Sprout Growing & Fermenting Veggie Co-op

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Perspective

It's all in the way we look at things that shapes our paths. I have been thinking a lot lately about the vision behind the co-op we are launching and the impact it will have on the surrounding community. I am also envisioning the kinds of people that will be drawn to the project and what will motivate them to get involved.

There will be obvious benefits from being either a consumer member or business member of our co-op and with the existing economy many folks will be seeking to join in search of savings. But I also think we will be attracting others who are seeking a different way of life. There are those out there much like ourselves who are more willing to pay the price for organic, local foods that are more sustainable - even if it means cutting down in other areas of our lives.

The idea of growing our own local economy and building community is of utmost importance. We are buying into the vision of a different way of life and the cost may have an initial price tag attached. Nnetheless, we beleive that in the long run the benefits reaped will be ultra cost-effective and manifest a better quality of life. The choices we make today will pave the way for future generations to follow.

Those of us who have been paying for organic food all along already have a more realistic price of the true cost of food. For others, the increasing food costs predicted over the course of 2008 and coupled with fuel costs might come as a shock to the budget.

Being that our family spends probably over 50% of our annual budget on food (including supplements, body care & home cleaning products), I have been surprised to discover how little most families actually allocate to this most essential "piece of the pie".

I was skimming a copy of a mainstream magazine that targets a more simplistic way of life and it outlined one moms monthly budget of $7,100. I was astonished to see that the amount spent on food was way less than the cable bill, pampering fees and entertainment costs. That amount excluded the outrageous cost of daycare and au paire services. The main concern for this mom was figuring out how to pay for private schools, and most likely a private school more concerned with what is being put into kids heads - not into their mouths.

I think this is a common theme for most moms today. We have settled for empty, packaged, processed food that is incapable of nourishing both body and soul. Food, the fuel that feeds both the bodies and minds of our growing children, is not valued with utmost importance. Children of today are developing substandard to the children of generations past - during a time where they need more strength than ever before to fast the challenges of the future.

The connection between health and diet is overlooked. Instead our culture connects more with the idea of over-medicating and over-consuming. The same magazine featured an ad by Target now offering color coded medications to help family members identify their personalized perscriptions. How insane is this? Yes, Target, we are a culture on drugs misled by savy marketing tactics like yours to convince the masses whose minds have been numbed that being "drugged" isn't such a bad thing! I say throw away the meds, turn off the tv and feed your children some food with real nutritional value. Now that's simplifying the budget.

Community

Visions of community have filled my mind since the birth of my first daughter almost fifteen years ago. The ideas encompassed much more than extended family but rather a complex system of cooperation that was based on making healthy life choices in an unhealthy world.

Over the years I shared my dreams with many others seeking similar ideals. I have held tight to what others told me was impossible. Many have come and gone and even some have returned years later to see aspects of the dream unfolding. Today, on this beautiful full moon, I am beginning to sense the depths of much hard work as the dream comes full circle.

We are in the last stage of our renovations for the community space of The Growing Green Co-op that will open this July. The space will serve as a distribution point for sustainable products and services throughout Connecticut in a city that desperately needs to be revitalized. The community center will house our earth based programs for kids including our six week youth activist camp, a healing space and workshop space where we will show films, offer how-to classes, host community events and our year round farmers market.

We have reached the tipping point. When government and the economic marketplace fail to provide quality goods and services to the public, people have historically cooperated to provide for themselves and their families. Co-ops form in response to local needs. The Growing Green Co-op is a consumer driven co-op that has evolved out of a desire for availability of high quality, local, sustainable products as well as the desire to support local, sustainable businesses through our Green Business Referral Network.

We are a vibrant community of extraordinary like-minded folk who are determined to grow our local economy- including the development of our own "CT Currency" while walking more lightly on the earth. Around me I have my immediate community that includes my Beloved and all of our children, "green" business leaders joining with us who are also striving to lead the way towards sustainable living & community members that have such diverse interests and talents who are looking to share with others. We are growing by leaps and bounds.

Persistence does pay off, but for me, it is just proof that when we follow our truth then we are led to places of wholeness. The community I desired to raise my children in has manifested around me. We live in a most magical world.