I dislike fundraising. Talk of money usually makes me uncomfortable.
So, why do I work for and believe in Invested Citizens?
It’s like making chocolate chip cookies. You have to follow a recipe – some kind of plan – to make sure they turn out awesome. If you just throw ingredients together, who knows what you’ll wind up with? Nasty cookies, perhaps.
When you’re already going through the trouble of baking, you might as well follow a good recipe and do it right.
Here’s the point: All of us are already investing money – tremendous amounts of money – in our society. But the recipe we’re following has been mostly written by profit-driven corporations, irresponsible government, and a ruthless marketing industry. What’s the result? Environmental devastation, severe tolls in health and education, widening income and opportunity gaps, and an increasingly finite, populated planet with no plans for sustainability. All very nasty cookies.
Invested Citizens isn’t about getting you to give more. We’re about re-writing the recipe for the world we all deserve to live in.
Take Carrot Mob, for example. They rallied an entire neighborhood in San Francisco to do their weekend grocery shopping at the store that bid to invest the highest portion of their profits in making their store more environmentally friendly. The winning store (22%) made a record windfall that day, became more sustainable, and the neighbors all got what they needed anyway.
Win-Win-Win. That’s a recipe for success. You could do it anywhere.
I don’t like money talk, but I do like Carrot Mob and others who give us creative new recipes for a better world. That’s why I’m an invested citizen.
Let’s share our ideas. Let’s set our minds to solving these problems. The more cooks in this kitchen the better. We already invest in this world every day, so let’s work together to do it the right way and we can cook up something good.
That’s the kind of work I want to be a part of. How about you?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Aaron and Daniel,
Aaron, I love your metaphor here. Nearly everyone who has been to kindergarten relates to cookies! (though when I read the title, I was thinking it was web browser cookies ; ) I was surprised where it ended up and I enjoyed how you laid out the idea.
I have a few ideas in reply.
1. No more cookies and milk?
Speaking of kindergarten, did you know, that in some communities, kids are no longer allowed to bring unhealthy snacks to school?
Teachers peruse the kids lunch boxes and reject items that are forbidden. Candy, Cookies!, Cake, Twinkies (what *is* a twinkie anyway???) and the like.
The rationale for the school district is that it’s been proven that those schools who police lunches do better on national/state test scores and the school population has reduced obesity. I’m not sure where the fine line lies between free choice (one child I know had his pumpkin bread rejected, which his mom loads with vitamins like potassium to keep him from having seizures) and school rules in favor of healthy eating for all.
Overall it seems like encouraging kids to eat healthy early on, even requiring it, may be a positive step. Enforcement just seems odd to me, even if I agree with the outcome. Debate ensues here…
2. I’ve been learning more about the RAW food movement. And I was tapped to be the photographer for meetings of the Raw Food New England Community http://www.rawnewenglandcommunity.com. The basic idea is that we really ARE what we eat. And cooking food KILLS many necessary enzymes our bodies need. They have an amazing raw food potluck (this is all vegetarian, actually vegan, RAW, meaning totally uncooked food, with some unusual dishes, such as “baked macaroni and cheese” = spaghettied squash and cashew nut sauce) followed by a speaker. This month features a doctor who has been treating patients with Diabetes with MAINLY DIET changes and getting people OFF of insulin. He also has a Doctorate in Divinity Studies. More info on the talk is here: http://www.rawnewenglandcommunity.com/webcallendar/view_entry.php?id=174&date=20081106
I think this talk is especially pertinent since the FDA rules both Drugs and Food and this could be a conflict of interest, but that’s a whole topic for another day!
Since you are focusing on food this month, I encourage you and your readers to join me and network at this unusual meeting Thursday November 6th.
3. Go CarrotMob!
I watched the CarrotMob! What a great video. What a phenomenal idea! (I was a bit bemused by his use of a *rubber* carrot at the end instead of a real carrot however ; ) What a great outpouring of support from the community! I really enjoyed the documentary about the corner store. I wonder how it would be possible to guarantee that the vendors (I mean if they expand it to larger corporations, how do you guarantee that the corps use the money as they say they will.)
I agree, money talk is difficult, but money is just another representation of energy flow. Some use it negatively and others use it positively. If we reframe it, and embrace how it can be useful, we can harness the energy for good.
Wishing you guys all the best on your Invested Citizens Quest,
Samantha Jane, card carrying catalyst
Samantha,
Thanks for the comments. I’m not sure I want to touch that first issue. Was that a public school? If you’ve got a link or an article about it, I’d love to see it.
And I think you’re right. Money is neutral. It’s neither good nor bad. It has no value other than the value we assign it. So why not harness the potential of all that money and direct it toward what we need? I certainly hope we can.
Thanks again.
The story I told about about the kindergartener and the pumpkin bread is in a public school district that has a similar policy and rationale as the one that has been making headlines in Newburyport, MA . See the following article.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/newburyport/news/x1197757949/Food-fight
And in fact ALL public schools are required to have wellness policies by Congressional Mandate by 2006-07. This study surveyed their establishment and implementation in a local area http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1352376
The mom who had her homemade pumpkin bread sent home with the child was explained the policy that no “sweets” were allowed. (I’m paraphrasing, because I was not there, and am only retelling the story the mom shared with me). The mom said the teachers said they were also trying to limit the number of cupcake parties that occurred. Now there is only one “birthday” party per month with healthier options. For Halloween, they had donuts as a treat but with no icing.
The same mom was shocked the first two years that at preschool the kids were coming home with huge bags of Halloween candy for Trick-or-treat day. She suggested that the school ask for healthy snacks in the flyer that went home and gave suggestions like pretzels, raisins. This year her other child only came home with once piece of candy in her Halloween loot from the preschool.
The mom agrees the regulations are a good idea. I was kind of shocked by the incident though and thought about Civil Liberties, which is probably why I summarily used the inflammatory word “policing” in my original post.
I think the idea is that they want to teach kids to make healthy choices. Having limits might help develop habits, but it seems a little strong to me. Though it is seeming to work as it is also teaching parents that they NEED to make healthy choices. It’s hard to combat all the programming we get, where snack food is marketed so seductively. It was good to hear the mom support the idea and did not take her pumpkin rejection personally, she said bananas and OJ also have the nutrients her child needs.
Here is a sample wellness policy, it specifically forbids cookies and cake.
http://omsd.omsd.k12.ca.us/departments/business/foodsvcs/Pages/WellnessPolicy.aspx
I could not find specific reports on improved test scores as a result of these specific policies, though they may exist. Evidence abounds to support good nutrition supports better school performance. I just don’t have the extra time to chew more on it at present.
Best of health to y’all,
Samantha