June 9, 2011

Speech Commemorating the Opening of the Community Orchard

Thank you so much for asking me to come celebrate with you this afternoon this wonderful gifting of an orchard to your community, the college (South Seattle CC), and the city of Seattle. I confess that I often have dreams of being a West Seattleite – so much goes on here in terms of building community that I would be so excited to participate in - if I did live here. So I am truly honored to have been asked to speak on why this orchard – which may seem like a small gift in the larger scheme of things - is truly transformative. It’s the gift your community is going to remember as having made a difference. And I say that as an economist!

Now why would an economist – albeit a grassroots economist with dirt under her fingernails – think that a community orchard is so vital to change?

Francis Moore Lappe, the woman who revolutionized our ideas about healthy food with her book, Diet for a Small Planet, and her daughter Anna Lappe, who is a climate/food justice activist in her own right, have said – Every choice we make can be a celebration of the world we want. I want to share with you how I see this community orchard as a celebration of the world – and the economy – we want.

The world we want is one where we share resources and care for each other. Just as in a garden or orchard, where the animals, the plants, and the soil benefit from and participate in the cycling of water, energy from the sun, and nutrients, an economy to be healthy needs to circulate its resources. Fresh, healthy, tasty food for everyone is fundamental to a healthy economy. How exciting is it that this orchard will be – is already – circulating fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the community? This orchard is a fantastic celebration of a sharing and caring world and economy.

In the world we want, people value relationships over things. When relationships matter, the economy is one where everyone can find a meaningful way to contribute to meeting the community’s needs. What I’ve learned from watching my daughter grow up, and now my grandkids, is that children long to help. They are naturally happy when they are included in the tasks at hand. Good parents provide their children the opportunity to help so they can develop this capacity. By the same token, shouldn’t our economy provide people the opportunity to be productive on behalf of their communities – not just work for the sake of buying more stuff? The Community Orchard does just that – it provides an opportunity to do meaningful work in the context of meaningful relationships. It is a celebration of a world in which people value relationships over things.

The world we want will also be sustainable and resilient. In such a world, the economy works to sustain community and the environment, unlike the economy we now have which feeds off community and environment but doesn’t give back. In truth, what we usually think of as the economy is only a small set of the activities by which we produce, distribute and exchange the resources we use to meet our needs for a healthy and happy life. When you build an orchard, and even when you put on event to celebrate the opening of the orchard, you are producing, distributing and exchanging resources that the community needs to thrive. Sure you can buy fruit and vegetables at the super market - but you can’t build friendships or community and you are not caring for the plants and soil in exchange for the many services they provide such as generating bio-diversity and cleaning the air and water. The work you do here in this orchard is a celebration of the sustainable and resilient community economy we want.

The world we want to live in is in which the community and local government are partners – one that doesn’t put up barriers to people participating in the new economy. Yesterday, I read this story about a woman in a city that shall remain nameless (not this one!) who is being threatened – you are going to find this hard to believe – she is being threatened with jail for putting a vegetable garden in her front yard. Now, she only put the vegetables in after the town had already ripped up her front yard to put in a sewer line. And after she put it in, there were kids in the neighborhood coming over to learn about gardening. But the city she lived in found her in violation of local code that deemed only lawns, ground cover, shrubbery or “other suitable live plant material” were permissible for unpaved areas. Luckily, we don’t live there. Instead, we are lucky to live in a city that takes urban agriculture seriously and has adapted its codes to support urban agriculture. And it helps fund projects that teach people how to grow vegetables. This orchard is a celebration of a (forgive the pun) fruitful partnership between community and local government.

Finally, the world we want to live in is one that cultivates a strong sense of place and belonging. There is a huge danger from an economy in which people don’t feel like they are included. Why should anyone care what happens to the community’s resources, if they feel that they don’t have a place in that community or its economy. Community economies, that is, economies which are embedded in community, can provide people this sense of place and belonging by connecting what it is we have to what it is we need. Self-provision at the local level is the essence of a community economy. It is also the foundation for creating places where we all can feel that our needs are met – a place we can call home. I am sure that all of you feel that this orchard is home and that so many others in the community will come to know it and celebrate it as their home too.

Thank you again so much for asking me to celebrate the choices you have made on behalf of the world we all want.

I now want to introduce the woman who helps you do the magnificent work you do. She is your orchard manager, Laura Sweany.