What does a campaign to enlist 15,000 backyard farmers have to do with the region’s economic competitiveness?
It’s an unusual form of innovation and excellent example of the sometimes unexpected dimensions of Quality of Place -- and the qualities that characterize urban communities that stand out among their peers.
Lots of people are jumping on the idea of spreading the art of backyard farming (really a grander term for gardening) by making it a movement, a crusade, and a “brand:” 15thousandfarmers.com, to be precise, since this is also a social movement using social media to spur it on.
It’s the latest evolution of the movement to support local food and deliberate concern about access and quality of food in our region. It’s mostly been led by the Community Farm Alliance, which spurred the growth of Farmer’s Markets over the last several years.
Quirky as it sounds, it’s just the sort of movement that can distinguish Louisville from other mid-sized, mid-American cities – adding to its distinctive profile and energy that defines the best communities in which to live and raise a family. Just as Louisville’s unusual collection of high-quality, local restaurants does.
Go, farmers, we say, of all sizes and shapes – both for the distinctiveness that their movement imparts to Louisville and also for the food, of course.