Maeve and Wesley discuss community transformation and adaptation in response to the climate emergency

00:01 Oh God.

00:02 Hello, I am Wesley.

00:04 And I'm Maeve

00:05 And we are here to talk about achieving carbon neutrality through local food system and behavior changes. So Maeve tell me about how your community has achieved carbon neutrality through local food system behaviors.

00:21 Well, we as a community in the context of the climate crisis realize that we just wanted to take some action and try and help the situation. And we thought that food was a great place to start because we all need food, we all eat food. And so slowly but surely, it all began with these little classes that the community started to start. And they were free or just like pay what you can if you wanted. But our community members would teach other members about skills that they had and knowledge. So canning, pickling, foraging, or like fermenting classes, maybe baking bread, anything under the sun like that. And we just wanted to get in touch with getting our hands back into making food or preserving it and doing what we can to make the most out of our food. And from that it has really grown into something much larger with a whole entire alternative food system that is self sustaining us to this day. In 2030.

01:36 While you were going through these changes, was there any important lessons that stood out that you were able to witness in your community?

01:46 A big lesson that I've learned in this process is community engagement in communities, working together really create a lot of fulfillment for all of us. And that has been key in furthering the like duration of our changes. Because if we all work together, we are, we feel useful and we feel like we're teaching and helping people and our skills are not going to waste, but instead furthering the future. And so that's, that's created a lot of camaraderie between all of us. And I think that we've, we've gained a lot just from that.

02:32 So are there any neighboring communities that have come to you for any tips on how they can start these behavior changes and improve their communities?

02:43 Yeah, for sure. There have been several instances of people coming through our communities or just, you know, maybe friends and families that live in the distance. They'll come and visit and realize what we have going on and how interconnected our food system is. And they get really intrigued because it's just something so abnormal. I mean, no one's going to the grocery store anymore. And so we've had a lot of questions come in about how this all got started. And we've been slowly spreading information through online resources, social media. We're starting to post our, like our informational guidelines on how we got this all started and I think we're really starting to branch out to neighboring communities for sure.

03:33 While you have been going through this process over the last several years, has there been any community members that have experimented with different behavior change ideas during this whole process?

03:44 Yeah, so we all started with the food prep classes, but a lot of other members, they might not have those skills, but they're really good at gardening. And so they have taken up community gardens and we see a lot of those around our community now, and they distribute their food for others to prep and, you know, make finished products out of that. And we've also seen some greenhouses crop up because we live in a colder climate. And so that's been useful ideas. And in adjacent to food, we have a lot of like, community support, such as like childcare services that have been implemented due to. Due to our changes. Yeah.

04:34 What would you say is the most specific behavior change that has. You have a credit to this difference in your community?

04:46 Definitely just starting to starting the discussion and the conversation within the community that, hey, we want to do something and what is accessible to all of us. And that conversation has created a very supportive environment for all of us and something that we're all interested in. And so by focusing on that, the community interest, we have been able to achieve so much.

05:17 Well, that is just fascinating. Thank you for your time.

05:21 Thank you so much. Bye.