The tragedy of our food system is that we grow more than enough to feed everyone, but the logistical challenge of distribution is gigantic. Food is grown thousands of miles from where it's eaten and touches a ton of hands on the way to the consumer -- the farm laborers, transports, processors, distributors, retailers, chefs, and consumers. When you factor in the additional steps of getting food to people in food deserts, the obstacles can appear nearly insurmountable. Even with all those miles traveled by our food, if someone doesn't have reliable transportation, fresh food can still be far away.
Simply put, the biggest barrier to healthy food access is the distance between where it’s grown and where it’s consumed. One of our goals is to grow culturally relevant food as close to where it’s going to be eaten as possible by engaging the community and offering educational resources to help people grow as stewards of their own landscapes. By re-establishing our connection with nature, we can unlock the tools we need to feed people.
There are opportunities all around us to create abundance. We spend billions of dollars mowing grass and planting ornamentals like Crepe Myrtle trees as residents, landowners, parks, schools, churches, etc, while nearly 1/4 of Atlanta metro residents are food insecure. That is simply not right. The Fruitful Communities initiative is a part of the solution to food insecurity. Integrating passive food systems into our landscapes is a way to leverage landscaping budgets to address a pressing need.
We believe that one of the best way to solve food insecurity is to train people to reimagine spaces with the lens of food, ecology, and community. Opportunities to grow healthy, local food are all around us, including the lawns of most American households and large, grassy fields at our public schools. We have tremendous resources at our disposal that are currently unproductive and underutilized. Additionally, we have indoor spaces that are unsafe for people to gather in and don’t have a great carbon footprint. Everything is up for reimagination.
The Modern Food System: A Tragedy of Efficiency and Waste
The modern food system is a paradox of abundance and scarcity. While we produce enough food to feed the global population, much of it never reaches those in need. The logistics of moving food from large industrial farms, often located thousands of miles from consumers, create significant barriers. Our food travels through an extensive supply chain, involving multiple intermediaries from farm laborers and transporters to retailers and chefs, before it finally reaches our plates. Along the way, food is lost due to spoilage, inefficiencies, and the high cost of transporting perishable goods. For communities in food deserts—areas where fresh food is scarce—the distance from farms to tables can be insurmountable. Even when food is available in supermarkets, lack of reliable transportation can prevent people from accessing it.
The current system is not just inefficient but wasteful—over 30% of the food produced globally is wasted, while nearly 1 in 9 people go hungry. It’s clear that while industrial food systems are highly efficient in terms of production, they fail to meet the fundamental human need for equitable access to nutritious food. At GreenBox Homes, we are dedicated to addressing this imbalance by encouraging localized food production and empowering communities to grow their own food. By growing food where it’s needed most, and minimizing the miles it travels, we can make fresh, healthy, culturally relevant food more accessible and reduce the environmental impact of our food system.
BECOME A Greenbox homes Member FOR JUST $1/mo!
Our digital memberships make it possible for supporters from all over the world to contribute to our earth regeneration mission. By joining, members not only gain access to exclusive deals, tutorials, and inspiration but also help fund the creation of sustainable landscapes that restore ecosystems and promote biodiversity. Every digital membership directly supports our work in regenerating the land, from designing pollinator-friendly gardens to maintaining resilient green spaces—all while empowering individuals to make a lasting environmental impact right from their own backyards.