This week we were chatting with Kourtnii Brown, one of the founders and directors of the California Alliance for Community Composting . We talked about a law approved in the State of California in the United States, which invites us to make the planet a better place, and above all to do it, from our home. This Law seeks that 75% of the organic waste produced in the houses and premises of cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco or San Diego, be converted into the compost that will be used by farmers in the state of California for food production . Some have called this new product, ie home and commercial composting, the “ Brown Gold ”.
Composting is produced with organic waste from homes and commercial premises such as peels and seeds of fruits, vegetables , bananas, food waste, fallen leaves from trees or mown grass in gardens; Kourtnii tells us with total conviction: “Speaking of organic waste, if it was ever alive, it will be again.” These organic products are separated from the rest of the garbage, deposited in special containers and kept under certain temperatures and conditions, so that they do not produce bad odors or mosquitoes and so that the result is a useful compost for growing food .
This Law came into effect in 2022 and is revolutionary in every sense of the word. First of all, and it is obvious, it has the advantage of changing the use of synthetic chemical products for organic products to feed the soils destined for food production. Organic waste provides natural nutrients and contains the necessary microbes for the fertilization and regeneration of soils . In addition, as is known, organic waste from homes and commercial premises is responsible for 50% of the methane gas in the atmosphere, which is a greenhouse gas . Giving them a sustainable treatment alleviates the health of the environment.
But the novelty of the Law is also in its social aspects. Its community spirit makes it different. They proposed that the solution to the problem of waste and soil depletion should not be of an industrial nature, as has happened in many countries, where a large company disposes, uses and markets organic waste. Kourtnii tells us, “With industrial strategies, waste is often placed near low-income communities, and truck congestion can make environmental problems like air quality worse . It can also worsen social justice problems. For example, when they export their “waste” to another community instead of using it for some benefit of their own”. With the California Law the intention is that they be thelocal community organizations that manage and direct the places necessary for the logistics of the program and benefit from the economic resources obtained. The communities represented by their organizations, such as the Alliance in which Kourtnii participates, are the ones who decide how the compost is collected, stored and transported. They also carry out intense virtual and face-to-face educational work so that people in their homes, institutions, or in commercial premises can contribute to the success of the initiative.
The law is ambitious in its goals: they expect that in the year 2025 of the 26 million pounds of organic waste that are produced annually by homes and commercial establishments in the state of California, 75% (20 million) will be composted. Despite its demanding goals, composting is not mandatory for people in their homes or for business owners. The law invites, persuades. For those who are mandatory, it is for the governments of large cities and small municipalities. They must guarantee that the necessary mechanisms exist for logistics and demonstrate compliance with the respective composting percentage.
California’s community composting law is a collective effort where each link: households, social organizations, local administrations, has a commitment. Without everyone’s participation, the initiative can fail. But the benefits are also collective, they are a sign of a new socially and environmentally sustainable economy.
Wild edibles have been part of indigenous community diets for centuries. Now chefs, scholars and farmer collectives are trying to document the medicinal and nutritional value of these wild foodVer completo
A cow stands in the pasture and grazes, a chicken scratches next to her. This is how many people imagine livestock farming. In reality, however, not all farm animals have regular access to the outdoors. When it comes to hens, only one in ten hens has regular access to the outside. This would change with the factory farming initiative. A more animal-friendly attitude is one of five demands of the initiators.
On the basis of this law, the community has been made aware of a problem that most countries in the world are facing, namely the enormous amount of food that is thrown away because it is not sold in supermarkets, which presents a double problem : It is one of the main sources of pollutionof the planet and question the ethics of an opulent society that produces more food than it needs while condemning those who cannot pay for it to starvation.
Jairo Restrepo is an institution in the field of global agroecology; his name and that of his project, which he baptized “Cow Shit ” are confused and give the impression of being the same. He was born in Colombia but his life path is linked to other countries and particularly to Brazil, from where 40 years ago he began to irrigate the entire world with a proposal that is at the same time a philosophy of life, a social project and a daily practice: Organic agriculture. better known as agroecology .
