If you wish to convert your lawn into an edible garden, sign up - you can do a lot of good.

Fleet Farming, an IDEAS For Us initiative, "strives to reduce the environmental impact of food production through a pedal-powered, hyperlocal urban farming model that creates a culture of health and vibrant ecosystems by: teaching an intergenerational fleet of volunteers how to grow their own food, activating and re-engaging the community through biweekly Swarm Rides, and creating a breathe free and biodiverse environment through emissions-free, organic farming."

It really is about creating a simple solution for what is basically a global challenge - the inefficient fossil fuel use during daily production and transportation of food. According to Fleet Farmers, there are 40 million acres under cultivation in the US, and they absorb three million tons of hazardous chemical fertilizers and 30,000 tons of extremely harmful pesticides. On top of that they use 800 million gallons of gasoline for mowing per year. What this green service does is it transforms unproductive, wasteful lawns into community-driven urban farm plots and everyhting that grows there is then sold at local farmers markets and restaurants within a 5 mile radius, rather than having the produce travel 1,500 miles to finally make it to your dinner plate.

Fleet Farming uses organic methods to grow food and to transport it, they simply use the power of their own legs - they ride bicycles. Their produce include various salad greens, sauté greens, roots, herbs, flowers, fruits and other (sumemer) crops, which are then sold here.

If the project interests you, there is a lot you can do to get involved and help. You can either volunteer to work, donate your lawn to be converted into a food-producing farmlette and learning space for future farmers, register your unharvested fruit tree, or even start a whole new branch in your own neighbourhood. Currently, Fleet Farming has one branch in Orlando, Florida, one in Oakland, California and another one in Kampala, Uganda.

You can follow them on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

June 8, 2016 Living photo: Fleet Farming via Facebook

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