Food Not Lawns
What is Food Not Lawns?
Food Not Lawns is a movement where people are ripping up their grass and turning their lawns into large gardens. Food Not Lawns began as an offshoot of the group to Food Not Bombs. Food Not Bombs is a movement where activists plant fruits and vegetable gardens in vacant lots. The Food Not Lawns movement promotes safe gardening. The Food not Lawns movement encourages everyone to grow food, supports organic culture methods, and promotes peace and sustainability within the community.
The process of replacing grass and plants with fruits and vegetables is also called Edible Landscaping.
Why Replace Your Grass with Food?
Many families have responded to the rising cost of fruits and vegetables by growing their own food. One of the biggest benefits of the Food Not Lawns movement is that individuals who grow their own food will help the planet by lowering the demand of food, and reducing the amount of pesticides and gas used to grow food.
Greater variety. Growing your own food will allow you to access a far greater variety of foods than you would typically find in your grocery store. If you grow your food from seed, the possibilities are almost endless. One of the biggest benefits to edible landscaping is the fun you and your family will have harvesting and eating your produce.
Save money. You'll save a lot of money by growing your own food. Depending on the amount of fruits and veggies that you harvest, you can freeze, dry, or can them for future use.
Community involvement. If you convert your front yard from an area of grass to a fruit and vegetable, you'll probably receive a lot of interest from your neighbors about your garden. You'll find that people will be interested in what you are doing and you may inspire others in your neighborhood to plant fruit and vegetables in their yard. This can also be a great opportunity to share and trade your fruits and vegetables with others.
Starting a Food Not Lawns Group
If you want to start a Food Not Lawn groups, check around locally and see who else is doing these types of projects. Go to their events, read their newsletters and see how you can create a group that will benefit your community. If you start a group, set up a web site, email address or phone number to make sure your group members can contact you for all public projects. The originator of the group has to accept the leader role or spokesperson at least until more people join.
Choose a time and place for your first official meeting. You can post flyers, write a press release and promote your group for about a month so you can get a better response. Make announcements at other events and you can also use the internet to promote your group.
Once your group has started, brainstorm and make a list of projects to start. A task-based organizational structure will allow projects to be split among your group members, and then each individual can take on a task their willing to complete.
Ask local businesses, nurseries, and farmers for donations. Most seed companies only send out donations once a year, in the fall and winter seasons. Write a letter about your projects and ask people to donate a surplus of seeds, toils, soil, and money.
If you don't know how to garden, organize a series of classes and find a willing expert to teach you and your members. Most experienced gardeners love to share their tips with others, so soak in the information and share it with your group members.
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