By Danielle Bussone

Grow Crowd App provides a local marketplace for organic food producers to sell fresh, organic products (vegetables, herbs, fruits, nuts, mushrooms, etc.) directly to their local communities. It is essentially a virtual farmers market. Users can browse local farmers and their products to find the freshest food available at the moment of purchase. Customers can order their produce on-line and pre-arrange pickup times and locations.

Grow Crowd, was created by Johan Steneros of Southern Spain.  A backyard organic gardener for the past three years, Steneros became aware of the growth of organic farming as well as growing demands of the consumer for organically grown produce. Johan has a background in web design, building applications as well as creative projects. “I am very much involved in the App world and mobile communication, says Steneros. “I did my research and saw there wasn’t very much happening in this area so I thought I’d get it moving.” He began working on the Grow Crowd App a year ago and it was launched October 8, 2013. It is available on iTunes and the Apple AppStore worldwide as a free download.

The Grow Crowd App comes with one permanent slot in which one can advertise a product. Each product slot holds a multitude of details including a photo, what variety it is, how its been grown, it’s harvest date, as well as its price and stock. Additional slots will be made available as in-app purchases. All users have the ability not only to advertise their own products, but also to browse products through the marketplace using various filters such as location, harvest date, favorite growers etc. There are no commission costs to be passed on to the consumer. It works very much like a social media site. Grow Crowd is currently only available for the IOS platform but Steneros is working on an Android and Web version as well as support for multiple languages.

Grow Crowd’s App shows us that the future has arrived!  Spread the word to your local organic produce vendors and help this fledgling company support your area farmers who, in turn, provide safe local produce for you and your family to enjoy.

Co-founder and editor of Veggin’ Out and About, Danielle writes restaurant reviews, profiles and interviews of people making a difference in the plant-based community. She is currently writing a cookbook for vegans called, “Time For Change: Whole Foods For Whole Health.”

Danielle’s region is SW Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina and anywhere she happens to stop for sustenance along the road. Contact Danielle  directly to share your restaurant finds, to make comments or just to say hello.