Peter mentioned his dilemma to Jared Fine '03, which started an ongoing dialog about how the problem might be solved. As they strategized, news of contaminated spinach and tomatoes dominated the headlines, giving rise to a call for sustainable food production and transparency of food origin. This growing desire played nicely into their plan, as it had matured to include "the local marketplace" as a key to success of their new venture.

Since that summer, Peter and Jared have been developing a way to increase awareness and provide information about local organic produce via the web. They founded an organization called LocalGrow.org, which will offer a web solution with two primary functions. First, the site will be used to connect consumers with gardeners and farmers in their own community, with responsibly grown produce coming from a CSA, farmer's market, or local produce markets. In addition to finding information about buying local food, the site will also encourage and support anyone trying to start or maintain their own gardens, with tips and advice from experts successfully growing similar plants in the local area.

At the core of their endeavor is the community using the website and providing information, i.e. anyone interested in local produce and food production. All LocalGrow.org content will be user-generated, and made available in a clear and transparent fashion. With that in mind, Peter and Jared have been in discussions with farmers and producers throughout California. Recently, they entered into discussions with UC Santa Cruz's Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems as a partner in the endeavor, with CASFS to provide ongoing expertise and tips on the site. "We are very excited about this development," said Peter. "This partnership is going to significantly raise the expertise level that LocalGrow can provide to site users."

To finish off the project, LocalGrow is seeking funding assistance from the larger community through a Kickstarter.com project. Their goal: to raise $10,000 by August 11, enough to finish design and launch the site. "At this point, the underlying technical architecture and data gathering is complete or in process. We really just need the funds to cover front-end development and design, as we want to provide the best user experience possible."

San Francisco Waldorf School has played an integral role in the birth of LocalGrow.org. Besides being the place where they met, Peter and Jared talk fondly of their shared experiences. Peter relays, "Our memories of the 3rd grade trip to Covelo were always in our discussions surrounding LocalGrow. I really don't know where we would be now without that introduction to healthy farming… it served as a great foundation for this project."

About LocalGrow.org
LocalGrow is an online agricultural knowledgebase and community. We provide tools to connect gardeners, farmers, and consumers, and to facilitate the exchange of locally-relevant growing information and regional produce. At the moment, LocalGrow.org (www.localgrow.org) is endeavoring to find support to expand the online project to accomplish these primary goals:

The creation of an online marketplace to connect consumers to regional, organic produce available through farms and CSAs in their area; andThe building of an online forum where gardeners and farmers can share organic growing information relevant to the specific regions in which they live.

LocalGrow.org represents a counterpoint to big agribusiness, and if you have seen the recent documentary Food Inc., you will be reminded that health of everyone is in our own hands. This is a great opportunity to take action and show what the Power of One can do to change the world.