In the fall we gathered food and garden leaders in Chéticamp at L’École NDA to share and record stories and impacts from two of years of partnership with the Our Food Project.

Timeline

This timeline illustrates the growth in gardeners, garden infrastructure, cooking and garden workshops, as well as garden events from 2013 (prior to the Our Food Project in Cape Breton) through to 2016 (2 years of Our Food Project support).

Highlights include:

• growing from 7 to 19 gardeners in addition to 3 classes and daycare
• growing from no garden space to one 900 square foot bed and 9 raised beds
• building two compost barrels, a shed and a greenhouse

Stories of Impact

What is the most significant change due to gardens and food programming over the past two years?

Food and garden leaders shared stories and categorized them into individual and family, community, Cape Breton and beyond!

Individual & Family

• Eating local, fresh & organic: I eat more organic and fresh vegetables; opportunity to have very fresh food, not shipped from far away; I love stopping by the garden to grab some “snacks” carrots, radish…
• Access to growing space: great opportunity to have a garden when you don’t have land or place at home to grow stuff
• Healthy time with nature: in touch with nature and the seasons; healthy time spent with fresh air, nature, exercise, etc.; watching it grow; learned about the plant needs; see the progress from start to finish

Community, School & Organizations

• Learning for students and community members: visiting with students on a regular basis to observe growth (e.g., last year beans for math class, this year pumpkins and tree planting)
• School serving local produce in cafeteria and classes: brought vegetables to the school cafeteria to feed the students; cooking with vegetables from the garden with children in class, last year we made fries and compared different potatoes and this year maybe we’ll try pumpkin muffins
• Building community: brings people together; getting people involved in gardening and community events; community space to meet people; intergenerational
• French School Board getting engaged: instead of being ‘asked’ as teachers if we want to go to the school food conference, we are now being told to go
• Beautiful!!
  
  
  

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia & the World!

• Demonstration, raising awareness about food security: demonstrates to other communities the value of a community garden; tourists coming through ask about the garden and are amazed to see it
• Cross-pollination: garden attracts people to the market and market attracts people to the gardens
• S.A.P getting engaged!!! (conference)
• École acadienne de Pomquet has a garden and trail outside class

 

Blog Written By: Miranda Cobb, Ecology Action Centre, Research and Evaluation Coordinator

Adventures in Local Food is your source for food news in Nova Scotia, from pickles to policy. It is a project organized by the Ecology Action Centre.
Learn more about our program at https://www.ecologyaction.ca/ourfood

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