Featuring a multimedia presentation and a pop-up art show, Philip Ackerman-Leist will share the dramatic and evolving story of a how a band of unlikely activists in a small town in the Italian Alps came together to protect themselves and their local farming economy from an influx of pesticides—and then became the first town in the world to vote to for a pesticide-free future. What lessons about building sustainable, local food systems can consumer-owners of a co-operative grocery store glean from one small town that suddenly found itself in the international spotlight as a beacon for hope?  Find out at our  annual meeting on Thursday, November 1 from 5pm to 8pm, at Montpelier City Hall Arts Center. 

Philip Ackerman-Leist is a professor of Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont (USA), where he established the college’s organic farm and undergraduate and graduate programs in sustainable agriculture and food systems.  His newest book is A Precautionary Tale: How One Small Town Banned Pesticides, Preserved its Food Heritage, and Inspired a Movement, and is available through Chelsea Green here. He and his family raise American Milking Devon cattle on their off-grid farm. 

Attending the Annual Meeting is free. You can do so by calling (802) 262-3242, signing up in the exit way of Hunger Mountain Co-op, or by clicking here. If you register before Monday, October 29, you will receive a $5-off store coupon. If you need childcare, there is limited childcare available on site, provided by the Co-op. Please indicate that you would like to use that option when you register.