Canada: Farm your yard: Regina business promotes food sovereignty by turning lawns into gardens
Produce is split between City Street Farms, the homeowner and the local food bank
By Jessie Anton
CBC News
Aug 01, 2021
Excerpt:
“It was that moment of ‘what do you want to do with your life? Pick what you love and do it,'” she remembered thinking.
Last fall, when Holt heard her friend’s sister, Candace Benson, had taken a similar course, she knew she had a business partner.
“There was just this spark. Finally, someone else wanted to do it,” Holt said. “Sometimes, that’s what you need to have that push.”
From there, the pair came up with their City Street Farms business plan. They would transform people’s yards into vegetable gardens, and Holt and Benson would maintain them — as long as the homeowners paid for the water and a one-time fee.
Throughout the season, the produce would be divided up between the business, the homeowner and the local food bank.
They first announced their idea on Instagram, which is where they found people willing to convert their lawns into gardens. After closing applications in April, they settled on five yards — mostly in the Lakeview neighbourhood — and started their seeds.
