Sunday, February 16th, 2025

Last week a dozen or more Creemore residents, aged three weeks to let’s say “middle age,” gathered behind the Log Cabin to begin a project we hope will not only change the local landscape but change local diets as well.

Stakes were hammered into place and string was stretched across hard packed soil, delineating the first eight beds of what will soon become the Creemore Community Garden. The initiative is a humble one, but the vision of our group is anything but.

When we began talking about a community garden over the winter months, our reasons were as numerous as the people involved. For some, a community garden is a means of improving the family harvest. For others, their own backyards are too shady or their beautiful black walnuts have unfortunately left their soil too toxic to grow some vegetables. For others, apartment living means limited access to soil. Some wanted to involve local schools by creating demonstration gardens. Others simply wanted to have company as they garden. But for all, one objective seemed clear: let’s grow food for those who can’t and hopefully, in the process, engage them to join in.

Food security is an issue facing millions of Canadians. Food banks are running at full speed and often have limited access to fresh food.

In Stayner, Earl Hoover began the Clearview Community Garden and successfully harvests over an acre solely for the Clearview Stayner Food Bank. In Wasaga Beach 52 community plots were reserved before the season started, with several groups and individuals growing solely for local food banks. The same is happening in Thornbury, Collingwood and Meaford.

This past Sunday at an event hosted by Curiosity House and the 100 Mile Store, Nick Saul and Andrea Curtis, authors of The STOP: How the Fight for Good Food Transformed a Community and Inspired a Movement, provided us with even more inspiration with their talk on revolutionizing food security systems, including the food bank model, across Canada.

“This is the equivalent of the civil rights movement and women’s fight for the vote,” said an impassioned Saul of the movement to secure good food for all in an equitable way.

When he asked the room of 40 or more people who had ever visited their local MP, only three raised their hands. It is up to us to act, he said, and demand more when it comes to the nutrition of our nation.

“It’s organics for the rich and diabetes for the poor,” said Saul of a food bank system that is antiquated, based on a flawed belief of charity as handouts, and which supplies primarily non-perishable food.

Until our own initiative began here in Creemore, many of us were unaware that families in our own village needed support. We also learned that Teddy Bears Picnic Children’s Centre collects food anonymously for several of its families who, for so many different reasons, can’t make ends meet.

Food banks don’t have to be anonymous spaces in church basements says Saul, who transformed the STOP food bank in Toronto into a community space of greenhouses, gardens, kitchens, classrooms and gathering areas.
Saul’s new initiative, Community Food Centres Canada, provides ideas and resources to organizations across Canada who want to establish food centres focusing on growing, cooking, sharing and advocating for good food rather than handouts.

Community Food Centres encourage participation in all aspects of acquiring food; in the process patrons can overcome the embarrassment of being hungry.

Bringing food insecurity out of the dark and into the open air and green spaces of our town means together we can celebrate food, nourishment and a healthy planet for all.

The Creemore Community Garden is looking for donations and volunteers. We are also looking for untreated wood to line our eight beds, tools, hose, compost, ideas, muscle and support of all kinds… words of encouragement go a long way!

The STOP, available at Curiosity House, is a fantastic read that is gripping, inspirational and informative all at the same time.

For more information on the Creemore Community Garden, feel free to contact me at emilyworts@hotmail.com.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *