East Wind Community is an
intentional community located in the
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
Ozarks
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...
. Founded in 1974, it is a secular and democratic community in which members hold all community assets in common. Each member is also given food, shelter, clothing, medical care, education, and a monthly stipend. All major decisions are made by direct democratic processes with managers for various positions being elected annually.
Overview
East Wind Community owns of land and several businesses and its members pursue a mix of agricultural, industrial, domestic and social pursuits. The community is located off
Route 160 on the southern end of county road 547 in
Ozark County
Ozark County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,553. The largest city and county seat is Gainesville. The county was organized as Ozark County, named after th ...
just outside
Tecumseh, Missouri
Tecumseh is an unincorporated community in eastern Ozark County in southern Missouri, United States. It is located on the North Fork River at the north end of Norfork Lake, approximately ten miles east of Gainesville and 32 miles west of West ...
.
The community has acres of gardens for vegetables and herbs, small orchards, as well as tens of acres of pasture. In the past decade, homegrown food production and processing has become a major focus.
Tree planting
Tree-planting is the process of transplanting tree seedlings, generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping purpose. It differs from the transplantation of larger trees in arboriculture, and from the lower cost but slower and less re ...
and holistic forestry management are also a priority. Members learn and teach homesteading skills ranging from cheesemaking and woodworking to canning and auto repair.
The East Wind Community has several income sources including a
nut butter
A nut butter is a spreadable foodstuff made by grinding nuts into a paste. The result has a high fat content and can be spread like true butter, but is otherwise unrelated. Nut butters include:
* Acorn butter
* Almond butter
* Cashew butter ...
business named East Wind Nut Butters that generates $500,000 annually. The community manufactures
peanut butter, cashew butter,
almond butter
Almond butter is a food paste made from grinding almonds into a nut butter. Almond butter may be "crunchy" or "smooth", and is generally "stir" (susceptible to oil separation) or "no-stir" ( emulsified). Almond butter may be either raw or roas ...
and
tahini as well as a peanut butter and a tahini that are organic. In addition they produce "Utopian Rope Sandals", also known as "Utopes". They used to produce handmade drums through Slackjaw Percussion. Members are required to work a certain number of hours and income from the businesses is used to support the community.
Prospective members are selected by a membership team and are then invited for a three-week visitor period, at the end of which they may become provisional members, barring the existence of too many concerns within the community. Following a one-year provisional membership full members have the opportunity to call for a vote on any new member who may either be too disruptive or who is failing to do their fair share of the labor. There is also an associate status for people who do not wish to make a full commitment to the community. A provisional member has an option to take a leave. If during the first two weeks as a provisional member this leave may be up to a year long.
East Wind is a member of the
Federation of Egalitarian Communities
The Federation of Egalitarian Communities (FEC) is a group of egalitarian communitiesO'Brien, EllenSome communes have survived -- and prospered -- beyond the '60s.''Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.'' 23 Sept. 1996. which have joined together wi ...
, which also includes the communities
Twin Oaks, Sandhill Farm, and several others. There are many community conferences and labor exchanges between the communities, and there is a fund which all the communities pay into to help cover any major medical expenses.
Members live in
dorm style buildings and there is a central dining hall, laundry and shower house. There are also several personal shelters designated as doubles for couples and visitors. Common spaces for recreational activities including computers also exist.
About Our Businesses.
''East Wind Community.''
See also
*Egalitarian community
Egalitarian communities are groups of people who have chosen to live together, with egalitarianism as one of their core values. A broad definition of egalitarianism is "equal access to resources and to decision-making power." For example, decisio ...
References
External links
*
Route 66: Free living and liberty at a rural commune
''TRT World
TRT World is a Turkish public broadcaster international news channel which broadcasts in English 24 hours a day, operated by the TRT and based in Taksim Square, Istıklal Avenue, Beyoğlu, Istanbul. It provides worldwide news and current affai ...
'' via YouTube, October 2017
*
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{{Coord, 36.55590, -92.30795, format=dms, display=title, type:city_region:US-MO
Intentional communities in the United States
Egalitarian communities
Populated places established in 1973
Populated places in Ozark County, Missouri