UBC farm brings city slickers back to earth

Community gardens are taking root in cities across Canada as people get their hands dirty planting, nurturing and harvesting food close to their neighbourhoods.

Vancouver has at least 55 community gardens, said Devorah Kahn, the city’s social planner.

“People want to garden and this is an opportunity for them to do so,” she said.

Next week, the city will release information about walking tours of community gardens around Vancouver, with each tour under three kilometres.

Farmers’ markets are also becoming increasingly popular for people who want to buy local, organic produce, said Brent Werner, executive director of Farmers’ Markets Canada.

He said 508 such markets are flourishing across the country, including one that opened last year at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

“It is a 100-per-cent certified market, which means every vendor in there has been inspected, every vendor is a grower, producer, maker of the product they’re selling.”

In Calgary, the year-round farmers’ market generates over $30 million in sales every year, he said.

Across Canada, such markets pumped $3 billion into the economy last year, according to the non-profit group.

“People want local food and they want to actually put a face on the food they’re eating and to meet a farmer because less than two people out of a hundred these days have any connection with a farm,” Werner said.

The high cost of oil to ship food is just one reason to eat food that’s grown closer to home, he said.

“Young parents are really concerned about what their kids are eating and in general they’re really not educated about the food system anymore.”