February 19, 2007
 
Dear Neighbours,
 
     I am compelled to write this letter in  response to  recent community meetings on Thetis, specifically the Community Fund meeting and the community viewing of 'An Inconvenient Truth'.  I must say I am thrilled to have joined a community  that actively and directly supports it's members (fauna, flora, terra, aqua!) as a whole; in health, education, ecological stewardship, and local economic sustainability.  It is refreshing and invigorating to witness the dynamic when people are eagar to dialogue into the night hours about ways in which we might individually and collectively address pressing environmental,  systemic social and economic issues on a local, bio-regional, provincial, national, and, ultimately, global scale.  
 
     I don't speak well in meetings, particularly when the topic is one I am passionate about.  I get a little jittery and over-come.  I want to share with the community some of our family's plans because I think they are relevant to the current 'stirring for action'.  As some of you may know, my partner Grant and I share a background in horticultural and agricultural studies, with a self-directed focus on sustainable food production and permaculture.  During my studies I compiled a business plan to develop a small scale organic Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) farm.  A CSA is a model of local sustainable food production that involves people commiting as 'members' into the farm for a growing season.  The farm delivers 'boxes' of local vegetables and fruit to members, ususally weekly.  It's about as direct as food supply gets, if you're not growing your own.  When we chanced across Thetis (as we looked for appropriate places to buy land and put down roots) it was clear to me that Thetis island was the perfect place for a CSA, as it  small has natural borders (the ocean!) in a temperate (at least for now) climate that could produce some degree of food in all seasons.   So a small scale organic farm, hopefully following the CSA model (depending on community interest), is what we are working towards.   
 
     I also have a educational background in holistic nutrition (obviously food is very important to me!) and I have plans to eventually put together a virtual store.  My concept is to offer a selection whole foods products (items we cannot produce in quantity here) that will undergo a nutritional, environmental, ethical trade and social impact (ie working conditions, child labour, etc) evaluation prior to being offered.  Wholesale orders can then be made, improving the efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of food transportation  to Thetis Island.  These items could be added to a CSA members box when ordered.
 
     In the meantime we would like to start to offer a fruit and veggie waste collection service for those who cannot or don't want to compost their waste.  This alone will often cut down a households' waste by 1/3, and the environmental and economical benefits of reducing the transportation of waste off of Thetis to Cache Creek are obvious.  Hopefully this will get off the ground in late spring or early summer--we'll keep you posted.
 
     I would really value the everyone's feed back to these ideas.  Please don't hesitate to approach Grant or myself about our plans when we happen to meet around the island.   Give us a call or send us an email!  We would appreciate your input!  
 
     Be good to yourselves and each other! Keep well!
 
     Sincerely,
 
     Stephanie Cottell
     stephanie_cottell@gmail.com
     709-4683