Here’s an opportunity to build a sustainable place with significant local food production and public/sales space in its center. I look forward to seeing the choices.

What would you do if you had the opportunity to design and build a new village or city? These opportunities do not come around often, so when one does we have to make the most of it!! The opportunities abound in Christchurch after the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.

As part of the city rebuild a competition was established. It is called “breathe”—the new urban village project….. an international competition to design and build a new place for living in the Central City.

Introducing the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan from CCDU on Vimeo.

6. To have community-produced energy:
More solar panels on our rooftops. Everyone should be able to invest in solar panels for their homes, apartments and office buildings. The ability to invest our money into solar energy projects is paramount, and our friends at Mosaic are experts in doing both of those things.

Billy Parish, Mosaic: Mainstage speaker

7. To live and work in harmony with the natural world:
There are countless innovations that are inspired by nature. Economic systems can be designed like living systems in which there is no waste, but rather every output becomes a nutrient to another subsystem. Janine Benyus is the expert!
Janine Benyus, The Biomimicry Institute: Vision speaker

8.To adopt a “Buy Local First” purchasing initiatives:
Communities can thrive by thinking “Local First” in every aspect of their purchasing. Alignment of their economic development policies and buying from local sources keeps money in the community. We know there may not be a local option for everything (all you caffeine junkies know what I’m talking about), but if we make it easy for hospitals, universities and other local institutions to connect with local producers and providers, there will be greater impact. These people are all doing it!
Stacy Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance: Towards a Localist Policy Agenda
Matt Raker, AdvantageWest: Economic Development and Community Capital
Carlos Velasco, Fuerza Local: Local First 2.0

9.To tap into community capital:
We need to unleash local money! We need local banks, investors, and community foundations to drive investment into our local businesses. Many of the most pioneering businesses and farms that are critical to a thriving local economy have the most difficult time gaining access to traditional sources of capital, so we need innovative and relationship-driven solutions for funding. Hear from the people on the ground.
Don Schaffer, RSF Social Finance: Integrated Capital and Connections
Michael Shuman, Cutting Edge Capital: Rethinking Investment
Dawn McGee, Goodworks Ventures: Rethinking Investment
Paul Hogan, John R. Oishei Foundation: Community Foundations and Grassroots Funders

10.To connect leaders and spread solutions:
There will be hundreds of local business networks, incubators, hubs, and people to learn from in your community, so connecting people in meaningful ways to share ideas and spread innovation is key to our learning and momentum. Let’s talk openly about what worked and what didn’t. Create gathering spaces that bring people together and foster collective work at all levels. We are better together! These two dynamic women are making it happen.
Deborah Frieze, The Berkana Institute: Cultivating Leadership for Localism
Angie Hawk Maiden, ACENet: Economic Development and Community Capital

(1-5 are found here in this earlier post)
Learn more at BALLE’s 2013 conference, held in Buffalo NY this year:
http://bealocalist.org/2013-balle-conferenceBALLE 2013

Just got word that a longtime volunteer of the Crescent City Farmers Market and a personal friend passed away this week. Judy Serice was there near the beginning with the small group that founder Richard McCarthy gathered around him to help him build this dream. Judy was a true fan of the market and for the rest of her life, she always championed it in every way possible. A champion cook herself- she won a category of the Pillsbury Bake-Off with (I believe) her chicken and dumplings recipe. I’m actually angry with myself that I remember neither the details of the year (1970?) or the dish exactly, because I used to send Judy into peals of laughter when I introduced her and knew all of the details.  (She also later won our Orange Julius contest partly because of her making the recipe at market in her “vintage” green mixing blender.)

Judy was a teacher by trade, a chef by talent and a mother by choice. She had a thoroughly modern view of the world, but honored the New Orleans traditions she was raised with and shared with her 3 children (John, Mark and Ashley), one of whom became a professional chef. Her advice to me while I ran the markets was invaluable, especially when it came to matters of literally, taste. Judy was always spot on  with her assessment of vendors products and I actually created a “Mystery Chef” program partly because of her, which asked for anonymous evaluations of products to then share with the vendors to help them continue to refine their table.

Even after she stopped volunteering, Judy and I (and her market buddy, the ever acerbic and delightful Pat) would have lunch and chat and spend a fascinating few hours. To listen and laugh with Judy and Pat were among the best moments of my market management and my larger life in those years.

I’ll miss my buddy and always remember how a volunteer taught me so much.

Be forewarned- here is another of my odd musings on the nature of organizing….

The quote from Lawrence of Arabia contained in this clip below is my favorite from the movie and one that immediately stuck with me after hearing it years ago.
Later on in life, I realized that it was because Bedouin Shaikh Auda abu Tayi was portrayed as a wily, committed freedom fighter but more than that, as a community organizer. This speech speaks to his leadership style (well, in a violent way) and how outsiders cannot or should not judge it with their own yardstick:

Being a river to his people translated (to me) as simply being the conduit for resources and knowledge while allowing them their cultural identity. So my feeling is that it is the same for great markets: that they are rivers in their community and, as such, need to carry the knowledge and resources forward for their community without impeding the cultural flow.

Now back to your regularly scheduled non-Anthony Quinn life…