One of my New Year’s resolutions is to increase my positive impact on my community and the planet, through looking at the second- and third-degree benefits or harm my decisions, choices and purchases have on the world. I am already a bit confronted by how unconscious I can be at times.
I recently watched an interview—hosted by our new German investors—called Regenerate. They interviewed Otto Scharmer, who is a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, and co-founder of the Presencing Institute. Otto and his wife, Katrin Kauffer, are also founding members of Farmers To You, a relationship that began when all of our children went to the Lexington Waldorf school together. His writing and speaking have strongly inspired me.
Otto’s work at The Sloan School and Presencing Institute deals with shifting our thinking to a holistic view of the world. I especially like his idea of moving from an Ego-system approach to an Eco-Systems approach. It is one that takes our stakeholders and environment into account when making decisions and designing systems to solve our current day problems.
Farmers To You is a great example of just such a system. Your participation and membership, while benefiting you, also brings positive benefits to farmers, food system workers, the environment, and our collective health.
May your new year be filled with opportunities to be part of the change you are seeking in the world. May we all make choices that bring us together, heal our bodies, farms, land and animals and build Eco-systems that usher in a new, more conscious relationship with the Earth.
With Hope and Determination,
Greg
