By Kelly Schubert and Aaron Cutler
Northside News
Introducing a new collaboration of Brainplate Grows, FEED Kitchens, Healthy Food For All, 50+ Madison food businesses, and your immediate community: bringing the farm to you.
Economic challenges, including the rising cost of food and living, have put more and more pressure on low income individuals and families. Now more than ever we need community level programs to help neighbors support one another long term.
Through strong collaboration by Brainplate Grows and FEED Kitchens, in addition to a growing number of community groups and food businesses across Madison, the Bucket Farm Friends initiative was born, seeking to empower low income communities by putting the power of growing food into the hands of people who otherwise would not have the resources to do so.
For every $20 donated, Brainplate Grows composting project is able to create several Urban Farm Kits, which consist of fully mature crop plants, growing from a hand-crafted planter, and distributed by Healthy Food For All to low income communities. In addition, youth agricultural educational enrichment programs teach the basics of sustainable urban food production from compost to table. The pilot project by The Bucket Farm Friends initiative was able to distribute 50 Urban Farm Kits in approximately six weeks.
Every Urban Farm Kit is created from materials rescued from Madison’s food system, diverting them from the landfill: used buckets from FEED Bakery, used coffee bags from JBC Coffee, high quality compost crafted at Troy Farms by Brainplate Grows using waste generated by FEED Kitchens and 50+ restaurants/food carts, and biochar made from the Holy Wisdom Monasteries’ restoration project.
This allows the cost of producing these Urban Farm Kits to be extremely low and purely sustained by participating organizations, businesses and volunteer efforts in the communities it serves, rather than being solely reliant on grants.
Anyone interested may also purchase an Urban Farm Kit for your home or business for $25, which provides ongoing support for this initiative into the future.
Brainplate Grows is seeking organizations interested in providing donations or volunteer participants, as well as locations for youth educational programming and adult urban gardening sites where food scarcity is prevalent. Currently, they are partnering with Meadowland and developing a relationship with the Northport Apartments for youth education.
For more information, to express interest in volunteering, purchasing buckets, or supporting the program, or if your school or organization is interested in participating in the Bucket Farm Friends initiative and agro-education activities next summer, reach out to Feedliaison@gmail.com.
