Bridgework Alliance for Cultural Wellbeing seeks to tend community connections, deepen ecological understanding, and feed the extended community. We offer a scaffolding to practice community care while providing practical education about how to participate in the cooperative, store and use products, and foster relevant lifestyle adjustments to be more conscientious consumers. Through the cooperative buyers’ practice, Bridgework intends to foster the embodied understanding of these concepts.
The Poly-conflict of our times (political, ecological, social, economical, individual and collective) requires that we develop solutions that address multiple issues, simultaneously healing on various levels. We must use our energy efficiently - rather than addressing each individual concern in isolation, we need practices that allow us to bring back our wholeness - addressing the multiplicity of concerns organically through foundational behavior shifts.
Until we bring our wisdom together, we won’t be able to create new knowledge or understand how to solve the problems we are encountering. In the her book, Radical Transformational Leadership: Strategic Action for Change Agents, Dr. Monica Sharma describes the need for us to work in a transdiscipliary context. She says “transdisciplinary work crosses discipline boundaries to take a holistic approach, in which different experts from different disciplines and professionals create new knowledge and understanding, always informed by universal values of dignity, equity, and compassion—our resonant space of oneness.”
Dr. Sharma also uses the term Constellation to describe the network of people and entities “that connect, organize themselves, and operate in a particular recognizable way, based on universal values of dignity, equity, and compassion, and establish equitable and sustainable systems and cultural norms and proactively respond to solve the problems facing them at any given time, which in turn impacts humanity and the planet.” In seeking a name for our buyer’s collaborative, we wanted a word from nature that could inspire the identity of the work we are doing together. The name seemed to choose itself, a constant reminder that our individual selves working together creates something beautiful.
Constellation, the Bridgework Buyers’ Collaborative, acts as an immersion program for us to develop these practices. Through our transdisciplicary alliances, and gently placing one for in front of the other, we can arrive together at the place where the answers we need for the future present themselves.
CARing
Care can show up in our mental, emotional, and physical bodies. When we allow these three to merge, we become care-ing. Our care becomes an action, with tangible effects. Our mental and emotional bodies can experience empathy, however, only through engaging our physical bodies do we express compassion. Constellation supports actionable compassionate care for our communities, our Earth, and the ourselves.
EDUCATIONal
The ways we purchase our food and what we cook are well entrenched cultural behaviors. Even when we want or need to change them, it can be really hard. Where do we start? What do we do? How do we know? Constellation provides support in the form of information, recipes, and batch cooking days. We do this to make learning easy, gentle, and fun and so we can form new life ways that support the future we envision.
CONscientious
“Wishing to do what is right, especially to do one’s work or duty well or thoroughly.” Wishing to do what is right. We have become aware of our impact as consumers. We belong to the food chain, and we are part of the supply chain as well. Our attentiveness to how we participate in these systems can make a deep and sustainable impact. When we accept our responsibility, we recognize our power to subvert what doesn’t nourish us and the world. With this wish to do what’s right, we can take tender steps to aleiviate harm.
Fresh whole foods, Blue Hill Peninsula
For those local to Blue Hill, Maine, we provide produce and products through our bulk orders with local farms, distributors, and producers. There is no minimum to order, and no fees to participate. Recipes or preserving suggestions are offered with each order form. Regular batch days are scheduled to processes produce together, learn new skills, and enjoy community engagement- but none of these are required. You can also just pick up your box of goodies within the designated pick-up window.
Frontier Natural Products
Ordering as a group from Frontier Natural Products allows us to fill our pantries at our own pace with what we need. A pantry stocked with well sourced goods eliminates unnecessary trips to the store and informs how we engage with our food.
ARtisan Products, Available anywhere
Even if you don’t live close enough to stop by for batch-days and order pick-ups, you can still belong. You’ll receive the same monthly tips and recipes and access to artisan products as wholesale prices (shipping costs will apply.)