Where will The Factory be located?
In every community/city in the world.
Why would I donate when I won't be enjoying the free food?
See above questions/answer. Once we build the full scale Factory, we'll be duplicating it worldwide. This will take 3-5 years.
Do I have to be on welfare or something to qualify to receive free food?
No. As pointed out in the video, The Factory really isn't designed for welfare or food stamp recipients.
Why are you not targeting the many lower, under income and homeless people?
Again, as explained in the video, The Factory is not a charitable organization. It's a business that gives its products away. I know it's hard to wrap your head around an entirely original idea that has no existing frame of reference to use as an example. Especially one that spits in the face of everything we were all taught in high school economics!
Think of it like this... there are enough charitable organizations and government programs around today for the low/no income and homeless, paid for out of the pockets (via taxes, donations, contributions) of everyone else. The Factory removes the food cost from "everyone else's" costs, making the playing field once again equal. Why should anyone pay for food twice? That doesn't even make sense in economics class!
That's why The Factory is geared more towards providing free food to the some billion other people that are working their butts off to put a decent, healthy, organic meal on their family's table. People that are barely paying the bills to keep a roof over their kids’ heads. And since Texas is currently ranked as the most obese state in the U.S., what a better place to start, right?!
On a side note, the average American family, according to the USDA, spends up to $1,200.00/month on store bought food. This doesn't include eating out. Can you imagine what you could do with an extra grand a month?... No, not buy the newest smartphone. That's the WRONG answer. You could do other great things (that defy what we've been taught) that will cause additional great, radical and original improvements in our society and planet! Isn't it time that YOU did something? Maybe not, I guess we'll soon see.
What's the benefit of locating the factory in obvious University towns like Austin?
There are actually two very good reasons for the decided upon locations:
A) Unlike most other first world countries, American students have to not only pay tens of thousands of dollars for their education, books, bills and dorms, but they receive very few benefits in the process, only to then enter an overloaded, underpaid work force with very few available jobs in a current on-going economic crisis.
B) Studies show that students (in spite of these financial woes) are 10-15 times more likely to volunteer their time and energy than any other citizen. Why not, then, give back to people who are already selflessly giving before anyone has even given to them?
What about taxes? Everyone has to pay taxes!
Not true. Actually, only the people/businesses that pay taxes, think that everyone pays taxes. The factory falls under the tax exempt organizations clause of the IRC Section 501(c)(3).
Ok, I get it. He made all of his own food, electricity and fuel for free for 6 years. Why provide it to everyone else, also, though? What's the catch? What are you getting out of this?
Dan Martin: "I have a hard time believing that the 'American dream' is to get rich. Because, now check this out, I'm going to enlighten you... In order to "get rich", someone has to 'get poor'. There's only a finite amount of money and resources in this world (printing of new money only compensates for inflation). When a few make all the money due to "incredible amounts of profit", it's because everyone else is giving their money away to them. That's Capitalism, and that's the American dream? Take away everyone else's?
It wasn't enough that I just left. I want to obliterate and abolish the world's Capitalist ways of doing ridiculous things. I can't take their money and give it to the poor, but I can make it worthless by providing the same services and products (or better) as they do for free.
...Imagine a world where we don't charge for things. It's actually futile and wasteful if you think about it... I charge you Bob, to cut your lawn because I need money to pay my babysitter Mary to watch my kids who needs money to pay for her groceries because the store owner John has to pay his auto insurance to you Bob so that you can pay me to keep your lawn nice...? Ridiculous! And yet if no one charged for those services and things in the end, there wouldn't be a need to charge for anything in the first place since everything we need and want would be free. Now that sounds like a REAL American dream to me!
I can understand that once upon a time, this type system was needed since currency sometimes escaped the circle. But today (and more so in the future), we live in a global economy, run by a global market. What goes out, eventually, comes back. We've evolved past charging for things, and I would think that we've definitely evolved past charging "incredible amounts of profit/mark-up" for things. There's just no point other than pure greed for it. And I won't have that!"
Why not just do this with existing traditional farms/farming?
Honestly, farming is just really, really a lot of hard work, not a very efficient way to produce food and turns out, isn't that trendy/romantic image you have in your head of volunteering to work on an organic farm. Ask anyone who has actually farmed for a living. Then there's the pollution from the harvest tractors and trucks that would be required to harvest and move at the same levels of food as The Factory. Displacing wildlife/habitat, destroying eco systems, enormous water wastes, food waste/loss, transportation, pollution, no, it doesn't sound like an environmentally friendly way of food production to us.
How Can I Help?
Before we start accepting volunteers, we need to buy the land to build a larger version of our Factory. And as important as your donation is, there's no way that you can fund the project alone, we need the support of everyone. That means national and world coverage. So rather than sharing The 3F project on your social media pages (please don't do this,) instead call into your local Newspaper, TV and Radio stations as a "concerned citizen" of YOUR community, and simply ask if they've heard of what we're doing. That's it, it's that simple. Once enough people call in, it because news worthy and they'll report on it.
So if you'd like a place to volunteer and learn about producing food through aquaponics, call your local news, DON'T post us on social media, THEN Donate!
What about the farmers? how are they going to make money? (Yes, this is actually a real question that I get asked frequently, as ridiculous as it sounds.)
IF you're really that concerned about the monetary wellbeing of our nation's farmers, so much so that you'd deny yourself free food, you can still receive free food from The Factory, and then donate all your money to your local farmers if you'd like. Don't worry though, since the farmers will be getting their food for free as well, they'll be able to take the income loss. (Maybe the preposterousness of the answer will show how silly the question is? Maybe not.)
I would like more info, where can I find it?
Just like any good open-source business, we'be made all of our data available and open to the public here on the website. Watch the video, read the FAQs, check the crowed funding page, it's all here.
I'd like to speak with someone personally, who can I contact?
If you have any additional questions, email us at info@DIYSufficient.com
Or if you'd like to communicate with Dan Martin directly, feel free to e-mail him at Martin@DIYSufficient.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/dan.martin.author. He's very good at communicating with fans or anyone interested in his work.
