GUELPH – Ten projects in Guelph and Wellington County have been awarded a grant of $2,000 each to support better access to food during the upcoming 2023 growing season using circular principles.
Our Food Future, in partnership with Harvest Impact by 10C, launched the Guelph-Wellington Community Agriculture Challenge last year urging applicants to consider how local businesses, not-for-profits or individual community members can apply circular principles and community agricultural practices to improve access to nutritious food in Guelph-Wellington.
Agape Farms
Selling locally grown, organic, ethnocultural food on a sliding scale pricing structure, Agape Farms is working to restore our food system through an anti-racist lens by bringing youth together to address food security and food sovereignty from the ground up.
The Art of Soil Collective
This project will use funds to support the creation of a documentary film featuring newcomer families involved in community agriculture, either at their homes or in urban garden spaces, as a method of documenting and sharing growing knowledge and traditions.
Brock Road Community Garden
The Brock Road Community Garden will build a community composter to transform garden waste into soil that will be added to the community garden and pollinator garden plots.
Everdale
This new program hosted by Everdale will include an intergenerational farm kitchen gathering to share stories and prepare traditional dishes made with ingredients from the land, including harvesting, preparing, and eating while sharing knowledge.
Eramosa River Food Forest
In the East Ward Neighbourhood, this project will work to enliven a green space with fruit trees, berry-producing shrubs, herbs, edible perennials and native pollinator plants.
Junction Neighbourhood Group
Building a new compost system to effectively capture neighbourhood garden weeds and end-of-season plants and working to reduce the need for external manure and fertilizers to help gardeners and community members learn more about building healthy soil.
Kortright Presbyterian Church
Using their community growing space, this project will work to increase yields to contribute food to partnering food distribution organizations.
Royal City Nursery
Community members, youth and organizations working together toward increasing yields in their community garden space to share food with shelters in Wellington County.
Seed Soil Spirit
Building a Kalima Farm seed fund in support of Indigenous, Black, and racialized women. This will support building healthier communities by uplifting the histories, living stories, and relationships of plant medicine, nutrition, and land stewardship from Indigenous, Diasporic, and decolonial perspectives.
St. George’s Park Community Garden
This community garden will use the funds to expand access to local gardening space, with 20 per cent dedicated to newcomer families, a large plot for two John Galt Public School classes and 98 square metres (320 square feet) dedicated to growing food for donation to the North Harvest Market.