This week we meet with Antonio Arbeláez, a former resident of a Colombian city who one day decided to return to the countryside and adopt a new identity: that of “ neocampesino ”, that is, a person who works in the fields and agriculture without initially that would have been his trade or profession. He began practicing agroecology but was soon faced with a harsh reality: “Without seeds there is no agroecology” and ours are in danger. That is why for 10 years, together with 45 other people, they have been part of a network that is dedicated to caring for life, carrying out a very particular task: they are custodians of native and creole seeds in the department of Quindío (Colombia).
This week our meeting was with Janna and Bill Beckler, partners for 20 years of Slope Park Food, one of the oldest food retail cooperatives in the world located in Brooklyn, New York, which has inspired and continues to inspire people from several countries to build a new business model for the sale of food and that has been called “the most beautiful social project in the United States”.
This unique initiative was born in the 70’s in the heart of New York . A group of neighbors in the Slope Park section of Brooklyn started a “buyers club” to shop for groceries together and save money and time. That idea was transformed into a cooperative that now has a large store where they sell food and household products for its 20,000 members who are in turn the owners of the company and its employees.
Only those who are members can buy in the cooperative. In order to do so, they must work there for three hours a month, performing the logistics and administrative functions that every food distributor needs. This model is the one that allows them to reduce prices of up to 30% in many of the foods and products they sell. For example, Bill, who in his daily life is a professional, in the cooperative three hours a month is in charge of dividing and packing the cheeses and canning the cinnamon. Janna, who is also a professional, helps whoever needs it to transport the purchased food to the car or the train. She sometimes performs other functions: “I often work at the cash register. I love being there, because I can see all the products and at the same time talk to people”.
The operation sounds easy but behind it there is a huge sense of belonging and a need for community ties. The goals of the Cooperative are both personal and collective: They tell us that they have set out to achieve three things: “First we want to have very good quality food at a good price. Second, we want to gain a community experience . Finally, the cooperative gives us the opportunity to support a small business instead of the big supermarkets”.
The type of products sold in the Cooperative is also thought from the perspective of the common good . They favor organic products, purchases from small local producers and processors, and have made a point of having a limited number of shelves of products that contain high percentages of sugar. One of their characteristics is that they do not have a marketing department nor do they receive money from large producers to display their products in the most visible places in the store.
When we asked them what they value about belonging to Slope Park Food and what role it plays in the neighborhood, they told us with conviction: “It is their center of gravity. Many members decide where to live according to the location of the cooperative. She brings many values to our lives, for example, in the relationship with our food, our community. The most important thing is that the time we spend in it is very pleasant. It is not work that pays us, it is work that gives us value because we are producing for our neighbors and community.”
This ingenious associative and community business model has inspired, especially in recent years, the creation of similar forms around the world. An article published on TheNews.Coop portal , the English-language cooperative dissemination body, highlights that at least 18 new markets have been opened in recent years in Europe, with a similar scheme, and acknowledges the influence of the experience of Brooklyn neighbors. Three of these new organizations are the cooperative La Louve (la Loba) located in the heart of Paris, The Bees in Belgium and Alter Coop in Luxembourg.
There is no doubt that the collective ownership of food distribution can be one of the most ingenious and promising solutions to face the rise in food prices and to build the long-awaited fair trade for producers and consumers. It is also a path that gives us back sovereignty over our food.
Listen to the full interview translated into Spanish:
This week we spoke with Luis Bracamontes, an agronomist and currently a doctoral student, manager along with 30 other people, most of them women , of the “La Imposible” Cooperative located in the Colonia Obrera in the Mexican capital. We were surprised by his youth and tenacity to create and above all to persevere in a management model that, as his name indicates, may seem unfeasible. And it is that if there is any difficulty in this type of process is to build an alternative to achieve a fair price.
