I am coming fresh from a taping of an Up North TV program* with host Dave Barrons, and drawing together the threads of connection between issues, thinking of what I should have said - as one is apt to do at the end of very good conversations. Dave has hosted over 40 shows focusing on personal and community resilience in the face of future shifts in our culture as our world matures into its next phase of development. He was asking how local economy ties into resilience. Resilient here meaning being able to withstand many fold increases in energy costs, or going without things that come from very far away due to transportation costs, or even how to stay warm and fed when energy and food are a bit harder to come by.
What I wished I'd talked about was one proposal from Zach Liggett of Goldeneye Asset Management to invest pooled money of several investors into a project he has called Real Impact, transforming a neglected piece of farmland into a productive organic market garden/farm. This would provide a precious opportunity to young enthusiastic farmers ready to dive into just such a challenge. Here is just one example of how a main goal of As Local As Possible - invest locally - ties back into being just a little better able to fed ourselves with healthful non-genetically modified food. Ties back into job creation, and nurturing or enabling the next generation of farmers. Ties back into community resilience, by fostering a sense of belonging to a place when you know where your food comes from, who grew it, and what was on the land prior to this happening, etc. etc. The ties ins are everywhere.
*http://ir.nrec.org/node
No comments:
Post a Comment