Would you be interested in making a monthly monetary contribution to support the growth of this project? What other funding avenues would you suggest I look into?
My travel partner Carina and I have thought for many months about ways I can seek funding so that we can continue the project I jumped into in August of last year. I didn’t have much of a plan when I left the US, I was following my heart and doing what I felt called to do. Following your dreams is rarely a rational, financially sound decision. Edward Abbey said that “Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.” I am acting on my sentiments, and things are unfolding beautifully, the helpers are appearing along the path, and the project is evolving. I hope to let it grow into something larger and more organized, with more useful content being created to spread information about the practices I am observing. I think the things I am seeing could be documented more fully, shared more widely, and archived for the future.
I want to generate multimedia material that can be given to the people whose lives and practices we find so interesting. This material could then be used by organizations and individuals working to promote, protect, or revitalize milk fermentation, dairying, and grazing practices. I don’t want to extract this knowledge and sell it, I want to give it back to the practitioners, and with their permission, share it with a world who is hungry to see these methods and possibly be inspired by them to build more sensible food systems.
In order to do this, I need to open avenues of funding. Eventually this will perhaps be from organizations, but first I want to pursue crowdfunding. I intend to open up my Substack for paid subscription, and am playing with ideas of what I can offer subscribers to make their contributions worthwhile. One idea is videos recapping what I am seeing, longer explanations of the practices, a more in depth look at the places I go and people I meet. Perhaps these can be a combination of aesthetically pleasing audio/video and more nuts and bolts commentary from me.
I made the video posted here as a test run. Please comment here or on Instagram, and let me know what kind of content would be valuable to you. The other things I am considering are a podcast, and biweekly, photo rich PowerPoint presentations followed by a zoom conference where questions could be asked and ideas shared.
Another idea I’m toying with is organized tours of some of the places I have visited, giving folks an on the ground look at some of the world’s lesser known cheeses and the farming systems from which they spring. I am wary about the potential negative impacts, but for most of these struggling communities anything that can potentially financially support their work should be considered. Hiring local guide/interpreters and putting a large portion of the tour fees into the pockets of cheesemakers is a path that could be beneficial.
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