Building Community

Our mission statement declares, among other things, that our food co-op "builds community," and I was pondering this last night while making cabbage kim-chi, a spicy Korean dish. We have a bumper crop of various hot peppers from our garden this year, and so I was chopping peppers, trying not to itch my nose, and thinking of the web of food and people that is formed by even the simplest of acts. You see, I was chopping peppers grown from seed which I bought from Kit, using an extremely sharp knife given to me by my wife Beth, on the counter that Lee and Spencer built. In the background Kevin was spinning tunes on Weft. I separated out the flesh and seeds, saving some of the latter for next year's crop. John's cabbage came next, a mountain of beautiful napa (but compliment him, and he'll say it's all in the soil.) Then Karen's garlic, big luscious cloves, smashed under the side of the knive, peeled, and diced. The peppers went into a food processor to get an even pulp (and for the next hour you could hear the kids coughing as the pungent pepper fumes took flight through our house.) While I wait for the cabbage to ferment, the pepper pulp goes into canning jars...and it turns out that one was a gift from Jill, when it was filled with jam of her making. The sheer number of human connections involved in making food from local ingredients is breathtaking to me. There are few moments of our lives that aren't in some way connected to our community, and I believe our lives our made richer by the choices we make to increase our connection to others living around us. How does our co-op serve to do this? A few truisms pop into my head: Food with a face Our food doesn't magically appear on the shelves, and the co-op works to make sure you can find out who grew it. If you know your farmer, or at least know of your farmer, you're more connected to your community. Even when food comes from elsewhere (there are no Urbana Banana Collectives yet), it's important to understand the connection that's created by consuming it, and to support those that are growing in a way that's kind to the earth and to those that work it. Food with a place The co-op connects people to the farmers that are growing food right here. We seek them out. We work with them. Big and small. Year round vegetable farmers to one-month raspberry growers. By buying at the co-op, you're connected to the soil you walk on, sharing in the bounty and the fragility of this place. (Not much stone fruit survived this year's frost, but next year's cherries will taste that much better!) A place with faces Corporate America believes you're more comfortable shopping in a place that looks exactly like every other place you shop, and that people want retail anonymity. In contrast, the co-op strives to build a unique store where you know the people who are working to bring you this food, from the board, to the manager, to the staff, to our volunteers, to your fellow shoppers. Through email, blogs, newsletters, meetings, and parties. Sharing recipes, ideas, and stories. Sharing our lives.

We clasp the hands of those that go before us, And the hands of those who come after us. We enter the little circle of each other's arms And the larger circle of lovers, Whose hands are joined in a dance, And the larger circle of all creatures, Passing in and out of life, Who move also in a dance, To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it Except in fragments --Wendell Berry

I really believe it can be that beautiful, and I hope you do as well! Peace, -Clint