How the Cook and the Gardener Saved the World

The story of the Cook and Gardener Partnership is about a community coming together to find a place for all of its residents to contribute to the well being of the community.  We do that first and foremost by producing our own food.  The following ideas form the basis for the services that Pat offers to the homeowner clients of CGP. It begins with the thought that when we produce locally what we consume locally we create cells of sustainability. The shorter our supply lines the more resilient we become. More importantly, sustainable cells produce a healthier and more beautiful way of life. When we decide to grow our own food, we begin to reintegrate ourselves into nature's processes. Our western culture has been separating humans from nature for thousands of years. We tend to put each aspect of our lives into cubicles. We go downtown to the office. We expect agriculture to be off over the horizon. We “preserve” nature in special areas away from our work an...

A system of production that produces everything that it needs to operate has no cost.  A system that uses everything it produces has no waste. Integrated Closed Loop Production Systems   The Cook and the Gardener Partnership (CGP) is based on the concept of integrating processes and closing production loops.   We can imagine the development of the chicken operation as a path through that process in which one part of the operation is related to all other parts of the operations. In their economics class Pat and Chris learned the concept of vertical integration as a way to control the supply chain for their food truck sales.  Vertically integrating the chicken portion requires that CGP can: 1 - produce fertile eggs to be incubated, 2 - raise the chicks for four months until the young roosters can be processed, 3 - raise the young hens an additional two months until they start laying eggs, 4 - collect the eggs, 5 - process the hens e...

Pat and Chris are interested in greenhouse technologies in order to offer their clients a year round supply of food.  Here are some of the findings from their research. People eating on a budget, or living in a food desert*, are typically missing protein and fresh vegetables from their diet.  This is particularly true during the winter in temperate zones and particularly for those without access to space to grow their own vegetables (or who don't use the space they have).  In order to avoid going hungry when money is scarce people concentrate on starches that keep well and are relatively inexpensive such as pasta, rice, beans and potatoes.  For those in a food desert, prepared foods at convenience stores using "snap"** benefits may be the only reasonable choice for food.  Both approaches are missing the nutrition provided by proteins and fresh vegetables. If we can build a space that will not freeze over the winter, we can grow fresh greens year round for...

Pat and Chris at first met weekly for lunch between classes.  Pat was contemplating how to grow the produce that Chris would need to advertise fresh and locally grown as a way to attract business.  Chris was contemplating how to pay for the fresh produce.  At that fateful meeting the conversation went like this: Chris said, "I have been thinking about what Professor Pena says about indigenous knowledge.  He calls it "saberes" as in knowings.  It is knowing how to interact with the living things in a place." "Yes," Pat responded, "That is what David Braden talks about at LSI.  All the living things in a place create the pattern of interactions that provide for all the living things.  Learning to create the pattern you want means understanding the needs of the living things around us." "If we were to consciously create a pattern of interactions," Chris pondered, "a pattern of interactions that produced fresh produce that I coul...

Chapter 1 Pat met Chris in school.  They both attended community college in Denver.  They both had Professor Pena* for a class about food justice. Pat approached Chris after class, "I bought a breakfast burrito from you this morning.  I thought I would say hi," Chris smiled, "I hope you liked it." "Yes, it was very good." Chris looked off into the distances.  "It could be much better.  It is hard to find fresh ingredients." and then, after a few moments, "You should taste the ones I make with my grandmother's yard raised eggs and greens from her garden.  It's like Professor Pena says, food we grow ourselves tastes better and is better for you." Now it was Pat's turn to look off into the distance.  "I pay my tuition doing landscaping.  Most of it is just mowing lawns because I won't use the pesticides.  I would like to do things different.  I did an internship at the Living Systems Institute.**  It w...

Our Heros We have chosen the names Pat for our gardener and Chris for our cook in order to be gender neutral.  They could be male, female, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans-gender of any national or genetic heritage.  When referring to either we can use the plural pronouns.  This is so that any reader can see themselves in this role. Pat Pat is the gardener.  Pat had grandparents that emigrated to the United States bringing a tradition of gardening from the homeland (which homeland is not yet decided . . . if you have grandparents that emigrated from another country and introduced you to gardening perhaps you can write that background).  Like many first generation immigrants Pat's parents required their children to learn English and downplayed the culture of the homeland. Pat has worked in traditional landscaping but wants to shift to a more ecological approach for their clients. Chris Chris is a cook.  Chris's grew up in an apartment building ra...

Each human being finds themselves within a pattern of interactions.  Not just the interactions among people.  Every living thing on earth is engaged in this pattern of interactions. There is a category of interactions that involve the exchange of money.  Within this category are all the business transactions, the operations of government and the work of charities.  We will call this money fueled pattern of interactions the Market Pattern. There is another category of interactions that involve a pattern of exchanges that does not involve money.  Within this category are ecosystems, traditional subsistence life styles, community gardens, home schooling and families doing other things to provide for themselves.  We will call a pattern of interactions that does not involve money the Sufficiency Pattern. The back story in our narrative is about a community becoming aware that the needs of its residents is not being met through the Market Pattern.  The...