ABBIE ABBOTT A long time ago, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I worked for social justice by developing people’s awareness and skills in the interconnectedness of agriculture, nutrition, education, and community well-being. This has been a continuing vision, through over 40 years of teaching, administration, and consulting. I have a strong interest in locally-based, sustainable economic development. I would like to do what I can right here, which is why I am interested in serving on the Board to ensure the success of River Valley Market.
Currently I am a volunteer with Berkshire Children and Families, and Valley Voices Gospel Choir. I was a volunteer with Obama ’08. In previous communities I have done arts and crafts with inner-city children and senior citizens, tutoring, cooked healthy lunches in a school, Habitat for Humanity, and Heifer Project.
I was a member of a fledgling food co-op started by parents at my children’s school. With fellow craftswomen I started a craft guild and a cooperative shop for local craftspeople.
When I was on the board of a non-profit daycare center that was trying to become more visible in the community, two factions each felt strongly that their project would be more beneficial, but they objected to the other project, and there was an impasse. Using a version of “Force Field Analysis” to find out where the resistance was, I teased out that their common concern was overall cost. Two of us got them to use their enthusiasm to fundraise for their favorite project—sort of a contest. The outcome was generous donations of materials and labor as well as actual cash, and raising community awareness in the process!
As an educational administrator in a New York suburb, at the Harlem YMCA, and at an Upper East Side Manhattan private school, I have had a variety of experiences in planning and organizational evaluation, including multiple accreditation assessments.
I also have a background in art and graphic design, and with friends published “The Sweet Life Chocolate Engagement Calendar” for two years.
ED MALTBY (Incumbent) When we started meeting in restaurants, the library and the fire station at the start of this adventure in 1998, there were times when I questioned whether we could ever fulfill this bold quest for a community-owned store. Our search has mirrored life with peaks and troughs, changes for good and bad but an overwhelming strength from the support of the community. Its been my privilege to be part of this community effort which started just after I resigned as manager for the Smith Vocational and Agricultural School farm and continued through the five years spent establishing Bramble Hill Farm as a viable farm using sustainable and organic practices. I’m now working on a variety of projects to ensure a strong and economically sustainable agricultural community for the northeast that will provide a wide variety of products for our community-owned market. With the store now open and thriving, I believe my business and community experience will be a valuable asset to the Board as the co-op grows and consolidates our successes.
CLAIRE MORENON I am currently employed as a Program Coordinator for CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture), where I work on a variety of programs designed to strengthen local farms and our community by connecting the two. Before I began working for CISA in 2006, I spent many glorious seasons working on fruit and vegetable farms in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. I’m currently a member of the organizing committee for the Free Harvest Supper and Winter Fare in Greenfield, two great volunteer-coordinated events that celebrate local food at opposite ends of the year. I sit on the recently formed Farmers’ Market subcommittee of the Northampton Agricultural Commission, and I have also been involved in MassBike, the Massachusetts bicycling advocacy organization. I love growing, cooking, preserving, and eating food. I believe that developing a strong, sustainable, fair food system is one of the most vital and basic pursuits a community can undertake, and I see River Valley Market as an important piece of our Valley’s particular efforts to that end. I’m interested in serving on the Board of Directors because it’s important to me to be engaged in the work of sustaining our coop, and my hope is that my background in agricultural issues can bring a useful perspective to the Board.
My work at CISA has taught me a lot about how a wide variety of farms and related businesses function, and I look forward to learning more about the governance structure of River Valley Market. The issues facing CISA and the businesses we work with are complex and often cloudy, and I strive to make decisions and form opinions by always going back to the primary goals of the organization and to my own core principles. I believe that long-term strategic planning is important to keeping an organization or business on track, and have had experience with that process in my current position. I look forward to the opportunity to assist in keeping River Valley Market a central part of our community and our local food system.
MAX SAITO I am excited about this opportunity to participate in the Board election process. I live in Florence and teach Communication at Westfield State College, having completed my Ph.D. at UMass in 2007. In addition to home-schooling four children together with my wife Loran, I also serve on the Programming Committee of the Western Massachusetts American Friends Service Committee. I am also active on several parent committees of the Amherst Japanese Language School in South Hadley.
I would like to serve on the Board because I am interested in the work that the co-op does and I would like to contribute to its ongoing work to promote the local economy. I grew up in a small village in Japan and have helped my mother, a farmer, sell her products in a local farmers’ cooperative there. The cooperative has made a big difference to the farmers in the village, allowing them to create their own market and thereby continue their way of life. When I first moved to the U.S. I did not have much access to high quality, fresh food, but eating locally in the Pioneer Valley in recent years has helped me connect to the good foods that I grew up with in a self-sufficient and environmentally sustainable farming community.
When dealing with complex issues, I use the strategies of active listening and patience. I try to use a holistic approach and identify how everyone may be contributing both to the conflict and the resolution. I believe that conflict is not always negative, but may be serving a function in an organization.
I believe that the smallest individual actions are essential for promoting social justice and peace. I feel that I can contribute to positive social change simply through the way I shop and by being mindful of where my family’s food comes from, how it was grown, and how much energy was used in transporting it. I believe that deeper involvement with overseeing the good work of River Valley Market is a wonderful way to practice what I wish to see in the world.
