The Food is Free Project started with a simple front yard garden.
That garden sparked conversations and a bigger vision of what was possible.
We hosted weekend community workdays following our kickoff event and within 5 weeks we had created a new normal on our block. 19 of the 30 houses on Joe Sayers Ave in Austin, TX hosted a front yard wicking bed garden built from salvaged materials and some neighbors were meeting for the first time in decades.
Seeing neighbors connecting and talking out in front of the garden beds as well as waving and interacting more was proof that something as simple as a front yard garden can sprout much more than just homegrown food.
In 2012, the community united for the kickoff event in Austin, TX. We shared delicious food, brainstormed resources and we had over 100 people sign up to host a front yard garden all over the city! The energy in that room was undeniable and within a year the project went open source and worldwide.
Now, 6 years later, over 400 cities around the world have started Food is Free Projects and more sprout each week. Thank you to everyone who has shared the vision and planted the seeds for a better world. Know that you are not alone and together our small actions united are making a difference.
Start a Food is Free Project in your town. It all starts with that first garden!
More and more people are recognizing the importance of local food and supporting our communities. Food is Free provides a platform for community interaction that opens doors to further collaboration and connection. 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.
We are creating models for how to grow food in unused public spaces that provide opportunities for people to experience fresh, healthy, organic food, and the power of community when we come together for a cause that’s greater than ourselves.
You are encouraged to take any ideas from #foodisfreeproject and tailor them to fit your community. We all have something to learn from each other and knowing we're not alone makes it much easier to take a step out into our community and plant the first seeds.
Take the first step and share your #foodisfree photos on social media so we can all stay connected and spread these ripples of inspiration far and wide. I'm excited for Steemit to allow us to grow and unite in ways we are yet to imagine!
Onward and Upward,
John
Start a front yard community garden: http://foodisfreeproject.org
I have been following your project and very happy to see it going so well. Its so important to get people involved at the begining of the food process. So many people dont undertand the process and only see what they buy and dont understand the process involved to get that product from seed to shelf.
Keep it up x
Thank you for your message. Glad to be connected with you on Steemit! I agree that we all benefit from a reconnection with our food which I think also leads to reconnecting with nature as well. We are a part of nature and something as simple as getting our hands in the soil and planting some seeds can change our perspective about the world in so many ways. For me it was the beginning of such a beautiful black hole where I started to question everything and dream about a better world lined in gardens. :) All the best to you!
What kind of stuff are you guys planting?
Growing season hasn't started yet this year but many of the #foodisfree projects on the other side of the world are sharing their photos of abundant harvests and food sharing on social media. Search the hashtag and be inspired! :)
What a brilliant and yet simple plan for helping communities grow, survive and thrive. Back in the 80s here in Scotland, we set up local food co-ops because the local shop costs were high and fresh food availability low. A van would collect bulk items from the fruit and veg markets and the wholesalers for non-profit sale in community centres in outlying housing estates. Thanks for sharing :)
Thank you for sharing that! I love how not long ago, it was normal for us to be connected with our food and our community as well. We've forgotten but are remembering how transformational community and food can be in community and bringing more peace to the world. All the best!
Love your photos @foodisfree
Thank you! Search the #foodisfree tag all over social media to see what the community is doing around the world I'm constantly inspired by everyone growing and sharing the abundance. All the best!
Thanks bro , all the best wishes to you and your family ,love your posts <3
Way to GROW!! This year will be so amazing, I cannot wait to see how far it spreads!!!!! xoxoxoxoxox
Yes! The best is yet to come!! One day it will be normal for neighborhoods and communities around the world to be lined in community gardens, fruit trees, little free libraries, tool sharing sheds, free heirloom seedbanks and all that is good!
I share your vision 10000000% John! Thank you, and everyone who has contributed to the beautiful paradigm shift of #foodisfree!!
I can't wait! My neighborhood is all on board with Little Free Libraries, and so far I've discovered three gardens in the easements, with one of them hosting a sign that they grow for Produce for Pantries (food pantries). I'm in an apartment, or I would join in!
Awesome! You can maybe still grow something in pots on your balcony. I've also talked to many apartment dwellers who talked to the management and they supported a community garden in the common area. Start looking around your apartment for any areas that may be a good fit for a garden. Start visualizing gardens everywhere and share your vision with other neighbors and friends about growing food. You may well realize there are other like minds and hearts living right near you and it's just a matter of connecting with them. Go for it! :)
I do grow in pots in my balcony, but I haven't gotten much out of it yet. This past season I think I got three tomatoes out of two GINORMOUS tomato plants. My Hatch chiles (planted last April) are finally growing chiles, though (inside)!!
There are some beds in the courtyard, and three out of four are gardened by other neighbors. I wonder if the super would let me put food in the fourth. Hmmm...
