GROW SHARE APP

Brisbane-based Brenden Kemp is an IT expert with a strong love for growing his food. The Grow Share app evolved from Brenden’s frustration of not being able to be self-sufficient with food. “I tried many times to grow a garden and to get as much out of it as possible,” he says. “You can have quite a lot of space but still not enough to stop you going to the supermarket. The app is there to trade what you do have, so you can specialise in growing one or two things and trade those for everything else.”

Within a few weeks of the app being launched in May, Brenden already had more than 400 users across Australia. His vision is to create a global food-swapping community.

“I see this as a big application, especially in India and the

US, as it focuses on local community aspects and it’s radius driven,” he says. “It’s really there to show people that if they don’t have much space to grow food, even if it’s an apartment block and it’s just spring onions, they can still trade. If everyone did that, it would be a different economy.”

The free app works on a bartering system – whether it’s food, skills, gifting or money, the users decide. “I call it a different way of thinking; a socialist revolution. Consumers need to vote with their wallet, but also give an ultimatum to the supermarkets.” Visit grow-share.org