gardens and groceries and bikes, oh my!

Just this morning I had the opportunity to catch up with the General Manager from Weavers Way Co-op in Philadelphia.  His daughter goes to school here in town and when he visits, we make time for coffee and great conversation.

Glenn brought me up to date on what they are doing in Philly.  In the last year Weaver’s Way has started an non-profit as well as an urban farm that sells produce at market and in the store.  They are beginning work with a school in the a very poor part of the city – grant money will help fund a gardening project to teach kids how to grow their own food.  It will also connect with the biology programs in the high school.  They are opening a very small (700 square feet) neighborhood store to offer fresh produce, dairy and other odds and ends to a low income population.  All this while trying to expand and open a new and bigger location to better serve their existing membership. Wow.

Our conversation was wonderful.  I love knowing there are people who are out there doing great work.  The inner cities of our nation offer a challenge and opportunity to the co-op community.  I believe co-ops can do great work to bring healthy and affordable food (and other services) to populations who have few options.  This idea of urban gardening is amazing – creating a network of mini-farms in neighborhoods, creating jobs and fresh healthy food, in places that are pretty dismal right now.

What an idea, instead of selling crack people can grow and sell healthy food.  The urban farmer, rejuvenating cities everywhere.  This is economic development folks.  This is the creation of a sustainable economy.  We don’t need to build more commercial space or another stadium. Put people on bikes. Give them meaningful work. Create beautiful spaces that make life better.

Glenn and I were talking about spending habits.  He had dinner at a restaurant he thought was a bit pricey – but tasty.  He wondered aloud ‘who has the money to spend $12 on a glass of wine?’  My comment was that I do – but I have made lifestyle choices that allow for such things. I have chosen to live downtown and not have a car; I don’t have a monthly payment, insurance or gas bills.  I live in a small apartment building and even in the coldest month of this past winter, my largest bill for heating was $60.  I don’t have cable tv.  I walk places.  I read books.  I spend time with friends.  It is a choice each one of us makes.

I have lived a 20 minute drive from work. I have had homes that require a great deal of money to heat.  There are television shows that I sometimes wish I could be watching.  For me though, I am happy with doing things a different way. This is a very recent lifestyle choice (just last December.) I was not sure how I would feel about it but decided to commit to at least one year as an ‘experiment.’ Four months into it, I can say that I am happier than I have been in years.

Getting to the point (finally) I believe there is a viable alternative to the oversized suburbian McMansion that is a 10-20 minute drive from the nearest grocery store and for some folks an hour away from work.  We all get to make a choice about how we live and how we spend our time.  Considering the current economic instability, the awareness of a limited oil supply, explosive population growth in nations around the world and it’s effect on our access to food, the generally poor state of health that many americans accept as a norm, the destruction of farmland in favor of oversized homes that people can barely afford – living downtown, walking (or biking) distance from most of the things I need, is looking like a pretty good option.

I start to think of what rehabilitation in decaying urban areas might mean.  Even small town usa could reinvigorate the corner grocery and open up a dry goods store. People could live within a mile of those places. How would this change the face of our nation.  Does the creation of upscale living in downtown areas shut down opportunity for people who need it the most.

The work being done at co-ops like Weavers Way is thought provoking.  What role do co-ops play in our communities? How can they work to create a world that we all want to live in? How can the co-op work to make it better to live in the world we are faced with each day? We sell food and in this there is the power to create something amazing. Can we find a better way to meet this basic need – a way that improves our communities and the people in them?

The wheels are turning folks. . . Thanks Glenn, for giving me some things to think about.