Surviving the credit crisis

Certainly not food related but one of the most overheard conversations at the restaurant is this whole credit crisis thing. One of my favourite business authors Douglas Rushkoff has an amazing explanation about the credit crisis, and how it effects you over at boingboing. Interestingly, the reason I bring this to your attention is because of his solution. It's something that we at the Spirit House unwittingly have started to do ourselves inspired by the slow food movement and local harvest. By trying to source and buy from as many local suppliers as possible we stimulate the local economy which helps minimise the effects of the global market - here's a quote from Rushkoff that says it all:

Whatever the case, the best thing you can do to protect yourself and your interests is to make friends. The more we are willing to do for each other on our own terms and for compensation that doesn’t necessarily involve the until-recently-almighty dollar, the less vulnerable we are to the movements of markets that, quite frankly, have nothing to do with us. If you’re sourcing your garlic from your neighbor over the hill instead of the Big Ag conglomerate over the ocean, then shifts in the exchange rate won’t matter much. If you’re using a local currency to pay your mechanic to adjust your brakes, or your chiropractor to adjust your back, then a global liquidity crisis won’t affect your ability to pay for either. If you move to a place because you’re looking for smart people instead of a smart real estate investment, you’re less likely to be suckered by high costs of a “hot” city or neighborhood, and more likely to find the kinds of people willing to serve as a social network, if for no other reason than they’re less busy servicing their mortgages. The more connected you are to the real world, and the more consciously you reject the lure of the speculative ladder, the less of a willing dupe you’ll be in the pyramid scheme that’s in the process of collapsing all around us at this moment. Think small. Buy local. Make friends. Print money. Grow food. Teach children. Learn nutrition. And if you do have money to invest, put it into whatever lets you and your friends do those things.

I like that - get back to community. From Banana blossoms to scallops we try to use local suppliers wherever we can (which has inspired the theme for our next cook book). We use our local hardware store for all our garden and maintenance supplies and we bank here in Yandina. Building, maintenance and repair work is given to friends or friends of friends rather than the lowest quote. I'm not saying we're changing the world, but there's something neat about being able to speak to the person who grows your food.