mind body planet

Cooperative Market

So today since I am down to just one or two more days here at the community house, I am going to talk a little bit about Ithaca and what sorts of ways this little college town is making same amazing strides in the fight against ecological degradation. The people of this little community from the college to the surrounding areas, are all quite obviously devoted to creating and maintaining something quite special in their town. With the farmer’s market I talked about yesterday I saw what I can imagine to be the goal of any market and any community around the world. We are all trying to make this world a better place and make it so that the beauty around us is protected. It seems that the people of Ithaca, surrounded by their famous gorges and waterfalls, are constantly reminded about the power and beauty of nature. Thus this sense of natural awareness demands of them a certain level of respect and responsibility to take care of what is around them.

One such idea is all over the area of Ithaca , and that is the cooperative community or business. A cooperative organization, or co-Op, is basically an organization that is maintained and owned by those who work within the established place. One great example of this is the grocery store that I went in to today. This store was owned by ever single person that worked there. That means that all forty or fifty people that you could see stocking shelves or cutting meat, was an owner of this business. That means money coming in to the store goes right back in to the community and not to a company headquarters or something like that. It also means that they are much more responsive to the needs and desires of their customers. Inside this store there were bulk herbs and spices, and bulk grains all along the walls. Most of the coffees , and many of the products, were fair-trade and Organic. Then there were a huge number of locally produced goods. Anything from yogurt to toilet paper made by local people could be bought and sold there. This freedom to choose what goes on is something that you do not find with a large company who sells all over the country or the world.

Another aspect of the same idea is something here called the eco-village. The eco-village is a place outside of town which is owned and operated by it’s inhabitants. They are also a zero waste community and they do much to help with eco-actions around the community at large.

My time is up for the day folks and so I will leave you with lingering visions of this utopia I have painted for you up here in Ithaca.