Grow it Yourself

The Idea

GIY is all about encouraging people to give food growing a try and believes that growing our own gives us a better understanding of food.

At the heart of the global GIY movement are local GIYers connecting with each other and creating GIY projects in their communities to share their knowledge and develop new ideas, building awareness for a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. GIY also runs programs to encourage food growing at a mass scale at home, and in communities, schools and workplaces. These programs can lead people to a GIY project in your area, and vice versa.

Whether you are an expert in growing or you want to learn about growing food, why not start your own GIY project in your area?

GIY projects can be:

• A group of GIYers coming together to share knowledge at a monthly get-together, seed swap or garden visit.
• A community garden that wants to reach out in its community and connect with other GIYers.
• A school growing project that wants to join the network to connect with other schools and groups, access school specific resources or reach out to its community.

Given the current restrictions that are in place around Covid-19, you could start by growing some food at home, growing it forward by sharing seeds or seedlings with friends, neighbors or family members and using this time at home to plan for a community garden or community food growing project that can kick off properly when restrictions allow.

You can apply as part of the Swarthmore Community Challenge and get seed funding to start a growing project on campus. Every GIY project is different - the magic lies in a group of people coming together, learning, sharing and having fun!