Community building through collaborative food production and consumption: A case study of Grow Free in South Australia

ABSTRACT

Grow Free, a grassroots social initiative, emerged in South Australia in 2013. Grow Free advocates for the sharing and exchange of free seeds, seedlings, fruits, and vegetables among neighbors. The number of Grow Free participants grew to about 230 throughout South Australia as of 2022. This article explores the agri-social characteristics of Grow Free participants, drawing on 50 postal survey respondents and 17 semi-structured phone interviews. This study finds that diverse non-governmental organizations in addition to residential households are actively participating in the Grow Free network, including community gardens and community centers. Moreover, many household-type Grow Free participants are linked to an array of other grassroots social initiatives including Permaculture South Australia and Trees for Life. The study notes that Grow Free along with other alternative food networks has facilitated collaborative food production and consumption at a local scale. Through grassroots organizational mechanisms, Grow Free participants have been committed to fostering community building and resilience through food sharing.

KEYWORDS:

• Food sharing
• alternative food network
• organic gardening
• permaculture
• community building

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the participants in the postal survey and online interviews for their time and contributions. The authors are grateful to Andrew Barker, the founder of Grow Free, for his encouragement and support for this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by a Kickstart Research Grant in 2022 from the Faculty of Arts, Business, Law, and Economics at the University of Adelaide.