Operation Self-Reliance - Helping Families Attain a Self-Sufficient Lifestyle

SUMMARY:

“Operation Self-Reliance” is a private, non-profit partnership of organizations helping families achieve complete self-reliance, not dependent on cities for their food, water, power or sanitation needs, and, living in an environmentally sustainable way, debt-free. This partnership centers on the creation of a modern cooperative homestead community located in a beautiful valley nestled between two mountains in West Central Utah.

KEYWORDS:

Modern homesteading, sustainable living, permaculture design, farmers coop, sustainable agriculture.

DETAILS:

Homesteading today is very different than that practiced by our ancestors. Modern Homesteading is about achieving sustainable agriculture and food security without sacrificing the benefits of modern knowledge. The Academy of Self-Reliance, a Utah non-profit Operation Self-Reliance partner, helps families along the path to self-reliance with it's various educational programs, hands-on workshops, and events. The Academy's “Path Program” helps families create their own detailed, actionable plan to create a self-reliance homestead. That homestead can be located on one's own property, or, in our homesteading community.

A Cooperative Homesteading Community

The Utah OSR Land Co-op is creating an agricultural cooperative community on Riverbed Ranch Road in Juab County, Utah. The 250-family village will include:
- High-speed fiber optic Internet,
- A Co-op store for importing and exporting products.
- An RV and camping park,
- A BMX bicycle course for the kids to enjoy, and
- A ropes course, for local youth and corporate retreats.

About the Individual Homesteads

Each privately-owned and operated 2 acre modern homestead is expected to practice sustainable food production and resilient agricultural practices. Each self-sufficient homestead will produce much of their own food via gardens and greenhouses, have their own water well, and generate all their own power using solar panel systems. Each shareholder's passive solar home will be built so that it requires little or no energy to heat and cool. A barn will also be built on each homestead for animals and/or storage.

Co-op Common Areas

The common areas in the community will include 200-yard wide greenbelt running up the center of the community and sporting edible landscaping with a permaculture twist. This greenbelt will include a private road, jogging path, an overflow catchment, and lots of honeybee-friendly trees, bushes, and plants. Some of the common areas will be made into parks, with walking paths, ponds, and various decorative and food-producing trees and plants. Most of the Utah OSR Land Co-op's common areas will be used to produce agricultural products to supply co-op members and to be sold in neighboring communities. In this way, the co-op will be able to employ some shareholders in these joint projects.

A Success-Oriented Community

Since the cooperative is run by its shareholders, and is a non-profit, the co-op has no interest in having anyone's self-sufficient homestead fail. So, every effort will be made to assist, educate and cooperate with each shareholder to help them succeed in achieving practical self-reliance.

The Utah OSR Land Cooperative

The Utah OSR Land Co-op is an agricultural cooperative organized under Title 3 of the Utah Code. Title 3 gives lots of advantages to the small agricultural farmer to give them “a leg up”. This farmer cooperative is run by its shareholders on a one-man, one-vote basis. Also, Title 3 allows the co-op to prevent investors from buying up a controlling number of shares and changing the purpose of the project – to help families achieve optimum self-reliance in a cooperative community setting.

Is it Sustainable?

Some believe that organic farming is not sustainable, but we vehemently disagree and will prove that regenerative organic agriculture and sustainable farming practices can bring great prosperity to a cooperative community. In fact, we believe that a co-op community that balances agricultural production on private property with community-owned agricultural projects, can become self-sustaining and work wonderfully well for everyone.

Additional Community Services

Similar to an industrial park, the Utah OSR Land Co-op has set aside 40 acres for the privately owned and operated services described in the above video:
1. Academy of Self-Reliance higher-learning campus,
2. OSR K-12 campus,
3. Assisted Living / Retirement Home
4. Whole Health / Life Coach clinic
5. Child Rescue Home
6. Young Mothers Home, and
7. Equine / Canine Therapy Barn

Get More Information:

- Here's an summary printable info sheet: https://bit.ly/OSR-info
which also explains how to get involved.

- https://www.facebook.com/groups/academyofselfreliance/
Our Facebook group where we share self-reliance related articles and videos, and, post Academy events.