Written by Rachel Clark, Good Food Book Club Coordinator
Our community is so full of heart that there are hardly words to evoke the depth and breadth of care, commitment, devotion, and love here. Which is why February’s book selection is special. It offers a systematic way to bring the powerful emotions of love and care we have for each other to our values, our local economic resilience, and to the ethics of compassion and support surrounding our beloved community.
Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity by Michael Shuman is a roadmap and groundbreaking vision of what’s possible. What’s more, Shuman will be here in Moscow on February 18 for an exciting Local Investment Workshop: Tools for Moving Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street, co-sponsored by the Moscow Food Co-op. (To register and for more info go to www.ruralroots.org/Programs/InvestmentWorkshop.asp).
Besides being a well-known author, Shuman is a finance and economic development specialist who’s committed to helping local communities bring their investment dollars to their neighbors, friends, farmers, colleagues, and communities with straightforward, doable approaches that work and that create a powerful resilience and sustainability within the community itself.
Chelsea Green and Post Carbon Institute teamed up to publish the well-reviewed and much applauded Local Dollars, Local Sense as part of their Community Resilience Guides. Asher Miller, Executive Director of the Post Carbon Institute, writes in the introduction:
“In the twenty-first century, we face a set of interconnected economic, energy, and environmental crises that require all the courage, creativity, and cooperation we can muster. These crises are forcing us to fundamentally rethink some of our most basic assumptions, like where our food and energy come from, and where we invest our savings…
“Thankfully a small but growing movement of engaged citizens, community groups, businesses, and local elected officials are leading the way. These early actors have worked to reduce consumption, produce local food and energy, invest in local economies and preserve local ecosystems. While diverse, the essence of these efforts is the same: recognition that the world is changing and that the old way of doing things no longer works.”
Local Dollars, Local Sense will help steer the Palouse to an ever stronger economic, social, and environmental resilience that is at the heart of so many dreams for this community’s future.
Come join us to discuss Shuman’s Local Dollars, Local Sense (Chelsea Green, 2012) at BookPeople (note the book club’s new location and time!) on Sunday, February 22, from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. And enjoy some tasty treats provided by the Co-op! Email bookclub@moscowfood.coop to receive email reminders about the Good Food Book Club. Local Dollars, Local Sense by Michael Shuman is available through your local library. If you are interested in buying the book, check out the area’s local used bookstores or visit BookPeople of Moscow where Book Club members receive a discount. For more information about the Good Food Book Club, check out the Outreach section of the Co-op website atwww.moscowfood.coop. Register for the February 18 Investment Workshop with Michael Shuman at: ruralroots.org/Programs/InvestmentWorkshop.asp.