Last year, expanding our vegetable production with an extra 1/4 acre of growing space, we managed to grow an unprecedented amount of food. We grew large quantities and multiple varieties of peppers, tomatoes, basils, eggplants, ground cherries, potatoes, summer squash, winter squash, cabbage, cucumbers, chard, kales, tomatillos, and so much more. Preserving all that we could (freezing, drying, canning) for our own family, we still had an incredible abundance.
The incentive for farmers to donate food for free is incredibly low. To even be considered a farm, the government demands we generate a minimum income of $7,000 per year on our farming activities. What’s more, the cost of farming is incredibly high, requiring expensive access to quality land, labour, seeds, and soil. Farming organically, ecologically, and regeneratively add increased costs, in allowing fallow periods, time to augment and improve soils, additional labour, areas for carbon remediation, areas for wilderness, and protected habitats that are not developed or exploited economically. And selling produce requires competing with globalized slave labour prices found at grocery stores. Combining all these factors means either the farm produce is marketed for boutique/niche high priced farmers markets (affordable by only those with the most economic privilege), or it is sold at competitive prices that promote monoculture growing and undercut all the added environmental and social justice costs/values of sustainable farming.
In short, we’d rather give it away. We’d rather build a model where the community can support farmers to grow not for profit, but for food security, environmental and climate sustainability, justice, and human rights.
Recognizing food prices and food insecurity in Canada, including in our region, are at all time highs (Hunger Report 2023), with some cities reporting 10% of their population regularly relying on food banks (CBC), last year we decided to give away all the extra we could produce, and not ask for anything in return. We opened up the farm for likeminded folks to contribute to the labour it would take to produce as much food as we could, hosting a few community planting/weeding/harvesting days over the growing season. Those who came out to help were always offered a share of the produce, with enough for them to share, also. And we focused on developing relationships that could get our food to where it would make a significant impact to the physical, mental, emotional, and financial health of eaters and their families. This pilot resulted in us feeding around 100 families over the course of the season, some as one-time bountiful hauls, and others consistently over the season. The food we gave was always biodiverse, representing full colour spectrums and nutritional needs with healthful, fresh foods. Where possible and desired, we included fresh eggs from our organically-fed and free ranged heritage breed hens as well.
For 2024, we’d like to develop a model of community support for this venture, with community-driven participation in the labour to make it possible, and cultivation of local relationships to ensure we get the food to where it is needed most: local seniors who live alone, families who are having to make nutritional compromises due to budgetary constraints, local food banks that are not sure of their own ability to ensure access to food for those who need it, students in university and college who are having to decide between buying textbooks or fresh foods, and more. As part of this development, we will also test our intervention logic and create an evaluation framework so we can begin to build a stronger evidence base documenting the social, environmental, and economic impacts of this approach.
The support we are requesting is financial, to support cost of seeds for growing, but also we request your in-kind support to help us think through the benefits and challenges of such a model, to help us cultivate relationships to get food where it is needed in our local community, to spread the word about the opportunity to share in the farming labour, and to help us advance this as a viable model for farming through your networks by sharing harvest sponsorship opportunities for community members to get involved as contributors to local food resiliency.
We commit to producing and giving away as much food as we possibly can, managing the community- driven support and labour, and documenting the process and impacts to share as a replicable viable farm “business plan”. Our aim is to try to produce at least the $7,000 of farm income required for us to legally be a farm by giving away what we grow. Food is a human right. We all deserve access to good, healthful foods that are sustainably, ecologically, responsibly, and ethically produced. And farmers deserve to receive a liveable wage for their work. We know you agree, and we look forward to your collaboration, in whatever ways are possible.
Thanks again, for all that you do, to support food security and sustainable farming futures in our community!