At the core of the Everybody Eats project is the idea that we are all participants in our local communities. As inhabitants of communities, we all have agency in co-creating our ecological and environmental landscapes. However, we do not all have equal access to the systemic power necessary to meet all of the human needs directly related to local ecologies: clean air, potable water, and adequate, nutritious food.
The team of the Everybody Eats project includes community members that are normally referred to as ‘research subjects’ or ‘research participants’ – but because this project’s framework is focused on how boundaries and power impede the meeting of our most basic needs, all research begins from assessing how these needs are/are not met for ourselves, our households, and our neighbors. We live where we work, and we must confront our relative positions of power and agency and strive towards transparency.
The core service the project provides in its process of understanding community food security and community food provision networks (including conventionally understood market supply chains) is working to facilitate the growth and production of vegetables and fruits where people reside – the direct participation of anyone in food agriculture. This has included portable herb gardens, container gardens, raised beds, and keyhole gardens. Here you will find some examples from our community networked gardeners, in their own words and images…