Going local in midcoast Maine
by Holly Lyman Antolini

"Self-reliance, appearing initially in the Bible and given a distinctly American spin by Henry David Thoreau … has many positive connotations. It suggests personal responsibility, respect for others, and harmony with nature. And the addition of the word ‘community’ to self-reliance underscores that the ultimate objective is a social and caring one. As Neil Seldman of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance emphasizes, all people within a community should be enabled and empowered."

– Michael Shuman, Going Local: Creating Self-reliant Communities in a Global Age (The Free Press, 1998)

Katya Bezberodko leaned forward when her turn came to share why she – an 18-year-old headed to college in the fall – was interested in spending every other Tuesday evening of the summer at the Rockland Public Library discussing the local economy in midcoast Maine with a motley collection of citizens ranging from her age up to their 70s. "Contrary to some people’s expectations, young people like me are interested in these issues and looking to make change effectively," she shared. "This discussion gives me hope that I can make a difference in conditions in my home community. Look at the hundreds of jobs we’re losing in this community with the closing of the Nautica stockroom over on Camden Street! Nautica is not exactly a local business, so what do they care what becomes of those workers? But I do! And when I look around this room and see how this group of citizens is studying hard and making concrete plans to stimulate our local economy, I feel inspired. Reading this book," Katya thumped the volume in her hands, "I’ve decided, this summer, to major in economics!"

The book is what started us off. It was in the early spring – "mud season" in Maine – and "the small voice ministry" dinner had been small again: just Matt Prindiville (a junior at the University of Maine Farmington in political science) and me, an Episcopal priest and organic gardener. We’d been down to the prayer house on the St. George River for silent meditation. Then we’d prepared and consumed a large amount of home-grown bean gumbo. As we often did, we had spent the whole meal in passionate inquiry about how we could personally contribute to the well-being of our local community – a cluster of small towns around the city of Rockland midway up the coast of Maine. Recently the Wal-Mart in the only strip mall in the Rockland area had attempted to super-size itself. But the community had organized and fought back, shutting the huge store out using a city ordinance limiting square footage. In the wake of that battle, however, the city council had changed the zoning restriction and no sooner had Wal-Mart given up than Home Depot had colonized the same lot. The community group was helpless to combat it. As Matt and I moseyed to the front door at evening’s end, we were lamenting the impact the new national big-box hardware store was going to have on the four healthy local hardware retailers and one statewide hardware store already thriving in our neighborhood.

"Our building dollars will be headed straight out of the state," Matt sighed, when his eye fell on the book, Michael H. Shuman’s Going Local: Creating Self-reliant Communities in a Global Age, on my shelf. "Hey," he said, "That looks interesting; have you read it? What did you think?" Chagrined, I admitted that I’d bought it the previous fall after a seminar on environmental economics but that, these many months later, it remained unread, victim of my "economics allergy."

"Tell you what," Matt challenged me, "I’ll read it if you’ll read it!"

He took the book and a few days later, called me in excitement and suggested, "You know, this book is SO practical and clear! I wonder, if we held a book discussion, say, at the local library, whether we could get a group together that would want to tackle an actual project to help grow the local economy in Rockland!?"

We were off and running. A few posters and an article in the local paper later, our group had assembled, meeting every other Tuesday night for two hours all summer, wrestling our way through "economics 101" with the help of the highly approachable Shuman book and a pile of home-baked cookies. Using a "study circle" format, in which the group self-manages its discussion with no "expert" in charge – with Matt and me as nominal convenors, facilitators, and publicists – we addressed three broad questions:

In the rush toward globalization, does our economy in midcoast Maine still serve the best interests of our local community? What helps? What hinders?

As consumers, are we investing in our own community well-being?

Do we know where our money is going when it leaves our pockets, and how it’s being used when it gets there?

We constrained ourselves to apply our learnings as we went to what shared knowledge we could glean from the disparate group about the specifics of our rural fishing and tourist economy. Periodically, we had to re-collect ourselves, as we had a tendency to start ranging over the full scope of the national and global economics, speaking in generalities. As group member Mike Ray, a Green Party activist, carpenter, and Registered Maine Guide, reminded us one night, "This group is not anti-growth; we’re not even unilaterally anti-global growth. We’re just highly pro-LOCAL growth, because local growth supports a diversified and strong local community. Not only that, it enables us to have a real impact in shaping that growth responsibly from an environmental and human standpoint."

We found the discipline of staying locally focused productive. It kept us concrete and practical, and moved us toward one of our original goals: to discern a specific piece of work for us to tackle to stimulate the "economic multiplier" for local economic growth.

Moreover, our disciplined local focus precipitated a decision to encourage group members to invite "speakers," people active in the local community – legislators, non-profit activists, local business owners, those pursuing local economic development – to join our discussions. One speaker, Scott Tilton, owner of Weskeag River Shellfish Farms, is building his aquaculture business locally, funded entirely by family and neighbors’ investment. He also runs the local Fishing Industry Retraining Project in Rockland, which provides education programs to retrain fishermen forced out of their trade by tighter regulation aimed at preventing overfishing.

Another speaker, Susan Greene, is launching a Time Dollar program through the Coastal Community Action Program. Funded by VISTA, Susan has a year’s stipend to help Rockland create a barter exchange system whereby individuals can offer skills and products in return for non-currency "time dollars," which in turn can then be exchanged for services from other participants in the program. "Such local-currency programs," Susan explained, "create healthy communities by connecting neighbors and building trusting relationships. You need your floor sanded; you can offer piano lessons. Maybe the floor sander doesn’t care to play the piano, but needs his photos developed. The photo developer is due for some dentistry, and the dentist is the one who’s looking to learn to play piano! Each "purchases" the desired service with "time dollars" they’ve earned by offering their OWN services to others. You serve your OWN needs and those of others. There’s value in reciprocity; you build social capital in the process."

Still other speakers have acquainted us with a myriad of possibilities. Stefan Pakulski, a candidate for state senate, described the potential for communal composting using organic waste from a local corporation. Ron Huber of the non-profit Penobscot Bay Watch proposed an environmentally and economically advantageous integrated resource management of the Penobscot Bay. He also described a community networking effort that succeeded in preventing the building of a marina which would have interfered with the local fishing industry. Kristina King, local columnist, merchandiser, and market grower of fruits and vegetables, introduced us to the Slow Food Movement, which encourages diners to cook slowly and from scratch at home and to enjoy restaurants that feature locally grown and individually prepared foods, rather than grabbing their meals at national fast-food outlets.

Shaped by this twice-monthly conversation, we gradually found ourselves paying increasing attention to where our own consumer dollars were going and "mapping" sources for locally grown foods and locally made products. Little by little, a manageable project idea began to emerge from our conversations and consultations. The summer drew to a close and we dispatched Katya and Matt back to college with our blessings. But the "Going Local" group – charged with energy and still growing – is ready to push on into the fall with a new commitment: to produce a brochure and online directory of locally owned and operated businesses in Knox County, complete with maps and descriptions to guide consumers to buy locally.

We’re also aware of our potential to mobilize for advocacy if need be. That big-box Home Depot is still under discussion on the development horizon, and we know that we are becoming an informed citizenry, ready to speak knowledgeably and convincingly about the pros and cons of the different growth prospects in our small city.