Page 19 - 06_July-Aug-2025

GROCERY BILL SOURCES: NATURE, EDMONTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION/EDMONTON SOCIAL PLANNING COUNCIL, STATISTICS CANADA
eventually produce Arctic Kiwi (similar to
a regular kiwi, but smaller and fuzz-less).
A weather station on a tall pole above his
roof monitors rain, wind and temperature.
Like the food forest, Levin thought it
was better to ask for forgiveness than
permission. But now his operation, PHD
Farms, is one of 104 officially registered
urban agriculture developments — that is,
“development that involves growing fruits,
vegetables, plants, or raising chickens or
bees in urban areas for use beyond per-
sonal consumption.” He rotates his “crops,”
experiments with soil composition and
keeps an intricate spreadsheet for planting
dates — “but the rest is up here,” he said,
tapping his head.
Roots of Resilience
Last year, Levin’s property handily won
first place for Edible Gardens in Front Yards
in Bloom, another municipal program
discontinued this year to focus on “core
services.” (It’s now being resurrected by the
Edmonton Horticultural Society as a pilot
program with community leauges.) While
cutting the beautification initiative was
controversial, the overall impact pales in
comparison to losing the City Farm and
suspending funds for Sustainable Food
Edmonton’s largest program, a community
garden initiative supporting urban agri-
culture projects across the city.
With household budgets
stretched thin and food
prices continuing to rise,
we need to think about
feeding ourselves.
Edmonton Food Bank sends out 40,000
food hampers monthly, double the amount
since 2021, according to program director
Carrie-Anne Cyre. When we met at the
north central food bank depot on a morn-
ing in April, about a month after City Farms
was nixed, the line of clients was already
twenty deep. Folks used wagons, suitcases,
backpacks and bags to transport food
home, not knowing the hampers might be
lighter this summer, at least when it comes
to produce.
Last year, in addition to collecting left-
over and excess goods from grocers and
restaurants that would otherwise become
waste, Cyre’s team started collecting their
leftover seeds to start a seed bank. This
spring, those seeds and seed packets were
distributed to clients, encouraging them to
grow their own produce.
Over at Sustainable Food Edmonton,
community garden facilitator Junetta
Jamerson (Top 40, ,09) had a couple dozen
pending applications for new or expanding
community gardens when she learned the
non-profit’s flagship program had been
defunded. Jamerson encourages people
to get creative with the spaces they have:
“Even if you have a pot, even if it’s not a
real pot, and it’s just a bucket that you put
a hole in the bottom, start building these
skills — get your hands in the dirt.”
When food insecurity is at a high point
in Alberta, the decision to cut these pro-
grams seems short-sighted. From what
public information I gathered, the total
cost to the public for funding the City
Farm and Sustainable Food Edmonton pro-
gram combined was about $500,000. In
the meantime, organizers and volunteers
with all three initiatives are looking for
alternative funding to increase food
resilience. As well, Kingsway Mall is nearly
doubling its rooftop garden output to
more than 136 kilograms of produce
for the Edmonton Food Bank — a tiny
fraction of what City Farms offered, but
it’s not nothing.
Growing and sharing food, planting a
food forest, or starting a community
garden won’t fix food insecurity, but they
do help build what Jamerson calls “an
ecosystem of care.” As food security con-
cerns grow, grassroots efforts and creative
thinking will be essential where publicly
funded programs fall short. Lucky for
Edmonton, more and more people are
beginning to cultivate that kind of food
resilience from the ground up. ED.
–Natasha Chiam
The
Grocery
Bill
When money is tight, food is often
the first compromise. For some,
that’s about cheaper ingredients.
For others, it’s skipping meals.
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