FermentSharing

You wouldn't download a bread

When sharing files, they multiply. Unlike sharing a physical book with one friend at a time, an e-book file can be shared with all of your friends at the same time. Starters used in fermenting—such as a sourdough or kombucha starter—are physical in the same sense as a book, but much more like a digital file in their sharing properties. They can be distributed without loosing the original, and each copy (child?) can be distributed again, endlessly. Sharing starters with peers is a social and cultural practice that enables us to make our own bread (or our own drinks, our own yogurt) instead of relying on the availability and affordability of store products. It can strengthen the relationship to the food we eat and our bonds within the community in which we share the cultures and the knowledge around tending to them.

Due to a recent move, I parted with my SCOBY. Wanting to start again with kombucha-brewing, I send a message to a group chat with neighbors, and within a few hours I obtained a new starter, and met a new person!