Here are the Recording & Notes for the 4th Roundtable.

Here is the recording from the 3rd Roundtable.

Here are the notes & recording from the 1st Farm & Food Provider Roundtable.

Here is a presentation of how the Food Corps program works! This is a document in progress...

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vZMRFxxsSXtUWbddBOiRUFk9LVLpNPqm/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116863072219791548519&rtpof=true&sd=true

"An Ayurvedic scholar offered virtual support for Ayurvedic diet and improving immune functionality. And through inter-trading, a specialist in pet communication gave advice to one of our Timebank members about their pet." lookin into remote time bank transactions and this is such a cool opportunity too, especially for students who might want to practice

Hi everyone! In anticipating of our 4th roundtable later today, I've tried to outline the life cycle of a time credit and supply some more information about time credit generation and productive labour:

1. A time credit is generated in productive labour!

Not all work is naturally productive, so what is productive labour?

The definition of productive and unproductive labour is specific to each type of society (for example, feudal society, capitalist society, socialist society etc.) and depends on the given relations of production. This means the only objective definition of productive labour is in terms of what is as a matter of fact productive within the conditions of a given mode of production.

We live in a capitalist system -- this is how our economic system is arranged. However, this does not mean we have to accept the way the capitalist class views productive labour: from the point of view of the capitalist class, labour is productive if it increases the value of (private) capital or results in (private) capital accumulation.

So, how does EJFN view productive labour? For WHOM do we want this labour to be productive? What do we want this labour to produce?

FOUR factors for EJFN to decide if labour is productive or unproductive:

• whether the labour helps a food producer in ejfn or ejfn

• whether it is ecologically responsible

• whether it is useful to our movement or advances our revolutionary praxis

• whether it promotes community health and well-being or increases social capital

Examples of productive labour:

• working with small producers like farmers, bakers, weavers, craftsmen, fisherfolk, dyers, designers, etc. (do they HAVE to be working with the food corps specifically or can also producers within EJFN choose to offer time credits to volunteer workers -- in this case, the tc could not be spent there by EJFN)

• doing community work which increases social capital (e.g. hosting a community workshop) -- purposefully here excluding 1 on 1 trades/exchanges

• is volunteering an hour for EJFN productive labour? leaning yes, but needs to be defined -- something like labour which enriches us, adds value to ejfn or food corps, or to the community

1. ONE hour = ONE time credit!

   A time credit is generated in the labour and goes to the person who put in that hour but CAN be traded/exchanged/donated.

2. The time credit is eventually spent: buying food at a farm to table pop-up or spending it within the community time bank economy --> previously agreed upon dollar conversion (up for discussion at our roundtables yearly? bi-yearly?)

   example1: Food Corps volunteer redeems a credit at farm to table

   example2: Someone trades their time credit for an hour of piano lessons -- here, a potential new person who doesn't have time credits and has not participated in the Food Corps can earn a time credit, though it is not a newly generated time credit but an exchange or transaction, this is not production but CIRCULATION

   - this is the time bank economy and we want to encourage and provide access for folks to spend and circulate credits as much as possible

3. EJFN buys what is produced by the makers (limited to spending only as many time credits as have been generated at that particular location)

   - e.g. if hosting a workshop, for example, EJFN may collect time credits from participants as entry fee, then use those to purchase food from producers

   - must track total time credit generation, as well as what is generated at and by each organization

4. Here, when the time credit makes its way back to its place of birth, the time credit is retired, as there is no reason for it to stay with the producer -- the relationship remains such that only further productive labour can generate more time credits

   • the amount of retired time credits aka credits circled back to the original location of their production needs to be tracked as this will indicate how our economy is doing

   THE END!

hey, did we take notes of last roundtable? can't remember...i do have the recording but need to wrestle with jitsi first. will post when can.