Local, Regional, Global - A Vision Unfolds

Many of us are deeply concerned about the use of unrenewable resources in our lives. I would like to post a few of my thoughts on how this appears to me.

The world and its resources were meant to be shared, used and appreciated. Humans were not supposed to live in a state of no input where we are scared that if we use anything around us it will no longer be available. Neither were we supposed to live in a state of disconnection where we kill everything that wants to share our food and our shelter(then call them pests), use objects as ways to fill up emotional and spiritual holes within ourselves, and treat other human beings inhumanely to keep prices low and profits high. We don't even have to work really hard to stop these trends. They will be eventually stopped by the laws of nature.

How do these things apply to New Earth Organic Food Coop?
The desired goal of many of us in the coop is to buy a large percentage of our goods on a local level, get some of our goods from other countries in the region, and then get a bit on a global level. This is not the case at present. But here is my vision.

I expect that within a few years that 65% of the produce that we sell will be sourced on a local level. We will have been able to mobilize coop members and small farmers to provide a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, Seeds, tubers, herbs and medicinal plants. Some of the members will be growing for their living and others will be growing as a hobby or for personal use with a little excess. There will be surprises and new items available on a regular basis. In addition, some of this produce will be dried, frozen, preserved and pickled for use at a later time.

25% of the produce will come from regional production. We will use cooler climates - like the Blue Mountains of Jamaica - to produce things that are hard to produce in our local climate - berries, asparagus, etc. We will also use regional production to (1)provide products that we do not source easily on a local level (currently carrots) and (2) keep supplies going in times of crisis - Hurricanes, earthquakes, civil unrest.

10% of our produce will come from around the world. It is more efficient to bring goods to us than to go to the goods. We will use this access to bring in some of our favourite foods that we cannot source locally, natural medicinal products that are useful to have, raw materials that would help us produce some of our processed foods, and to deliver to our bodies nutrients that are not highly available in our local produce.

Shifting to the 65% level means that a certain amount of processing of foods will have to begin to happen locally. We will need to open small plants to get dried goods, preserves, etc. There is a long way to go in this are.

Getting more regional products in the shop - there is less than 1% available at present, means changing some of the import restrictions to loosen up on regional products to match the laws that apply to global products. This process has already been started. The Caribbean islands are separated by water but we are part of one geography and it would make sense to rely on each other as much for our food as we do for our genetics, our music and our education. One Caribbean here we come!

One of my passions is for St. Francis of Assisi. What trust it took for him to reject what was in his hand and to take the risk to reach for a lifestyle that was unknown, had no guarantees, and was in line with his desires. What a man!