GIY Grow It Yourself: Empowering People To Grow A Better Food Future

GIY Grow It Yourself: Empowering People To Grow

For this month’s changemaker we have chosen GIY (Grow It Yourself), an award-winning Irish social enterprise dedicated to transforming people’s mindset with food and how they engage with food. Founded in 2008 in Waterford by Michael Kelly, GIY’s mission is simple, it encourages people to live healthier, happier and more sustainable lives by growing some of their own food. You may have seen some of his videos calling out Irish supermarkets and fruit and veg brands on local sourcing and mis labelling.

Through education, advocacy and community-based action, GIY is opening the conversation of some of the most pressing challenges including climate change and biodiversity loss by reconnecting people with the source of their food.

GIY promotes what it calls food empathy: a deeper understanding of the effort, resources and care involved in producing food. By encouraging people to grow even a small portion of what they eat, GIY inspires more mindful consumption, healthier dietary habits and stronger environmental awareness. This approach creates positive behaviour changes such as increased consumption of fresh, seasonal produce, reduced food waste, greater appreciation for local food systems and a stronger connection to nature and community.

GIY delivers a wide range of programmes and campaigns across Ireland which engages communities, schools and workplaces in hands-on food education. Its flagship initiative, GROW at School, provides garden-based learning opportunities for primary school children, combining food growing with lessons in nutrition, sustainability and wellbeing. The organisation’s ambition is to ensure that every child in Ireland has access to food-growing education, fostering lifelong skills and values that support both personal and planetary health.

Looking ahead, GIY aims to inspire 100 million people worldwide to grow, cook and eat some of their own food by 2030, positioning Ireland as a leader in sustainable food education and citizen action.

GIY demonstrates that meaningful change does not always begin with large-scale infrastructure or policy shifts, it can begin in a garden, a schoolyard or a windowsill.

For more information on GIY, visit the website here or follow the team on Instagram.

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