Wild Fires, Drought, Pandemic. Food Shortages, a wild Hurricane Season, Flash Flooding and Fights over Toilet Paper! What A Year We Have Had!
And, by most forecast, it is going to get worse!!
This world can produce
enough food for the roughly 7 billion people alive today, but nearly a billion are hungry or malnourished, mostly due to poverty and unequal distribution. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates the world population will surpass 9.1 billion by 2050, at which point agricultural systems will not be able to supply enough food to
feed everyone.
Sara Menker founder of Gro Intelligence, was a comedies trader on the stock market. She was on Ted Talks, and her company thinks the tipping point for food is only about 10 years from now, 2030. There will be a 214 trillion calories shortage. That is equal to 379 billion Big Mack’s, that is more hamburgers than McDonald’s has sold in its entire history. One Big Mack has 563calories.
The 2008 global rice crisis occurred between January and May 2008, the international trading price of rice jumped dramatically, increasing more than 300% (from USD $300 to $1,200 per ton) in just four months. It was in fact caused by fear but it still caused a great run-on rice. Some stores ran out. Reminds you of the run-on TP doesn’t it?
About 20 or so years ago, I saw a letter on the internet. It was from the WMO, “World Meteorological Origination”; which is a part of the UN. It was addressed to the governments of the world and told them over the next 100 years the weather will become so extreme we stand to lose 30% to 70% of all the plant and animal life on the planet. About 8 years later they sent out another letter; we now stand to lose 50% of everything.
I have requested copies of these letters. When I did receive a response, it was a bunch of GIBBERISH!! NO LETTERS!! Are they part of the cover-up?
The UN, the World Meteorological Origination, Gro Intelligence, and the rice shortage, the forecast does not look bright. Do we want to wait until there is a “Global Food Shortage” or should we start making plans now?
I and many others believe the first lesson is: Leaving our wellbeing in the hands of the government is just asking for trouble. A co-op is an easy way for people to work together. If a small group neighbors can come together; they can help each other in many ways. We all have may different talents. Just having a group of friends, you can depend on can be a great comfort during a disaster, large or small. So where do we start? Why is cooperative ownership important? More than just providing goods and services, co-ops put decision-making power and any generated wealth back into the hands of the co-owners or workers all with equity in mind as people work together to build better systems.
A cooperative, AKA co-op, is a group of people that agree to cooperate with each other. Ut can be for
profit or a not for profit, 501c3. It is a state chartered a business entity but in the case of a co - op it is owned and controlled by the investor- owner -members. The rules are made by the members. They can agree to provide whatever goods and or services the members need. Another thing that is different and important about a co-op is, one member cannot own or control a larger portion of the co-op than another member, each member is equal. They work together. An older member with a very large
yard might agree to have part of it turned into a big community vegetable garden and in return they get all the free vegies they need. It makes more sense than paying for lawn service every week.!
A co-op can own land. A lot can be purchased and the members can build a storage building for the bigger tools like a
tractor, a rototiller, a wood chipper, a log splitter, a leaf vacuum, all owned by the coop and shared by the members. A member living on the property or next-door; can keep a record of who has what tool and when it should be back. If there is enough room perhaps a community composting area. Another member might know how to maintain the tools and equipment and can share his knowledge with other members to keep everything running smoothly. The member that can take care of the equipment might be given some space to work on members cars.
What talent could you learn or what could you teach or share with your neighbors?
Co-ops are often formed by a group of people with something in common, in this case a safe neighborhood. People can get very nasty when they are hungry. The co-op is sometimes formed to secure things like low-cost credit to purchase things. A group may need supplies and equipment for farming, livestock, or household needs like appliances, canning equipment & jars, or a stand to
sell produce like the surplus from your garden. One member could provide daycare service for other members and get food as payment. They may secure services, like electric power, irrigation, health or auto insurance. Cooperatives can be used in many ways to help people with the everyday needs of life. In Nashville there is a coop that has a restaurant and catering service. The Three Rivers Market in Knoxville is a co-op.
Several cooperatives can work together and multiply their buying power. Instead of one group buying 100 mason jars and two new presser canners; several groups could buy 1,000 mason jars and 20 new presser canners. Companies would probably give a nice discount for an order that size.