They were born in 2015 as a collective response of small producers and food processors that supply markets in the capital of Mexico. They had in common the discomfort with the forms of dominant relationship generated by supermarkets, which in most cases are harmful to the producer, the consumer and the environment. Thus, that group decided to embark on a challenging dream that they called the Impossible because, according to what they say, “It is hard for more and more people to join in solidarity.” But it is that in addition to the difficulties inherent to these projects, although the cooperative apparently resembles other experiences of alternative food networks, it has a substantial difference and it is the novelty of its mechanism for establishing food prices.
Similar to other projects, La Imposible sells food grown or processed by its partners who are small producers and processors; Its offer includes, among other things, vegetables, fruits, eggs, chicken, grains, dairy products, chocolate, beer and artisanal bread. Every two weeks they ask the producers, through an electronic platform, what products they can offer because some of them grow seasonal foods or sometimes they do not produce the necessary volumes to guarantee permanent availability. With the response received, they make up a list that they send to consumers, so that they can place their orders, also using the same electronic platform. A small group of 15 people manages this process, organizes food on the premises, which they share with others solidarity community projects and everyone prepares for the delivery day, which is on Saturdays every two weeks. That day consumers go and take their order. Each provider sets the price of their product. The consumer knows that value recognized to the producer, which at the same time is the basis of what he or almost always she must pay and freely chooses to contribute between 5 to 20% more, due to the administrative management carried out.
The innovative system for setting prices has allowed them to guarantee stability for consumers and producers throughout the year. Obviously, that confidence in the criteria and commitment of the consumer caught our attention. We also learned that they have had cases in which people justify that they cannot make a contribution to administrative management and it is also valid. We asked Luis how much they trust in the fairness of consumer decisions, and he told us clearly: “When an organization promotes a logic of solidarity in its practices, people react in the same way.”
He also told us that within their activities they also advise groups from all over the country, which fortunately are more and more, willing to change the ways of producing, exchanging and marketing food. For example, they will carry out this June 22 the “Fourth workshop on the organization of alternative food networks.”
The Laimpossible cooperative shows us that it is necessary to turn to creativity to achieve the objective of a fair price for both links in the chain, which have lost their connectivity and their sovereignty in the hands of the decisions made by the large supermarket chains. A face-to-face meeting between those who guarantee us food and consumers can bring out the face of solidarity.
Parindey: Dr. K. G. Sreeja Alivelihood: Paddy farming, Climate change Research and Consulting Region: Thrissur, Kerala
We are defined by what we choose to do- consistently and convincingly; instrumental of our being, and a voice to our priorities. Sreeja is no different! As a farmer (by chance), livelihood researcher and climate change consultant, she adorns many roles. She sets the tone of her day around the burning of her fire hearth (viraku aduppu) followed by planning her day around the seasonal rhythms of her paddy field. Thereby, leading a slow-paced life by becoming more conscious of her actions. For each life necessity such as food, education or medicine, her farm is the central point, which enchants her with the possibilities of experiential and wakeful living.
Sreeja’s involvement in paddy farming alongside her academic accomplishment of attaining a Ph.D. in agricultural sciences is deeply ingrained in her values. She has been part of various movements and protests against government projects that have had a damaging impact on the environment such as the proposed Athirappilly hydro-electric project in Kerala. She is now based in Thrissur, with her partner Dr. Madhusoodhanan (fondly called Madhu) and her mother-in-law. They own a share in the nearby paada shekharam (paddy fields); which was a by-product of a dissent.
Sreeja and Madhu in their paddy field (Photo: Saumya John)
Back in 2005, the Thrissur Municipal Corporation had planned to divide a fallow paddy land polder behind their newly acquired home, into smaller plots for house construction. However, this move did not take into account that the said land is a floodplain wetland that is completely inundated during the monsoons, acting as a natural reservoir that reduces the impact of riverine floods in the region. This led to an uprising among farmers and other community members joined by Sreeja and her partner. Further, they led a signature campaign, and forced by numerous meetings and tenacious efforts; the corporation withdrew the decision.
