The Year of Plenty blog was created by Craig Goodwin in the winter of 2008 to chronicle his family's year of consuming everything local, used, homegrown or homemade. That journey was a wonderful introduction to people and movements in the Spokane area who are seeking the welfare of the community through local foods, farmers markets, community gardens, sustainable transportation, and more fulfilling and just patterns of consumption. It also has led to national and international engagement with these issues which includes a book, speaking engagements, and nonprofit leadership roles.
YoP continues to be Craig's primary outlet for writing about these themes and more. His efforts currently revolve around the Tables of Plenty project with the help of a grant from the Louisville Institute.
Craig is Pastor at Millwood Presbyterian Church and serves on the board of directors of Plant With Purpose and Second Harvest Inland Northwest. He has a Doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary and is an avid photographer.
On October 4 2013 Craig was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Along with posts related to cancer on the blog you can find out more at his Caring Bridge site.
Below is the way we described the blog going into 2008:
We are a family in Spokane, Washington engaged in a year long experiment in consumption. This blog is an attempt to chronicle what we are learning along the way.
Our Basic Rules of Consumption:
• Buy used products.
- Preferably from one household to another
• Make the product or grow the food item.
- Raw materials should preferably be local
- There is some flexibility with the sourcing of raw materials necessary to make the finished product
• Buy from a local producer, manufacturer or grower.
- Local is defined as generally coming from Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.
- In order to be a qualified manufacturer or grower we must as a family visit/tour the location of manufacturing and meet the people who are making the goods at least once during the year. We will do our best to learn about their way of life, hopes, dreams, and challenges.
- This means that there are some products and food items that will be limited seasonally or not available at all.
• Buy products from producers/growers/manufacturers in an international region that is selected by the family based on the strategic nature of the products available, the needs of the people, and the practicality of visiting as a family.
- Throughout the year we will learn about the region and the people who live there, their way of life, the economics of their lives, and how our consumption impacts them positively and negatively.
- We will make a trip as a family to this region at the end of the year to meet the people that have been making the products and growing them.
- We will adopt a project to support in that community that will better the lives the people – for example, providing water, assisting addressing local public health need, or a mission partnership.
We chose Thailand as our international link.
Other considerations:
• We’re allowed to use everything that is in the house and yard as of the beginning of January 1, 2008.
• We will do our best to minimize the consumption of electricity, water, and fuel.
• We will seek to minimize waste products going to the dump by composting everything possible and recycling everything possible.
• We will dine out only at local restaurants and coffee shops. No large national or regional chain establishments.
• When eating with others at a party or public event there is flexibility.
Purpose:
• Step back from the massive consuming passions around us that lead us to want the new and the next thing. We find that too often we are led to believe that our hope and joy can be found in these items.
• Minimize contribution to the cultural assumption that all things are disposable, and that once they have lost the shine of newness they have outlived their usefulness.
• To valuate things in ways other than dollars. To form a new economy of consumable goods in our lives anchored in caring relationships with people we know.
• To integrate our lives and find more joy in the everyday.
• To better shape and raise our children as children of the Kingdom of God.
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
I want to know what foods you are growing now. When can we come see you guys!! I wish we lived closer to each other!! Talk to you soon!
PHX
Posted by: Phoenix Moomaw | February 13, 2008 at 06:08 PM
Phoenix,
We would LOVE to have you visit us! Right now nothing is growing except our compost pile.:-) We are going to try to plant our tomatoes from seed this weekend. Craig has quite a system set up in the basement where he grows the plants under flourescent lights, then he brings them to the greenhouse. So if you visit us, you might want to come closer to Summer because right now the only vegetables we eat are carrots, potatoes, squash, onions, garlic and alfalfa sprouts. (We found alfalfa sprouts grown in Moyie Idaho. The girls love them!)
God bless you Phoenix! Say hi to Mom and Dad!
Posted by: Nancy Goodwin | February 13, 2008 at 09:47 PM
Your quest sounds fun and challenging. I look forward to following via your pages.
Jacque
Posted by: Jacque Hendrix | February 25, 2008 at 08:01 AM
Hi Spokavores! Finally got around to visiting this page. Awesome adventure you are on; truly inspiring as we prepare to move back to the suburbs. I'll have a lot of alone time in the next few months to live vicariously through your blog since my main gardening man is moving to San Diego without me. Love to all of you.
Posted by: Kathryn LaPointe | February 28, 2008 at 02:18 PM
Hi! just wanted to pass along the link to your page on Placeblogger
http://placeblogger.com/placeblog/year-of-plenty
We're delighted that you stopped by and added your unique and wonderful site to ours. Please contact me if you've any questions.
Tish Grier
Chief Community Officer
Placeblogger.com
Posted by: tish grier | March 12, 2008 at 11:59 AM
I just finished reading the Inlander's story on your family's quest to decrease your comsumption and buy local. I don't think your family looks weird; in fact, I think you are doing a wonderful thing! What a lesson for your children, not to mention other Spokane families with young children. How did our lives get so out of balance that we lost sight of what really good food tastes like? I applaud your efforts and I will continue to read your blog. I wish you all the best in your experiment!
