Professor Lonnie Gamble | LocalEconomy / Joy

Vision: a relocalized Fairfield

All the utilities are owned by the local community as co-ops. The city water comes from local deep wells, governed by the community co-op. Everyone uses rainwater catchments and grey water reuse is encouraged through tax incentives. Centrally located wind turbines provide electricity for the entire population; biomass processors, another local co-op, fuels all the vehicles. Local farms raise enough food to supply all the restaurants, grocery stores and schools. Most homeowners have their own gardens and specialty produce. For every twenty or so producing tracts, certain buildings are designated to house produce coolers, make ready areas and processors for small yield berry, fruit and nut trees. Farmers Market is a weekly event where everyone catches up on the latest news. The central square and the streets leading off it for one block are dedicated to vendor stalls. Farm fresh produce is front and center, with other goods leading off on the side streets. This results in a burgeoning tourist business. Wintertime, its all moved indoors. The traditional First Friday coincides once a month, with music, art and theatrical productions. The majority of the buildings in the downtown area have a business on the street level, and living quarters on the upper level.

At the Heritage Skills Training Center, the traditional crops are researched and expanded through seed saving, with emphasis on greater bio-diversity and natural resiliency. The old-timers teach their skills here, and those with specialty skills such as weaving, looming, spinning, rope or shoemaking are encouraged to teach their skills through the apprentice co-op. The Apprentice Co-op provides the organizational level of this center, which includes artists, potters and textile activities. Young people love to hang out here, watching, learning, soaking up ideas as they watch the masters turn out a chair, or form a clay bowl. They may become apprentices when they find their own interest. There is a small-business incubator, and every family is encouraged to go there to learn a skill or trade for a cottage industry. Larger manufacturing processes take place in a re-claimed warehouse building nearby. The library has also become a center for the community, much as it was in earlier generations. Research is carried on in the computer labs and studies for implementation of new crops, or new ways of using traditional crops. The Resource Mapping Program is centered here, where there is a data base of detailed maps showing topography, soil types, depth to the water table, and depth to bedrock, creeks, low water areas, flood plains and wetland drainage areas. The entire population is involved in making Jefferson County and Fairfield totally independent and self-sustained, and it is centered here in the library research area.

There is a local currency, much like the North Carolina Plenty, which is accepted by every business in town, the city for taxes, and the banks for loan payments. The banks, by the way, are also part of the scene. They are locally owned independent banks, charging no more that 3% in fees to service their products. They are very much a part of local sustainable development.

Every one recycles. Plastic bags are replaced by fabric bags woven from locally grown crops. This process was developed at the Heritage Skills Center. Recyclable areas are designated and people can bring their recyclables and trash and receive food or clothing in exchange if needed. The trash is all sorted out, and usually recycled into some form of fuel.

The schools all emphasize self-reliance, sustainability, and renewables. Children are taught how to participate in the local economy by being with their parents at the markets, then they are encouraged at school to develop their own enterprise. Field trips to the local Heritage Skills Center and the library research lab are common practice. Often times, whole classes will bike to a farm to help in planting, weeding or harvest, especially if it is an elderly couple who may need a little extra help. Through the school, youngsters also participate in the Assistance Co-op, which is called into action in the event of a flood or fire. Individual families receive neighborly help, and even if a new mother needs some chores done around the house, she can call the Assistance Co-op for a contact. This co-op has become a natural way for youngsters to find useful ways to help neighbors and the elderly in small chores around the house and yard.

Health care: Since the expansion of self-reliance includes taking care of one�s individual health, the local clinics and hospital teach the use of traditional plant based medicine. There are classes in all aspects of homeopathy, and natural remedies, and classes where you learn to grow and process the plants needed for the home medicine cabinet. There is a health inspector, who will come to your house at your request to look at your garden and plants and help develop the best mix for your individual use.

Altogether, Jefferson county and Fairfield has become a more gracious place to live, everyone knows and cares about everyone else, and newcomers moving into the town are soon caught up in the atmosphere of abundance and generosity.