TikTok;@carlyburd43
A TikToker who said she's fed more than 1,600 people amid the cost of living crisis in the UK found her garden vandalized with salt, killing the crops, per a viral video she posted on Tuesday. The video has been viewed more than 1.6 million times, as strangers pour in donations and locals offer to help restore her land.
In November, Carly Burd began posting about her "A Meal on Me with Love" initiative, which assembles fruits and vegetables she grows from her garden in Harlow, England, into donation boxes she delivers to those in need. "I have single-handedly fed 190 people, transformed my whole garden into an allotment," she wrote in her fundraiser.
This week, Burd told viewers she believed someone trespassed onto her plot of land and poured copious amounts of salt to destroy "hours and hours of work" that she's put in. (Excess salt on farmland can decimate plant growth).
"Everything I've planted won't grow, and I can't replant on it because it won't grow," she said.
Her on-screen text read that she's "fed 1,613 people through the cost of living crisis" thus far.
Commenters flooded the video with words of support, shared sadness, and offered her funds, advice, and their own hands to help bring her garden back to life.
TikTokers who claimed they were farmers themselves said using plenty of straw and water can undo some of the damage. "We can fix this!" one person assured her.
"Can I help?" another viewer asked, noting they lived nearby. "Please let me know somehow and I'll help fix it."
Burd's A Meal on Me with Love fundraiser has seen a deluge of donations in light of this news. "Can't believe someone would do this," one person wrote with a £10 donation. "I was horrified to read today about what happened to your garden, but it's wonderful to see the level of support you are receiving here," another added with another £10 gift.
Burd thanked viewers for an influx of donations in a follow-up video on April 12 but said being able to taste the salt wafting from the plot was still crushing.
Through tears, Burd said onions that her children and volunteers helped her plant "would have fed 300 families."
"The amount of work — I can't even begin to tell you — that's gone into that allotment, it's unbelievable."
As of Tuesday, Burd's GoFundMe campaign has raised £83,290 of its initial £4,000 goal. Its description states that all funds raised "goes straight back into 'A Meal on Me.'"
As inflation prices hit record highs, many English citizens have faced an increased risk of hunger. In the last year, the number of UK children experiencing food poverty almost doubled.
In a television interview Burd posted to her account in November 2022, she said her own experiences of being unable to afford food while on disability made her more empathetic towards those currently struggling to make ends meet. (Burd has previously discussed living with Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus).
Today, Burd told viewers she's still "absolutely heartbroken" by what's transpired but she won't be defeated by the setbacks. It's unclear who the perpetrator(s) were, and Insider has reached out to Burd.
She said with the help of others she was able to dig up a lot of the salt and plans to cover it with topsoil to "neutralize it" so things can grow once again. In the interim, she plans to turn the area into a community space where neighbors can connect and share their own foods and harvests.
"I think I'm going to turn it into a seating area where elders can come down and we can have tea and coffee and cakes and chats and things like that," Burd said.
"I'm absolutely overwhelmed by everyone's comments and everything," she added. "I really do appreciate it — thank you."
