Community Engagement & Building Community Power via Community Composting

Panel Discussion2017 Cultivating Community Composting Workshop

Moderated by: Linda Bilsens of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Composting for Community & Neighborhood Soil Rebuilders Composter Training Program

Community Power & Social Justice• Whereas we can accomplish the most good with the greatest impact when we engage

all members of our communities. • Whereas true community power cannot be cultivated without the full and equal

participation of each member of that community.• Whereas equal participation requires that the distribution of resources is equitable

and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure (aka social justice). • As such, social justice is one of our main tools for building community power through

our composting projects.

Community Engagement + Social Justices = Community Power

This session will:• Explore how community composting can be used as a tool for social justice work,

and therefore, building community power. • Provide examples of how composting projects can help to address inequities in

our current system, while building community inclusion, resiliency and power.

Community Power & Community CompostingCommunity power is a project or approach in which:• Local stakeholders own a majority share of the

project or organization, such as a cooperative, or• Community members or a locally based organization

control decisions related to the projects, or• The majority of the project or organization’s social

and economic benefits are distributed locally.

Community Composting involves a relatively small-scale system in which material is converted into compost within a local community. Community composting keeps the process and product as local as possible while engaging the community through participation and education.

Corinne Coe of Terra Nova Compost (Atlanta)

Sophia Hosain of Real Food Farm (Baltimore)

Valerie Onifade of Howard University Compost Cooperative (Washington,

D.C.)

Amy Freeman of edible flint (Flint, MI)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4j48vyWcrs

Renee Wallace of Food Plus Detroit (Detroit)

Pictures from Amy Freeman of edible flint and Women in Agriculture Development Center in Flint, MI

Lor Holmes of CERO (Boston area)

Michael Martinez of LA Compost (LA)