OUR STORY | forkhay-city-farms

The campaign was a roaring success (check out the main campaign page here) and raised over $5000 through small individual donations. Along the way, James connected with a heap of local organic farmers, food system projects and inspiring individuals throughout the East Coast. If you would like to read about the adventures of the cycling carrot, take a look at the wordpress blog www.freewheelingfarmer.com.

The idea for the project was heavily influenced by James's involvement with a couple of similar urban farming initiatives in Montreal, Canada, namely two groups called 'Biocyclette' and 'Cycle Alimenterre'. Both groups were operating in the inner urban areas of Montreal, a densely packed city which is covered in snow half the year. It seemed criminal that these kinds of projects were not visibly happening in Brisbane, with it's abundance of warm sunny weather and excess of lawns and huge backyards.

Upon finishing the fundraising ride, James returned to Brisbane and began to build a community of volunteers that are slowly transforming our Brisbane foodscape, one backyard at a time. The crew is also heavily involved with the local community farm, Beelarong, which is a wonderful resource of knowledge and a great way to connect with other growers in the community.

The Forkhay Story

The Forkhay City Farms project was born in early 2016 after James Blyth decided that it was time to put thoughts and ideas into action.

James had been WWOOFing and working on small organic farms, permaculture projects and urban farming startups all around the world for a few years and had witnessed the poweful impact that reconnecting people with real food can have on communities and the environment. Returning to Australia, he jumped on a push bike and rode solo from Brisbane to Hobart dressed as a giant carrot in an effort to highlight 'food miles' and raise money to start the project through a crowdfunding campaign.

THANKS TO...

This project would not be possible without the incredibly generous support from the following people and groups that helped kickstart us through our crowdfunding campaign either financially or as support during the cycling trip.

Muchos gracias amigos!

Aaron Schultz

Alexandre Labelle

Barb and Mike

Bonnie Craig

Bradley Garnett

Brendan Moore

Brock Buckley

Callum & Kirsten Quinn

Dave Acton

David Tilley

Dion Read