Posted By Sally Pollak on Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 3:54 PM

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Luke Awtry

Healthy Living CEO Eli Lesser-Goldsmith

The town of Shelburne and Healthy Living Market & Café  could form a public-private partnership to determine if a parcel of land on U.S. 7 is suitable for development.  If given initial approval by Shelburne voters on Town Meeting Day in March, the proposed project would mean the development of a Healthy Living grocery store and a new fire and rescue department on adjacent sites at  U.S. Rte. 7 and Longmeadow Drive.

The first ballot initiative will ask Shelburne voters to approve a $50,000 expenditure — $25,000 from the ambulance fund and $25,000 from taxes — that would be used for “soft development," including permitting fees and site suitability studies, according to Jerry Storey, chair of the Shelburne Selectboard.

Healthy Living would spend the same amount on so-called soft development, said CEO Eli Lesser-Goldsmith, as a first phase of the development.

Tags: Healthy Living Market & Café , Shelburne , development , Chittenden County , Town Meeting Day , Image , Web Only

Posted By Sally Pollak on Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 4:13 PM

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Hill Farmstead Brewery

The team at Hill Farmstead, founder Shaun Hill standing fourth from left

Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro was named the best brewery in the world for the fifth straight year by RateBeer,  which announced its annual ratings on Tuesday. The brewery on a dirt road in the Northeast Kingdom beat out more than 34,000 breweries  to win the 2018 title,  according to RateBeer.

"At this point, it's kind of like we really hope we get No. 1," said Phil Young, who works in production and retail at Hill Farmstead.  "If you're at the top, there's nowhere to go but down, so you want to stay there."

Tags: Hill Farmstead Brewery , RateBeer , world champion , Vermont craft beer , Northeast Kingdom , Shaun Hill , Image , Web Only

Posted By Melissa Pasanen on Mon, Jan 21, 2019 at 6:07 PM

File: James Buck

Enid Wonnacott

Enid Wonnacott, longtime executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont and a deeply committed advocate for organic farming and the agricultural community at large, died Saturday morning at her home in Huntington surrounded by family and close friends.

Wonnacott, who was 57, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. In early October of last year, she stepped down from the position she had held for more than 31 years due to progression of the cancer. News of her death was confirmed by Kim Mercer of NOFA-VT, who said plans to honor Wonnacott are still being determined.

Tags: organic farming , NOFA-VT , agriculture , farmers , Vermont , locavore , Image , Web Only

Posted By Sally Pollak on Fri, Jan 18, 2019 at 11:37 AM

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Courtesy of Nutty Steph's

Chocolate vulvas

"It’s a Vulvalution!” announced Jaquelyn Fernandez Rieke, founder of Nutty Steph’s, a chocolatier in Middlesex.

She was talking about Nutty Steph's  effort to raise $100,000 for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England through the sale of chocolate vulvas. For every $5 chocolate vulva Nutty Steph sells, the business will donate $1 to PPNNE.

“I never poured so much into a project, ever,” Fernandez Rieke told Seven Days.

Tags: Nutty Steph's , Planned Parenthood of Northern New England , vulvas , chocolates , Women's March , Image , Web Only

Posted By Sally Pollak on Thu, Jan 17, 2019 at 5:50 PM

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File Photo

Groennfell Meadery Tasting Room

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday about a Colchester business, Groennfell Meadery, whose effort to move to St. Albans and expand production is on hold due to the federal government shutdown. The meadery is waiting for three government agencies to reopen in order to proceed with its plan, said Ricky Klein, who owns Groennfell with his wife, Kelly.

Klein, 33, of  Swanton, noted that some people faced greater challenges owing to the shutdown, which was 27 days old Thursday.

“I have a regular customer who’s been going to work as an air traffic controller for three weeks without getting paid,” Klein said. “My sister is a data criminologist in Philadelphia, and she is dealing with families who aren’t sure they’re going to be able to eat next week. And here I am: I’d like to move, and this is not our fault, but the three agencies we need to be able to move are closed.”

Tags: Groennfell Meadery , Vermont , craft beverages , U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy , federal government , shutdown , Image , Web Only