Know thy farmer
The parallel village will need you.
The village will have a population of 10,000 persons, self-contained with its own local economy which means people will live, work and conduct all their day-to-day activities within walking distance. No cars are permitted within the village walls, but instead are kept in the motorpool outside by the village gate next to the freight depot, where goods, including food is delivered.
The village seeks to be the most wonderful place in the world, or as one old fellow put it "the centre of the universe", so our kids want to be here, not off in Sydney, London or New York. Part of what makes that happen has best been captured by the Slow Food movement, which originated in Italy and is now all over the world. Slow food originated as a reaction to fast food, observing that flavourful, healthy food is grown with a different set of priorities than those of fast food, where yield is the priority, and farmers grow food that is picked or harvested long before it is ripe, using varieties that will survive long-distance transport and extensive handling. Slow food is food that tastes good, is flavourful & healthy, and comes in many varieties, especially local and heritage. Slow food becomes a way of life - dining alfresco (outside) when the weather is good, dining long in good company, where one enjoys the experience. Create a place that supports such a quality of life and people will come.
The kinds of foods will never be supplied by the global food chain for an obvious reason - the product does not transport well. Therefore it makes considerable sense for the village to develop its own permanent supply of food with nearby farmers. For some this may mean shifting away from mono-crops, but the numbers will add up. Selling local enables farmers to secure a steady and profitable return on their investment, and to enable villagers to buy better, fresh food for less.
Contract Food
If you are a farmer within roughly 15 kilometres of the proposed village site, the village will be seeking a permanent relationship. The village homes will all be constructed with a food box next to the mail box so that home delivery of fresh food can occur without anyone being home. The village will have an Intranet (local only, not internet) computer system where farmers will be able to put their goods on line and villagers will buy them. The computer system will then have distribution software so the food delivered to the village's freight depot will be sorted and distributed to the homes on daily delivery routes. Payment will be automatic at the time the food is put in the box; no accounts receivable or other billing systems... keep it simple.
Farmland protection
Once the village is established, there is a threat that farmland then gets purchased by developers who produce the very sprawl the village seeks to end. In order to prevent this, and assure the food sources remain permanent, the village may engage negotiations with farmers to seek long term agreement with farmers to preserve good agricultural land for food production.
Family
In recent times many farmers find it difficult for their children to return home. Some may stay on and inherit the farm, but for those who go to the city, there is little local opportunity to return home. The parallel village changes that, as it enables such children to pursue an urban career but be near home. Additionally, when farmers come toward retirement, they find the present day offers little. Often they must move away to a retirement home and if infirm may find themselves in a nursing home, completely cut off from what they knew and loved for a lifetime. The parallel village offers something better. If there is interest, the Village Organising Company (VOC) may consider reserving a few elder homes for supplying farmers. The concept is called parallel real estate where a home is sold at a subsidised price to a target market, such as people over age 65, with the requirement that when it is resold it is sold at the market price, but only to buyers in that target market (to resell an elder-house the buyer must be 65 or older). In the case of the supplying farmers, the VOC may offer some elder-houses (small ground floor flats especially for elders) to farmers under age 65 to rent out to elders until they are ready to move in.
