Join the homegrown food movement, urges council

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This article was published 27/03/2021 (1684 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Calling those with a green thumb or pining after one – the Brandon Food Council is beginning a second round of Rooting for Local Food.

The program’s goal is to get as many people as possible growing food in the community, and it comes with a hashtag for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to get the movement sprouting.

#RootingforLocalFood means growing and sharing food in my community, and #RootingforLocalFood means getting creative with growing and sharing local food.

Ideally, growers would post their favourite images of local food growing and sharing, including homesteading, urban agriculture, rooftop gardens, front-lawn gardens, permaculture, urban orchards and balcony gardens.

“The program essentially makes use of resources that already exist in the community,” the council’s chairperson Ryan Whibbs told The Brandon Sun.

Those interested can donate space to grow or supplies, such as seeds, growing trays or earth. They can also donate their time to grow seedlings from seed.

“Brandon Food Council began the Rooting for Local Food project last March as a community response to the pandemic’s effects, including the shutdown of schools, concerns about the food system and the effects of self-isolation,” Whibbs said.

“We know that gardening and spending time with plants and nature has lasting, positive mental and physical health impacts and is a fun and simple activity that many children and adults can do safely at home or in a community garden.”

Last year’s efforts saw seeds and seedlings grown and donated by The Green Spot, Assiniboine Community College and Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School. These were distributed to service organizations and educational institutions to grow and to share with their clients and students.

The council also distributed free seedlings to the public at the Farmers Market held at the downtown Global Market last year. Whibbs said he even saw the fruits of the program in his own neighbourhood.

“We’re able to get a little table at the Global Market and we bring all the plants, from everyone who’s grown plants, from different greenhouses, just people around Brandon who have the space to start some plants. We go around and pick them up and then distribute them for free,” Whibbs said.

“I saw some of the plants growing in my neighborhood. I recognized my neighbours, when they came to pick them up, and then later I noticed the bell peppers. They were yellow and red. They looked beautiful.”

Growing a garden can be a serious financial commitment, Whibbs said, which can put people off. The program seeks to help alleviate that concern. And, he said, it’s another way to help combat food insecurity.

“There’s not just one way to do that. We have to hit it from lots of different facets,” he said, adding the food council supports other programs throughout the year.

Gardens provide a sustainable way to keep producing food throughout the warmer season. For those who have never gardened, a seedling is a good way to start.

“It’s more approachable and accessible that way,” Whibbs said.

The council’s toolkit even has a ready-made letter to engage family and friends.

“Hi, I’ve just signed up to grow seedlings for the Rooting for Local Food project this year and I hope you will too!” the letter states.

“Rooting for Local Food is a project by the Brandon Food Council to help improve community health and wellbeing by connecting with plants and nature and learning how to grow food. All the seeds and seedlings are donated by community members and community-serving organizations and then distributed at no cost so that everyone can try growing their own food. Creative planting is encouraged!

“Would you like to grow some seedlings or donate seeds to Rooting for Local Food this year too?”

The more people get involved in growing food crops locally, the more it will strengthen the local food chain, Whibbs said, adding Brandon has an amazing community garden network.

“Just in terms of plots available locally, I think we have more than 800 plots across the city. And last year, when we were speaking to the city, we found out that a very small handful of them were unused. So almost every publicly available plot in the city was used last year.”

Those interested in getting involved in this homegrown food movement can message the council via its Facebook page or by email at brandonfoodpolicycouncil@gmail.com.

» mletourneau@brandonsun.com

» Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism.