In Business, Creating Sustainable Enterprises & Communities

DEFEATING GLOBALIZATION

In Business, September-October, 2005, Vol. 27, No. 5, p. 31

SUSTAINABLE COMMERCE

Robert F. Young

YOU DON'T HAVE to go far to hear critiques of the corporate global economy. The message is redundant and ubiquitous: “It destroys the environment, oppresses workers, undermines indigenous cultures, limits democracy, and annihilates local economies.” From independent political films to Alternative Radio, the punch line is the same: it is cruel and corrupt and harms people and the environment.
As insightful and entertaining as these broadsides are, when the credits roll and the speakers leave the stage, the question still remains - what's the alternative? If “another world is possible,” then what does it look like and how do we get there?
The key to answering the last question lies in understanding the power and weakness of the global economy. The last time I was in India, I gained an insight in this regard. Watching an oxen pull a cart down a city street, I saw an impressive technology: it could be produced locally from local materials, its fuel could be produced locally, its waste product could be used as fuel or soil amendment, skill levels to repair it were relatively low, and when it was beyond use it could be recycled completely within the local economy. Its one drawback - it was slow.
A short moment later, a truck rolled by. As a technology, it was a disaster: it was imported, its spare parts and fuel were imported, its waste products were pollutants and toxins, skill levels to repair it were relatively high and when it was beyond use, some could be recycled but much of it remained toxic and required landfilling. But it had one great advantage - it was fast.
What this scenario explained was that the key factor in the competitive, global economy was speed. Speed trumped every other consideration. No matter the length of factors that sat in favor of the oxen, speed defeated them all. No matter the length of indictments against the truck, speed redeemed them all. Speed is the essence, heart and soul of the global economy.
Any strategy that would seek to take on corporate globalization, and live, would have to overcome this factor, but how? Outstripping the global economy in speed would require massive investments of capital for advantages that competition would insure were only short lived. What then could a sustainable approach be to defeating this fundamental and powerful element of the globalized economy? The answer lies in mathematics.
As none of us remember from high school, the mathematical formula for speed is: S=d/t meaning Speed equals distance divided by time. In order to make Speed irrelevant, it must be reduced to zero. In order to do this, the factor for distance must be reduced (as nearly as possible) to zero. Thus 0/t = 0. By eliminating, or radically reducing, distance as a factor, the advantage of speed can be eliminated; the keystone to the strength of the global economy can be brought to level ground.

REAL TIME TEST IN RURAL NEW YORK
We decided to test this theory in real time at our farm in rural New York. Abandoning our previous business strategy of competing with other organic farms in the region to sell produce in the “enlightened” town nearby, we drew a radius 10 miles around the farm. Checking statistics on-line from the Department of Agriculture and the Census, we estimated (conservatively) that the families within that circle spent a minimum of $300,000 on produce during the local growing season.
We developed an initial marketing plan to approach the local supermarket, restaurants, roadhouses, and began a local CSA. To make contact with our markets, we made cold calls, attended the local business fair in the gym of the high school, got a story on the front page of the local weekly and began attending civic events.
What we found worked. Far from being the “rednecks” that people from the “enlightened” town had labeled them as, our neighbors were enthusiastic and educated about the idea of fresh organic food. We have been able to keep prices low. Pursuing such an intimate market radius has allowed us to build social capital with our clients. Necessity for marketing, packaging, and storage costs. Transportation costs have been eliminated. As a result, a very high percentage of what we make is retained by the cooperative of workers running the farm.
Furthermore, the cash flow that we have made from the local economy has been recycled back to it as we purchase goods and services from our neighbors. This multiplies the benefit of our operation to the local economy. Dollars that once fled the community for California or Ecuador now circulate two, three, and four times in town before leaving.
The greatest satisfaction, in addition to helping feed our community, is feeling that we are exploring a sustainable business model that can begin to compete against the global market place. In the meantime, the corporate global economy, plagued by war, uncertainty, rising fuel prices, and declining product quality will continue to weaken. The end result may prove that another world is indeed quite possible.

Robert F. Young is codirector of the Sustainable Business Alliance and runs an organic farm in New York State.Co. to push the transition.