Welcome, and thank you for your interest to learn more about the
Circular Economy Incubator.
Cultivating Community Through Cooperative Action
Welcome to a New Model for Food Security and Local Economy
Imagine, for a moment, a future where healthy, organic food is more easily accessible in our community, where our local farmers thrive growing nutritious food using sustainable methods, and where collaboration and mutual support strengthen our local economy.
This is the future we’re working to cultivate with our new project: an innovative community food system designed to empower our local economy while ensuring the ecological and social well-being of our region.
How It Works
At the heart of this project is our buyers’ club. This allows us to combine our collective purchasing power to get healthy foods and organic products at prices equal to or lower than you’d find at the supermarket but delivered closer to home.
It’s actually quite simple:
- Each month, members can place orders through our easy-to-use website.
- We combine all these orders and purchase them in bulk from distributors and local producers.
- We then distribute this food to various convenient pickup points throughout our region, saving members money, time, and undesirable trips to town for staple goods.
This system not only saves members time and money, but it also reduces waste and makes healthy food more accessible to everyone.
But this is just the beginning. Our long-term aim is to create a comprehensive regional food supply ecosystem.
The idea is to harness a percentage of the value that we’re currently sending to supermarkets every month and return that value to the community by replacing those items with equivalents produced locally.
We use the data collected from purchases made through the buying club to give market security to local producers. In doing so, we open various economic opportunities that grow over time. The design puts the future of the region’s food security in the hands of a local cooperative of producers and consumers.
We will recover thousands of dollars of value each month that is currently being spent on products that take our money out of the community and begin circulating that money within the community, increasing our collective wealth each month while giving more local landowners financial incentives to transition to organics and more producers of value-added products support in getting their products certified with the Ministry of Health and benefit from broader distribution.
With this infrastructure in place, many additional community-resilience enterprises will have a foundation to be built from.
Here are some ways we plan to do this:
Supporting Local Farmers:
We’ll work with farmers in the region to help them transition to organic methods. By providing a guaranteed market for their produce, determined by food already being purchased through the buying club, we can give farmers the security they need to make this change. This incentivizes the restoration of the local environment while producing healthier food for our community.
We have permaculturists and other regenerative land management specialists on hand, ready to create education programs and provide other needed support and guidance.
Creating Economic Opportunities:
We’ll establish a cooperative to produce value-added foods, such as sauces, jams, dehydrated fruits and herbs, and other products made with local organic or transition-to-organic ingredients.
One function of the coop is to help more producers get their products certified by the Ministry of Health. The cooperative will provide access to a certified kitchen that can be rented out by the hour. This will create new entrepreneurial opportunities and help keep more of our money circulating in the local economy.
Reducing Waste:
The producers’ coop will implement a standardized, reusable packaging system and offer a discount on future purchases for returning jars and other containers that can be washed, sterilized, and reused.
This will significantly reduce packaging waste in our region, keeping that value circulating as a reusable resource in the community, instead of leaving in the form of expensive garbage.
Reusing is much more efficient than recycling. However, in this plan, we’ll also create solutions for containers that can’t be reused by recycling them locally.
Community Education:
We’ll organize workshops and events to educate community members about nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and entrepreneurship. This will help cultivate a culture of well-being, environmental awareness, and opportunity in our communities.
Why It Matters
This project is about more than just food. It’s about creating a stronger, healthier, more sustainable community. Here are some reasons why we believe this project is crucial for our future:
Community Health:
By making organic and nutrient-rich whole foods more accessible and affordable, we can improve the overall health of our community. This can lead to a better quality of life and lower healthcare costs in the long run.
Environmental Sustainability:
By supporting organic farming and reducing waste, we’re helping to protect our beautiful natural environment for future generations.
Economic Resilience:
By strengthening our local food economy, we become less dependent on imports and more resilient to global economic disruptions.
Cultural Preservation:
By supporting local farmers and food traditions, we’re helping to preserve Costa Rica’s rich agricultural heritage.
Community Cultivation:
This project will create more opportunities for community members to connect, collaborate, and work together towards common goals.
How You Can Get Involved
We’re excited to launch this project, and we want our whole community to be a part of it. Here are some ways you can get involved:
Join the Buyers’ Club: By doing your grocery shopping through our club, you’ll be able to access healthy food at or below market prices while supporting this larger project. Sign up for the CEI newsletter to stay informed of our progress and launch date. You may do so at https://regenerationnationcr.com/cei/.
Become a Producer: If you’re a farmer or are interested in producing value-added foods, we’d love to work with you. Email jason@regenerationnationcr.com.
Volunteer: We’ll need help with everything from order coordination to fundraising to community education and other events. Your time and skills can make a big difference. Send an email to jason@regenerationnationcr.com.
Spread the Word: Tell your friends and neighbors about this project. The more of us there are, the stronger our impact will be. Send folks to https://regenerationnationcr.com/cei/ so they can leave their email address to receive updates about the project.
Share Your Ideas: We want this project to reflect the needs and wants of our community. Your ideas and feedback are invaluable. Email jason@regenerationnationcr.com.
Become an Investor: If you’re as motivated to bring this project to life as we are, email jason@regenerationnationcr.com to receive an investor package with more details.
Join the Team: This vision will require many hearts, minds, and bodies behind its realization. If you would like to join us on an administrative level, please email jason@regenerationnationcr.com describing your skills, interests, and ideas. Some initial roles we need to be filled include:
- Financial Manager
- Marketing and Community Outreach Specialist
- Technology and Systems Manager
- Supplier and Producer Relations Coordinator
- Operations Manager
- Customer Service Representative
- Warehouse and Logistics Coordinator
- Quality Control Specialist
- Bilingual Communication Specialist
- Grant Writer and Fundraising Specialist
- Farmer Education and Support Coordinator
- Value-Added Product Development Specialist
- Community Kitchen Manager
- Sustainability Initiatives Coordinator
- Food Processing and Value Chain Specialist
- Cooperative Development Specialist
- Cultural Integration Facilitator
Together, we can create a food system that nourishes our community and our environment on multiple levels. Let’s reimagine how we produce, distribute, and consume food. It’s time to create a healthier, more sustainable, and more prosperous future for everyone in our community.
What role will you play?
