A diverse local community that invests in the land it relies on in order to provision good food, build ecological diversity and resilience, protect water quality, and welcome farmers into stable livelihoods.
VISION
The Farmers Land Investment Cooperative exists to purchase farmland in and around Winneshiek County and transition it to new land stewards, and to invest in the development of local farm and food businesses.
MISSION
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Gather an engaged membership with the capacity to make thoughtful, complex, long-term decisions, with a commitment to involving diverse people. We understand that the work of restoring land and culture is urgently needed now, and we also understand that the work is slow as growing trees and will take generations of steady commitment to the cause. Generational work must be holistic and imbued with culture.
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Provide a vehicle for investing money locally that provides community-based returns. Serve as a blend of investment and the gift economy.
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Ecological stewardship means supporting farmers who produce healthy food, build ecological diversity and soil vitality, and protect water quality. We seek to build a rural community where the ratio of farmers to acres is larger than it is now; where farms operate on an appropriate scale that supports biodiversity and cultural vibrancy.
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Acquire farmland that would otherwise be subject to consolidation or neglect, and transition it to new farmers and resilient ecologies.
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We value complex webs of interrelatedness, where individuals can occupy distinct niches and contribute to a resilient whole. We value diversity in human community, in the soil, and in the ecosystems that we inhabit. In the soil, in ecosystems, and in human lives and culture, we value the spark of vitality and creativity that brings joy, earnestness, and strength to the surface.
VALUES
Context & Definitions:
To us, investment is broader than the stock market or receiving a 3% ROI. investment is putting labor or finances toward a cause with the expectation that an initial boost of support will generate an enterprise that can sustain itself, pay back what was invested, and create community-based returns.
Investment = you give, and are paid back at a later date.
Gift economy is an economic ideal based on giving freely in honor of the gifts one has been
given, with the expectation that recipients will also give freely when they are able, in honor of the gifts they have been given. It is a way of engaging economically from a base of gratitude and shared abundance. We seek out ways to develop a gift economy within our community, even as we function within existing financial and transactional systems.
Community-based returns could include: food that is accessible to the local community; food system security, local cultural vitality (cuisine, music, art making); opportunities for community members to connect to the land; air and water quality improvements; carbon sequestration; wildlife and pollinator habitat improvements; more committed and engaged community members moving here.