March 23, 2010 Do you have a yard that would be perfect for growing food, but have
1. no interest
2. too much for you to handle
3. don’t know where to start?
Well, it’s time to connect up over at Hyperlocavore – an online site to bring people together who yardshare in order to grow food. Many communities support community gardens, but in many cases, such as in Portland, OR, as soon as it is announced there is room available, it fills up! Which underlines the importance of Hyperlocavore, bringing together food growers and those with the space to grow it. Liz McLellan, a web strategist and self-proclaimed homesteader started Hyperlocavore after the last election, and with grassroots efforts she built it to its current state.
Over a year ago I met Liz through twitter (@hyperlocavore) and I have a deep respect for the work she is doing. Yardsharing is the perfect answer for many people – especially those in urban/suburban areas – to connect and grow food. I recently wrote her and asked why she started Hyperlocavore…
“I started hyperlocavore because I think there are a lot of people out there who would like to grow more of their food but can’t because that lack some important ingredient. Sometimes it’s skill. Sometime it’s a space to grow. Sometimes there’s a physical limitations which prevents a life long grower from gardening. The economic downturn came and it seemed like the perfect time to make it happen.
I am also very interested in helping people build local networks of resilience. The energy and environmental changes we are looking at the next 40 years are not something that people are really ready for. We had an oil shock a few years ago where oil stayed for just a while above 120 a barrel. I think we are headed in that direction permanently. I saw a film called The End of Suburbia a while back that outlines the vulnerability of a society built on cheap petroleum products. I don’t think most people are thinking through what that means for the cost of food but it’s not pretty.
As I’ve built the site I’ve met so many wonderful people to see things the same way – foodies, community activists, growers, people who want to farm the burbs! I’ve built the site so that anyone anywhere regardless of location or funds can start up without worrying about getting program funding or finding city land to grow on. In the last 20 years we’ve seen beautiful community gardens mowed over when developers have become interested the land again.”
And now it’s time for growth! She submitted Hyperlocavore as a Kickstarter project. Please consider helping Liz fund it to the next level. She needs to reach a goal of $6,200 by 7:05pm EST March 28th – that’s this Sunday. A dollar, $5, or whatever you feel you might be able to give, will help her reach her goal. At this writing she is 63% of goal and only needs another $2,304 in the next 5 days. If she doesn’t reach goal, she gets nothing.
To give Hyperlocavore an “opportunity to help people become more resilient and self sufficient wherever they live. Times are getting tougher. Building community over food security is something that works. Your pledge can help folks not just survive but thrive.”
CLICK HERE TO DONATE THROUGH KICKSTARTER
Last Spring, Mark Simonds (@route140) stopped in Oregon and interviewed Liz about Hyperlocavore where she explains yardsharing.