Grow It Local, a community-led movement to educate and support Australians to grow food in their own backyards, is opening its doors to investors for the first time through equity crowdfunding platform Swarmer.
This serves as a milestone moment for the network which first sprouted in 2019 and has more than 32,000 members to date, reaching more than five million Australians across 31 local and three State/Territory Government areas.
Grow It Local co-founder, author, broadcaster, chef, and master grower Paul West (pictured right), alongside co-founders Andrew Valder (pictured left) and Darryl Nichols (pictured centre), shares the belief that growing one’s own food on any scale can have on not only building healthier and more resilient communities but contributing to a more sustainable world.
“Food is such a powerful force for good, it has the ability to address so many of society’s big systemic issues and absolutely anyone can start to grow a bit of their own food with our help,” West said.
West explained that the motivation to expand Grow It Local came about as a result of the recently released National Impact Report.
“The Grow It Local national impact report confirms we are on the right track with our mission to turn everyone into a gardener,” West said. “The findings prove there is appetite for this movement, but in order for us to literally grow we require investment.”
The founders also shared that they are motivated more than ever to show everyone how easy it is to grow our own food and embrace our community, inviting their support to grow as well.
“Gardening makes the world a better place and we all can start right now to make the world healthier, happier and more delicious,” West averred. “For the past three years Grow It Local has literally been growing with our community and it is now time for us to grow up and help even more Aussies.”
Co-founder Darryl Nichlos pointed out that there is currently more than 1.08 million square meters of private land being used across the nation to grow food.
“These private gardens are all contributing in varying ways to providing food security, sequestering carbon and fostering community connections. Our 32,000 members are collectively diverting more than 46,000 kilograms of food waste from landfill each week,” Nichols said. “We are now calling on all Australians to grow their own food in some way, shape or form and do their part to save the world.
“This is the Grow It Local challenge,” he added. “To meet this challenge, we need additional support and as the single platform that services the needs of consumers, Government and business through technology, community, online education and impact, know what we have is really special.”
Grow It Local believes they can teach Australia how to cultivate on any scale from patch to plate, whether that be on an apartment balcony, window ledge, traditional Aussie backyard or in community gardens. For those interested in investing, Grow It Local has various investor rewards available, which offer innovative and unique experiences drawn from their creativity and connections.
