Any other non-fiction reading, systems-thinkers out there? My moon in Virgo is a NERD for thinking about the way things work, how groups of people operate, what makes individuals tick, etc.
Book Club
Let’s compare/trade reading lists, shall we? Fun!
Here’s my shortlist of books I’ve read that have been formative:
Doughnut Economics—Kate Rawirth
Reinventing Organizations—Frederic Laloux
Utopia For Realists—Rutger Bregman
Decolonizing Wealth—Edgar Villanueva
Check out these books at Parnassus Books, an independent bookstore in Nashville.
Let me know yours! Share your favorite books on Instagram or Facebook, and tag us, @nashfoodcoop
Systems @ the Co-Op
Something else I’m doing is trying to put my MA to use. One of my favorite classes often led me into rabbit holes such as communitycentricfundraising.com, the history of nonprofits, and also new for-profit organizations like Buurtzorg, and ideas around Just Banking principles. I love artist-activists like Tricia Hersey founder of The Nap Ministry: Rest Is Resistance who are talking about rest, and also walking their talk and resting themselves. I think about the true meaning of sustainability and energy.
While I love thinking about big ideas and big systems, I’m also very aware that the Nashville Food Co-Op has very practical goals. Chiefly among them is opening its doors. In this foundational time, we can all have a say in how this space forms. It’s really very exciting. Personally, I’m thinking about classes, a gathering space, and some childcare times and we’re off! What else? What does the Nashville Food Co-op of your dreams feel like, sound like, or look like?
This month we’re adding members, we’re having Board elections, and if you’re interested in taking action to help build a place that feels like the future of Nashville then become a co-owner and let’s do this!
Land Acknowledgement
The Nashville Food Co-op acknowledges what we call Nashville, Tennessee was and is the traditional homelands of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Shawnee Peoples, stewards of the land and waterways, and their various inhabitants, and who are still here in this place. Land and waterways that were and continue to be stewarded by the Abenaki and Penacook people is land that was more than likely commandeered, and it’s important to remember that legacy whenever we’re talking about land and the caring of it.
Ariana Hodes is a performing artist by training—acting and singing since she could walk and talk. She is a photographer, videographer, writer, traveler, bartender, reader, and imbiber of media except for horror. Not gonna do it. She finds spirit in nature and thinks it was no coincidence she ended up working on a small natural farm in NH during the height of the pandemic learning from the best kind of 3rd-generation steward of her land.