Vancouver residents will be growing more local food in 2017 and 2018 as the Village Vancouver Transition Society begins their “Building Community Food Security and Resilience” project.

The project is a result of the society’s successful application to the B.C. government’s Grow Local Program for $25,000.

The project includes over 50 learning opportunities, including 12 workshops each year on sowing, growing and harvesting food, as well as hands-on learning-by-doing gardening, demonstrations, and one-on-one mentoring from February to November, with 750 to 1000 residents expected to directly participate.

Village Vancouver maintains several learning-oriented collaborative and community garden projects and seed libraries, provides food growing workshops and other learning experiences, and conducts research around what a sustainable food system in the Lower Mainland might look like. As Vancouver’s permaculture oriented Transition Town hub, it encourages more locally based agriculture as a means of building a more resilient food system and lowering the region's collective ecological footprint.

The society is partnering with the Vancouver Park Board and eleven other organizations supportive of involving local residents in food production, including the Vancouver Public Library, several local neighbourhood houses and community centre associations, the West End Neighbourhood Food Network, Emily Carr University, the West End Seniors Network, and Charleson Park Community Garden.

The $250,000 Grow Local program is funding projects in 10 B.C. communities. The projects are designed to:

• involve residents in growing local fruit and vegetables;
• increase awareness and appreciation for supporting local food production; and
• strengthen local food supply security.

The 10 projects include the developing resources on how to grow local food, group education and awareness activities, such as workshops, mini-courses, and “how-to” demonstrations, and one-on-one consultation and advice. The application process was administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC.

The BC Agrifoods and Seafood Strategic Growth Plan identifies the next steps in the B.C. government’s goal to grow the B.C. agrifoods industry to a $15-billion-dollar-a-year sector by 2020. Grow Local BC will assist in maintaining food supply security, a challenge identified in the strategic growth plan.

Quotes:

Vancouver-False Creek MLA Sam Sullivan –

“By encouraging people to participate in growing their own local produce, they gain a deeper appreciation for food that is fresher and healthier. It will also lead to greater support for local growers and own home-grown agriculture sector in general.”

Vancouver-Fraserview MLA Suzanne Anton –

“Here in South Vancouver we have a wonderfully diverse set of food options. When we encourage residents to grow local not only are we supporting our local farming heritage but also encouraging food security within our community."

Ross Moster, executive director, Village Vancouver Transition Society –

“Village Vancouver engages individuals, neighbourhoods, and organizations in taking actions which build healthier and more sustainable communities. This grant allows us to increase our capacity to help community members learn how to grow more food through our various programs around Vancouver, including our Healthy, Local Food Fieldhouse Residency with the Vancouver Park Board.”

Randy Helten, president, West End Neighbourhood Food Network (WENFN) –

“We have been collaborating with Village Vancouver for several years to offer educational food growing activities to the community via workshops and other activities. It’s wonderful they obtained this grant, and we look forward to working together to further promote food education, gardening, and food growing in the West End.”

Rebecca Till, city-wide green programmer, Vancouver Park Board –

“The Vancouver Park Board is very happy to hear Village Vancouver has received this funding and we are looking forward to continuing to work with them. They offer opportunities to learn about growing, harvesting, and processing food through sustainable practices and their work really benefits our local communities.” 

Learn More:

http://www.villagevancouver.ca/

News release announcing Grow Local: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2016AGRI0058-001860

Program background: http://iafbc.ca/funding-opportunities/grow-local/