‘Celebrate that half of the plate’

South Osborne

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This article was published 25/09/2024 (670 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s fitting, come harvest time, for vegetables to take centre stage.

The inaugural Local Veggie Day, proclaimed by the Government of Manitoba earlier this month, was observed on Sept. 18. To celebrate, community members, farmers, organizations, and members of public service took to South Osborne Farmer’s Market — and the nearby South Osborne community gardens — to make the day official and spread awareness on the work being done to help protect “that side of the plate.”

Local Veggie Day was established as a way to celebrate 10 years of Farm and Food Awareness Week, which ran from Sept. 16 to 20 this year, and aims to promote education on healthy eating and agriculture in classrooms around the province.

“It’s one of the ways people can touch agriculture, food production, and healthy foods,” explained Debora Durnin-Richards, outgoing program co-ordinator at Farm to School Manitoba, who has been involved in the organization since 2010.

Farmers markets are a good way to promote healthy foods in the community, she said, as there’s no “middle man,” and community members can speak face-to-face with the farmers who are cultivating the goods they then take home to eat.

“As a professional food economist, it’s part of the schtick,” she said. “We celebrate that half of the plate (full of fruits and vegetables) — it’s worth celebrating.”

Having a week like this can’t be done by just one single organization, Durnin-Richards added.

“That’s one of the reasons we come together,” she said. “Helping to provide resources and to bring some funding in to make it happen.”

This year, the provincial government provided $400,000 to Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba, according to a recent release, which was done through the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership.

“We need to make efforts to connect the next generation with culture, with the land,” said Diljeet Brar, MLA for Burrows, at the event, and the grassroots nature of a local farmers market was as good a place as any.

“We (Farm to School) do education, we provide information, many of us work in fields where we’re working with families, and we’re helping them with the issues they’re facing,” Durnin-Richards said.

On the other hand, while that work is done in the classroom, organizations like Fireweed Food Co-op — also present at the event — take to transporting the healthy food to families that need it.

Fireweed is a non-profit which was, according a release, “founded on the belief that small-scale, mixed farming is the most ecologically sustainable type of agriculture.” It operates the South Osborne Farmers Market annually from June to October. It also operates a city-wide “veggie van,” which transports locally grown produce from four producer partners — Cal’s Crops, Loewen Homestead, LP Farm Store, and Natural Collective Farm — to communities and sells on a “pay what you can” basis.

“That’s a cool way to get veggies into these food deserts,” Durnin-Richards said.

Although Farm and Food Awareness week is just one week of the year, involved non-profits work at keeping kids and families healthy year-round.

For more information on Farm to School Manitoba’s work in the classroom, visit farmtoschoolmanitoba.ca

For more on Fireweed Food Co-op and the services it provides, visit fireweedfoodcoop.ca