The Lake County Community Co-op

Purpose of the Project:\ud Rural Lake County is a geographically isolated and economically challenged\ud county in Northern California. Options for healthy, fresh food are limited and a\ud desire for organic and locally grown produce and processed foods is growing. As\ud awareness of food systems and their impact on the environment grew, residents\ud saw an opportunity to improve their local food system through cooperative means\ud with local producers. The purpose of this project is to institute a consumer food\ud co-op and other ancillary local food initiatives through co-creative means in Lake\ud County, California, as a foundation for a more sustainable local food system.\ud Procedure:\ud The project began as a co-creationary, self-organized, grassroots movement that utilizes the principles of systems theory, conscious evolution, self-organizing social systems, ecoliteracy, and technological tools and networking.\ud Findings:\ud Organizing efforts were successful in the founding of the Lake County Community Co-op in 2008, a self-organized system that includes (a) the goal of a consumer food co-op through the means of a buying club and locally sourced CSA boxes, (b) a local farmers' market, (c) a community garden collaboration, and (d) a locally televised monthly educational series.\ud Conclusions:\ud Co-creation and self-organizing concepts help facilitate processes that are useful\ud in community organization and food sustainability issues, as is evidenced by the contribution of the Lake County Co-op to the local food system