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The Food Issue
2017
Grains
West
8
BY LYNDSEY SMITH
GROWYOUROWN
CANADIANFOODBANKS TURNTOFARMING
IT MAY BE SURPRISING TO SOME
Canadians that real hunger exists right on
our doorstep and just down the road. Ca-
nadian food banks are being called upon
more and more to provide nutritious food
for a large number of people in many cit-
ies across the country. In fact, use of food
banks rose nearly 30 per cent between
2008 and 2016.
Not only are food banks experiencing
higher demand, they are also struggling to
provide the full complement of foods that
people need to stay healthy. Food drives,
advertising and awareness initiatives can
help, but a couple food banks have gone a
step further and recently begun growing
their own food to meet community de-
mand for the most sought after, but least
donated, foods.
About two years ago, Chris Hatch,
executive director of The Mississauga
Food Bank, began looking for means to
fill the increasing demand for protein and
produce, and so began researching aqua-
ponics. While not a new idea, growing fish
and produce in an integrated closed sys-
tem is still not the norm, and it took quite
a bit of research to figure out whether it
would work for the food bank, and at what
scale and cost.
Last August, with the help of a grant
to cover capital costs and the direction of
aquaponics firm Nelson & Pade, Hatch
and his team launched their AquaGrow
Farms project in a 500-square-foot area
carved out from existing warehouse space.
As of late March, the program was har-
vesting about 40 heads of lettuce a week
and had just shipped out its first batch of
processed tilapia.
The Regina Food Bank has taken a sim-
ilar approach to meeting demand for fresh
produce. Through the use of indoor vertical
growth towers, the food bank is helping to
not only fill a need, said CEO Steve Comp-
ton, but to teach food literacy to volunteers,
as well as food bank partners and users.
Compton said the food bank also ac-
cessed a capital grant to set up 48 towers,
which can grow lettuce, broccoli, cabbage
and more on a five- to six-week cycle. The
organization has been fortunate to have
volunteers with green thumbs who have
helped the project progress from its incep-
tion in August 2016 to the first harvest of
fresh greens last December.
The towers are not only incredibly
cost-efficient but they’re also an effective
outreach tool. Community members can
“adopt a tower,” and schools and other
groups can learn more about how food
is grown through tours of the facility or
starting their own tower.
“Growing a portion of our own food
means that we fill food hampers, help
low-income families prioritize healthy
eating, and play a role in food security for
our community,” Compton said.
Here in Alberta, Edmonton’s Food
Bank has partnered with the Southwest
Edmonton Farmers’ Market to launch
the “Plant a Row, Grow a Row” program,
which encourages Edmonton residents to
plant extra fruits and vegetables in their
private gardens that can be donated to the
food bank at harvest time. The market
will serve as a collection point during the
harvest season.
Volunteers are also growing produce in
the Hudson Bay Garden at Fort Edmonton
Park, a garden at the McCullough Centre
and one at the Muttart Conservatory. In
addition, the food bank is growing produce
in a garden outside its own warehouse.
“This initiative is designed to help
more people learn how to grow their own
food, as well as provide additional fresh
produce for our programs and those of
partner agencies,” said Susan Padget,
communications co-ordinator for Edmon-
ton’s Food Bank.
TABLE
TALK
TheMississauga Food Bank’s Aqua Grow Farms project produced its first batch of farmed tilapia this spring.
Photo:TheMississaugaFoodBank