Author: Siniša Šolak
In the beginning it was a word and it lasted a long time…
The word was not biblical, but glamo, and by the length of its duration it somehow came to him the same, except that this one, as in every small environment, referred to something local and idealized, generally known but still only local. The word referred to potatoes, but not just any potatoes, but the ones from Glamo, which generations of Glamo residents were proud of, but they didn’t know why.
After the words, there was an idea and it lasted for a long time….
And the idea is not biblical, but glamočka, but it also lasted, but nothing happened. Many years passed, generations changed, Glamoč almost disappeared. The only change is that they scratch their heads and look for the culprit why the word does not become a deed. The guilty and the guilty were always found in the past, with untold stories, unfinished deeds, and a new system appeared…. the system in which we lived and somehow all the guilty drowned in it and only he remained guilty – the system.
After the idea, a need appeared, and ignorance and vanity stood in its way…
The system goes and a new one appears. The same people only a little older, fatter, balder and much more clueless. Now everything turns into a story of what could and should be, how it was. Glamock potatoes are still waiting to be remembered. Glamoč continues to disappear, decay and fall into oblivion… but the potato remains and endures. Need overcomes ignorance and vanity, because in Glamoč people do not live from ignorance and vanity (at least most of them) but from satisfying needs, and potatoes came to the fore.
And then the story suddenly accelerates when the possibility of active participation in life, action and improving the standard of living is recognized through inclusion and global flows through what itself has become what is now called a brand. A group of enterprising people follow the legal procedures, use their own knowledge, business contacts and join global flows. At the same time, they discovered that not all truths live in Glamoč and that the rest of the world does not exist to make local lives miserable, on the contrary. Quickly and efficiently founds and organizes the Association “Glamočki krompir” Glamoč, prepares reports, binds the Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, the Faculty of Technology in Banja Luka, the Agency for Intellectual Property in Mostar… and himself. In less than a year since its establishment, and more precisely in July 2024, the Association “Glamočki krompir” Glamoč became the holder of the right to the name of origin, now the official brand “Glamočki krompir”.
The irregular circle around the Glamock potatoes began to grow. It grows to 44 members, 58 ha of plantations and an open market of the requested product for members and a huge interest in getting involved in the process, i.e. for membership due to the effects that this process brings. So that in a few months from the end of the process, there will be a need for professionally engaged persons to run the business. We will see how much the irregular circle will grow, because this also starts with words.
The media content was created as part of the project “Promoting Citizen Participation in Local Government”, which the Center for Civic Cooperation from Livno is implementing with the support of the National Foundation for Democracy (NED). The content and views expressed in the text are the author’s personal views and do not reflect the views of the Center for Civic Cooperation and the National Foundation for Democracy. The use of the content and its transfer to third parties is possible with the prior consent of the Center for Civic Cooperation.
Source: cgslivno.org