Learning and growing should be one main efforts of a co-op as a group: Free information is all around us. A Ham Radio Club also known as Amateur Radio; often have classes your Co-op can take. One person with a ham radio license in each home and you will never lose touch and there is no monthly bill either. The hams can be almost invaluable in a time of crisis and are sometimes even called into action by the government. The ability to communicate, a call for help, or to let your family know you are OK, a ham operator can do it even when the phones lines are down and the power is out.
A Red Cross
class in first aid can be a life saver. Classes in first aid can teach things like; when do you really need to go to the hospital and when you can stay home and take care of it. What do you need for a home First Aid Kit? (The first aid kits sold in the stores are a joke.) Someone with an interest in medicine could do the sourcing and stocking for the coop’s major medical equipment and supplies. A neighbor who is a Med Teck would be a great asset. They are trained in trauma assessment response, recognizing and managing shock, debriding cleaning, suturing, to close a wound. They could also train the other members how to care for themselves.
Sites like skillshare.com, or YouTube, and many others have classes you can take. YouTube has an incredible number of videos on how to do it. Whatever it is!
Is one of your neighbors already interested in using herbs to heal. They may already know about finding
medicinal wild plants in your area or even have them growing in their own yard. What could you save by making and using your own medicine.
Do you really need to mow the grass each weekend? Why not rototill the yard and plant clover and wild flowers. Not only are they beautiful; they are good for the pollinators like
bees and butterfly’s. Commercial
honey bee operations are essential to agricultural production in the U.S., pollinating $15 billion worth of food crops each year. White clover stays low and is great for bees. Maybe one member could be a bee keeper. There are bee keeping clubs. Find one close by and learn how to do it or let them put a hive in your area. How about a garden to grow your own vegetables?. The Library of Congress still has the flyers for the “Victory Gardens” of the second world war. Cucumbers grow great on a chain-link
fence, so do string bean. One member of your coop could raise
chickens and another
rabbits. They are both a good source of protein. If you need
milk for the kids one family might take on some goats. Their milk makes some great cheese.
The big thing is to talk with the neighbors. What are their talents, what do they like to do? I love kids, so I would be happy to be to have the day care. Find happy solution so the group can grow, prosper and most important, take care of each other. Anyone willing to pitch in and help the group should be welcome. A cooperative is limited only by how big the members can dream. The first co-op was started by Ben Franklin to provide fire insurance.
Cooperatives carry on businesses in all sectors and they may be profit sharing enterprises or non-profit organizations. If you plan to sell what you can make or grow a “Profit Sharing” group is the way to go. I doubt that a little extra money would hurt anyone.
When you start a co-op, you will need to know something about the members. An application, name address and so on. If you want to or have any droughts consider background check. Keep in mind if it is done for one it should be done for all.
Funding for the Co-op will be a combination of traditional loans, grants, and capital contributed by our Co-Owners. The benefits and dividends will be the same for each Co-owner.
1. Open & voluntary membership - Ownership is open to everyone who wants to join, without discrimination.
2. Democratic member control - Those who buy in as Co-Owners control the business. Co-Owners will have a voice in major decisions through working groups, voting opportunities, and engaging in open discussions with the board. No one can have a majority interest or buy more control than anyone else — one person, one vote.
3. Member economic participation - Here is a list of other co-op’s look at their web sites. If you are in the neighborhood stop and explore, talk and get a feel for the co-op
experience.
4. Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control as well as their unique identity.
5. Education, training, & information -Cooperatives provide education and training for members, managers, and employees so they can effectively contribute to the development of the Co-op.
6. Cooperation among cooperatives - Cooperatives work together to help other cooperatives in formal and informal ways. There are several co-op groups that help new cooperatives open and maintain their organizations including National Co-op Grocers, the Cooperative Grocer Network, and the Food Cooperative Initiative.
7. Concern for community - Cooperatives operate with a focus on member needs and concerns. We’ll work toward
sustainable growth of our community through values-focused policies and programs.
These seven principles were formed in 1844 by the first modern cooperative, the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers of Rochdale, England. While it’s not a requirement that all co-ops implement these ideas, most adopt them as business guidelines—
I put this together to get people to help each other. I am planning to send it out through the ladies of my church but it is not a church function. If we start planning now, we will know what to do when disaster strikes.
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