2007 annual membership meeting recap
- Slide show
- Speech of David Lively (PDF), featured speaker from the annual meeting
- Free CD with videos. Please contact Janice Parker at or 206-547-1222 if you’d like to get a free CD with videos of the state of the co-op reports and video clips from David Lively’s speech.
- 2007 annual meeting recipes
Approximately 275 members attended the 2007 annual membership meeting on May 1, held for the first time at Town Hall in downtown Seattle. "We're just overwhelmed by the members' response to the meeting," noted board chair Bob Cross.
"While this meeting space is larger than we've had in previous years, once again we had to limit the reservations. So, we'll be looking into larger venues for next year."
The evening began with a delicious meal prepared by the PCC Fremont deli led by Leon Bloom. The meal featured seasonal and local fare and was designed especially for the meeting by staff nutrition educator Rita Condon and Bloom.
Condon, who is also PCC's Human Resources Coordinator, spoke to the members about the menu choices, highlighting the shiitake mushroom frittata featuring fresh eggs from Growing Things Farm (one of the Farmland Trust's Ames Creek farms) and the fresh-picked spring salad from Full Circle Farm. Millet, with lemon and scallions, was the whole grain for the meal and Condon encouraged the members to try it as a substitute for rice.
"We look at our meeting dinners as 'teachable moments.' We always talk about the nutritional strength of the menu touting the importance of whole grains, fiber and good protein, as well as the ease with which it could be prepared at home. We also try to stress the benefits of eating seasonally, locally and organically," notes Condon.
Each table was hosted by a board member or management team member who greeted members and facilitated dinner conversations. "The dinner tables at our membership meetings have become mini-forums where member feedback and questions are encouraged," notes board member Linnea Noreen. All topics are welcome, but the board always provides a few questions to stimulate discussions.
This year, the questions related to our featured speaker's topic:
How important is it to you that your organic products are locally and regionally sourced?
Would you be more willing to buy a local, conventional product than an organic, non-local product?
Are you willing to go without certain products if local or regional choices are not available?
Following a brief business session that featured state-of-the-co-op reports from the board and management, the board candidates were introduced to the membership and each gave short presentations. A question and answer session followed.
Our featured speaker was David Lively, marketing director of Organically Grown Company, one of PCC's longtime vendor partners and the largest distributor of organic produce in the Northwest. David delivered an informative and inspiring address on the complexity of the question of buying local or organic.
His speech was followed by a spirited question and answer session. For those who weren't able to make the meeting, it's quite fortunate that David has agreed to share the text of his speech on our Web site. He is also authoring the June cover story in our Sound Consumer.
Please e-mail or call Janice Parker at 206-547-1222 if you’d like to get a free CD with videos of the state of the co-op reports and video clips from David Lively’s speech.
2007 annual meeting recipes
The 2007 annual meeting dinner menu was designed especially for our members by Rita Condon, one of our staff nutrition educators, and Leon Bloom, a member of our Fremont deli staff.
Rita is a Bastyr-trained nutritionist who takes special pleasure in planning the meals for our member meetings, looking at each meeting as a "teachable moment." Rita talks about the value of eating seasonally and locally and gives members a chance to try dishes or ingredients with which they may not be familiar.
We've had requests for the recipes and are happy to share some of them with you, each with a note from Rita.
- Shiitake Mushroom Frittata
- Pasta and Kale Salad
- Millet with Lemon and Scallions
- Roasted Asparagus
- Lemon Mousse
Please e-mail should you have any questions about the recipes.