I have been born again on this; and so, you are about to get a rant.
Why hasn’t all of Humboldt gone over to co-ops? Humboldt was made for this; the whole State, indeed the country, is looking to us to lead. D o you think for a moment that the whole industry isn’t looking to us to lead the way? Like California points the way for the nation, Humboldt points the way for our industry.
Forget the County authorities seemingly slow-walking everything important, forget the State with its oppressive regulations; we, here in Humboldt, may the only group of cannabis people who can effectively think outside the box on overcoming the impediments blocking us from success. Maybe because we came to our maturity in the school of hard knocks and perhaps all that time in the illegal market taught us more than just how to hide under a bush? I think we are on the point of becoming formidable; I think we tasted freedom and will not go back.
Now, don’t get me wrong; you can tell that I am partisan, but I know that many warriors, not in Humboldt, have been fighting with us – women, people of color, gays…. And their fight is an inspiration, one that calls for us all to come together and to fight together. We aren’t just fighting for cannabis, no, we are fighting for so much more – in fact, a whole set of values.
And this need for cooperation, this cry for cooperation, points straight toward the “co-op” as the destination we are seeking.
“The cooperative is formed because of the recognition by persons that as individuals they cannot achieve their economic or social goals by working separately. Only by “group-action” and through cooperation, will they be able to achieve common objectives.
Members who use the cooperative own the co-op. Cooperatives are democratically controlled in that a person owning at minimum, one share of stock is entitled to one vote during member meetings.” – Cornell University
Networking and cross-fertilization can lead to sales.
Cooperation can lessen the cost of sales staff, of raw packaging, and processing. Everyone can win. And what better way to move forward than to work with members of your community, working with a common goal.
And did I mention the power of many minds working together toward ends that they all share? I recently learned of “Strategic Doing” which at the moment, I know very little about. But I want to know more. Co-ops, non-profits and community projects can be very much little herding cats, but with less certainty. People! What else is there to say? Well, strategic doing offers a way out of this dilemma. It offers a way for people to work together for common goals. As you might expect, someone has developed a system to implement this and, of course, you can learn quite a bit about it on-line.
Strategic doing “teaches the discipline of collaboration and strategy in open networks” – Ed Morrison, I have been born again on this; and so, you are about to get a rant.
Why hasn’t all of Humboldt gone over to co-ops? Humboldt was made for this; the whole State, indeed the country, is looking to us to lead. D o you think for a moment that the whole industry isn’t looking to us to lead the way? Like California points the way for the nation, Humboldt points the way for our industry.
Forget the County authorities seemingly slow-walking everything important, forget the State with its oppressive regulations; we, here in Humboldt, may the only group of cannabis people who can effectively think outside the box on overcoming the impediments blocking us from success. Maybe cuz we came to our maturity in the school of hard knocks and perhaps all that time in the illegal market taught us more than just how to hide under a bush? I think we are on the point of becoming formidable; I think we tasted freedom and will not go back.
Now, don’t get me wrong; you can tell that I am partisan, but I know that many warriors, not in Humboldt, have been fighting with us – women, people of color, gays…. And their fight is an inspiration, one that calls for us all to come together and to fight together. We aren’t just fighting for cannabis, no, we are fighting for so much more – in fact, a whole set of values.
And this need for cooperation, this cry for cooperation, points straight toward the “co-op” as the destination we are seeking.
“The cooperative is formed because of the recognition by persons that as individuals they cannot achieve their economic or social goals by working separately. Only by “group-action” and through cooperation, will they be able to achieve common objectives.
Members who use the cooperative own the co-op. Cooperatives are democratically controlled in that a person owning at minimum, one share of stock is entitled to one vote during member meetings.” – Cornell University
Networking and cross-fertilization can lead to sales.
Cooperation can lessen the cost of sales staff, of raw packaging, and processing. Everyone can win. And what better way to move forward than to work with members of your community, working with a common goal.
And did I mention the power of many minds working together toward ends that they all share? I recently learned of “Strategic Doing” which at the moment, I know very little about. But I want to know more. Co-ops, non-profits and community projects can be very much little herding cats, but with less certainty. People! What else is there to say? Well, strategic doing offers a way out of this dilemma. It offers a way for people to work together for common goals. As you might expect, someone has developed a system to implement this and, of course, you can learn quite a bit about it on-line.
Strategic doing “teaches the discipline of collaboration and strategy in open networks” – Ed Morrison, strategicdoing.net
“Collaboration is a process of recombinant innovation among equal partners. Participants convene to create solutions to complex problems and new value through the assets already at hand.” – Ed Morrison
“Open networks” almost perfectly describes doing things up here in Humboldt; that’s how we built a community center, our community schools, a public radio station, a credit union and more – all here in Southern Humboldt. We have three coops or coop-like entities here working forward, UpLift and Salmon Creek Legacy Farms and Willow Creek Alliance.
Get out there and see if co-ops and co-op ideas might suit you. They do. You need to be in a co-op, everyone does.
Do I have to say it? OK, we are stronger together, especially against the standard corporate on slaughter; remember, those big players actually don’t care if you get good pot, no, they just want your money, But you don’t have to put up with that since you can still choice quality pot. Look to the people to make that happen; look to co-ops.
And if you do not support that small and struggling farm, then you will end up smoking corporate swill. It has always been in the customer’s hands.
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Steve Dodge owns Homegrown Farms and partners at Humboldt Growers Network. Besides The Cannabis Show, he is on substack (https://nevergiveup.substack.com/) and Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/home_grown). Well, almost on. Steve hosts the Cannabis Show on www.kmud.org every Monday from 5 to 6 PM. Been in the biz since 1978. His farm comes equipped with Gizmo, the black cat and Leda, the really big Rottweiler.
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