The Gift of Food

Can a front yard garden solve world hunger? By Sarah Polyakov.

If one wants to change the world, most of the time it is best to start in our own backyards; or in this case, our own front yards. In January 2012 in Austin, Texas, a new community enhancing and gardening movement was launched with the idea of providing a free harvest to everyone in a community and beyond.

It all began with the organizers building a small, raised gardening bed in their front yard with a sign that simply read: Food Is Free. After gaining some traction, they blanketed their neighborhood with fliers letting neighbors know that the first ten people who responded would have front yard gardens installed on their own property free of charge.

Mission Possible

John VanDeusen Edwards, one of the founders of the Food Is Free project, is on a mission to create a multitude of front-yard gardens in communities across the nation and even the world. The goal is to take unused public spaces and turn them into free gardens so everyone in the community can experience the taste and health benefits of fresh, organic food. Currently, 190 cities have joined the movement and gardens can be found in neighborhood front yards, schools, churches, small businesses, and anywhere else folks donate a small parcel of land set aside for community gardens. The underlying theme is that the food that is harvested from the gardens is free to anyone and everyone.

Free For All

The most surprising and perhaps heartening aspect of the Food Is Free project is that community gardens can be set up for free. First of all, the gardens are constructed by using discarded materials that would otherwise be thrown into landfills. Volunteers construct drought-tolerant wicking bed gardens that only need to be tended and watered one or two times per month. These garden beds are also built for free by the volunteers and seeds are provided and planted for free. The harvest that these small, urban gardens produce is truly free for all.

Imagine

But, the Food Is Free project is not just about food—it is also about relationships. The project’s vision is this: “Imagine driving down your street, where the majority of homes host a front yard community garden, neighbors come together for potlucks, establish tool-sharing and community composting programs while creating safer, more beautiful neighborhoods.” Project members are empowering members of their own communities to join together and work towards a cause that is much greater than each person in the community. All information about the gardens is also shared freely among participants and different Food Is Free projects around the country.

Free Happiness

Perhaps the best part about the Food Is Free project is that it connects others to their neighbors and to the earth. These are two types of relationships that are known to increase each individual’s happiness quotient. Plus, there is the fact that there will be a lot of full plates- who isn’t happy after a good meal? I invite you to look into starting your own Food Is Free project with your neighbors so that you can make this positive free-for-all work locally. In starting your own project, you will be part of the solution to ending world hunger. Do it for the world, your community, for the earth, and for yourself.

contact: info@foodisfreeproject.org

facebook: www.facebook.com/foodisfree

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