I stumbled upon Crowdrise through the 2009 Maasai Marathon campaign. It was incredibly inspiring to see how a small group of people could, well, rise a crowd and make a big difference through a multitude of small donations. It's been great to see Crowdrise get off the ground and I believe it will be as much about grassroots fundraising as about raising awareness for the many great charities out there that are trying to make this world a better place.

Personally, I have been involved with nature conservation and environmental causes in one way or another since my early teens, from anti-nuclear protests to eco street theater, from replanting forests for the German Bird Conservancy to saving a mountain in Ireland from a destructive tourism development, from being a shareholder and worker in an organic foodshop in my student days to growing and rearing a good bit of our own food on our smallholding in the West of Ireland. And I have been lucky enough to be able to tailor my 'bread labour' around these themes too.

The author, journalist and activist Michael Pollan coined the phrase "The way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world.", as the way we produce and distribute food has a profound impact on the environment, landscapes, natural resources, wildlife, and the Earth's climate. Since I care about all the above, sustainable agriculture has become 'my thing' and I have been a steadfast supporter and advocate of organic farming all my adult life. I firmly believe it's the only way forward in the long run, both in developed and developing countries.

The charity I'd like to help raise funds for can't be featured here (yet) as it's in Ireland. It's the Irish Seedsavers Association (irishseedsavers.ie), an organisation involved in protecting, conserving & utilising Irish plant genetic resources, promoting agricultural biodiversity for food security, and engaging in research and education. I've been on the board of the association for seven years but it's the great people on the site who do all the work and deserve all the help they can get.

So in the meantime I'll join in the fun here and see if there's anything I can do.