"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 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 5200 kitchen gardeners from 95 countries with new ones signing up each week.

JUSTIFICATION:

We are growing distant from our food and its sources, both literally and figuratively, to the detriment of our health, our environment, our communities, and our gastronomic enjoyment. Home-food production has been in complete freefall (see chart) over the past several decades. Ingredients for the average meal travel between 1000-2500 miles from field to table, 25% farther than they did 2 decades ago, using up to 17 times more fossil fuels than a meal made with local ingredients.

This physical distancing from our food is accompanied by a cultural and emotional one as more people adopt a fast-food/convenience-food diet. The health effects of this diet are catastrophic, as are the financial costs to our health care system. According to the latest statistics from the American Medical Association, 2/3 of American adults are either overweight or obese. The costs of America’s obesity epidemic exceed $100 billion per year. And the problem is not limited to the US: Europe, Japan, and newly wealthy countries like Brazil and China are all experiencing a significant rise in obesity levels.

In his best-selling book “The Long Emergency” about the gathering global oil crisis, James Howard Kunstler describes a hungry world turned upside down when the industrial food system, dependent on massive oil and gas inputs at gigantic scales of operation can no longer be carried on economically. He concludes that “we will simply have to grow more of our food locally” and calls for a renaissance in small-scale food production.

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 infomation about food policy, recipes, gardening tips and lessons, ideas for promoting organic kitchen gardens and sharing the harvest with others, etc;
- Coordination of our "Grow-off Show-Off" gardens promotion campaign
- 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;
-Charitable partnership program to help assist kitchen garden projects through technical assistance and funding.
-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