Vegiscape, Urban Agriculture – Startup funds: a venture start-up based in Stratford, Ontario, Canada

Vegiscape, Urban Agriculture – Startup funds

Description

   Vegiscape, Urban Agriculture is a venture start-up based in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. I, Kai Groen, started Vegiscape to help people grow good healthy food just steps from their door at their homes, businesses and in community gardens. I am passionate about good food! Everyone’s idea about what constitutes good food is different and that’s ok! For me good food is first and foremost about good, fresh, vibrant flavour. The need to be able to ship produce half way around the world cheaply has done damage to the flavour, as well as the nutrition, of the foods you find at your supermarket. The need to keep foods marketable for longer periods of time has resulted in produce being grown by factory farms with more concern for yield and shelf life than flavour. This also limits the kinds of foods you can find in a supermarket to those that are easily shipped and stored. I can’t count how many people I’ve given a fresh, organically grown brandywine tomato out of my garden, to hear them say, “Oh thanks…but I don’t really like tomatoes. I’ll take it home for the kids/wife/husband.” Then later on I get a message saying, “I thought I didn’t like tomatoes, but when we cut it open it smelled and looked so amazing I had to try some. Who knew? I love tomatoes!” I usually message back with a recipe for Caprese Salad and an invite to come grab some fresh basil from the herb patch.
   Growing produce close to home changes everything. The quality and nutrition of produce which can be grown in our local foodscapes almost always surpasses that which you can find in a supermarket. Not only is local food more flavourful and more nutritious, small scale urban agriculture fits naturally with organic practices without the need for for organic certification. It’s easier to use organic pest control and weed control methods on smaller patches, but also when food is grown close to where people live, producers who need answer to their neighbors and communities are obligated to reduce or eliminate the use of harsh chemicals. 
   Vegiscape aspires to be a workhorse, a motivator, and an enabler in a vibrant urban agricultural landscape, not only in it’s hometown of Stratford, Ontario, but throughout this region as well as across international boundaries, by inspiring other operations in other cities as an example of good urban agricultural practices and strong community partnerships. Rocket Hub allows us, and other businesses, artists and social movements to liberate our ideas by sharing our dreams with a broad community, giving us a chance to raise funds with an effective and unconventional platform.
   I have begun this crowd funding campaign on Rocket hub to raisie capital to get Vegiscape growing. We need to raise $35,000 dollars to buy equipment, winterize the greenhouse we have partnered with The Local (a community food centre)  to use, and to buy seeds and other supplies. The United Nations believes the only way we are going to be able to support our growing populations is with small-scale local food production. (http://www.technologywater.com/post/69995394390/un-report-says-small-scale-organic-farming-only) I need you to help Vegiscape start off strong and grow, so that we can answer this international call to a return to sustainable food production. We are asking for your help us so we can buy and pay for things like equipment and vehicles, supplies such as pots, soil, seeds, and organic fertilizer, to help us winterize and build benches and irrigation systems in The Local’s Greenhouse, as well as to pay for people power such as an accountant, legal fees, and wages.
   In return for your donation you can use any amount of money you donate towards your own, or someone else’s Vegiscape project, or you can donate the money to one of our community gardens. If you help fund us during this campaign you will receive an additional 10% off any of our products or services with your funds, including gardens and produce. 
   Thank-you for taking the time too look at this campaign. Vegiscape needs your help, and cannot get off the ground without our local and broader community’s support. This program runs until noon on New Year’s day. Rocket Hub lets us keep whatever we make if we don’t reach our goals. I will make good use of whatever funds we get, with the first bunch of money we receive going to redesign and maintain The Local’s greenhouse. We already have several large marketshare gardens prepped and ready to grow for spring. We have some plants such as fruit shrubs and herbs cloned and growing for next season, as well as having a microgreens operation in full swing. Your support will bring this venture to the community and make us a success! Thank You, Kai.

Source: ICNW