Addison County Relocalization Network
If there's one thing to be said for Jonathan Corcoran, it's that he's a man of action – when he wasn't helping to run the Addison County Green Energy Expo, briefing keynote speakers, or editing the comprehensive Vision 2020 report, he was manning the booth for the Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN) which is where he was gracious enough to tell me a little more about ACORN.
ACORN was founded three years ago by the same people who founded the Vermont Biofuels Association. After learning more about peak oil, there was a sense of urgency. With the current global finance setup, they saw a “global train wreck” in the works. ACORN was focused on getting communities to live locally: local food from local farmers, local work (less lengthy commutes), and local commerce. The network has set up an “ACORN bucks” gift certificate accepted at local merchants, aimed at keeping dollars in the community.
ACORN aims at being an incubator for other projects, as well. For example, they've set up their own energy co-op, and sought out and located a pellet mill for biomass energy production. They've also worked extensively with the localvore movement, and have set up an online farmer's market, as well as an acutal winter market. Their Tour de Farms is a bike tour of the farms who supply much of the area's produce.
The Vision 2020 report itself was an undertaking by the Addison County Conservation Congress to create a comprehensive plan to prepare for the future after peak oil. It was created as a community effort as a product of several workshops focusing on specific issues, such as transportation or the arts, which also evolved as part of an online wiki (a website that anyone can add to or edit.) It was meant to inspire locals to take action and to give them a voice in how their communities would rise to meet this upcoming challenge.
Despite the size of these challenges, Corcoran emphasized the positives of rebuilding a community in a true sense. “There's enormous human capital out there,” he noted. By utilising the existing knowledge of people in the community, ACORN is getting people back in touch with their neighbors, and with the skills that may have been forgotten in a convenience-driven world by teacher-driven classes lead by ordinary people. He emphasized that ACORN is a learning organization, focused on responding and adapting to the current situation. As Corcoran mentioned, the beauty is in rebuilding the local community that may have been lost, and that's definitely finding the positive opportunity in a tough situation.
To read more about ACORN's many activities, head to www.acornvt.org.
Case Study by Julia Klas, Vermont Climate Witness Intern
