EL SEGUNDO HERALD December 9, 2021 Page 5
Ryan Miller from front page
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that the eggs could be enjoyed by all. In a
similar story, a custom-made cake was made
for a user who couldn’t eat store-bought cakes.
Recently, Miller added a new mascot to his
creation. Designed by a digital animator/artist
member and crocheted by another member
who sells her creations on the app, Sunny is
shared between members as they trade goods.
Members are encouraged to take pictures of
Sunny with the products being traded, so that
users can see how far Sunny goes and how
wide the array of products can be.
“Like Airbnb has become synonymous
with a particular kind of travel, I would like
to see the name Galora to be synonymous
with finding homegrown food, eating locally,
reducing environmental impact, and meeting
neighbors,” he says.
At its heart, Ryan Xavier Miller sees a
wholesome future for his brainchild. An eternal
optimist, friendly neighbor, and forward-looking
visionary, Miller hopes to nurture Galora to
grow to help every community. •
in all local wellness groups, he hopes that with
his idea, the sharing process will be able to reach
everyone and make the practice more accessible.
Miller also discusses the issue of food insecurity
and food justice. He cites areas of Los
Angeles that have less money flowing through
them, which makes larger grocery stores less
likely to open a location. This means that some
communities have to travel miles for groceries,
sometimes without a car, making fresh food
nearly inaccessible. By helping the community
connect with each other, he hopes to make
fresh food more available and less likely to
have preservatives often added to produce to
help it survive long drives and journeys.
The benefits of buying local extend beyond
preservatives and into richer nutrients and more
flexibility in options. For example, a user with
chickens who sells fresh eggs got a message
about an interested buyer; only the buyer was
allergic to soy. Though even the best chicken
feeds contain soy, the owner was able to adjust
the diet of their animals to accommodate so
all we have created is the platform for people
to be themselves,” he says, “and when that
happens, people end up really surprising you
and I think surprising each other with the
generosity, creativity, and open-mindedness
that people inherently have.”
Miller recounts several stories of humanness
in this created community that stayed with
him. One member was fighting through cancer
during Covid times, and so she was unable to
go out and meet new people or shop in most
grocery stores for risk of infection. Users on
the app drove to her so she wouldn’t have to
leave and left her free bags of produce from
their backyards on her doorstep.
Another member, a nurse in Glendale, turned
her backyard into a tropical jungle with papayas,
bananas, moorings, goji berries, mulberries,
grapefruits, figs, passionfruit, and many more
greens and herbs. She decided to stick with
the site when she sold some passionfruit to a
young chef, who brought her back some passionfruit
crème brûlée.
From a group of women-led urban foragers
and a yard in Malibu with ten ducks and
chickens to a FedEx airplane mechanic who
took over his driveway and sidewalk with
growing goods and a disabled music teacher
who offers lessons for fruit and veggies, the
site has a place for everyone. Outside of local
trading, members have found friendships and
an opportunity to socialize.
After seeing a need and observing a growing
interest in local products, Miller met his business
partner and co-founder, Chris Chin. Though
Miller is a serial entrepreneur, he had not yet
tackled an app or the world of technology in
his business ventures. Chin, having worked
at Amazon and owning an app development
company, partnered with Miller to create the
website and app from top to bottom.
Miller believes that El Segundo is a perfect
candidate for an organization like Galora. With
its small-town feel and friendly neighbors, food
sharing is already a deeply ingrained tenant of
the close-knit community. An involved member
Ryan Xavier Miller, creator of Galora, posing with Sunny, the mascot.
A variety of eggs sold locally by neighbors. Sunny, the mascot, holding freshly traded produce.
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