The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

Kimmerer looks at the ways in which a modern economy can move toward something more closely resembling a gift economy. She has two neighbors named Paulie and Ed. They own a farm, and Kimmerer uses them as an example of the way in which a gift economy can be implemented. Paulie and Ed, she says, understand the need to work at building relationships as an important part of their business, viewing it as “an investment in community” (88). The community cannot offer a return on the investment, Kimmerer notes, unless effort is made to first build the community. This community, Kimmerer believes, is the foundation of any gift economy. The building of a community establishes a network of responsibility and reciprocity. In the future, Paulie hopes, the people who accepted the gifts of berries may return to the farm to shop, may offer favors, or may even vote on political issues that would benefit farmers or the environment.

Building such a community helps to address humanity’s “deep desire” to build relationships and connections. Kimmerer acknowledges that the market economy and its commodification are unlikely to entirely disappear, but she stresses that alternatives can be built “alongside” such economies (92).