Canada: Urban Gardening – With Rising Food Costs and Concerns Over Food Security
Now Is a Great Time To Develop Your Green Thumb Right in Your Backyard
By Jane Mundy
BC Magazine
March 2023
Excerpts:
“Since we started City Farmer Society back in 1978, there has been a big interest—for different reasons,” says founder Michael Levenston. There was the ‘fear of pesticides’ movement and Covid triggered a rise in the ‘home grown’ movement. The past year has seen a huge increase in gardening and raising chickens as the cost of vegetables and eggs skyrocket.”
Along with teaching urban dwellers how to grow food in the city, Levenston also runs the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden and answers the Compost Hotline. “People want to know where to buy and how to compost—it’s the bedrock of growing food,” explains Levenston. “We have visitors to our demonstration garden in Kitsilano year-round, including kids who get excited about worm composting. Early spring, you can see beans and bok choy ready to pick from cold frames and raised beds.”
There’s no waiting list in the Slocan Valley. Cory Strom is garden manager at the Food Bank Garden, which sup- ports the Slocan Valley Cupboard, and the garden has expanded to include community garden space.
“We have 10 vegetable beds used by only a few people, including a senior couple who don’t have a yard of their own,” says Strom, “but this year with food costs more people will be using the food bank, and at the same time, there’s growing interest in having your own garden.” Strom contributes to the community garden by sharing a truck of manure and his knowledge. “Students employed by the Youth Centre last year were pumped: I showed them how to plant on- ions, prune raspberries and pinch tomato suckers. Some 16-year-olds have never gardened but they all want to return. They come back with an appreciation for food and all the work that’s involved. If only they would like weeding,” says Strom, laughing.
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