“The Permaculture Potluck Cafe” – “New Myth #53”
by Willi Paul, NewMythologist.com
A concerted grassroots effort with the potential for peaceful solutions is taking root through the spread of permaculture, an Earth-centered expression of the spiritual practice of yoga.
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A few years ago, Dee Dee’s organic restaurant went under in downtown Richmond - an extravagance that too few could afford during the2021 infrastructure wars. But today she still has her house, a garden and a bountiful spirit to match.
She walks the neighborhood with a few invitations on long lost and found recycled printer paper, hawking a “transition” idea about sharing and love around her dinner table.
The Permaculture Potluck Cafe, as the flyer reads, is part barter, part cooking class, but mostly a great inducement to cook, eat and share stories with her neighbors.
It’s the end of the restaurant as we knew it and the start of the neighborhood cafe.
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As soon as seven invitations turned into seven reservations, Dee Dee had her head count, setting the coming Saturday nite at 5:30 pm for the cafe. A menu is chalked down on her kitchen blackboard; some folks are assigned to mains and others (she knows her neighbors well) get to bring wine.
The weekly Permaculture Potluck Café schedule starts with a weekly food theme:
3:00 – Prep cooking: chopping, sautéing, blending, chit chat!
5:00 – Friends Mingle in
6:00 – Dinner starts
8:00 – Dessert with Story Hour
9:00 – Leftovers, recipe exchange and hugs good bye
9:15 – Clean-up and compost
Folks see the Cafe has a new neighborhood sharing ritual; a key local not-for-profit translation that brings the best of the old restaurant vibe back to families around the block.
Dee Dee’s weekly donation bowl is always full with offers to help in her garden and local currency.
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