BC Enquirer: Urban Farming Gains Traction in BC!
Urban farms ready to sprout in B.C. area
Lack of fresh, cheap foods spurs new push
An urban farming initiative is taking root in the Battle Creek area.
Across the nation, consumers have been increasingly concerned about the lack of fresh and affordable foods grown locally.
In Detroit, Flint, Ann Arbor, Denver, Seattle and elsewhere, volunteers have learned to cultivate nutritious foods from vacant urban land. They have found the fruits of the labor are more than just tomatoes and peas.
Community gardens can help reduce crime and blight. The food produced can be donated to hungry families or sold to benefit the neighborhood. Urban farms have the potential to stimulate positive change by bringing neighbors together, said Jeremy Andrews, a community outreach associate with the Battle Creek Community Foundation.
For these reasons, some Battle Creek area residents interested in gardening have formed a networking group, Sprout Urban Farms, to support the volunteer creation and maintenence of community gardens locally.
The seed of an idea could sprout this spring with the coordinated cultivation of several new and revived urban farms in Battle Creek. Andrews is working behind the scenes to connect people interested in leading the effort.
"There are a lot of people in the city who care about healthy food," he said. "There are backyard gardeners who want to garden for others."
Already, Sprout Urban Farms has more than 250 members on its Facebook
fan page.
At an informational meeting Jan. 27, about 80 people attended and voted on areas where they'd like to see the new group focus.
Most people wanted to help develop a plot garden close to their homes or have a place where they could donate extra produce grown at home.
"They were saying, 'I don't want to have to compost good food,'' Andrews said.
The group is exploring ways to distribute produce in an efficient way, possibly through the Food Bank of South Central Michigan and its network of food pantries. Contined here.
