plates daily.

Do consider eastern Connecticut Saphyre also called the 'quiet corner'- looks like rural Vermont- with small towns, rolling hills and forests, farms- but much milder in the winter, and close to the ocean. 30 miles to Hartford and Providence, 70 minutes to Boston, 2.5 hours to NYC -and NO freeways.

Housing costs? A new home 1800 square feet on 1 acre of land 288K.
An New upscale colonial on 1 acre $325K.

We have wineries here, great historic homes, B & B's and close to golden beaches in CT and RI- SLOW pace, laid back, low crime and traffic-high quality of life-

If considering wanting out of California- consider Connecticut- you may love it!

[vter]

The co-op in Montpelier is called Hunger Mountain Co-op. Google it and see if they have a website. There is also a smaller one in the area called Adamant Co-op. Most larger VT towns have them - Burlington, Middlebury, St. Johnsbury, & Brattleboro to name a few.

[Saphyre]

Originally Posted by CelticLion

Lots of Californians interested in New England-so it seems.

All 6 states seem to be attracting former golden state people. Here in the eastern suburbs of Hartford I see CA plates daily.

Do consider eastern Connecticut Saphyre also called the 'quiet corner'- looks like rural Vermont- with small towns, rolling hills and forests, farms- but much milder in the winter, and close to the ocean. 30 miles to Hartford and Providence, 70 minutes to Boston, 2.5 hours to NYC -and NO freeways.

Housing costs? A new home 1800 square feet on 1 acre of land 288K.
An New upscale colonial on 1 acre $325K.

We have wineries here, great historic homes, B & B's and close to golden beaches in CT and RI- SLOW pace, laid back, low crime and traffic-high quality of life-

If considering wanting out of California- consider Connecticut- you may love it!

That's actually 2nd on my list of top three. Northern Dutchess County in NY being my third.

[Jason_Els]

Northern Dutchess County in NY being my third.

Why the interest in north Dutchess?

[Saphyre]

I've got a friend in Red Hook and a cousin in Rhinebeck. So if I did decide on there, I would at least know someone However, knowing absolutely nobody is not a deterrent for me either. I make friends pretty easily!