I was just thinking of asking if I could put a Little Free Library there yesterday. 😊
Drops in the pond ripple out and turn into collective waves of potential! Bravo! <33
Yes! Ripples travel far past our own visible horizon. All of our actions are creating ripples every moment so let's make ripples of awesomeness! :)
Initiatives like this make the world a better place. More power, @foodisfree 👏🏻✨
There are so many amazing people and revolutionary initiatives around the world. It's very exciting to connect with others of like mind and heart and realize we're not alone. May your gardens overflow with bountiful harvests!
I think it's beautiful how humans come together for the good of the society. Encouraging movements like this is also very essential as little drops make the mighty ocean and there is no doubt that the emergence of more ideas like this would make the world a better place.
More greens to your elbow ;-)
Cheers!
Love your perspective! At times, we may feel small like a little raindrop but when we realize that together all of our rain drops can combine to create waves of change. I'm excited to see all the amazing new projects and creations from like hearts and minds unfold. All the best.
Beautiful job 😍 . And good to see the community contributing value to community work, is wonderful. Create together a platform that helps nature and neighbor, which is very good. Love and care are noticed in the work they do. How beautiful! In the union is the strength and you have obtained great result of the same. God bless you 🙇. Greetings from Venezuela @foodisfree.
Thank you for the beautiful message! I think growing food together helps us realize that we are all part of nature and start to explore the connections all around us. All of our acts of kindness ripple out to inspire others around us. Much love and here's to a more peaceful world where everyone may live free!
I think it is a good initiative to make the community very beautiful, my family and my person we tried to talk to the neighbors to sempra plant and flowers in each patio but none wanted, but continue to persist until they say yes.
If I win the fight against my neighbor I will upload photos on foodisfree
You've got this! Start growing any veggies, herbs and flowers wherever you can. Whether there is a small patch of yard or on containers on a patio. Any small victory will build momentum for sustained growth. If there are any public areas near you like a front yard where you can garden and others will see it, you will start inspiring them and it may well spark conversations that lead to future collaborations. Keep planting seeds and before long, some are bound to sprout and grow. Stay in touch and definitely share your #foodisfree photos of growing and sharing food. Rock it out!
Yes, thank you I saw the perfect place to plant near my house.
there is a perfect place to start soon I will be uploading the photos
of my project
Awesome @foodisfree,
we did a similar thing when I was a kid but on a smaller scale in our neighborhood. I was so young that I don't remember the exact details. I do remember the warm, friendly, even family type of atmosphere between all our neighbors. This should be a worldwide thing now. Thanks for the blog and for bringing up great memories. Have an awesome evening!
Danny Zale ~ @factcheck
Awesome to hear! I love how it used to be normal for us to grow food and share it with others. Though we've lost our way a bit, we are returning to that connection. More people are growing a garden and recognizing that homegrown, organic food is medicine. Great to connect on here!
This is great! We've been trying to get a community garden going in this miniscule town of ours, but keep getting rejected. This might just work for us if we can get just a few people going on it. Definitely seeking out more information on this. Hope to start this summer! This blog is a great find!! Im stoked :D
You can totally do it! Starting small is the key in my opinion. Before kicking of Food is Free Project, I just had a small front yard garden and being out there started many conversations with neighbors and others of like mind and heart. Those connections provided a great foundation for the bigger vision of lining a block in gardens to happen and established connections with volunteers, tools, seeds and supplies. Start extra seedlings and give them away or consider hosting a seed swap/potluck where neighbors and friends can come together, share a meal and brainstorm some ideas about growing and sharing food. Share your vision with as many people as possible because you never know who you may run into that shares that vision and you may well find things unfolding before you know it. Go for it and stay in touch with how things go. Take photos along the way and share them with all of us!
I already have started telling people :D I like the idea of the seed swap and potluck. Ive already been trying to get a potluck started in this town for everyone to get together. I can definitely see how starting small would be more advantageous in this town. Im going to start planting soon. It is still winter and still full of snow out there but i got a nice sunroom to start with. We have short summer seasons here and need to make the most of what we got. Will get in touch when things start ^_^ Thank you :D
Happy birthday!
This is fantastic! Following!
Thank you for sharing the vision! :)
sorry..... i just found this post. posting is very inspiring I will share this post if you do not mind @foodisfree
Thanks so much for sharing the vision!
good work keep it up.
Inspiring -
Thank you
From little things big things grow and my, how you've grown! Hi from across the world in Australia, where I recently came across some foods is free projects and traced it back to you all.
good work keep it up..more from you
Congrats on 6 years and Happy Sunday! This comment is to inform you that your article has been linked and featured in the most recent issue of the Weekly Homesteading Newsletter! Please check it out if you are interested! Thank you!
may you be filled abundantly
Ive been admiring this initiative at a distance for a couple of years and am so glad its catching on! I am looking forward to making my contribution this year. It is so much more of a blessing than I imagined possible on first glance.