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<P>Dear Open Space Folks,</P>
<P>We just got home from an Open Space on "Food & Community" held here in
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (see below for the invitation text). We had about 11
people. My partner opened and held the space and I posted a topic and
participated as a convenor. So, my question to all of you is more as a convenor
than as a facilitator.</P>
<P>The topic I cared enough about the post was: <EM><STRONG>"Connecting rural
producers and urban consumers". </STRONG></EM>Another person posted a topic that
read: "<EM><STRONG>Local Food: Big chain grocery stores will not use small local
producers; New inspection regulations threaten local butchers/markets;
Institutional food buying sends $10 million out of the province."
</STRONG></EM>I’m not sure why (maybe a desire to connect), but I agreed when
the other convenor suggested that the two topics could be included in one
group.</P>
<P>This small group was the last to meet and involved six people. It was
clear very quickly that the other convenor only wanted to talk about and
analyze the problems of local food production and discuss how to influence
government policy; whereas I wanted to talk about how to (re)connect urban
consumers with local rural producers in a grassroots way. I feel very strongly
that this is where I can have an impact on the food & community connection.
That’s why I posted the topic in the way I did.</P>
<P>The discussion turned toward an analysis of the problem for the first part
and I almost left, because I found the discussion downright depressing and it
wasn’t about the topic I had posted. Then, others in the group, including me,
helped turn the discussion toward how to connect local producers and consumers.
I tried to be respectful toward the other person’s concerns, but I just don’t
share them. </P>
<P>Has anyone of you been in this kind of situation? I wonder in hindsight
(being 20/20) if I made a mistake in agreeing to put the two topics together. As
a convenor, perhaps I should have stated that there were two different topics
and we should have two different groups. At the end of our small group, the
other convenor stayed until everyone else was gone and told me that she felt
"dismissed" (by me? by the group? I don’t know...). For the entire meeting, the
other participant was completely focussed on the negative. Is she a variety of
space invader? Or just someone with a different approach? Is there a more
elegant way to resolve this kind of problem? I felt like she was trying to draw
me into an "I’m right, you’re wrong" kind of discussion. I always thought that
one of the virtues of Open Space is that it supports people connecting with
others who care about similar things.</P>
<P>In short, I don’t feel like I dealt with this well and would appreciate any
wisdom you would like to share...</P></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><FONT color=#ff00ff face=Arial>wendy</FONT></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><FONT color=#ff00ff face=Arial>homegrown
wisdom</FONT></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#ff00ff face=Arial><STRONG><EM>nova
scotia</EM></STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT color=#0000ff>Text to invitation to an Open Space on "Food &
Community"</FONT></P></FONT><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">
<P><FONT color=#0000ff>"It’s impossible to separate food and community. Some of
our fondest memories are about times when we gathered with family and friends to
share a meal. There are many people in our communities who are involved in
community kitchens, church and community suppers, community gardens and food
banks. Some of us go to the farmers’ markets every weekend and find food and
community there. Some of us purchase food through co-ops or directly from local
farmers. Some of us are producers of food, all of us are consumers.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#0000ff>We all have to eat. We all have resources that can be
shared — our cooking ability, our gardening ability, or our capacity to organize
— that can help us connect food and community. How can we use food as a way to
celebrate our sense of community? How can food connect farm folk with city folk?
What role can food play in developing relationships of care with each other?
Join us in an Open Space* discussion about "Issues & Opportunities related
to Food & Community".</FONT></P><FONT color=#0000ff>
<P>*Open Space is a delightful, useful tool for any group of people who are
really interested in exploring something that they all care deeply
about.</FONT><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">"</P></FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>