Last year, Small Axe Peppers bought more than 11,000 pounds of peppers from 52 different community garden partners in 36 cities across America.
But those are just numbers. And if you’ve been accompanying us on our journey thus far, you’ve probably already seen the statistics. You’ve might have already seen a few of our garden partner spotlights.
Words can only explain so much to really understand these community gardens, all the ways your purchase benefits their efforts. We need to show you who these people really are.
Why?
Because the reality is that behind each fresh, locally-sourced pepper that goes into making our one-of-a-kind hot sauce, there are countless individuals, communities, real life stories and relationships all coming together to make cities greener, to provide fresher food and to help modern society reconnect with the soil from which we come.
So this winter, we went out and met the people behind the peppers to find out more about their stories, what inspires them and how they are affecting lives.
This is #IAMSMALLAXE and here are the people behind the peppers:
From Ray at Brook Park, who runs an alternative to incarceration program in The Bronx, New York to Elizabeth who works with many diverse groups at La Madeira Community Garden in California; from Michael at YMEN who teaches urban agriculture skills to at-risk young people on Chicago’s West Side to Riley and Carol who work in restorative justice in Mobile Alabama to Susan, who grows fresh and healthy vegetables in Kentucky – these are the community gardeners, their stories, their visions, and their passions.
And guess what? It’s just a little taste. That’s right, this is the beginning of our new series – #IAMSMALLAXE – in which which be showcasing the people we buy peppers from and to learn more stories about who and what make our hot sauce possible.
So who is Small Axe?
Small Axe is the gardeners that you’ve just met.
Small Axe is the retailers, the chef, the cooks.
Small Axe is the restaurants that serve the sauce.
Small Axe is the customer decides to make a conscious-shopping decision that is both civic-minded and environmentally friendly.
Together, we are all Small Axe fighting for healthier food, greener cities, a greater sense of community and togetherness, more inclusion and understanding, greater respect and diversity, and brighter more hopeful futures.
Small Axe, Big Tree
“Small Axe Peppers” derives it named from the great proverb that says:
If you are the big tree let me tell you that
We are the small axe, sharp and ready
Ready to cut you down
To cut you down
To us, the big tree symbolizes anyone that says we can’t. Anyone that sees an empty lot as merely an empty lot. Small Axe Peppers envisons an area where community can grow and sponsor a positive vision forward .
Essentially, the big tree is all the issues and divisions which prevent us from getting closer to the more perfect union. A union envisioned by our aspirations of what we can be: improving food quality for all, making cities more green, and bringing people together. These aspirations are practiced in each and every one of these gardens. Most are small in size but huge in heart, and even more importantly, in impact on their neighborhoods.
Oh, and anyone who doesn’t like delicious, locally-sourced hot sauce.
Are You Small Axe?
While we may be a small company, we have a big vision. We’re doing something that no one has tried before and, trust us, it’s only possible because of all of you.
Are you ready join this movement?
If so, grab your Small Axe and get ready to start helping us chip away towards a greener, healthier, more connected future. Because the more hot sauce you buy, the more seeds we can donate, the more peppers we can purchase, the more revenue we can generate for these community gardens that are positively impacting cities and their inhabitants all across America.