Member Worker Profile:
Anna Dawson & Carolyn Maroney

by Deborah Trupin

Anna Dawson and Carolyn Maroney, two of the five HWFC members elected to the Board of Directors in April, are serving their first terms. So it seemed appropriate to profile them for the Scoop.

Both Carolyn and Anna are relatively new members of the Co-op, and both were inspired to join the Board because of HWFC’s Mission Statement. Both are enthusiastic about their new positions.

A member of Honest Weight for about two years, this has been Carolyn’s first co-op experience. She did a wide variety of member worker jobs including bagging, food sampling, supply ordering, sign making, membership processing and web projects. Then Carolyn reread our Mission Statement, and realized: “That I could buy into, that I could support this. Especially ‘an atmosphere of cooperation and respect for humanity and the earth.’” She also recalled that every one of our Statements of Conscience “struck a chord in my soul.” Thus her decision was made to run for the Board.

Carolyn also spoke about all of the people she has met at the Co-op. She said each person has taught her something new or reminded her of what she thinks is important. At the store, one of her favorite sections is Health and Body Aids. She loves looking through the books, and has bought several for herself and for friends. She’s also a fan of Burt’s Bees products and Kiss My Face Peaceful Patchouli Body Soap.

Right now, Carolyn sees her role on the Board as a learning one. She is grateful to fellow Board members who have made her “feel welcomed and comfortable since day one.” Like many members, Carolyn thinks the major challenge facing the Coop now is finding more space.

In her “day job,” Carolyn does professional development for on-line curricula at Empire State College. She is also a board member of Confetti Stage, a local non-profit theater group (www.confettistage.com), and recently appeared in The Twilight of the Golds at the Arts Center in Troy. She lives in Clifton Park with two dogs, a cat and her husband. Anna Dawson is a retired Ichabod Crane School home economics teacher who joined Honest Weight last July, primarily because of her interest in promoting local foods, farming and production. She worked on various projects as a member of the Nutrition and Education committee before running for the Board, and will continue to work with that committee as a Board liaison.

Like Carolyn, Anna spoke about how the close fit between her values and our Mission Statement was an important part of her decision to run for the Board. She wants to use her time on the Board to help bring to the Co-op the perspectives of rural farmers and small-to-mid-scale food processors. Anna plans to arrange for interns from Russell Sage College’s nutrition program to work with Honest Weight, and dreams of helping to design a kitchen for education programs at a new Co-op location.

Anna said our values system is one of her favorite things about the Co-op. She noted how friendly we are, and how shop- pers at Honest Weight are more congenial and helpful than at other stores. She views this as the Mission Statement in action. Anna’s passion for local food production and processing is reflected in what she sees as the biggest challenge to Honest Weight — sourcing local food and getting enough of it into the Co-op, especially if or when we expand. She also sees this as an opportunity to make Honest Weight more central to different parts of the community as a source for healthy, locally grown and processed foods.

Outside of Honest Weight, Anna is devoted to developing her business, Our Hometown Foods (www.ourhometownfoods.com). She’s developed recipes and “meal kits” using frozen and vacuum-packaged local farm foods, and seeking a distribution system. Anna lives in the town of Stuyvesant on the farm where she grew up.

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