A small urban farm in Lachine creates an oasis in a food desert
The Ferme urbaine Duff-Court supplies produce to mini-markets in Lachine neighbourhoods.
By Susan Schwartz
Montreal Gazette
Jul 31, 2021
Excerpt:
The Duff Court farm supplies produce to five weekly summer mini-markets in Lachine neighbourhoods considered food deserts — urban areas with limited or no access to affordable fresh produce within walking distance. One of those mini-markets is in Duff Court, where social housing comprises more than a third of the 1,100 households.
“We wanted to invest and increase food security and access to healthy food with a dynamic project,” said Shawn Bourdages, executive director of the Comité de vie de quartier Duff-Court (COVIQ), a community organization working to improve quality of life in the neighbourhood. The farm is an urban agriculture project of COVIQ.
“We call it an urban farm because we apply farming methods to maximize what we get,” he said while harvesting yellow pattypan squash; with its pretty scalloped edges, it brings to mind a miniature flying saucer.
Although the farm is not certified as organic, produce is grown without chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Crops include eight kinds of eggplant, five varieties of tomato, several kinds of peppers and carrots in several hues. Under fabric row cover protecting the plants from insect pests, kale grows, along with Swiss chard, beets and spinach.
