In this frenzied Political season, lets step aside for a moment into the small 'p' politics, and economics, of a modest proposal aimed at the roots of economic marginalization in the northwestern forests of California. What I'm talking about is the organizing effort I'm currently spearheading for the (currently mostly notional) North Coast Mushroom Farmers Cooperative. Below I'll quote from a page there;
The Organizing Committee is actively soliciting the public seeking Organizing Committee and Advisory Board Members focused specifically on establishing relationships with Attorneys, CPAs and Professional Financial Advisers with knowledge of non-profit entities. In addition we are seeking future Board of Director Members who are well connected in business and local government, who understand the potential benefits the Cooperative can bring to the community.
Together, we have the opportunity to establish a distributed production base of small to medium scale local farmers who, through the Cooperative, can access global sources of micro-financing and serve a global consumer market. Conducting such an enterprise in the context of an integrated forest management strategy will provide the foundation for a multi-generational industry that makes optimum use of the unique portfolio of resources, natural, human and geographic that blesses the wild and hilly coastal margin of Northern California. Be a part of the future, join us.
Comments, inquiries and offers of participation can be posted in the User Zone.
I'm posting this diary here, now, because on November 2nd we'll be convening the Organizing Committee meeting at which the cooperative will be formally instituted, and, as noted in the quote above, we are seeking the input of qualified persons to correct any misstatements or inaccuracies on the website and, more broadly, to provide the kind of expertise and guidance that I know this community is so richly blessed with. I've done the research and ground work, we have a dozen or so inters ted folks ready to sign up, and when we know the website and texts there are ready for prime time, we'll push it out into what we have every reason to believe is a very receptive local community. Timing is of the essence here, because the trees for our first inoculations will be harvested as soon as the leaves fall and by February, the mycelium will be running hot.
I submit this to my fellow Kossacks for your approval, disapproval, criticism and commentary with humble thanks in advance to those brave and expert souls with the time, the chops and the insightful reasoning so prevalent here, to help us make a small change in a Big World. When we are exclusively focused on huge challenges, it is sometimes both pleasant and productive to take a look at little things.
So, if you please, help us show the Big Boys how we little people, by organizing and working together as a community, can be bottom up job creators. Surf on over to the NCMFC website and wise us up a bit.