Sustainable Alachua County

We are quickly approaching our one-year anniversary, which marks the re-emergence of Sustainable Alachua County as an active organization in the community. We’ve spent the last year attempting to reform an organization that will effectively support, and help to coordinate,  sustainability efforts throughout the county. And though in some ways it feels like we are just getting started, we’ve accomplished a lot over the past year.

I’d say that one of the most exciting developments is this website itself. We are still just learning the ropes and capabilities of the site, working on getting members of the community signed on, and smoothing out the technical bumps, but we know how incredibly amazing the powers of communication can be. This site allows us to share our ideas and visions, collaborate, and support each other in our efforts to build a more sustainable community on a daily basis.

During our most recent Board Meeting, we board members had an opportunity to look back at our efforts over the course of the year and to begin strategizing for what’s upcoming. We were able to discuss our successes and our shortcomings. Most of our success has been in the facilitation of collaborative efforts and so we talked about how important it is to continue to bring people together – so that we can help to make connections, and strengthen the intricate web that binds us as a community.

We’ve got the Food Working Group which has come together, quite organically, over the course of the last many months. This group is made up of a variety of individuals and organizations, independent businesses, farmers, gardeners, advocates and policy makers. We meet roughly once a month to provide updates on current projects that fall under the general topic of local food issues, to brainstorm ways in which we can work more collaboratively, and to work cooperatively to build a more robust local food system. Since this group has formed, we’ve been witness to the beginnings of fruitful collaborations. Most recently, we’ve seen the development of a local community kitchen initiative and the receipt of a grant for a Buy Local Food Campaign. We hope that we’ll see more of these working groups emerge this year.

And we have lots of exciting, inspiring events to look forward to. We are planning a Sustainability Summit sometime in February and are hoping to be involved in Earth Day events with the Office of Sustainabilty at the University of Florida. We also hope to contribute to the Florida Food Summit in mid-April. More on all these things later…

We sincerely hope to continue to translate the collective wants and needs we have for a more sustainable community into action. But we need your help! Take the time to contact us and get involved.

Liz N.