1. Secure access to healthy foods. The Pandemic showed us our overreliance on grocery stores. We must cultivate general self-reliance, not just in the face of a pandemic, but also in evolving environmental changes. It takes two years or more to get a good permaculture system going. Let’s use our energy and knowledge to start such a permaculture system now so we can ride the waves of possible instability and changes in the future. 
2. Aging in modern America tends to be isolated. Often the elderly are disconnected from family, friends, and grandkids. Current mainstream lifestyles neglect to cultivate a community through time, deepening our relationships with people who are geographically close to us. As we become less mobile and active, many of us develop dementia due to plaque buildup through toxins, sugar, and lack of healthy well-rounded nourishment. There’s promising evidence that mushrooms can help with rebuilding neural synapses, whether it’s turkey tail or psilocybin. For those of us who love to grow things, we can grow turkey tail and psilocybin for the purpose of neuro regeneration. Oyster and other culinary mushrooms can also be grown for food adjacent to the food forest. 
3. Dying and grieving could be peaceful. We are shocked and bereaved when one of us dies. We host funerals or a celebration of life. Our friends send us condolences for a few weeks. And then there’s just emptiness where our dearly departed one was. There’s no guidance for the dead person going through the bardo. We leave them alone, and assume they are gone. And we grieve very unproductively. Many Tibetans recite instructions and calming prayers for the newly departed for 50 days after their passing, until their new reincarnation. I imagine this is not only helpful to the dead person theoretically (depending on your beliefs), but also helpful to those who have lost someone. Because of 50-day meditation and recitation of something that affirms that consciousness passes on through life and then your deceased loved one is then reincarnated, and you did everything you can to make sure they are okay and have made the most conscious choice they could have made with regards to reincarnating in a good place, then the grief will be over after 50 days! 30% of people in the United States believe in reincarnation, but since most of that is on a cursory level, they do not have any practices with which to practically apply this belief when it comes to aging and dying. Whether you are the one facing imminent death, or the one who is having to say goodbye to a loved one, there are services that can be rendered to those transitioning from one body to another. 
4. Healthy Lifestyles in Toxic Environments. I am researching innovative solutions to mysterious health conditions and documenting results of experimentation on self and alongside others, supporting each other in the education and implementation of various protocols, and expecting miracles! By exploring medical mysteries I expect to find holistic, alternative, or complementary solutions. We all have genetic dispositions and gene expression that gets activated with stressors such as lifestyle, toxins, or infections. We must educate the children on how to prevent illness, and live in vibrant health.  Individuals need support with root cause identification, lifestyle modification and protocol implementation. As I go through my own journey, I can detail the protocols and support others in developing one that’s right for them. 
5. Educating the Future Leaders Children today are growing up in a rapidly changing landscape, where the exponential growth of technology is coupled with the designed allure of virtual screens. Screen-time often overshadows the beauty of the real. It is not enough to shield our children from the perils of the digital realm; we must empower them with the knowledge and resilience to cultivate healthful behaviors, to cultivate healthy daily behaviors, and meaningful projects for the betterment of the collective. Let us instill in them the tools with which to create something meaningful, the ability to unplug and be happy, the knowledge to use the technology for good, and  to forge meaningful connections beyond the confines of pixels and screens. Hosting summer camp retreats where we teach resilience and creativity amidst adversity will cultivate in them the wisdom to shine brightly in a world desperately in need of intelligent minds directed by compassionate hearts. 

Concepts and Ideas

Ideas are a dime a dozen. But in our co-operative structure we need group cohesion to go into an economic endeavor together, with commitment and cohesion. If you’d like to read my top ideas for co-operative businesses that we could get started with very little overhead, click below.

Show Me!

Principles and Values

Putting into practice the permaculture principles of regenerative farming, social co-operation dynamics, trying hard to start something productive, learning some lessons, never giving up, and cultivating the proper mindset alongside friends while establishing a food forest.

Within two years there will be a system in place that is more or less self-reliant and resilient! Skill Building. By the end of two years, we will have learned how to building structures, catching and purifying water, planting, harvesting, preserving, and saving seeds, co-operative compassionate communication skills necessary for co-operative business ownership.

To address other problems mentioned above such as health, wealth, dying, and raising children, continue to study and learn various complementary medicine such as lifestyle and nutrition modifications, the in’s and out’s of co-operative business structures, and more.  After volunteering in Colorado on the newly established food forest, I will either create a new community elsewhere, join a community anywhere, or extend the current one to be able to include a home for people aging, so that everyone who desires to do so has access to living a Blue Zone lifestyle. Everyone deserves access to healthy food and we all want the safety in knowing that we are resilient through times of turmoil (covid-19, anyone? Never forget!)

