"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead (1901 - 1978) US anthropologist

MISSION:
Kitchen Gardeners International is a 501c3 nonprofit founded in Maine, USA with friends from around the world. Our mission is to empower individuals, families, and communities to achieve greater levels of food self-reliance through the promotion of kitchen gardening, home-cooking, and sustainable local food systems. In doing so, KGI seeks to connect, serve, and expand the global community of people who grow some of their own food.

BACKGROUND:
The idea for Kitchen Gardeners International was planted by founder Roger Doiron and a diverse group of kitchen gardeners who believe that food is central to human well-being and one of the best ways of uniting people of different countries and cultures around a common, positive agenda. It is registered as a 501(c)(3) public charity and governed by a volunteer board of directors with representatives from the United States and Europe. Our network of friends and supporters now includes over 15000 kitchen gardeners from 100 countries with new ones signing up each week.

JUSTIFICATION:
With the world in the grips of intersecting food, fuel, financial and environmental crises, it is clear that we need to make a shift in the way we eat and live. Kitchen gardens, food gardens, Victory Gardens – whatever term you prefer – have been an important part of our past and will play an even more critical role in the future as we work to feed a growing world population using a dwindling and increasingly polluted natural resource base. Over the past 100 years, we have lost a great deal of cultural knowledge about the production, preservation, preparation and enjoyment of healthy, whole foods. The good news is that we can bring it back and help those who would like to have a healthier, closer relationship with their food to do so.

GOALS
-To provide a structure, virtual and real, for kitchen gardeners worldwide to: meet up with each other; share their passion for food, cooking, and organic gardening; and further their skills and knowledge in these areas;
-To introduce new generations to the joys and benefits of actively participating in one's food production and preparation;
-To inform KGI's supporters and the general public about the many ways of participating in and contributing to a sustainable food system and planet;
-To help individuals and communities, especially disadvantaged populations, to achieve higher levels of food self-reliance;
-To promote cultural exchange and international understanding via a shared love of kitchen gardening.

ACTIVITIES:
-Coordination of "International Kitchen Garden Day" (watch video here), an annual decentralized celebration of kitchen gardening, local food, home cooking, and intercultural exchange around these issues.
-Monthly e-mail newsletter with information about food policy, recipes, gardening tips and lessons, ideas for promoting organic kitchen gardens and sharing the harvest with others, etc;
-Coordination of high-profile food and garden advocacy campaigns such as the successful"Eat the View!" campaign to replant a kitchen garden at the White House and Food Independence Day.
- Food for thought videos on youtube.com and other sites
-On-line educational resources concerning organic gardening, composting, cooking, food storage/preservation, seed exchanges, etc;
-Partnership program to help small, community-based groups start or scale up kitchen garden projects.
-Occasional international educational and networking gatherings where kitchen gardeners could meet up, learn new skills, and share ideas for growing the kitchen garden movement.

FINANCING:
-donations, contributions, and grants from individual donors, members, and charitable foundations