Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education

ebuilDing cornucopia : How to create a community garDen 115
farmers – have been difficult challenges. All of these substantial questions
led us to invest significant resources in our agricultural chain.
In the 1990s, agricultural companies took responsibility for food
production, while the community still offered significant support. Producing
for the community meant creating several cooperatives with qualified
workers, introducing appropriate mechanization, having structures to store,
conserve and create food products, as well as adequate vehicles to transport
fresh fruits and vegetables. Creating food products to sell commercially
meant we needed authorization from the national health administration and
food labels that complied with Italian law.
There were many complex considerations to take into account – from
acquiring the needed investment capital to developing adequate distribution
channels. When we were making marmalade at home for the family, we
could do as we liked. When we decided to put our products on the shelves
of the local markets, profits needed to cover costs, and questions arose about
quantity and variety, punctual delivery and use of excess food. In the first
few years, while these questions were still being answered, the formation of
cooperative consumer groups was critical. These developed later into the first
and largest organic food store in the area, ‘Tentaty’, located in Damanhur
Crea, which serves as an important distribution point for locally-produced
foods and products.
Current Production and Agriculture in Damanhur
Today, the basis of our self-sufficiency is two-fold. Some crops and meat
production are centralized, serving the community as a whole. In parallel,
each nucleo-community cultivates a family garden, with greenhouse, to
satisfy their individual needs for ‘home grown’ fruits and vegetables. In a
community-wide initiative, bee keeping has been embarked upon by each
At Damanhur, all
lifeforms are treated
with respect, for all
are understood to be
components of an
interdependent web.