11/10/2021
Warning: A very long post, but worth the read. So why is Brian Wood doing this long and challenging journey on his bike? A short summary below. @ Marshall Rinquest for Valley Food Gardens
At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 took the world by storm and swept across the globe causing havoc and suffering.
Greyton, a small village in the Western Cape, was able to respond more efficiently than most, because in 2011 Greyton became Africa's first Transition Town, joining a worldwide movement, with its aim of building resilience in uncertain times. Over the years, the Greyton Transition Town (GTT) Board, staff and volunteers focussed on issues such as recycling, waste, promoting permaculture and basic education (eco and literacy). With Covid the organisation, community connections and infrastructure of the Transition Town Initiative served the town well.
During the first worldwide lockdown, the GTT initiative joined with other local organisations and churches to form a Pandemic Crisis Committee. At that time the most important issue was food. For many months, money was collected to organise food parcels. Members of the community donated generously and nearly R1 million was raised to purchase and distribute food parcels to those who had lost their jobs, their income, or their health to the virus. But this was not sustainable, and a long-term solution was needed.
After two months of providing parcels, GTT proposed forming the Valley Food Gardens project to provide seedlings to all the families receiving parcels. All families were given vouchers as part of their food parcels. They could then redeem these for seedlings. Four Nursey Hubs were set up using successful local growers in each of the four towns in the wider Greyton-Genadendal Valley. Seedlings were produced en masse, and families could not only redeem 40 assorted seedlings, but also get support from the Nursery Hubs, to start their own food gardens.
All local residents could buy seedlings at nominal costs. Some Greyton residents then also made their gardens available as food gardens to support local soup kitchens.
Some members in the community are now able to sell their excess produce at a weekly market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Now they are not only able to "feed themselves” but can also earn a living from their own produce.
The Valley Food Gardens project has attracted the support of local, regional and national government, as an example of a community helping itself. It is continuing to thrive, to help people feed themselves, and will hopefully become a model for food security within communities in the future.
On a global scale, this programme is assisting South Africa to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals identified by the United Nations, in that Greyton has been a primary example of advocating the surrounding towns to replicate the household and small-scale gardening project.
The only item lacking in this project is a vehicle. A bakkie with a canopy is required so that the director of the project, Mr Marshall Rinquest can visit the hubs, carry seedlings, compost, vegetables from one place to another, and also collect surplus vegetables to sell at Greyton's twice-weekly markets.
At the moment, Marshall Rinquest is using his own car which is not equipped to handle the rough roads of our community, particularly the off-road locations of many of the community vegetable gardens. This is putting the project under great stress, as Marshall's car is not able to sustain this toll much longer. When there is a need for a larger vehicle, Marshall borrows a bakkie from the Red Cross or the Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary to continue his work. This is not always readily available.
The funding for this fundraising campaign is to raise funds to purchase a second-hand vehicle such as a Toyota Hilux, which will be used for the following:
a. Transporting compost, seedlings, and seeds and resources (fencing, poles, etc) to the household and small-scale farmers.
b. Collecting the fresh produce from the household and small-scale farmers, to sell at the 2 local markets which are on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
c. Transporting and collection of the food coming from the Food Forward NPO and distributing it to the two local Swap Shops (people bring their waste for recycling in exchange for food).
d. Transporting the recycling waste to the local recycler, who then bales it and transports it to Cape Town for further recycling to PETCO.
GTT needs R200,000 to purchase a vehicle (bakkie) for Valley Food Gardens - a Greyton Transition Town initiative.
Please support Valley Food Gardens by donating on backabuddy: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/purchase-of-vehicle-for-greyton-transition
Your donation, no matter how small will help to grow gardens.
CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN FOR PURCHASE OF VEHICLE FOR GREYTON TRANSITION TOWN PROGRAMME (GTT): The Coronavirus outbreak at the beginning of 2020 took the world by
Beyond Food Parcels: Unlocking the Valley’s Food-growing Resourcefulness.
