Solidarity Gardening and Transport

So perhaps it is still relevant to get locally produced, organic, well handled produce. And to think about the logistics of getting it from the field to the fork, or at least the farm to the distribution point in the city. For it remains possibly the hardest part, the “last mile” to our kitchens and plates. More on that in a later reflection. For now we are happy to get the produce to a distribution point in the city.

The obvious way to do it is to use a van. But as we all know, vans for delivery are messy, polluting, hard to maneuver and park in the inner city and perhaps not the most future proof of solutions. Also, there is a strong group of bicycle activists close to the project and a relatively flat route between the garden and the distribution point.

Based on our work with sail and clean cargo, the river Danube could be an option. Sail, electric motors and human power would be clean options. However, delivering the crates to the river (over a hill), loading them onto a vessel (no landing site available, so complicated loading from beside the road) and then unloading them again onto some clean transport in the city seems a bit over the top and hard to organise.

So there have been some loose discussions around the topic that came together with a group from the SoLaWi on Saturday. Cargo bikes, trailers, motor assistance and braking systems all play a role in keeping the loads safe and easy enough to transport. The sharing around of who would take turns to do the ride is a matter of fairness, what to do in freezing snow or pouring rain is another question. Who already has a suitable trailer, who could build a custom version, should is the route possible with a giant trailer: so many questions arise. But they all seem solvable.

Reducing the abstractions and exploring the actualities of what it could, would and does mean to live small, resilient, reflected lives as a fragment of a possible future is another way to explore what kind of world we want to live in. And that is perhaps the most relevant question of all.

Related posts:

In the bustling aisles of your local health store, amidst the kaleidoscope of colorful bottles and the cacophony of health promises, lies a thriving industry. Dietary supplements, with their allure…

In part 1 of GitOps series, we reviewed the need for using GitOps for Calico policies, and how to roll out such a framework. In this part of the series, we will expand the scope to decentralized…

Let the mind be in you. What a powerful promise. God is ready to empower us to have victory over sin and death. And all we have to do is to let his mind be in us. To everyone, God is offering the…