In the beginning of the year I mentioned my desire to explore Locavore Freeganism– taking advantage of all the free, nourishing foods that grow in our neighborhoods and mostly go to waste. What I’ve discovered is that while I love the sentiment, there’s just something awkward about pulling a lemon off someone else’s tree.
Enter the Incredible Edible project, which I learned about through the Ted talk, How We Can Eat Our Landscapes. Speaker Pam Warhurst calls it “propaganda gardening” and the concept is a no-brainer: replace greenery in public spaces with edible fruits, herbs and veggies to be enjoyed by anyone and everyone. So obvious and effective, it’s kind of shocking that this isn’t the way towns operate already, right?
In Todmorden, England, the project originated out of seeking a way to help people find a to new way of living, see the space around them differently, and think about the resources they use differently.
More on the project can be found here, but the premise is utilizing volunteer community members, students– anyone with skills and time to donate– to initiate and maintain their local edible landscape.
Starting with a seed swap, they converted an empty lot into a community herb garden and replaced useless plants in front of public buildings with fruit trees and edible plants. In turn, the novelty of it all drew a new type of tourism–vegetable tourism–and for these visitors, the committee created exhibition gardens and a tourist path to encourage knowledge and conversation around public edible landscaping. With the government becoming interested in funding, they’re now partnering with high schools to teach agriculture, creating training labs, building fisheries and orchards– all in the name of investing in kindness to each other and to the environment.
Their motto? “If you eat, you’re in.”
The best part of the project is that it’s entirely replicable and I’d love to begin creating something similar to this in Los Angeles. If you work in a connected field or would be interested in getting something started, please contact me directly!
*On a related note, I saw this great article on how to eat good food on a tight budget — here, they tell you which foods offer the most nutritional bang for your buck, and even a printable PDF of fail-proof recipes to help out even the most novice of cooks.
Estelle says
Come on people, it’s all about the power of small actions, if anywhere should be incredible edible it should be the city of angels.
You can do this, take an ugly unproductive corner and make it beautiful and full of food to share.
Join the peas and love revolution (if you eat your in) and talk the universal language of food.
one part gypsy says
I agree Estelle– its totally doable! please reach out if you happen to hear of other interested parties in LA. I’d be thrilled to connect!
Gary Boivin says
The locavore movement appears far more established in Europe than here, but I have every bit of confidence that I will find great deals in farmers’ markets throughout my travels in the near future.
one part gypsy says
thanks for supporting local growers, Gary! Thats fantastic!
erin @WELLinLA says
I know someone working on a project like this… could connect it up! Plus there’s Enrich L.A. (an organization near & dear to my heart) for building edible gardens in LAUSD schools.
one part gypsy says
Erin- yes, that would be so great. Lets chat next week! xx
Kate says
Fabulous post! So interesting! Thanks for sharing.
Tami Rebekah says
Ah!! I am loving your site!! how wonderful!! Uh ooohhh you may have a new stalker… i mean follower.
one part gypsy says
Thanks Tami! I totally added you to my RSS daily reads! Great blog and great pinterest! xx
Sharzad says
I have no problem picking fruit from other peoples trees! LOL especially when it looks like they aren’t eating it… In fact I’m about to go fig picking from a neighbor now. Wish me luck!
Sidenote: This sounds like a great thing for LA ; ) Great post!