October is National Co-op Month, and in celebration, our Featured Vendor is Cabot Cooperative Creamery. Cabot Creamery is a farmer-owned, B-Corp certified cooperative that makes cheese and dairy products with love, pride, and purpose. Forming in 1919 when 94 families from Cabot, Vermont, came together to create a home for their milk, market their cheese and dairy products, keep their land open, and give back to their communities. Today, the milk used to make Cabot Creamery dairy and cheese products comes from their farmer-owners, who are all located in New England and New York.

Cabot Cooperative Creamery believes farms and their food are vital to our communities, culture, and landscape. By using the freshest milk from their family farms, crafting our products with both tradition and innovation and giving back 100% of profits to their members, Cabot Cooperative makes award-winning cheese and dairy products that are as good as good get. Check out their recent awards.

Cabot cheddars are naturally aged, contain zero grams of lactose per serving, and are a great source of protein. Committed to quality, cheese graders grade each batch of Cabot cheese to ensure top-quality products. They recommend bringing Cabot cheeses to room temperature before serving them on your charcuterie board. Check out their list of tips for preparing, serving and pairing Cabot cheeses.

Also, look for other cooperatives Hunger Mountain Co-op carries by checking out the Co-op Month signs around the store.

Read the 2024 Co-op Month proclamation endorsed by Gov. Phil Scott

WHEREAS, the first national “Co-op Month” was celebrated in 1964 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has since been celebrated every October in the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, co-operatives and credit unions are businesses that are locally owned by everyday people who join together to achieve shared goals, solve a challenge, or meet a community need, together; and

WHEREAS, co-operatives are recognized in the laws and statutes of the State of Vermont as member or user-owned, user governed, and user benefiting businesses, with the use of the term “co-operative” limited to enterprises operating in this manner; and

WHEREAS, co-operatives enable giving people work together to meet a wide variety of needs, goals and aspirations including healthy food, employment, farm products, financial services (credit unions), electric, telephone and cable services, and health care, housing, and insurance; and

WHEREAS, in the United States, there are about 65,000 co-operatives, and one out of every three people is a member of a at least one co-op or credit union. Around the world, there are about 3 million co-operatives, and about 12% of the human population are members of a co-op. About 10% of the world’s population, or around 280 million people, are employed by co-ops, and

WHEREAS, co-operatives play a major role in the regional economy of the State of Vermont; and

WHEREAS, the co-operative philosophy of working together for the common good has promoted community well-being and improved the quality of life for the citizens of the State of Vermont; and

WHEREAS, the United Nations has declared 2025 to be the Second International Year of Co-operatives, celebrating how “Co-operatives Build a Better World” and highlighting the contribution of the co-ops to sustainable development, economic inclusion, and resilient communities; and

WHEREAS, the Neighboring Food Co-op Association has endorsed the Co-op Month 2024 theme established by the National Co-operative Business Association / CLUSA International, “The Future is Co-operative,” emphasizing the manner in which co-operative enterprises are building a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable economy that works for everyone.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Philip B. Scott, Governor, hereby proclaim the month of October,
2024 as

CO-OP MONTH
in Vermont.