Be Careful What You Ask For...You Might Get It

Perhaps the Sustainable Glasgow members are guilty of not heeding this ages old advice. We have asked the City of Glasgow for their support of our announced projects for 2009, and we got it. At a recent meeting of the Glasgow Common Council, Dr. Travis did a great job explaining who we are and what we are and just what we want to accomplish for our neighbors this year. After his presentation, the Council voted unanimously to back our movement.

Just to remind everyone, our two big initiatives for 2009 are the establishment of the Bounty of the Barrens Market at the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center, and the establishment of a Garden Plot Project on yet to be determined public property. Most of our efforts since the meeting have centered on the establishment of the market. Discussions with the folks who govern the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center are ongoing and we are quite optimistic that we will soon have a deal worked out with them which will allow us to use the outstanding facilities there to establish a Saturday market which should commence around the first week of June.

Of course, while we are dreaming, we decided to dream big. Of course we hope to convince a large number of local producers to populate our Bounty of the Barrens Market. We hope those producers will bring a wide variety of local foods to our market on Saturdays and we hope that some of them will hire some local people in that endeavor and we hope they will buy equipment, seeds, fertilizer, etc. at a local store. In this fashion we hope to bring hope and business to local establishments who have been rocked by the faulted economy through no fault of their own. But there is more.

We also want these Saturdays to be festive events. We want the BOTB market Saturdays to include great local food and also great local talent. We want to feature local musicians to entertain folks as they shop. We want to feature cooking demonstrations and cooking classes that will help locals understand how to prepare the bounty which will be available at the market. We want the market to become a destination which will give locals a reason to stay in Glasgow on those Saturdays and also give them a reason to spend the money they might otherwise spend on gasoline to drive to a neighboring community, right here at a local restaurant or retail store.

We want all of these things, and we should be able to provide all of this, if we get your help. Right now the Sustainable Glasgow team is a bit small for the dreams we have. Are you a dreamer too? If so, we certainly could use you and your friends to pitch in with us to achieve these things that we have asked for. It appears that local government is going to give us a great chance to start small and grow an asset for our community that may become a very big thing. IF you just sit back and watch, you might have a front row seat for our failure. IF you pitch in with us, together we can begin to build the resilient and sustainable economy we all dream of.

We need your help, your ideas, your membership, and your participation.