On Thursday, September 5th Sunnyside Shared hosted their first Garden Harvest Swap.Organized
by Kate Stenson of Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Assoc., Jordan Brown
of Tiny Plots and myself, the purpose of the event was to create a
lively, non-monetized space where self-produced goods could be exchanged
for other people's goods. Examples of the incredible goods that were
exchanged at our Harvest Swap ranged from homeade ale
to homemade deodorant and lip-balm
to homemade jams, pumpkins, kale, quilts...
Once
all the swappers' goods were registered, the swappers had a chance to
walk around a examine the other goods and place their offers. The
process works similarly to a silent auction; however, instead of writing
a cash amount down, the swapper writes what goods they'd like to swap
for the desired good. For example, when I saw that really tasty,
homemade, ice-cream Kate made, I knew I had to write down the salad
dressing and micro-greens I'd brought in a attempt to acquire that
delicious banana chocolate heaven.
While all the offers were
happening, we also held a potluck so swappers wouldn't make irrational
trades due to hungry stomachs. The food was amazing. We even rolled a
BBQ so Jordan could roast a Boneless Shoulder Pork Roast from Prairie Gold Pastured Meats.
After
all the offers had been made, the swapping began. Initially, the plan
was to have the silent auction style offering permit a less chaotic
exchange, but entropy took over, and people seemed more excited for a
free-for-all exchange. If anything, the papers where people had written
their offers allowed the swappers an idea of how desirable their goods
were, but perhaps, once the chaos took over, they were rendered
extraneous. I did manage to get that ice-cream, some spiced apricot
preserve and also, some diabolical coconut chocolate. Why did I end up
with so much sugar? No matter. It went off amazingly. With 25 swappers
in attendance, plus ten people who came for the pot-luck, Sunnyside
Shared's first Harvest Swap Meet was certainly a success.
I think it is safe to say that such exchanges can be deemed necessary in
our hyper-consumptive, monetized world. So many of us put hours of
labour into goods which are valueless in the marketplace economy. Yet we
know how much value they really hold, and it's isn't quantifiable with
dollar bills or stocks, or at least, it doesn't need to be. Furthermore,
those homemade goods often result in a surplus of one item, which
you've mastered, but don't provide other goods which require different
mastery. By hosting Harvest Swaps, those goods which you've too much of
can be exchanged for goods you really want. And all the while you're
exchanging, you're building relations with others and will likely be
able to exchange on your own time. Suddenly, you're incredibly rich, and
not because you've got a stack of dollar bills, but because you're
connected to incredible people who are all producing desirable,
satisfying, necessary goods. I hope we can have a lot more of these. I
hope if you didn't make this one, that you'll make the next.