Around the same time, an old farmer offered a piece of his paddy land at an affordable rate to Sreeja and her partner. They bought it so as to have a stake in the area, as there were questions raised as to why they were involved in the region without any tangible stake. Their well-wishers also invested and some bought bits of land to support them. In 2008, the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act was brought out by the Kerala government which lent strength to their struggle to conserve the stretch of paddy lands. At present, they own 4 acres of land, completely crowdsourced. As a result of their actions, increased state support of paddy cultivation and the newly minted law- the region saw a revival of the Padashekhara Samithi (the paddy holder association), cultivation of fields that had been fallow for decades, and a slow return of cultivators into paddy, hoping to be part of the community again.
The paddy land that they farm on is environmentally and geographically important in terms of its role in sustaining and regenerating the symbiotic existence of nature. A river is a collation of many streams wading to it, forming micro-watersheds that then form the larger river basin. These streams in the midland stretches of a basin often originate from wetlands that are the floodplains of the river when in spate (flooded or about to flood). These wetlands are ideal for growing paddy as they are mostly watered perennially, thus acting as a natural water reservoir; enriching the groundwater and giving ‘rooms for rivers’ when they flood during the monsoons. In Kerala, there are four main rice-producing regions – the district of Palakkad, the Kuttanad and Kole deltaic wetlands below mean sea level and the midland agro-ecological zone spread across the state from north to south, including in the Thrissur district. Sreeja’s field is located at the mid-stream of Karuvannur river in Thrissur. These wetlands are sanctuaries for a diverse group of weeds, insects, and migratory birds that ensure that the nutritional value and balance of microorganisms remain intact. Though Sreeja had studied this as part of her agricultural sciences course, it was only when working on-field that she experienced this interdependence in nature closely.
Sreeja in the forests of Vazhachal with Raman, member of the Kadar Tribal community. (Photo: Saumya John)
The entire process of the discovery of learning farming was alongside when the couple discovered each other through idiocies and idiosyncrasies. They weaved together a life thread by thread. The struggles during the initial farming days brought them closer and stronger together. Now they are each other’s support systems, powered by their common love and dreams. This aspect of interdependence and mutual support is synonymous with addressing challenges as a community practising paddy farming. Non-seasonal rainfall and infrastructural issues of storage require agile management, especially during climate change. The uncertainty requires an alert community capable of collaborating with local and district authorities. Oftentimes, this community action is missing because of a lack of real-time information backed by data.
Sreeja and Madhu are bridging this gap, as they understand the importance of data and its dissemination for mitigating climate-related challenges. She explains it thus, “In order to face a challenge that is being experienced by everyone for the first time, all sorts of authentic, well-curated information is required.”
Session at Cochin University of Science and Technology on Energy Conservation (Photo: Saumya John)
Kerala had been facing consecutive floods over the past years. In the year 2020, when the nation was under lockdown owing to the pandemic; a flood could have added more to the worries of locals. During this time, Dr. Jayaraman, an energy management expert, conversed with Sreeja and Madhu and shared his concerns as well as inquiries; EQUINOCT was thus born- with the intent to find solutions to climate change-related issues and set up community sourced modeling solutions. They are setting up an integrated knowledge base using mainstream scientific tools and the traditional practice-based knowledge from the lived experiences of generations. Their expertise in research and technology is being leveraged to support climate change solutions, prepare for disasters and design energy efficiency programs for policy interventions.
Sreeja looks at the integration of multiple sources of data as a means to advocate for accountability from the government and ensure proactive involvement. Furthermore, it equips and empowers communities to collect scientific data to understand what is happening to the environment around them. In her previous experience of studying the administrative responses to the Kerala floods, she had seen voluminous data and information that were left without any assessment or evaluation. A study of the indigenous and experiential knowledge of the fisherfolks on the seas during climate change brought out the further marginalisation of these subaltern knowledge systems as well, in the management of climate change impacts and disasters.