Susan
Posted by: Susan | April 05, 2008 at 01:27 PM
I just got done reading your article in the Spokesman and was looking up Behms Valley creamery and stumbled across your page. What you are doing is GREAT and I think you are great inspiration for many people who are trying to adapt to and adopt using local products rather than products from all over the world. I have three young girls and it is great to see that you are able to implement this plan with your children and really follow through and figure out how to get around obstacles together! Thanks for the inspiration!!
Posted by: Alicia | April 09, 2008 at 06:50 AM
Y'all are an inspiration. How cool to try new things...like local restaurants, and cheese, and homemade ice cream made with honey. And to take a timeout from our culture of consumption--neat!
I do have to admit though, I have a bit of garden envy...our little garden in Texas is pretty darn small...but we have harvested a bunch of strawberries...and our first cucumber is growing. But that doesn't sound anywhere near as cool as Craig's combination basement-greenhouse-garden! : )
Thanks for sharing your journey --
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kincaid | April 12, 2008 at 09:24 AM
Excellent! Keep up the good work! The best way to localize our economy in Spokane is by creating a demand. So, thank you for taking action and creating this great resource. I will be referring to it often!
Posted by: Joy | April 12, 2008 at 11:48 AM
I think it's really great what you guys are doing. My wife and I are in the early stages of trying to decide what something like this could look like for us. It's really encouraging to see a whole family committed to addressing consumption issues together. I think you guys have a great approach!
Posted by: Andrew | April 30, 2008 at 04:56 PM
hi aunt nancy!
what u guys are doing is really amazing, But it seems soo hard! I wish we can come down again and visit your gadern! My mom and I had so much fun with you! Keep up the good work! Hope to seen you soon!
_
Ally
Posted by: ally brakebush | May 16, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Ally,
So good to hear from you! Don't think what we're doing is too hard. Craig and I and the girls were able to drink bubble tea (boba) today, so it can't be THAT hard! Wish you guys could come up again and walk the garden labyrinth with us. It's quite an adventure in our back yard these days! I don't know if I'll get a chance to see you when I come out in June, but have a great last couple of weeks of school. I'm sure you're excited for Summer! Love you Ally!
Nancy
Posted by: nancy goodwin | May 17, 2008 at 08:01 PM
I love this blog! I find it so refreshing and inspiring! You are providing so many great resources; I can hardly wait to try them all out!
Posted by: Kristin | May 13, 2009 at 09:28 AM
I am a master gardener and my profession is programmer/project manager. This spring, I taught myself the PHP programming language to improve my professional skill set. To practice, I created The Farmer’s Garden website. The site, www.thefarmersgarden.com is a place where people can post free classifieds to sell, trade or give away their surplus backyard garden produce.
I launched my site in May 2009 and it is nationwide. I think it is a great resource for members of your community. It is very easy to grow more produce than you and your family can use. Why not share your local, fresh and delicious vegetables, fruit, berries, etc. with others?
Registration is free and required to post a classified. Registration is not required to search the classifieds. Can you please provide a link to my site, www.thefarmersgarden.com on your site?
Thank you.
Posted by: Maureen Farmer | July 02, 2009 at 12:07 PM
Tickled pink to read about your great year....Awesome as we know you are, working God's plan thru this marvelous example.....Hugs and Kisses to you and the family from H-Town
Posted by: murphy's | January 30, 2010 at 07:55 PM
Thanks Liz and Bob! What fun to hear from you! I'm curious to know if you've heard of people experimenting w/ these ideas in your neck of the woods...
Posted by: nancy goodwin | January 30, 2010 at 08:50 PM
you know where we live.....not too much experimeting...am sure you heard of clpc sermon that mentioned you and the NY times. we are supposed to "try something used" rather than new this week and also to "share soemthing" rather than get one of your own. Very minimally, I shared a theatre program and wore a used sweater for the frigid weather this week, it feels good and will try for the next 30 days to do some more.....where there's smoke there is fire.
Local farmers market on 3rd Saturday in League City is on my list to visit and perhaps purchase the LOCAL stuff. xxxooo
Posted by: murphy's | February 02, 2010 at 01:46 PM
Wow! How excited I am to find your blog!! I am the American Food Examiner for Spokane on www.Examiner.com, and I am constantly looking for places and faces to connect my readers with more locally grown sustainable resources for the kitchen. I always include links to farmers market websites, and addresses for those without websites. Id love to use you as a resource for information for my articles, and I encourage you to check out what I have now. Again, I am excited to come across your blog and was directed your way by Rocky Ridge Ranch, so a special thank you to them as well. I look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes.
Posted by: Jacqulyn Fletcher | September 02, 2010 at 10:26 PM
Jacqulyn,
I'm glad you found your way to the blog. I'll be sure to check out your site and keep up with your reporting. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or ideas for blog posts.
Posted by: craig | September 03, 2010 at 10:09 AM
I love your last line on your bio. It is a big task, and one that takes a community to do. My husband and I are trying to follow in your blogsteps and use less. We have a half acre and four couples who are willing to help us garden and compost, this will be a year of plenty: Plenty of fellowship, friendship, food, and if I am sticking the letter F, Fun!
Posted by: Lindsey | March 28, 2011 at 10:16 AM
Lindsey - blessings on your journey. We certainly have found it rewarding.
Posted by: craig | March 28, 2011 at 11:11 AM