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  • From: "Neil Inman" <neildona@hotmail.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] What's the Difference
  • Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:26:06 -0500

I turned off my emails rich text editor, so hope this wont get scrubbed.

The most wonderful part about what I am discovering is my neighbors. Two months ago I never would have DREAMED I had a neighbor 3 miles away that would sell me 100% grass-fed beef by the cut out of a freezer on his place.....another I can buy free-range eggs from for less than the grocery store.....another who LOVES to grow just tomatoes & peppers, etc etc etc. Yes, Im rural, but what happened to the day of Sunday drives to the country? I dare say they have been taken over by Xboxes, etc. We dont have one of those - lol. I have been called idealistic, but thats okay. Without we "idealists", the world would be a much sadder place - lol. The way I have pulled these resources together is a little like coming in the back door I guess.

I started a United Natural Foods (UNFI) Grocery Buying Club where none existed before and then advertised online to a scattering of NE Oklahoma web forums. I had to make our buying club understanding (we are a buying club, not a cooperative; meaning a very few families are doing ALL the INITIAL work) and of interest to my community (workshops coming soon on cheesemaking, soapmaking, beer making, etc) and feel like I have had to teach my through a horrible mire of complacency (sp?). MOST rejected the whole idea because Walmart is easier and cheaper; but a few are latching on and willing to work at bringing home EXCELLENT foods & practical applicable understanding regarding regaining & maintaining deliberate nutritional health for their families.

A little off topic - UNFI will be opening a new warehouse in Dallas/Ft Worth in 2009. Just opened new ones in WA state and FL this year. It takes $200K/week to establish & maintain one of their warehouses. They already know the market is viable in TX, but having just opened the other two new ones, didnt want to stretch too thin in one calendar year. The American people are clammoring for real healthy food! The market is HUGE. If we can keep some semblance of organic to MEAN organic its quite the market!

My most recent effort has gone into mapping out a network of 7 clubs across our state, FINDING and then helping kindred spirits establish clubs of their own and then considering how to lift up & educate the coordinating contacts themselves. I am maintaining a mailing list for each of the communities and am intending to send out a newletter eventually to the ones without an established club to educate and encourage. Eventually i figure someone in the group will catch the vision and it will be the right time in their life for such an effort.

I know it sounds sort of contradictory to be doing this using a commercial healthfood distributor as a starting place, but healthy food is a common need and Im using it as a spring board to bigger and better things; and I do enjoy my 87% organic chocolate bars - lol. Eventually each group will grow to where they will have cluster neghborhood groups and the grocery coop thing will hopefully work its way OUT OF BUSINESS. That is MY goal...to reach and teach and enable healthier choices. That may take a while though - lol.

As far as eating in season and growing with your environment, a friend of mine that travels abroad extensively pointed out a couple of years ago that Americans are one of the only peoples in the world that dont harvest native plants for the BULK of their diet. When you think about it its darn near embarrassing.

The other side of all this is to encourage those that CAN to BE producers....and as you know EVERYONE can produce something. I am reminded that "There is much food in the tillage of the slothful". With this part of the effort, the networking will come in handiest. We have about 30 families in our network so far. As I mentioned, I had to meet my neighbors to be able to find out what they are up to. My children are growing okra & zuchini on consignment for ONE family...not alot of effort, but next year word will get out and I bet they are consigned more.

Thats another aspect of my effort (yikes! more work)...teaching the children. Without them seeing value and sharing their support all of this would end in a generation (as we have seen). SO MUCH re-teaching needed! Thats part of Salatins Family friendly Farming. Very inspirational book indeed.

RE Comments:

WAS SAID "I'd blow too much gas hunting around for Farmer Browns with
produce for sale or trade. It's not realistic for the majority of us."

I have used no gasoline....its all been via internet. My own family of 7 os living on under $20K a year. At $3+ a gallon, theres no way husband would have allowed me to run all over the place.

Yes, producers can get a better price at a farmers market, at the added expense of several things. But when we sell of the farm in OK there is no sales tax and there are no packaging/labeling requirements, etc. Sales tax just north of me is nearly 11% and southof us 15 miles its 9%. Neighbors can trade cashlessly as well. I actually know people that have traded live poultry for an albeit used car. Yes, we need SOME cash, but if we are living in a manner that requires huge amounts of cash, are we really living as we should?

WAS SAID "I can't see small grocers doing any good. It's a wholesale price, and they're few and far between for most people. "

Only because of the lack of networking. And just for the record, if the small grocers are so inconsequential, why are they the ones targeted for all the proposed regulations? We DO have potential....it will just require shaking the chlorinated brainwashing we've been given.

WAS SAID "I don't know any place where you can grow a balanced diet of only native plants without adapting to the climate in some ways. It's a fool's errand and I'd like to save someone the frustration. "

I live in Native American territory. I think there are still a few that have survived commercialism that would argue differently. But even if there were none....does anyone really believe it was always so? If it didnt used to be so, it doesnt have to continue to be so.

WAS SAID "I don't "fight" the environment; I work with it and grow accordingly. I'm not famous like Eliot Coleman but he isn't "fighting" his environment; he adapts - with hoop houses in Maine he can take in $100,000 a year on an acre and a half."

Im not anti-technology (for lack of a better term)...when its really progress. I have a greenhouse off the back of the house....it doubles as a shaded "foraging animal safe" garden in the summer time. Everyone should....but money should only be a small part of the motivator here.

As much as many would prefer it, I cant escape the Divine in all this. It REALLY is all about changing the way we think and readjusting to the realities of our Creators provision. Maybe thats another reason so many have left the proven paths....maybe they are avoiding acknowledging the Creator. I dont mean to be preachy, just realistic. Its so easy to be sucked up in all this worlds ideas.....and the world knows so little...they would have us all die early to save the planet....whats a planet w/o people though?

Guess thats enough for now. Id love to hear directly (neildona@hotmail.com) from the Okies on the list (hello to Carrie, LA & Cath - lol). I enjoy this list. Lots of good articles to read and consider. Lots of good gardening experience we can count on. Many like minded homesteaders to meet & greet.

Chat again soon I hope.
Dona in OK

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  • Re: [Livingontheland] What's the Difference, Neil Inman, 06/16/2007

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