What comes to mind when you think of Mutual Aid? Maybe such words as support, selflessness, grass-roots, community or love. Over the past few years we have seen our community come together in remarkable ways. Mutual aid lives at the root of so many of our actions. We have seen neighborhood initiatives, caremongering, meal delivery, volunteering, donating, sharing, collaborating and so much more to meet the needs of everyone in times of crisis. These actions come from a heart-centered place, a place that brings connection and mutual support into what we do. What does this mean as we continue on in the times we are living in?
As described by Dean Spade, author of Mutual Aid:
“Mutual aid work plays an immediate role in helping us get through crises, but it also has the potential to build the skills and capacities we need for an entirely new way of living at a moment when we must transform our society…”
Mutual aid holds the potential to transform ourselves and our communities. When work is heart-centered, we are able to flourish in new ways. When our actions are taken out of love, and not bound by the limitations of our systems remarkable things can happen.
One of our seven values at the Kamloops Food Policy Council encompasses Food Commons: the revitalization of local food assets and the sharing economy. The Butler Urban Farm is an example of a food common in our community. An intentional space for growing, mutual exchange and sharing. We welcome folks to come visit the farm in the Spring, you can learn about organic and regenerative growing methods and access to free fresh produce!
In February, Kamloops Food Policy Council hosted our bi-monthly network meeting on mutual aid in our community. We collaboratively defined mutual aid and explored topics of interest. Some of these topics include how to organize mutual aid, how to build connections through mutual aid and how to bring mutual aid to emergency food aid.
Interested in continuing the conversation on mutual aid? You can! Kamloops Food Policy Council is excited to announce our first virtual Book Club! We will be meeting bi-monthly on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 5:30pm starting on March 2nd. This month we will be reading Mutual Aid by Dane Spade. We welcome anyone to join (even if you don’t have time to read the book)! A network member has generously donated copies of the book available for pick up, copies can also be found online (e-book) or ordered online. Register online for the book club by visiting our Book Club blog post on our website: kamloopsfoodpolicy council.com/kfpc-book-club/.
