Kitchen Gardeners International: KGI in the media: Going Global for Local Food

By Rick Churchill, published in People, Places, and Plants magazine, May-June 2006

(SCARBOROUGH, MAINE) - Roger Doiron spent his youth in Maine, then headed out to explore the world. He ended up in Belgium, where he began a long tenure with Friends of the Earth, an international organization of grass-roots groups that since the 1970s has had a stated mission of creating "a healthy and just world".

In 2001, Doiron and his Belgian wife, Jacqueline, left Brussels and brought their children to Maine so they could experience American culture. But what would he do to continue a life dedicated to worthwhile causes? Being exposed to the European penchant for gardening, Doiron decided to create Kitchen Gardeners International, a non-profit organization related to the local production of food.

Most people wouldn't think of Scarborough as the headquarters of what the WorldWatch Institute has called "the intellectual and political meeting place" of the world's kitchen gardeners. KGI, with more than 2,200 members in 45 countries, celebrates "home-grown, homemade foods in their many global forms" and promotes their role in building "a healthier, tastier, more sustainable and secure food system.'

"Our more short-term goal is to leverage the resources - both human and financial - of kitchen gardeners to promote kitchen gardening through education, outreach and philanthropy," Doiron said. "In doing so, KGI seeks to connect, serve and expand the global community of people who grow some of their own food. Our impacts will be measured in terms of the number of people we reach through our work, the number of new gardens that we have a role in planting, and the number of projects we are able to help finance.'

Doiron aims to pull people into the movement as opposed to pushing them. He leads by example, gardening on a small lot in Scarborough with 1,000 square feet under cultivation. As with most vegetable gardeners, his favorite crop happens to be tomatoes.

"The Maine summer for me is all about simple foods enjoyed simply, so my favorite recipe for tomatoes is not a recipe at all: a sun-warmed, vine-ripened tomato eaten standing up in the garden, with all of its drip-down-your-chin juices," he said. "My next favorite way is a simple sandwich consisting of sliced beefsteak tomatoes, a sprinkling of salt and a slathering of mayo served on a slice of crusty white bread. The perfect summer tomato is my Holy Grail.'

What KGI is promoting isn't unique, but people often need an organization to stimulate them to do something beneficial. "The desire to scratch at the earth in search of something good to eat is both old and universal," Doiron said. "We're trying to appeal to that universal urge and reinforce it.'

Posted by KGI on May 25, 2006 7:15 AM to Kitchen Gardeners International
----------
Kitchen Gardeners International is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that relies on the financial support of individuals to fund its educational and outreach activities. If you found this information useful, please consider becoming a KGI member. Thank you.