Case Study - Community/Environment

Wow, I thought I was the only one thinking about this issue—it is so great to see this room filled with other people interested in this too!” We were all sitting together at a fledgling meeting of what was to eventually become the Gorge Grown Food Network (GGFN, www.gorgegrown.com). Arising out of a discussion group after viewing the film, “The True Cost of Food”, this group began meeting monthly to talk about food issues like food security, quality of food (organic vs. local), educating your children about healthy foods, how to grow food, food self-sufficiency, livable wage farming. Each month, new people would attend. Little by little the energy grew and eventually coalesced into a new non-profit whose goal is to bring food self-sufficiency to the Columbia River Gorge area (on the line between Washington and Oregon).

This community group gathered around food—but as a Life Puzzle-maker, joining this group enabled me to tap into many other pieces of my Life Puzzle too. Obviously, GGFN would impact my nutrition piece because I would be able to eat higher quality of food if it was grown and distributed locally. But it also impacted my relationship piece—as I met and interfaced with this group and we worked on projects together. It impacted my community and environment piece as I actively worked to promote a healthy community and improving the environment by growing local, more organic or biodynamic methods, less gas for shipping, etc. For some, GGFN helped in their parenting piece as they taught their children about food at the local Farmers’ Market that GGFN launched. The issues of financial responsibility were explored because most farmers barely make a living and yet, without their food, we can’t live. So livable wage farming helped us address the value of paying for quality food. And lastly, GGFN impacted my communication piece as I worked within the community to share information on GGFN. I also got to play and have fun as we worked on different projects we were committed to growing. All in all, the community/environment piece that was centered on GGFN ultimately impacted many other areas of my Life Puzzle and made it all the more worthwhile to be a part of this! Truly, every piece impacts the whole.