The Sustainist

Partners for Sustainability

Bob Knight, whose family has been cultivating citrus for more than 100 years in Redland, CA, is fighting to save his family’s livelihood because, like many citrus farmers around the world, he is battling a pest that carries bacteria fatal to citrus.  Knight and many citrus farmers need to diversify their crops in order to be sustainable.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the U.S. second-largest school system, wants to bring healthy food to schoolchildren.  So they formed a partnership two years ago. The school district pledged to support local purchasing in a "good food" program developed by the Los Angeles Food Policy Council.  With that support, Knight and the local 31-member farming alliance now have the resources to make the transition from a homogeneous-crop-citrus farm to a diversified local-food-based crop.

This is a great example of win-win local sustainable solution toward greater sustainability for our farmers and wellness of our schoolchildren.  It has at least 3 essential elements:

1. Moving from global to local resource and economic exchanges
2. Proactive transformation from homogeneity to diversity
3. Reclaiming our land to produce a balanced food source

My hope is that there will be more of these kinds of partnerships to foster local sustainable businesses and communities.

(Read more about this in this LA Times article) 

Reflection Questions for 7th Sunday after Epiphany (Year A) Exodus 24:12-18    How does this text inform you about God’s relationship with people? Psalm 2  How does God get involved in politics? 2 Peter 1:16-21   How can we affirm that we are beloved sons and daughters of God? Matthew 17:1-9   What does this text teach you about change?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

Currency of Place

“There’s an area near our center that used to be the place where sex workers brought their customers.” Maria Rodriguez-Winter shared during a dinner gathering with United Methodist church leaders in Toledo, “So we decided to paint a mural that has in it the Ten Commandments and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. And the sexual activity stopped.  Instead, people would stop at this place and pray and make the sign of the cross.” 

Maria is the executive director of the Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Center in Toledo, OH.  Part of the mission of the center is to support and give “voice to the artistic and educational expressions which advance community development, responsibility and social equity, cultural diversity, global awareness and stewardship, as well as the empowerment of the Latina and Latino Identities.”

On the way to this dinner gathering, Tom, a pastor of the United Methodist Church insisted that we drove by the center, and I saw the beautiful murals and glass art sculptures amidst the “resting” gardens.  The center has six community gardens that offer community members active participation in organic gardening, year-round art programs for people to express themselves, and opportunities for youth from low income families to learn hands on skills in carpentry and painting.  But the most important thing for me is to see how this center, led by Maria, reclaims the land and buildings in the middle of an ignored and under-supported neighborhood and create a safe space for the people to strengthen their identity and express themselves.  This is a great example of developing the “currency of place” through the arts.

So take a look around your neighborhood; where are the ignored, discarded, dangerous places?  How can you and your organizations reclaim these places and turn them into useful currencies - places that support, nurture and nourish the people in the community?

Reflection Questions for 7th Sunday after Epiphany (Year A) Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18    What does it mean for you to be holy? Psalm 119:33-40  How do you keep God’s commandments in your heart? 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23   How can you become a fool so you may be wise? Matthew 5:21-37   How does this text challenge your understanding of fairness?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

A Letter to Target (Sustainability)

Dear Target:

I read that the residents of Trotwood Ohio organized a shop-in on February 1, 2014 at your Trotwood Target Store.  They are actually encouraging people to spend money in your store so that you would consider not closing it.  They were called “passionate shoppers” and “Target supporters” in the article I read.

I don’t know much about running a big business, but I do know that having passionate shoppers and supporters has to be a good thing.  Any local businesses that are doing well in this economy would know the importance of cultivating these relationships with loyal customers.  Furthermore, they would listen to their customers and find out what they need and would buy.  They would know what to stock and in what quantity so that they can provide the best price that is competitive in the market for their customers.

Obviously your global business strategy involving these big-box retail spaces had not been working or you won’t be closing 8 stores in May this year.  So, don’t ignore your passionate shoppers.  Listen to them.  Find out what they need and what they will buy.  Scale down your store to stock the “targeted” items that will sell.  Move to a smaller space in Trotwood if you have to.  Perhaps, by listening to the people in Trotwood, you might also find out what you can do with the big-box!  You may get some good ideas on how to transform the big-box into something useful for the wellbeing of the people instead of abandoning it, creating yet another ghost-mall.  When you take care of your community, the community will take care of you.

I pray that you will take part in the community life of Trotwood, where your store had been a part and engage in fruitful dialogues with the good people there to arrive at a creative and sustainable, mutually beneficial solution.

Sincerely,
Eric H. F. Law
The Sustainist

Reflection Questions for 6th Sunday after Epiphany (Year A) Deuteronomy 30:15-20    What does it mean for you to choose life? Psalm 119:1-8  How do you work in the law of God? 1 Corinthians 3:1-9   How do you work together in God’s field today? Matthew 5:21-37   What does this text challenge your understanding of following God’s commandments?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

Livable Wage and Sustainable Community

I heard on CBS news this morning this story:  3 waitresses at the Boone County Family Restaurant in Caledonia, Illinois, on Saturday, February 1, received a $15,000 tip from a women who overheard them discussing their financial needs.  Why is this news?  Because being moved by compassion to do something about it by giving our resources is such a rare thing in our world today.  This is news precisely because giving to those in need is no longer part of our culture.  A society where the resourceful don’t give back is unsustainable.

While this woman offered her money to provide perhaps a temporary relief for the waitresses, I would challenge us to use our talents and resources to work for a longer term transformation of our system – helping the local businesses to provide a livable wage for their workers.  Instead of waiting for the U.S. Government to make it a requirement to raise the minimum wage, we can do many things locally, especially those of us who are part of community organizations such as churches and service clubs and organizations. Go to the businesses that hired minimum wage workers in your neighborhood. Invite the owners to gather for a conversation about how the community can work together to raise the wage of the workers to a livable level.  For example, if raising the minimum wage means a particular business needs to increase its customer base, there can be members of certain organizations that make a commitment to  patronize the business on a regular basis knowing that the money they spend in this business will make sure that the workers will earn a livable wage.  Other potential creative solutions may include, finding ways for the community to provide training for the workers so that they can increase their work capability, looking for a grant to subsidize the businesses until they are able to sustain the increased wage, etc. When caring and resourceful people in a community come together to solve a problem, they can usually find creative solutions. 

If your neighborhood has become a place where most businesses are offering a higher livable wage to their workers, more hardworking people will want to live there and spend what they earned there and in the long run, keep resources flowing in more dynamic and healthy ways, contributing to a more sustainable community. 

Reflection Questions for 5th Sunday after Epiphany (Year A) Isaiah 58:1-9a, (9b-12)    What will make God listen to you? Psalm 112:1-9  What does it mean to be righteous? 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, (13-16)   How do you speak God’s wisdom? Matthew 5:13-20   What does it mean for you to be the light of the world?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org