Growing food, making a change

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/02/2025 (409 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

David Del Brocco’s recent article on sustainability in the Free Press (Let’s resolve to eat more sustainably, Jan. 3) was right on the money and an inspiration.

With the spectre of continually rising food costs looming over us, sustainability may be the only answer.

Looking back to the 1940s when England’s population had to deal not only with rationing but outright food shortages, what did they do?

They took a good look at their yards and allotments and converted them into gardens, ensuring a steady supply of healthy food on their tables.

We may not be exactly in the same situation; Canada is not at war. But weekly trips to the grocery store have become a real ordeal for many of us. Almost everything goes up by two, four or even six dollars weekly. The few bargains available don’t come close to balancing the price hikes overall.

And this is happening to countless Canadians on a regular basis, leaving people with a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety, of wondering where it will all end. For those who have to resort to food banks, food insecurity is a reality.

Cities, towns and municipalities could play a role by encouraging citizens to produce some of their own food by giving people with a garden plot or two a tax break.

New and renovated buildings could incorporate rooftop gardening, as some large Canadian cities are already doing. Apartment dwellers can grow a surprising amount of food on their own balconies.

Some seniors we know have put pressure on their landlords resulting in individual garden plots adjacent to their building.

We can either take charge, even in some small way, of this important aspect of our daily lives, or continue our dependence on food trucked over long distances.

I appeal to all entrepreneurs across the country, all you idealistic folks who are creative and not afraid of a challenge.

Canada needs fresh ideas to help feed our people. Food is too important to be left solely in the hands of soulless corporations.

In this rich country with its endless fields and empty growing spaces, a growing number of people line up at soup kitchens and food banks every day. Something is seriously wrong with this situation, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

Even a small acreage can produce a surprising amount of food. Entrepreneurs with an interest in food production should check out Jean-Martin Fortier (https:/themarketgardener.com) whose inspiring acreage in Quebec is a model of what is possible employing intensive gardening methods and simple tools.

Fortier has managed to turn an ordinary parcel of land into a small piece of Eden while making a decent living.

Southern Ontario and British Columbia are blanketed with greenhouses, but because of the vastness of this country, hauling vegetables across all of Canada is both expensive and hard on the environment. Therefore a large amount of this produce is marketed south of the border.

I envisage a day when every city and town in Canada is surrounded by a network of greenhouses producing fresh vegetables for its citizens all year-round.

My experience as a child of the Depression reinforces a conviction that huge acreages are not essential in order to produce a lot of food. My immigrant father was an intensive gardener who turned a five-acre garden on a modest homestead into a viable source of income while keeping his family fed throughout the lean years.

The British in their time of uncertainty and peril, grew “victory” gardens, often in surprisingly small cramped spaces.

We Canadians can do no less to ensure a victory of our own over hunger and food insecurity. Almost everyone can grow some food, by starting small with one single raised bed in one backyard, or with one pot of vegetables on one deck or balcony.

Grow a tomato. It can change your life.

Henry Rasmussen is a life-long gardener, writer and passionate environmentalist. He is 90 years old and still growing food on his one-acre piece of land in Kenora, Ont.