The OuiShare Awards focus this year on rewarding change-making initiatives, in line with the OuiShare Fest theme "Lost in Transition". As there is an ongoing online vote, we would like to introduce you our 14 nominees and specifically ask them "What is the Change?" they bring through their initiatives. Read their answers and vote for your favorite projects until May 21st!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/3ip18UbvvAM
Get to know Open Food Network!
Nominated in the Collaborative Consumption category, Open Food Network is an open source platform that empowers interconnected communities of food producers, distributors and buyers to co-create decentralized, transparent and sustainable food systems. Myriam Bouré, Co-founder of the Norwegian instance of the Open Food Network, answered our questions:
1. What got you started with your initiative?
"We were upset with the fact that only a few big companies control all the distribution system, and impose their rules to both producers and buyers. We had the vision that all those isolated sense-making alternatives, buying groups, cooperatives, farmers markets, could work together and cooperate to build a decentralized but organized system, community powered, cost and carbon efficient, and able to offer a viable alternative to the centralized one. Kirsten and Serenity in Australia explored all the existing platforms that could support this system to emerge, and they realized this system didn’t exist. So they started building Open Food Network, an open source platform, a commons that we can build and manage collectively and that answers globally the needs of our local communities."
2. What Change does your initiative bring?
"We want to disrupt the existing distribution system of food and bring the power back in the hands of the people and communities who grow and eat. We are building a system “by the people for the people”, to replace a system “by few major chains for the multinationals behind them”. Open Food Network is rooted in collaborative economy in all its dimensions. It is based on open-source: we all contribute in building the platform that answers the needs of our communities. It enables collaborative consumption initiatives to operate more easily and multiply, while choosing the model that suits them best: buying clubs, cooperative, or any community supported project can use and cooperate on the platform. The users are also the owners of the project as the open source project belongs to the community, who decides for its developments. And we are building a collaborative governance of the commons to ensure every actor its independence while giving every stakeholder a voice."
Would like to support Open Food Network?
And join us at the OuiShare Fest 2015 for the pitchs session!