Archive - Oct 2007
October 4th
October 4, 2007
By MEGAN JAMES
MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury College junior Yan Oak has spent the past few weeks struggling to communicate with friends in his hometown of Rangoon, Burma. The military-run government, which refers to the country as Myanmar, had cut off phone lines and severed Internet connections in response to recent protests sparked by a 100-percent increase in fuel prices.
But Yan managed to get through, and has been able to keep a close eye on the action as his friends join thousands of protestors and monks in the largest demonstration against the country’s military junta since a popular uprising in 1988.
In an effort to do something here in Vermont, half way around the world, Yan and fellow Burmese student Htar Htar Yu organized a series of events this week, including a panel discussion about the current state of Burma. The students have spent each day in the lobby of the college library answering questions about their home country and giving away red t-shirts that say, “Free Burma,” to spread awareness.
October 1st
CHRIS GRANSTROM LEADS a wagon ride through his New Haven vineyard last Thursday after a presentation by USDA Rural Development. Four Vermont agricultural businesses, including Granstrom’s Lincoln Peak Vineyard, received grants from the USDA to expand production of value-added food products.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
October 1, 2007
By CYRUS LEVESQUE
NEW HAVEN — Chris and Michaela Granstrom have grown grapes at Lincoln Peak Vineyard in New Haven for about five years and sold them to a winery to turn into a retail product. But thanks to a $116,550 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant bestowed last week, the Granstroms are expanding the winery they built last year and will be producing and selling wine of their own.
Chris Granstrom said that a $22,250 planning grant awarded last year revealed that producing their own wine will probably be much more profitable than selling grapes wholesale, so the choice was an easy one.
“It seemed like a great time to jump in,” he said.
October 1, 2007
By JOHN FLOWERS
MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury may soon become home to not only the world’s largest coffeehouse company — Starbucks — but also to the globe’s biggest office retail chain, Staples Inc.
October 1, 2007
By MEGAN JAMES
ADDISON COUNTY — As the second annual Localvore Challenge came to a close late last week, many area farmers are saying they’ve seen an increase in local sales. Some believe the Addison County Relocalization Network’s challenge, which signed up area residents to commit to eating only foods grown within a 100-mile radius of their homes during the month of September, was a driving factor in their success.
Ben Gleason, who runs Gleason Grains in Bridport, said September’s numbers spoke for themselves. He estimated he sold about 7,500 pounds of flour and wheat berries during the month, compared with the 4,500 pounds he usually sells. He also harvested 700 pounds of black beans, a crop he has never grown before, and sold them all in two weeks.
“It kind of began right at the beginning of September and it still hasn’t ended,” he said of the hot streak.
