The Genome Collective

Mission: To create a sustainable model for the local food system of Binghamton, NY, and to educate students, households and businesses about urban farming, food reclaiming practices, and sustainable cooking.

From www.ic.org/directory/the-genome-collective/:

The Genome Collective lives in Binghamton, NY. We welcome people of all ages, backgrounds, and identities who are excited about working together to create a collective home based around food justice, anti-oppressive values, art, and an egalitarian community lifestyle.

Rent for each resident-member varies from $250 to $450 a month, depending on ability to pay, living accommodations, and capacity to contribute to money-saving, sustainable activities. Rent includes all food, utilities, and household supplies.

More About Who We Are:
The Genome Collective was established in February 2016. The community lives in a roomy three-story Victorian house, located at 65 Park Avenue on the South Side of Binghamton.

What We Do:
We strive to create a communal space open to as many people as possible, while also maintaining a safe, comfortable, and relaxing space for all of our members.

We keep a very well-stocked communal kitchen, and maintain a 1500-square-foot mushroom farm in our basement. We also keep about a 1/4-acre vegetable garden outside.

We have an unattached garage, which we use as a wood shop, music studio, and bike shop. Above the garage there is an open temple space where we host yoga and meditation classes.

A significant portion of the Collective's food is dumpstered. We believe that dumpstering is a just method of obtaining and repurposing unsellable but nourishing food in order to feed as many people as possible while helping to fill a gap in our food distribution system.

We plan and hold community events about once a month.

We treat our house like a living organism. Our house guidelines and identity are articulated in a living document called the Genome, which community members regularly revisit and update to fit the Collective's needs as it grows and changes. We hold weekly meetings, make decisions via consensus, and strive to maintain a reciprocal relationship where the Collective actively supports and feeds the individuals that comprise it, and the individuals in turn support and feed the Collective.

www.genomecollective.space

A service of the Data Commons Co-op. The project has been supported by Equal Exchange, the Cooperative Charitable Trust, the USDA, and many others - thank you! Tech volunteers over the years include: Benjamin Bradley with support from GAIA Host. Ben Mauer with support from Quilted. Paul Fitzpatrick. Ronin Tech Collective, Brattleboro Tech Collective, Sligo Computer Services. Jason Lemieux. Default map tiles courtesy of MapQuest. Default map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.