“Is it doable?” asked Steve Bosserman at the close of the latest of three blogs which established the conceptual groundwork for a local sustainable food system in his home neighborhood in Worthington Hills. The question necessarily moves us beyond the presence of the key elements – “local food systems that engender widespread participation, integrated modules, start at zero, and consider that competition is not a factor” – to the need for people to commit, organize, and act.  But acting is not enough.  How one acts habituates patterns of behavior which in turn structure the emerging organization, whether we are aware of it or not.

Therefore, to answer Steve’s question about Worthington Hills is to open up discussion about how similar cooperative efforts can create organizational sustainability by being mindful of how they do what they do.  I would propose that, in addition to the criteria Steve specifies for food and environmental sustainability, we consider questions of how one gets from being a fired-up individual to a part of a similar-minded committed group to being an active part of a  sustainable organization.  Organizational sustainability as I use the term here refers to the capacity of individuals to direct personal passion and commitment toward becoming an organized, thriving entity, capable of incorporating additional people’s talents and ideas, reinforcing the spirit of their core values, while adapting to forever changing circumstances.

Creating a local food system in Worthington Hills is in part an organization design problem.  How people act -- the processes, relationships, roles and expectations, all the patterns of behavior which emerge -- shape the organization structure.  In my work building educational coalitions and working with non-profit organizations, I have often worked on the problem of organizational sustainability: attending to the patterns being formed as people pursue everything from designing state-wide curriculum for training college level peer tutors to promoting the rule of law in countries ravaged by coups and outside interference.

I hope to add to the development of plans for Worthington Hills through a series of blogs which outline the process by which a committed group of individuals can move well through three developmental phases of organizational design: start up to build up to sustainable organization.  For each phase, I hope to map pathways and obstacles for programming, leadership and working relationships, organizational practices, and systems development. 

It is my hope that even though I am not based in Ohio, my experiences and perspectives may be of use for pursuing visions of sustainable local food systems such as that proposed for Worthington Hills.