A meeting with community members of Vellotupuram to discuss issues faced by tidal floods. (Photo: Saumya John)
To mitigate such issues, EQUINOCT now works with communities affected by climate change to collect crowd-sourced data about groundwater levels, rainfall levels, and tidal floods. The community component is very strong in her livelihood and lifestyle interactions; be it in helping communities reach out to the government or in building a community of paddy farmers vocal about their rights.
EQUINOCT is registered as a business for this very reason, as the idea of profit is beyond “just monetary”. They persuade various government departments such as the Disaster management authority, Kerala State Electricity Board, Agriculture department of the state and various industries and institutions, to collaborate with the ones affected by and be equipped to manage climate change challenges.
The macro and micro-systems of nature work in tandem to survive. Similarly, the role of micro and macro in climate change resilience is paramount. Sreeja works with her equally passionate team to ensure that all community voices are heard, all-natural parts are valued and sustainability is defined in one’s own context. She believes that the more affected by climate change will be the ones with the most resilience to act towards improving its impact. It is her hope to drive collective endeavours from individuals and organisations to reduce the disparity between the affected and the privileged.
This week we spoke with Luis Bracamontes, an agronomist and currently a doctoral student, manager along with 30 other people, most of them women , of the “La Imposible” Cooperative located in the Colonia Obrera in the Mexican capital. We were surprised by his youth and tenacity to create and above all to persevere in a management model that, as his name indicates, may seem unfeasible. And it is that if there is any difficulty in this type of process is to build an alternative to achieve a fair price.
They were born in 2015 as a collective response of small producers and food processors that supply markets in the capital of Mexico. They had in common the discomfort with the forms of dominant relationship generated by supermarkets, which in most cases are harmful to the producer, the consumer and the environment. Thus, that group decided to embark on a challenging dream that they called the Impossible because, according to what they say, “It is hard for more and more people to join in solidarity.” But it is that in addition to the difficulties inherent to these projects, although the cooperative apparently resembles other experiences of alternative food networks, it has a substantial difference and it is the novelty of its mechanism for establishing food prices.
Similar to other projects, La Imposible sells food grown or processed by its partners who are small producers and processors; Its offer includes, among other things, vegetables, fruits, eggs, chicken, grains, dairy products, chocolate, beer and artisanal bread. Every two weeks they ask the producers, through an electronic platform, what products they can offer because some of them grow seasonal foods or sometimes they do not produce the necessary volumes to guarantee permanent availability. With the response received, they make up a list that they send to consumers, so that they can place their orders, also using the same electronic platform. A small group of 15 people manages this process, organizes food on the premises, which they share with others solidarity community projects and everyone prepares for the delivery day, which is on Saturdays every two weeks. That day consumers go and take their order. Each provider sets the price of their product. The consumer knows that value recognized to the producer, which at the same time is the basis of what he or almost always she must pay and freely chooses to contribute between 5 to 20% more, due to the administrative management carried out.
The innovative system for setting prices has allowed them to guarantee stability for consumers and producers throughout the year. Obviously, that confidence in the criteria and commitment of the consumer caught our attention. We also learned that they have had cases in which people justify that they cannot make a contribution to administrative management and it is also valid. We asked Luis how much they trust in the fairness of consumer decisions, and he told us clearly: “When an organization promotes a logic of solidarity in its practices, people react in the same way.”
He also told us that within their activities they also advise groups from all over the country, which fortunately are more and more, willing to change the ways of producing, exchanging and marketing food. For example, they will carry out this June 22 the “Fourth workshop on the organization of alternative food networks.”
The Laimpossible cooperative shows us that it is necessary to turn to creativity to achieve the objective of a fair price for both links in the chain, which have lost their connectivity and their sovereignty in the hands of the decisions made by the large supermarket chains. A face-to-face meeting between those who guarantee us food and consumers can bring out the face of solidarity.
