Illustration for Stir magazine

The latest issue of Stir magazine came out today on the topic of commoning in the city and features this illustration of mine. It represents my ideal urban store cupboard packed full of preserves made from food foraged or grown in community growing sites.

As a volunteer at a community orchard in a public park in Hackney, the most common question people ask when they visit is, "how are you going to stop people from taking all this stuff?" Just last weekend, I encountered a woman who asked this very question. She then explained to me that her granddaughters love rhubarb crumble and I convinced her (after much effort) to take a bunch of it so she could make their favorite treat. Even when permission is explicitly granted, it still contradicts everything we are taught about private property and getting anything for free in our current system.

This is a nod to the sense of naughtiness that so many people feel about taking what's right under their noses and how when they push through that fear, they open up a world of new possibilities.