Introduction and Overview › TEIKEI Principles · 3 min read
The principle of self-distribution describes more than just the physical movement of products—it points to a new architecture of community-organized supply.
At its core, it means: The community takes responsibility for the entire distribution—materially, financially, and digitally. Infrastructure required for the flow of goods, money, and information should not be outsourced to external service providers or central platforms but instead built and maintained under communal responsibility.
This principle emerged from the desire not to cede control over supply chains to a few global actors but to shape them in a decentralized, locally anchored, and solidarity-based way.
How to read the image: At the center is the community, which takes responsibility for the entire distribution. Three flows are connected to it. For the flow of goods, it organizes the last mile itself—delivery, storage, distribution, and handover—including onward transport to surrounding villages where necessary; how this is bundled in a region is shown on the page Regional Bundling. For the flow of money, payments are processed via community-based systems carried by the members, and distribution costs are transparent for everyone; what contributions for this can look like is shown in the Models of Basic Cost Participation. For the flow of information, the digital infrastructure is based on community-maintained servers and open infrastructure, up to a region’s own server. At the bottom is what self-distribution is not: outsourcing to external service providers or central platforms. Each field is clickable.
In TEIKEI, self-distribution is a living expression of participation: People take responsibility—not just for distributing boxes, but for the entire system behind it.
Concrete Practices:
Self-distribution means: I become part of the organism. Not as a cog, but as a co-creator.
This principle extends far beyond food logistics: Education, care, energy supply, and digital communication can also be built communally—locally, resiliently, independently.
In a recursive network economy, not only is distribution managed—connections are made. Every transport route, every snippet of code, every manual task is part of a larger fabric of trust, participation, and care.
Self-distribution is not about giving up convenience—it is the design of a future that belongs to all of us.
If you would like to participate—whether in distribution, logistics structures, or building digital infrastructures—feel free to contact our coordination office at kontakt@teikei.us, or start your own ordering community. We look forward to you.
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By Felix Schröder, with support from AI (ChatGPT, Claude)
Created on July 20, 2025 · Last updated on October 15, 2026
Questions or feedback? support@teikei.us