There’s nothing quite like the addition of fresh fruits or vegetables to a home-cooked meal. A juicy, ripe tomato, fresh lemon, crisp cucumber, or fragrant basil sprig may be the finishing touch that elevates a meal from ordinary to extraordinary. For some, fresh food is an everyday part of meals, but for others, fresh ingredients are a luxury.
In 2012, Adelaide, Australia, residents Alistair and Helena Martin noticed there were tons of citrus trees in suburban areas full of fruit that nobody touched. What’s more, these same fruits were being sold in supermarkets right down the street and were often imported from foreign farms. So, the pair decided to launch a site that allows anyone to post food that they grow — for sale or donation. And Ripe Near Me was born.
Fresh, Local Food
At first, I was skeptical, but this free site is pretty cool. In addition to individual listings from private growers, there’s also plenty of information (in some areas) about edibles that are located on public land. That’s right: free food!
The website does a nice job differentiating public and private food sources. Public land is open for use by all members of the public or is located in the wild, but a tree that is planted on private property that overhangs public land — such as a sidewalk — is still considered private, so don’t go around stealing other people’s oranges.
There’s not a whole lot of public land around my home that’s planted with citrus or apple trees, but I’m sure there are other parts of the world where this is more common. This Texas girl has always heard about people going apple picking or berry hunting and I still think that’s the stuff of fairy tales, but what do I know?
On that point, what I do know is that there’s a cool lady right across the street from me who plants herbs and fresh vegetables. She’s posted her edible goods on Ripe Near Me, and what she’s asking for them is minuscule compared to grocery store prices. Rather than going further down the road to the supermarket, I could send her a message via the site and purchase things like fresh basil, tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh mint (hello mojitos!) directly from her.
Benefits to Buying Local
Overall, I love the concept. Not only do I save on gas — which is good for the environment — I can also get my hands on some organically grown local produce. Supporting local growers makes a difference; it’s not like I’ll be able to effect industry-wide change by just my shopping habits, but if more of us do, it adds up.
In the future, I hope we all use services like Ripe Near Me more often. The site is up and running and you can find food growing near you as well as share or sell your self-grown food.
Let us know if you try it out, either as a producer or consumer. We’d love to hear about your experience.
Feature image courtesy of JillWellington, Pixabay. Originally published on July 4, 2014, this article was updated in April 2021.