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Canada: Eating Ethically and Affordably in Vancouver: Urban Farms and Community Gardens

Growing, harvesting and cooking food together is one of the most fundamental, healthy ways we can connect with people, says Karen Ageson, Farmers on 57th executive director. Photo by Michelle Gamage.

‘Without these life-supporting systems, we are subject to the whims of the market.’ Part one of a four-part series.

By Michelle Gamage
The Tyee
Aug 2, 2022

Excerpt:

This is Farmers on 57th, an urban farm at the George Pearson Centre, an assisted living facility in Vancouver’s Marpole neighbourhood.

The farm takes up less than one acre but feeds 66 families per week through its Community Supported Agriculture program. In this program, folks pre-pay for a season’s worth of vegetables or flowers in the spring and then pick up weekly bags of food throughout the summer and fall. The program costs $650 for 20 weeks of food, averaging out to $32.50 per week.

CSAs are a good way to eat local and combat rising food costs. Because I can bike to pick up food that was harvested hours ago it’s also a great way to access fresh, long-lasting produce.

This feels especially important right now as inflation is pushing food prices ever-higher.

B.C. inflation on fresh vegetables has risen 8.9 per cent since 2021 but Community Supported Agriculture prices have stayed relatively even, rising 1.5 per cent or not at all, and have lagged behind inflation rates over the past five years.

I’ve experienced rising food costs first-hand. For years, my partner and I shopped at Young Brothers Produce, an affordable independent grocery store in Kitsilano. We could fill up four heaping tote bags with eggs, tofu, beans and produce for $75, a haul that would last us five days.

Read the complete article here.