My hope is that as I develop and move around different parcels of land, each permaculture forest garden is left in trust to a foundation like Permaland Foundation, so that other seekers of simplicity can land into a safe space where their creativity and effort can be paid forward to future generations as well. In this way, we can get back to the idealized version of how our ancestors lived, in community, in harmony with the cycles of nature, and this time in everlasting peace and joy!

Above all, my aim is to surround myself with highest vibrational people, so that my own consciousness may be raised to average those around me, that my heart frequency should be so bright and light, that we may awaken love in all hearts.

 

Co-operative Business Structures

Legal Details

This foundation is founded with the intent of overseeing land trusts to lease out to beneficiaries. Therefore, understanding legal structures such as land trusts, PMAs (Private Membership Associations), and cooperative businesses is crucial. Each of these structures offers unique benefits and implications, and choosing the right one can significantly impact the success and sustainability of your venture. These structures help us navigate complexities, mitigate risks, and maximize opportunities effectively. Therefore, while the details of your business strategy are undoubtedly important, establishing a suitable legal structure is foundational to its long-term viability and success.

Contracts

Rocketlawyer is an incredible resource for creating legally binding contracts, (lease agreements, business partnerships, etc) that protect both parties and ensure proper communication of expectations of behavior and economic collaboration.

Land Trusts

Land Trusts are a legal arrangement in which an individual (the grantor) transfers ownership of real property such as land or real estate, to a trustee to hold and manage for the benefit of designated beneficiaries. Specific laws on Land Trusts vary by jurisdiction, so we will need guidance of legal and financial professionals who specialize in trusts and estate planning. Land Trusts allows the grantor to retain certain rights and benefits while separating legal ownership from beneficial ownership. Land trusts are commonly used in estate planning to achieve various objectives related to property management, privacy, and succession. The reason it’s relevant for permaculture is because many old-timer homesteaders and permaculture elders who have been doing this in private, without the fanfare of Youtube, are aging and no longer able to care for their beloved land. With busy descendants who are possibly not interested in maintaining a permaculture lifestyle, but who may still wish to return to it in their later years, giving the land to a foundation under certain conditions can ensure that the landscape is continuously maintained and that their descendants can potentially return to it in their time of need or desire. 

Our foundation will manage land trusts by reviewing applications from different members who want to utilize the land for the creation of a good or service. Cooperative businesses and Private Member Associations can exist on the same property managed by a land trust. Each serves a distinct purpose, and serves as the structure for the beneficiary. The trustee holds legal title to the property on behalf of the beneficiaries which are the members: individuals, co-operatives, company’s, corporations, or PMA’s. Those members will be responsible for managing and stewarding the land in accordance with the mission and terms of the trust.  The generated income will be fairly distributed to take care of the costs of the operation, incidental management of the land, and benefit the member financially. The goal is for the foundation to also assist in the start-up costs for co-operatives in the form of microloans, and that co-operatives are able to restock the start-up cost money and pay it forward as able. 

PMA

Private Membership Associations (PMA’s) are useful organizational structures for various reasons such as privacy protection, autonomy and self-governance, legal protection, flexibility in operations, membership control and exclusivity, asset protection, specialized interest groups, and maybe tax efficiency depending on your jurisdiction.  The most pressing reason for establishing PMA’s when applicable, are that PMAs offer flexibility in structuring and operating the organization according to the preferences of its members. This flexibility allows PMAs to adapt to changing circumstances, pursue innovative approaches, and experiment with alternative business models without being constrained by external regulations or requirements. Autonomy and self-governance is another crucial benefit of PMA’s whereby members typically have the authority to establish their own rules, regulations, and decision-making processes, enabling them to tailor the organization to meet their specific needs and preferences.

For example, I wish to create a Blue Zone Ecovillage. It could be a haven for people with dementia or for the elderly in their twilight years. With the flexibility of a PMA and it’s self-governance model, we would be able to circumvent the cumbersome regulations of assisted living and hospice care through member-established agreements.  This reduces overhead costs and bureaucratic red tape. While I acknowledge that regulations are there to protect masses of elderly in hospice care, with the PMA structure, a small community is able to operate safely and naturally with compassion and consistency for the elderly. Furthermore, to get into co-operative business structures briefly, in this example, establishing the PMA as a co-op would be a way for the elderly members, the gerontologist, gardeners, occupational therapist, caregivers and nurses to hold equity in the business and provide a satisfactory lifestyle as well as make decisions collectively for their community.

In another example, if we wanted to create an educational and experimental retreat center, we could do that under a PMA structure. This would be a place where various modalities for non-pharmaceutical, alternative/complementary healing through food and lifestyle modifications can be experimented with, a PMA structure would limit liability and be a consent-based treatment plan. Because these treatments are individualized and not scientifically researched due to lack of funding and/or corporate interest, and there is only anecdotal evidence for their efficacy, this experimentation center would be protected through the PMA agreements.